Fuel filler question

All,

I have a question regarding a problem I have encountered on our 2013 Passat TDI SE. I have wanted to add some Diesel Kleen but the damn silver flap thing in the filler neck will not let me do it. I cannot use a funnel to move the flap either. I even tried to add fuel from a five gallon can, and the nozzle on that will not move the flap either. However using a regular fuel nozzle is no problem.

So what gives? What am I doing wrong or what trick did I miss that has probably been discussed somewhere on the forum to get the flap out of the way. Or did VW design this thing on purpose to keep us from adding an additive or god forbid fuel from a jerry can? I sure hope not because what would you do if you were low on fuel and needed to add some from a can to get to the nearest fuel station? I know that sounds silly, but when you live in the sticks like I do and the nearest diesel pump is 40 miles away, it is something you think about.

Thanks,

Glenn

Lowes sells a clear thick wall vinyl tubing that is just the right diameter to trip the flapper...

Buy a foot of it and stick a funnel on the end.

Bill

What is the diameter? So I assume the only way to trip the flapper is to have something press on all sides of the round filler hole at the same time to release the flap. Is that correct or am I off base. Any other way to do it?

Sorry, I don't remember the diameter, but it will be near 1 inch. You've got the right idea and it works like a charm and is even stiff enough to hold an empty plastic funnel upright on its own.

Bill

The flap doesn't make a seal. Just put a funnel up to it and put in the additive. It will go in through the cracks.

Doesn't your flap have a hole in the center of it? Often I just squirt my additive out of my bottles right into that hole.

psaboic said:

All,

I have a question regarding a problem I have encountered on our 2013 Passat TDI SE. I have wanted to add some Diesel Kleen but the damn silver flap thing in the filler neck will not let me do it. I cannot use a funnel to move the flap either. I even tried to add fuel from a five gallon can, and the nozzle on that will not move the flap either. However using a regular fuel nozzle is no problem.

So what gives? What am I doing wrong or what trick did I miss that has probably been discussed somewhere on the forum to get the flap out of the way. Or did VW design this thing on purpose to keep us from adding an additive or god forbid fuel from a jerry can? I sure hope not because what would you do if you were low on fuel and needed to add some from a can to get to the nearest fuel station? I know that sounds silly, but when you live in the sticks like I do and the nearest diesel pump is 40 miles away, it is something you think about.

Thanks,

Glenn

Click to expand...

This is the hot ticket
http://idparts.com/catalog/advanced...ter&osCsid=rp4p6pmtoaujnsvqv5e9k6qvo6&x=9&y=8

psaboic said:

What am I doing wrong...

Click to expand...

You are obsessing over the flap. You don't need to depress it at all. Just get a small plastic bottle of some sort (I use an 8 oz. one) and slowly pour it right in. It will flow past the "closed" flap.

pparks turned me on to that one a few months ago.

Use a wood dowel and a hammer and smash the tin flap open a few times. It gets agreeable real fast.

We have a gas station nearby that uses an unleaded nozzle on it's diesel pump. It will not open the flap. I use two hands, pull the nozzle back about 3 inches and ram it in.

Otherwise, I add diesel additive all the time, it trickles around the flap.

50pascals said:

Use a wood dowel and a hammer and smash the tin flap open a few times. It gets agreeable real fast.

We have a gas station nearby that uses an unleaded nozzle on it's diesel pump. It will not open the flap. I use two hands, pull the nozzle back about 3 inches and ram it in.

Otherwise, I add diesel additive all the time, it trickles around the flap.

Click to expand...

That seems like a great excuse for VW to deny an HPFP repair.

If it's that anti misfuel thing on your Passat I think it has 3 tabs that have to be pushed at the same time to release the hounds(I mean flapper). I could be wrong. Or just do as others above have stated.

N4TECguy said:

That seems like a great excuse for VW to deny an HPFP repair.

Click to expand...

They better come up with a better excuse than that! Because technically, I can pour gasoline past the flap too. The flap is to prevent idiots from ruining the engine. We are not idiots.

The flap caused my wife to have trouble getting fuel once - that was a bad decision on it's part.

It's still there, and looks the part, it can just be opened much easier than before.

50pascals said:

The flap caused my wife to have trouble getting fuel once - that was a bad decision on it's part.

Click to expand...

A friend at work wife works for VW handling warranty repair claims. She says that people "accidentally" put unleaded into their VW's all of the time. Or at least they used to prior to the misfueling guard being put in place.

I've owned my TDI about 6 months, filled up 16 times according to fuelly and I've only encounted 1 station where i couldn't fill up. (That station had an unleaded nozzle and a high flow truck nozzle). Every other time has been no problem.

I've gone to Meijer and purchased 4 x 4oz plastic bottles with a little flip lid from the travel section. The bottles were $1 a piece. They have ounce markers on the side. I fill the bottle to the top and get nearly 6oz into them (since i'm above the 4oz mark), and these have worked great for putting additives into the car. sometimes I use my funnel and pour the bottle into the funnel...other times I simply flip the top and squeeze the additive into the filler nozzle against the misfueling guard. I just keep the bottles filled in a zip lock bag in my trunk and refill them when they are all empty.

GO buy 000072709 from your local dealer, under $10 and works perfectly with my farm nozzle (double filtered fuel) jeep cans, and transfer pumps.

~ $10 in Amazon (or DAS DEALER),