Running engine while pumping gas

[Possessed Freak]

No, the real plausible risk is more to do with the potential for people to be idiots and somehow allowing a running car to get put into gear while the driver is not in it.

This, or locking themselves out of a running car, or a host of other potential issues.

 

[ShawnD1]

This, or locking themselves out of a running car, or a host of other potential issues.

At least there's no risk of the car running out of gas while idling 😀

 

[simonizor]

Do it "just because" you don't want to get blown up. Even if the odds are extremely small, the odds of it happening with your car running are more than likely significantly higher than with your car off.

Not taking the precaution to shut your vehicle off while fueling is just plain stupid. Why don't you rub your feet on the ground for a couple of minutes and touch the gas handle while you're at it.

 

[jlee]

3). Race (or rice) cars with rich fuel mixtures spit a lot of unburned gasoline out the exhaust and it can start on fire while it's coming out the exhaust. Give a wrench to a guy who doesn't know what he's doing and he might make his car run like that.

I have yet to see that happen at idle (or with catalytic converters).

It increases pollution locally at the gas station. You know how a lot of states ban smoking within 50 ft of a building? Well exhaust fumes and smoke are a lot worse than cigarettes. If everybody ran their engines while pumping gas, the employees inside could be exposed to hazardous levels of carbon monoxide.

That's why toll booth workers drop dead every day, right?

 

[ShawnD1]

I have yet to see that happen at idle (or with catalytic converters).

What makes you think everyone has a cat converter? I can't remember what happened but my friend's dad removed the catalytic converter on his old truck and straight piped the thing because he didn't feel like replacing the cat for such an old truck 😀

Well exhaust fumes and smoke are a lot worse than cigarettes.

This is actually backwards. The exhaust from a car is not that bad because engines are very efficient and the catalytic converter takes care of any partially oxidized carbon (smoke). The exhaust is mostly just things that mix with water to create acid rain or smog. Cigarette smoke is absolutely brutal because it's a low temperature slow burn. There's no filter. There's nothing to complete oxidation. Black or blue smoke of any kind is really really really bad.

Cars are amazing. If you try burning gasoline in a metal can, you get a very dark red/orange flame with a huge amount of black smoke. If you burn it in a car engine with a cat converter, you'll get next to no smoke

 

[jlee]

What makes you think everyone has a cat converter? I can't remember what happened but my friend's dad removed the catalytic converter on his old truck and straight piped the thing because he didn't feel like replacing the cat for such an old truck 😀

Did I say that?

 

[futuristicmonkey]

Gasoline fumes from a spill and the ignition from the brushes in the alternator is the usual scenario on the web.

Alternator brushes make contact to slip rings - there are no sparks continuously given off as would be with the commutator of a DC motor when the brush shorts out adjacent commutator segments.

Corona given off from worn spark plug wires is much more likely to ignite gasoline vapour than an alternator. (google search corona discharge)

 

[AMCRambler]

My exhaust comes out the back of the car. Dual exhaust so one tip on each side.

That said, there's a drain in the fuel filler reservoir to allow water to drain out if it gets in there. If you accidentally overfill the tank and it runs over, it doesn't run down the side of the car but instead drains out around the filler neck and will drip down under the car. That would put the fuel right next to the hot exhaust. If the car is running the exhaust will he hotter than if it were turned off increasing the likely hood of ignition of the gas fumes. Also the gas fumes have a better chance of collecting in a high concentration beneath the vehicle.

 

[Pulsar]

I put in 72k km in 2 years...Them dispenser trigger locks were gone in every single station I have used, even in Quebec and the States bordering Ontario . I recall there being a decision made to remove those, same with the flow speed. I am trying to find an article about it but am not having much luck.

I have notices some pumps still have the metal latch in place, but the stop plate it is supposed to push against is gone, accomplishing the same effect.

<==been in Toronto since 1990.

I live in Michigan, and can tell you they are still everywhere here. My co-worker who works here but lives in Windsor has told met he the stations he uses when going back and forth still have them as well.

 

[KeithP]

I turn my ignition off. But my interest is one of principle. I don't believe in doing something "just because," you have to provide a valid reason.

Car theft. If even a small percentage of people started leaving their cars running at gas stations, it would give car thieves a known location where they could try and grab running cars.

Stealing cars is bad. Or do I need to supply specific reasons why it is bad? 😉

-KeithP

 

[TraumaRN]

I leave my car running all the time when I'm pumping gas but the gas motor is off and only the electric motor is on. So to the general public it appears off, til I stop pumping gas get in the car and immediately drive away silently and will usually get a couple weird looks especially in the summer time. Oh I drive a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid.

 

[LTC8K6]

Alternator brushes make contact to slip rings - there are no sparks continuously given off as would be with the commutator of a DC motor when the brush shorts out adjacent commutator segments.

Corona given off from worn spark plug wires is much more likely to ignite gasoline vapour than an alternator. (google search corona discharge)

Yes, I know that...

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=31248226&postcount=35

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=31248590&postcount=39

 

[jlee]

Car theft. If even a small percentage of people started leaving their cars running at gas stations, it would give car thieves a known location where they could try and grab running cars.

Stealing cars is bad. Or do I need to supply specific reasons why it is bad? 😉

-KeithP

Don't tell the car thieves about every convenience store in northern New England. 😛

 

[sdifox]

I live in Michigan, and can tell you they are still everywhere here. My co-worker who works here but lives in Windsor has told met he the stations he uses when going back and forth still have them as well.

I have no control over Michigan :biggrin: And if an Ontario station still has a working latch, that station is in violation.

 

[Doppel]

I always do it. I've yet to come across, including in this thread, any real reason why not, though no shortage of almost impossible eventualities. Basically all of these pretend that even if your car was off the same virtually impossible event could still occur with the car that just pulled up behind or beside you. Most pumps nowadays force you to hold the handle and I will jam it with the gas cap or similar.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

repost.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...off-your-engine-at-the-pump&highlight=pumping

 

[Zenmervolt]

I always do it. I've yet to come across, including in this thread, any real reason why not, though no shortage of almost impossible eventualities.

I agree that the possibility of serious issues is very small regardless. However, leaving an engine idle has literally zero benefit. Modern EFI uses less gas to start up the engine again after pumping gas than would be used to keep the engine idling (you use less gasoline by turning the off in any situation where you'll be idling for about 10 seconds or more), so you actually waste a very small amount of gasoline. I've never been anywhere cold enough that the car's interior would cool down in the amount of time it takes to fill a gas tank, so you don't lose interior warmth by shutting off the engine either.

You gain nothing and lose a small amount. It just doesn't make practical sense. It's not going to result in a fireball, but objectively speaking keeping the engine running is quite pointless.

ZV

 

[yh125d]

I agree that the possibility of serious issues is very small regardless. However, leaving an engine idle has literally zero benefit. Modern EFI uses less gas to start up the engine again after pumping gas than would be used to keep the engine idling (you use less gasoline by turning the off in any situation where you'll be idling for about 10 seconds or more), so you actually waste a very small amount of gasoline. I've never been anywhere cold enough that the car's interior would cool down in the amount of time it takes to fill a gas tank, so you don't lose interior warmth by shutting off the engine either.

You gain nothing and lose a small amount. It just doesn't make practical sense. It's not going to result in a fireball, but objectively speaking keeping the engine running is quite pointless.

ZV

People seem to be forgetting that most people live in places that have seasons, and in the summer it might be nice to let the AC run on that hot as hell leather seat for a couple minutes, or warm it up on thosebitter cold winter mornings. There's not literally zero benefit, you just aren't seeing it

 

[LTC8K6]

People seem to be forgetting that most people live in places that have seasons, and in the summer it might be nice to let the AC run on that hot as hell leather seat for a couple minutes, or warm it up on thosebitter cold winter mornings. There's not literally zero benefit, you just aren't seeing it

How did you get to the gas station?

 

[sdifox]

How did you get to the gas station?

with the ac/heat off of course.

 

[Triumph]

repost.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...off-your-engine-at-the-pump&highlight=pumping

it's not a repost if its between forums, you clod!

 

[Zenmervolt]

People seem to be forgetting that most people live in places that have seasons, and in the summer it might be nice to let the AC run on that hot as hell leather seat for a couple minutes, or warm it up on thosebitter cold winter mornings. There's not literally zero benefit, you just aren't seeing it

Apparently you live at the gas station and don't have to drive to get there. Most of the rest of us live in houses or apartments so by the time we get to the gas station, our cars are already warm or cool (depending on the season).

ZV

 

[yh125d]

I always get my gas at the station 2 blocks from work. I get there literally <60s after my car is started, so by then it will still be hot/cold depending on season


And in oklahoma, even if I had been driving for an hour with the AC on full blast, if I shut it off for 3 minutes to fill up, it'd be back well above 90 again in august or july


Tons of people live very close to the gas stations they frequent, it's not uncommon at all

 

[ShawnD1]

I always get my gas at the station 2 blocks from work. I get there literally <60s after my car is started, so by then it will still be hot/cold depending on season

Usually I get gas at the 7-11 by my house. It's about a 2 minute drive; most of that 2 minutes is idling at a red light so the car never really heats up. A few months ago my office shared a parking lot with Shell so I could drive maybe 100 feet and I was already at the gas station 😀


It's only winter that I leave it running. I live in a cold region so winter is a lot stronger than summer is. If I lived in Miami then I would probably leave it running in summer and turn it off in winter.

 

[LTC8K6]

If you are going to leave it running at the gas station, then you might as well start it/remote start it at your house and let it warm up/cool down for a few minutes before you leave. You are wasting the gas anyway.

Then you can shut it off at the pump, like you should. :biggrin: