I-80 Not Good To My Passat

Greetings,

This morning, at 4:20 am, I left Janesville, WI, in my '14 TDI SE, with my new RZR570 in tow......bound for a week long vacation in Wyoming's Wind River Range. Stopped for a quick lunch in Council Bluffs, IA and continued on. At approx. 12:40 pm, on the western outskirts of Omaha, NE, I heard a noise and a woosh. I thought I'd blown a tire. No TPMS, etc. Immediately pulled over and noticed diesel fuel smell and a sizeable leak underneath the car. Baxter VW was 6 miles back and I got the car there before all the fuel leaked out. Sure enough, the tank is punctured. Of course, its Saturday afternoon. New tank will arrive Tuesday morning, so am stuck in Omaha for 3 days.
Two years ago, on this exact same trip, a passing truck flicked a pebble into my front windshield, cracking it quite nicely, just a little west of here. That was also a Saturday afternoon........but, it wasn't a trip killer like this one.
Has anyone heard of puncturing a gas tank from road debris? I was changing lanes at the time, but, didn't see anything.

Had part of a leaf spring put a nasty gash in a Volvo gas tank decades ago. The fire chief said I was lucky to have lived through the experience. My insurance carrier tried to deny the claim but lost. There was one tank available in the US at the time. It was air freighted in.

nope and I have used my dodge cummins to pull our nms up our driveway threw 30" of snow over falled trees with branches sticking up several times. Love rocking 2wd cars on the mountain

To not see a piece of road debris big enough to poke a hole in a fuel tank....OUCH.

ZippyNH said:

To not see a piece of road debris big enough to poke a hole in a fuel tank....OUCH.

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Very easy to to at highway speeds, light object against light pavement. Ask me how I know.

Very easy to do when sandwiched in traffic. OK, don't ask, I'll tell you anyway. Car passing me at 75 on I-55 in Arkansas, just as I passed an on-ramp, could see car coming fast down ramp on right out of corner of my eye, at the same time a dog tries to run out in front of all three cars. I got lucky and ran smack over the pooch (big dog!), absolutely nothing I could do about it / no time to react. Sometimes $h!t just happens, even if it seems like it could have been avoided to someone reading about it.

In my instance heavy city traffic, truck in front of me runs over leaf spring chunk and starts it cartwheeling. Me with four brand new tires that just left tire shop. Nanosecond thought process... Ruin tires, hit other cars around me switching lanes or quick center unknown object coming at me. I chose the last.

I've never had my tank punctured, but I did have my A/C punctured by road debris. That was annoying, but at least the car was driveable.

Look at it this way - at least you're not stuck in Omaha in the dead of winter!

Years ago, in Detroit, I hit a piece of angle iron on I-94 with the back tires. It flipped up and split the fuel tank. I was out of fuel in very short order. Good thing the car did not catch on fire.

I had a similar experience in my brand new Sportwagen a couple of years ago. Wasn't even a month old, driving up to the Twin Cities on I94. Not following especially closely to the vehicle in front but I noticed what appeared to be a small chunk of tire carcass debris bouncing out from under the car in front of me. By "small", I mean maybe an inch in diameter and a foot or two long. Nowhere to go but be centered over it, heard a small clunk, didn't think too much of it. Parked the car on my sister's new asphalt driveway and smelled diesel fuel the next morning. Looked under the car and see a very slow drip. Moved the car off the driveway and tried to clean up the spot, but the asphalt was pretty dissolved and managed to wreck the surface of the driveway in about a one foot diameter circle. Moral of the story there, don't do anything more than dab at it, and just wait for it to dry up. Took the car in to the dealer and they confirmed an extremely tiny hole in the tank, just what a piece of metal tire reinforcement wire might do if it hit at just the right angle. Seemed to me the tank is rather exposed to road debris, and should be more recessed or have a guard wrapped around the leading edge. Aside from that, you have to accept that things happen, no way could I have avoided it. Nobody drives around with the necessary distance from the vehicle in front, it's just the way it is. Had I been quick enough to react and slam on the brakes, more than likely would have gotten rear-ended.

I normally keep an eye for debris on the road. This time, I was in the process of changing lanes, when it occurred. I certainly don't recall seeing anything.

That said, I have a concern: There was an initial impact/loud pop sound, followed by a 'Woosh' of about 3-4 seconds. The second sound was similar to what you might hear if you stuck a knife into a fully inflated tire. It sounded as though the tank was depressurizing or an inrush of air. So, that concerns me, as I'd assume the tank has some sort of venting system to keep it from pulling a vacuum as fuel is consumed or overpressurizing.

The tanks are normally slightly pressurised, with a relief valve that limits the pressure and allows vented gas to pass through a carbon filter.

Methinks yer thinkin' a gas engine. For sure, there's no carbon filter for a diesel fueled tank.

As for "slightly pressurized", I don't think so.

I don't know about the relief valve or carbon filter. What I do know is that #2 diesel has a flash point between 125-150F, depending on how its blended and the additive package (I was a refinery Shift and Area Superintendent for 7-1/2 years.). So, if the fuel is heated up to above that flash, by temperature and/or the fuel pump recirc; pressure will build up.
Not saying that happened. I just can't explain the 3-4 second 'woosh' sound. I'd be more inclined to say the sound was air inrush vs. depressurization. I was just above 5/8 of a tank when it happened.
At the end of the day, I just don't want a repeat out in western Nebraska or Wyoming **if** it wasn't an impact.......

beartooth91 said:

Greetings,

This morning, at 4:20 am, I left Janesville, WI, in my '14 TDI SE, with my new RZR570 in tow......bound for a week long vacation in Wyoming's Wind River Range. Stopped for a quick lunch in Council Bluffs, IA and continued on. At approx. 12:40 pm, on the western outskirts of Omaha, NE, I heard a noise and a woosh. I thought I'd blown a tire. No TPMS, etc. Immediately pulled over and noticed diesel fuel smell and a sizeable leak underneath the car. Baxter VW was 6 miles back and I got the car there before all the fuel leaked out. Sure enough, the tank is punctured. Of course, its Saturday afternoon. New tank will arrive Tuesday morning, so am stuck in Omaha for 3 days.
Two years ago, on this exact same trip, a passing truck flicked a pebble into my front windshield, cracking it quite nicely, just a little west of here. That was also a Saturday afternoon........but, it wasn't a trip killer like this one.
Has anyone heard of puncturing a gas tank from road debris? I was changing lanes at the time, but, didn't see anything.

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Our 2013 Passat is a flat tire magnet. I've had 2 blown and 2 punctures. The ONLY tires that have not had problem are the ice tires I put on during winter. Kid was out for a pre drivers test practice run. Hit a pot hole that I've hit with my jeep a million times (ok, maybe 20 or 30 times), popped the front tire but no rim damage. VW Tire car package replaced the tire. They came got the car, even brought it back when they were done (flat bed truck). Later own, picked up a rubber budgie cord just before the Fort Street exit on I-75, south Detroit. Anyone who knows the area knows that IS NOT a good place to have a blowout. Big trucks come off the Rouge bridge flying down the hill and making a turn. Bottom line, so bad, tow company will pull up, hook to you and pull off at the next exit to change the tire. New set of tires early summer. Two sheet metal screws. Discount tire replaced tire, free of charge. I've had the same set of Goodyear dura-tracs on my Jeep for way over 2 years. Not one flat. Minivan, same. No flats in the 6 years we have owned it. Other Jeep, same BFGoodwrench tread. No flats. But I'll take the flats over blowing turbos, freezing doors or air bags going off in my face anyday.