Long time lurker, first time poster.

My daughters car is a 2016 Hatchback, 1.L 3 Cyl. Turbo. It would not take fuel when trying to fill it. The pump would shut off after less than 1/2 gallon, then fuel would bubble back up into the filler neck when the nozzle was removed. Try again and the same thing would happen with about 1/10 pumped. I brought the car back to house and it would not take fuel as I tried to fill it from a gas can. Now the problem is back and it won't take fuel at all.

I read a few threads on here for the same issue and see there is a TSB for replacing the fuel tank as a possible fix for this problem. I have more time than money so I do all my own vehicle repairs. I want to make sure that the culprit is the tank before I go spend $800 on a new one. I figure if fuel will not go down the filler neck it is either blocked, or the tank is not venting.

I pulled the wheel well liner out and removed the fuel filler neck. Inside the fitting on the fuel tank was a white flapper valve. It pushed open easily with a screw driver. However it blew out a bunch of fuel out at me. It seems the tank is not venting. On the fuel filler neck at the top is a fitting with two hoses going back down and disappearing around the tank. One is smooth and the other is corrugated. I disconnected the smooth hose and blew into it. It had no resistance. I then disconnected the corrugated hose and blew into it. It had resistance and felt like it was filling a big balloon. When I released it it let out a bunch of air smelling of gasoline. The fuel tank also made a weird noise. I pushed on the white plastic flapper open again and this time no fuel spit back out. It seemed the tank had vented. I reassembled the filler neck and was able to put fuel in with the gas can with no problem. I took it to the gas station and was able to finish filling the tank from the pump.

On Mini's website https://www.bmwdiscountparts.com/v-2...tem-components
the fuel filler neck only shows one vent pipe, not two like is in my daughters car. It also is not clear what is at the other end of the vent pipe(s).

Anyone have a better parts breakdown than the one on Mini's website, or know what is at the other end of the corrugated vent pipe? If/when it happen again that is the direction I'm headed.

Regards,

JB

 

Try realoem.com. I gather the site was last updated in 2019, but that shouldn't matter since yours is a 2016. Very detailed diagrams there. Hope this helps!

 

Thank you cjv2. The images on that website are much more clear.

The smooth hose goes to the vapor canister system. The corrugated hose goes to some sort of module in the top of the fuel tank. It appears that if/when the problem happens again I will be dropping the tank. Hopefully whatever that module is I can try and repair it.

 

Most of the time we have the pictures. Google search and you can see the pics.

https://www.google.com/search?q=1611...eBXGoGT148w4jM

That goes to the charcoal filter my bet. Yet it does.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...84#16117300654

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...117314257~oeb/

 

years ago my prius wouldn’t take fuel. the vapor switch thing that the fuel door pushes when it’s closed, and releases when it’s open, wouldn’t fully release by the fuel door action alone. it was grimy from years of use and probably could have used a thorough cleaning, but i could push the switch in myself once i opened the fuel door so i just did that for the remainder of my time with the car and it worked every time! maybe it’s similar for the mini?