Do you top off?
 

I had a thought (just the one) about the percentage of people who top off their gas tank vs those who do not. My parents always top off but I always refuse.

So here's a poll to settle my curiosity.

FYI: if you don't know what topping off is; it's when you're filling your car with gas and the pump automatically shuts off with a full tank but you squeeze the nozzle again to get that extra bit of gas in your car.

Depends on the gas. If it's 94, top off! If I gotta get 91 in a pinch, I'll just get enough to get me to where I need to go and to a gas station with 94.

Usually, unless I am going to a drivers event (autoX or back road cruise with friends).

EDIT:
I didn't realize what the real meaning of "topping off" was. I NEVER top off.

Only when gas is really cheap or I have a lot of money hehe

I get OCD about it and need to top off to hit the nearest $.50 mark.

I've always assumed doing so could force fuel into the evap vent tube which is somewhere near the top of the tank. I can't imagine that would be good for the shut valve or the canister.

Full service stations sometimes top off.

Self serve, I never top off but I always shake the gas nozzle furiously to get that last drip of gas in to my tank. :bellyroll:

I am guilty of doing it sometimes... Bad for the charcoal canister though.

Wait, I thought you meant top off as in a full tank of gas. Are you referring to squeezing in more gas even after the nozzle stops?

Nope, no top off, even out here .....;)


humfrz

Is there a benefit to squeezing more in after it automatically stops? I always thought it was full when it auto turns off, and putting more in would be bad... :/

There's a chance you may put fuel into the charcoal canister among other things in the EVAP system when you do this. I've seen it a couple times. That's typically why they advise against doing it. When you fill up, vapor forms in the tank. That extra space you're filling with fluid is also there to give the the fuel vapors space to expand.

I know some people will still say they do this all the time with no problems. However this is how I've been trained from the manufacturers I've worked for in the past so I'm simply just passing on the information.

Never EVER. Some stupid Oregonian gas station attendant broke the float or sensor in the tank on my Fit from topping off. Now the needle reads way off and the car is puffing on fumes by the time it reads 1/4 tank and it dies completely shortly there after.

I know that it was caused by topping off because the needle was always very accurate until the first time my tank got topped off by this lady. It was on that very tank that I experienced running the car dry for the first time, looked down at my gas gauge in confusion as I was stalled out on the side of the road and it was reading barely a needle's width under the 1/4 mark.

I ALWAYS (like clockwork) stop at the click for the sake of consistent MPG calculations so I had never topped the car off before, and it was my first time going to Oregon so I didn't know that all the gas station attendants like to top off the tank in order to make easy change by going to the next whole dollar amount. What is with that? Apparently the moment I cross the border I'm an infant who is incapable of pumping his own gas? :mad0260:

I have since figured out that I need to tell the attendant "fill it only to the click, don't top it off" every time I get gas in Oregon, but ugh... talk about a rude welcome to your state. "Oh hi, welcome to Oregon. Here let me break your gas tank for you!" Definitely gave me a bad first impression of the state. :brokenheart:

Now THAT is a wise move .... :clap:



humfrz