I am on a long trip in the 2010 Panamera and stopped for my first gas up at around the 500 mile mark . As I live in Oregon you don’t pump your own gas , so as this was California I did it myself .
When I opened the gas cap cover I noticed a green plastic thing sitting above the fuel filler flap . I assumed it was some sort on float and thought nothing about it, inserted the fuel pump and started to pump . Well the pump kept clicking off like the tank was full. I could only fuel up extremely slow .
When I got to my destination i grabbed a torch and took a look down the filler tube and yep, there was the green plastic thing about 6” down the filler pipe , partially blocking the pipe and causing the pump to shut off .
I tried to pull it out with a piece of wire and yep, pushed it all the way in...guess it’s floating around in the tank now .
on the plus side , gassing up was a breeze.
Anyone have any idea what the plastic thing could be...the inside of the filler cap is the same color but nothing looks to have broken off . I have looked at images of the gas cap online and they look the same as mine, so nothing missing there .
Thanks

Well I made it back home just fine...another 1000 miles , filling up is normal too .
There was no way I could take a pic of it down the filler pipe .
Best description I can give is it looked like a small green shuttle ****.. if you have ever played badminton. If not , well the shape looked like the old school space rocket capsules. It was about 1” long and almost the width of the filler pipe .
It wasn’t solid along the conical shape and was definitely looked like a manufactured piece, not a broken piece of plastic .

Having scoured all the online workshop manuals I am posited it’s not from the car . So the only other place it came from is the gas pump .

I am back home now and will visit the gas station I gassed up at before the road trip and see if they have any answers .
The car is running fine .

Thanks for all the help !