Recently two gas stations found that they couldn't get any fuel into my nearly-empty tank. (2000 XJ8L). The trigger on the fuel nozzle would simply click off, no matter what angle they tried to place the nozzle.

One guy tried to do it manually, squeezing the trigger very very gently rather than squeezing it had and expecting it to stay on, but even so it would click off, in his hand, every few seconds. It took him about 15 minutes to put in $10-worth of gas!

I drove on, and stopped for an errand, and as I turned the engine off there were strange rumblings from the rear of the car. (At first I thought it was just the sound of the electric antenna coming down, but it was already down.) The noises went on for something like a minute.

Drove on, stopped at a third gas station, and it filled up perfectly!

Tried another gas station a few days later, and once again everything worked perfectly. But I'm worried about the problem recurring.

Any suggestions, anybody? Some form of valve that might have got stuck and then released itself?

Any help gratefully received!

4jagspeter

 

This is avery common problem with the Jaguar tanks -- it was even more of a problem when the cars had two tanks to fill.

I have heard many theories -- Filling a Jaguar does place the fill spout in an orientation not encountered on other cars. It did not used to happen with the old spouts w/o the vapor recovery.

I have my "preferred" pump at the stations I frequent .. some will simply not work.

 

Yeldogt is quite right. I sometimes had problems filling my yr 2000 XJ8 SE. The nozzle has to go in the tank as if you are standing on the opposite side of the car - so the curve of the nozzle mimics the curve of the tank fill pipe.
Many pumps are still set (as in the old days) so you could insert the nozzle and click a trigger on and leave the tank to fill. It clicks off on backpressure as the tank fills - but some are set far too low and they cut out all the time.

 

Thanks for the replies so far. However, I think the problem is more complex. Yes, I'm aware that pumps sometimes click off with Jags (I've had 13!), although I didn't know why, and the advice to hold the nozzle as if standing on the other side of the car will be helpful. But this wasn't just clicking off momentarily: it was permanent.

I'd like to add/repeat two bits of information. Firstly, I've used these two gas stations many times in the past, without this problem. Secondly, there's the issue of the strange noise from the rear of the car when I switched the engine off later, after which everything was fine again. As if something had failed, got stuck, become clogged, or something, and I then heard it correcting itself.

Perhaps I'd get better results if I was handling the nozzle myself: maybe I've just discovered the disadvantage of living in one of only two States where there are no self-service stations!

Grateful for any further thoughts,

4jagspeter

 

Info on this has been addressed by Jaguar a long time ago.
Check your Canister Close Valve and/or the carbon canister(s) for blockage?????

Also try another filling station or pump at the same station.
I had a problem with one of my XJ sedans at a particular pump at one station I frequented. I tried another pump and it filled OK. I avoid that pump now.

bob gauff

 

Thanks, that's very helpful. I will check those various issues, and report back! 4jagspeter

 

I'm having a similar issue. Did you resolve this?

 

"Info on this has been addressed by Jaguar a long time ago.
Check your Canister Close Valve and/or the carbon canister(s) for blockage?????"
+100

Bob is correct.

The problem is almost always in the purge valve/canister system that lets air out of the tank when you fill it. No air out = no fuel in.
Vector

 

Sorry about the delay in replying. Rhe various suggestions about the purge valve etc. sound convincing, but I held off on having them checked until the car's next scheduled service. But since November, the problem has never recurred, so I'm just leaving things as they are.

4jagspeter