How do you fill up your tank?

[sovietik]

Do you guys fill your tank until the pump automatically stops or do you top it off up to the last drop of fuel can be pumped in the tank?

I'm guessing I would have to fill my tank which ever way but keep it consistent to make the numbers match from fill up to fill up. do you agree? or it would not matter?

[Draigflag]

I fill right up, ignore the clicks and just rest the nozzle on the end of the filler and gently squeeze so you can see the fuel going in. Then you can see when it's 100% full.

[MatrixDom]

Filling up past the first click is bad for your car. The fuel systems needs space for vapors and you're preventing that by over-filling your car. You should always stop when the first click happens.

[Charon]

I usually fill until the nozzle automatically shuts off, then attempt to fill to the next even dollar. But that isn't really important except to see if I can do it.

Unless you are fanatic about the last possible degree of accuracy, it doesn't matter. Any irregularity between fill levels will average out over a few fills anyway. Usually variations in driving conditions (hills, wind, temperatures, traffic conditions) will swamp small variations anyway.

On vehicles with small tanks, such as motorcycles, a variation of a tenth of a gallon in fill levels will show up, but it will average out in another tank or two.

[trollbait]

You risk damaging the evaporative system when you fill it completely up. Leaving space for expansion is also good to do during the summer.

How about checking the car's manual. Some will say to fill to the first or even second click. Whatever you decide to do, just keep it consistent.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I fill at full rate, and when it clicks off, I'm done. I try to use the same station, same pump, and have the vehicle facing the same direction each time. Whatever you do, be consistent.

[Charon]

My Tundra and my wife's Outback both say to fill until the automatic nozzle shuts off, and not to try to "top off" after that. I think if one uses the slowest fill rate at which the automatic nozzle will latch, the fill levels will be reasonably consistent. In any case once a few tanks are averaged any small difference in fill levels will disappear. The only time I think I would try to fill as much as possible might be if I were setting out on a long trip across the desert, where availability of fuel might be in doubt.

Diesels might differ. Diesels don't usually have evaporative recovery systems, since the fuel isn't prone to evaporation. But if I were going to fill the tank and park the vehicle without driving far enough to burn the fuel down a little, I might worry about losing some fuel to overflow should the weather be really hot.

[Draigflag]

The only reason I fill right to the rim is because my cars have very small tanks, so I need to get the maximum out of them. One of my cars has a tank less than 5 gallons in size!

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by Draigflag

I fill right up, ignore the clicks and just rest the nozzle on the end of the filler and gently squeeze so you can see the fuel going in. Then you can see when it's 100% full.

I used to do that, but replacing evaporative emissions system components got to be too much trouble and expense.

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

I fill at full rate, and when it clicks off, I'm done. I try to use the same station, same pump, and have the vehicle facing the same direction each time. Whatever you do, be consistent.

This is what I do.

[IIbulletcatcher]

Originally Posted by Draigflag

The only reason I fill right to the rim is because my cars have very small tanks, so I need to get the maximum out of them. One of my cars has a tank less than 5 gallons in size!

Still isn't good for the car.