gas tank filling problem

I own (or rather the bank owns) a Ford E150 van that has developed a problem filling the gas tank. I can get about 3 or 4 gallons in and the gas nozzle shutoff will activate even though I might be 20 gallons empty. I have to trickle in the gas for the whole 20 or 27 gallons needed to fill.

I did open the gas vent at the rubber hose connection and blow in compressed air; but that didn't improve anything.

Is there a recommended fix for this without lowering the whole gas tank in order to get to the inside end of the filler vent tube?

Welcome to the forum, Toolfrank

Would it be possible that the pumps you use to fill your gas tank are using a vapor recovery system? In such case I've heard the air/vapor pressure can be doing strange things sensitive gas nozzles...

Hello Jeffie,

I live in New York State, and I think that the station pumps here do use a vapor recovery system. The van is a 2004 model and I would think that it is compatible with such a system.

Since the problem happened using the same pumps that had been used before with no problem, I have to think that something changed on my filling tube that makes it impossible to fill more than a very little at a time.

I certainly want to fix this before the cold weather comes back.

Toolfrank, read this (please click) - maybe there's a problem with the ORVR?