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I’m out of town, by a thousand miles, and my car won’t take gas. I went to the local dealer as I don’t know any indie, and they’re telling me that I need a whole new gas tank. Has anyone even heard of situation? I know there can be an Evap System Leak caused many ways, but I’ve seen no reference to anyone needing a new fuel tank because “the valve is part of the tank.” I have several other reasons to not trust this dealer, and am ready to put my car on a transporter to go home to my mechanic. Am I crazy? Thanks for any help.
Both of the above items were things that I expected as possibilities. (I even swapped the good fuse for another good fuse, to be sure.) The problem of a Fill Limit Valve came from nowhere. I find it odd that fixing that would require a brand new tank, and question whether it’s even a real part. I’ve never even heard the name in any of the million posts that I’ve checked. Does anyone have a parts diagram? Thanks guys.
That valve is mentioned in a fuel line TSB. Sometimes the fuel lines would foul it preventing refueling. The TSB was to wire tie the fuel lines back with wire ties.
The only other problem I have read about is the reed switch in the filler neck getting loose. The result of that is the valve does not get a signal to open when the metal pump nozzle is inserted.
Look at Crazy Franks post at the bottom of this DIY. 7th? also Anthony's posts with pics. https://www.pelicanparts.com/techart...Vent_Valve.htm
Pete,
Wouldn't that lean more toward “Will not start after refueling?”
There is a flap/valve in the fuel filler neck that is to prevent fuel spill when you flip the car over, probably there for emissions reasons too.
Anyway if it does not open no fuel fill. There is a TSB about that valve getting fouled in the internal fuel lines.
I think Pelican has a DIY about it. There are also DIY threads around here on it.
Basically you open the tank, pull up the fuel pump assy and tie wrap the offending fuel lines.
I found the following: TSB 3/99 2015 "Fuel tank hose modification" may have some suggestions. Since the TSBs don't seem to be available any more, has anybody read this and can tell me the gist of what it says?
It is more of an "OOPS" we flipped upside down! Close the tank filler so we don't lose all of our $$ gas on the ground valve.
Yup. So, I found an independent Porsche specialist four miles from the dealer. The owner was clearly very well informed, could describe the 996 Turbo/GT2 tank from memory, and that's exactly what he described as the only possible "mechanism" inside of the tank. It was basically, "if the car flips over, this ball blocks the tube from letting gas out. I've never seen one break, and if it was 'stuck' I don't see why you couldn't 'unstick' it." He had a lot full of Porsches, including a bunch spec'ed out for racing, so I feel very comfortable leaving the car there, even if I have to wait a bit.
In summary, the dealer (Baker Motors/Porsche of Charleston) charged me $500 to diagnose what is unlikely the correct issue for the car. (This would have been 50% lower at most other places.) They could have done the tank swap for almost $5,000 and still not fixed the issue. When I asked if the car was driveable for a few miles, even if it were throwing error codes, they told me that it would be another $350 to get to that level. Needless to say, the car is on a flatbed for $80, headed to a shop that seems much more knowledgeable, has an hourly rate about half of what the dealer charged, and isn't going to mark the parts up by 200%. Even if they need to do EXACTLY what was described (which I highly doubt), it's still going to save me money after eating the $600 wasted on this journey through Baker. The Service Writer was a very nice guy, and I know he's not the one making decisions, but the service department is clearly not geared toward providing anything at all in the space of "value."
Thank you guys for all of the help, and I'll update once the new shop does their thing.
It is more of an "OOPS" we flipped upside down! Close the tank filler so we don't lose all of our $$ gas on the ground valve.
EXACTLY im still holding the nozzle at 3-9:00 position to fully top off
OP remember also.. the distance maintained by the "service advisor" and the actual mechanic is designed to create the environment that makes everything needed seem mysterious so they can gouge "us". find a good indie after this! again, GL with it.
whoops. ya found an indie. cool. ( note to self. read first post second )
Last edited by '02996ttx50; Apr 13, 2018 at 01:14 PM.
Yup. So, I found an independent Porsche specialist four miles from the dealer. The owner was clearly very well informed, could describe the 996 Turbo/GT2 tank from memory, and that's exactly what he described as the only possible "mechanism" inside of the tank. It was basically, "if the car flips over, this ball blocks the tube from letting gas out. I've never seen one break, and if it was 'stuck' I don't see why you couldn't 'unstick' it." He had a lot full of Porsches, including a bunch spec'ed out for racing, so I feel very comfortable leaving the car there, even if I have to wait a bit.
In summary, the dealer (Baker Motors/Porsche of Charleston) charged me $500 to diagnose what is unlikely the correct issue for the car. (This would have been 50% lower at most other places.) They could have done the tank swap for almost $5,000 and still not fixed the issue. When I asked if the car was driveable for a few miles, even if it were throwing error codes, they told me that it would be another $350 to get to that level. Needless to say, the car is on a flatbed for $80, headed to a shop that seems much more knowledgeable, has an hourly rate about half of what the dealer charged, and isn't going to mark the parts up by 200%. Even if they need to do EXACTLY what was described (which I highly doubt), it's still going to save me money after eating the $600 wasted on this journey through Baker. The Service Writer was a very nice guy, and I know he's not the one making decisions, but the service department is clearly not geared toward providing anything at all in the space of "value."
Thank you guys for all of the help, and I'll update once the new shop does their thing.
List the dealer and complain. The problem is people warn others of these shops but never who it is and the same thing will happen to someone else. These rip off artists need to be held accountable. You also deserve your money back if the diagnostic was wrong. You paid to diagnose and issue and they were wrong.
List the dealer and complain. The problem is people warn others of these shops but never who it is and the same thing will happen to someone else. These rip off artists need to be held accountable. You also deserve your money back if the diagnostic was wrong. You paid to diagnose and issue and they were wrong.
I’m three years late, but I wanted to point out that this was in my thread. Baker (Porsche of Charleston) were the culprit. If I had a car break down in their parking lot, I’d push it the 800 miles back to New York. I believe the indie’s name was AutoMetrics, and the story just gets weirder from there. He made it clear that he couldn’t start work for a few weeks, and I had no problem. In order to do so, he called to ask if he could reinstall the existing parts after I told Porsche of Charleston to take a walk. He did, and the problem immediately resolved itself. Some piece of debris probably got lodged somewhere, and simple disassembly fixed it. The sleaze ball dealer tried to fly and sell me a fuel tank from Germany. The car’s long since been fixed, and recently sold, but I just logged back on to list some wheels for sale.
im still holding the nozzle at 3-9:00 position to fully top off 
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