I had that happen with my '07- they had to drop the gas tank to fix it - was like 2 hrs of work.

 

If you still have the standard warranty take advantage of it as long as you can.

 

Hrmnn....

Nope.... it's outside the regular warranty period, and I bought it used anyway. I did get an "EasyCare" extended warranty with it -- but no idea if something like this would possibly be covered by it. Have a feeling they'll consider it "plastic trim" and say it's not?

 

You can probably get to it easier if you drop out the rear inner wheel house splash cover. I haven't really looked to closely at the fit on mine, but I will next time I fill up. Just curious though if the last time you filled it was on a full service pump. Maybe the gas attendant jammed the nozzle hard into it causing it to drop and just didn't say anything?

 

re: full-service?

Nah, where I live, almost all the gas pumps are self-service. Full service is REALLY hard to find, even if you wanted it.

I just put the gas nozzle in like I would any other time. Pretty sure when I did it, I didn't even touch the plastic surrounding the metal pipe. It seems more like when the gas pump kicked off when it was full, the jolt knocked the plastic piece loose. (Like maybe it had some plastic clips on the back that were starting to weaken/fail and that one jolt did it in?)

It's interesting that my Pat is an '07 too, like the person above who had the same problem. Wonder if this was another one of those "weak spots" they corrected silently with later models?

 

I have never seen that wording on a gas cap before. Its probably because UK Spec MOPARS all come with locking caps as standard.

 

Sorry this happened to you, but walking away from a gas pump that is running is not a very responsible habit. At least you just broke your filler neck, rather than roasting your vehicle and the poor folks fueling theirs beside it.

 

TSB, etc.

I looked and sure enough, there *was* a TSB covering this issue on 2007 Patriots. Looks like the fix is by way of a little plastic fastener they hook around one of the screws, to help hold the plastic assembly in place.

I have an appointment scheduled for my dealer to look at this on Saturday. I hope my extended warranty will cover anything over the $100 deductible, if the repair actually costs that much. (The TSB estimates only 2/10th. of an hour as the labor time, but I think they're referring to a Jeep where the plastic part hasn't already broken off and fallen inside like mine has.)

As for walking away from a running gas pump? People do that ALL the time at every gas station I've ever been to. I fail to see what's so irresponsible about that? Irresponsible would be leaving a car running while you're fueling up, which I never do, or smoking while pumping gas, which I don't do either. About the only scenario I can see where you might want to be right there at the pump is if the pump was broken and didn't shut off automatically when the tank was full. That's potentially a problem that could happen ... but then, that doesn't seem any more likely than a pump's trigger mechanism failing randomly and not shutting off when you let go of it? In any case, this part would have broken whether or not I was standing there when the pump kicked off.

 

Sorry if this seemed harsh, and I am indeed sorry that your filler neck broke. I have worked three accidents involving this same behavior; two involved seriously burned people and one fatality, one burned "only" two cars and the gas pump island. Two were caused by nozzles falling from the cars and spewing fuel, one apparently was caused by a nozzle that didn't shut off. Keep in mind that there may be other people close by that are doing dumb things (leaving cars running, talking on cell phones, smoking), not to mention cars passing by. It doesn't take much for gasoline fumes to find an ignition source at the right concentration with air.

Again, I honestly do not mean to offend. I just am not happy about putting out burning people and hauling them to the hospital or morgue when it could have been prevented. Just take this for what it is worth...

 

Nah, no offense taken ....

I was seriously asking, because I really never heard of this being considered much of a "safety issue". You go to service stations all the time where signs are posted warning people not to smoke around the pumps, or to turn the engine off before filling up. Some even tell you to refrain from using your cellphone. But I've *never* seen a station act concerned about people starting to fill up and then running inside to buy something while it fills?

The accidents you mention are, indeed, unfortunate situations that nobody wants to see happen. But it sounds to me like the bottom line is still that they're caused by defective service station equipment. If a gas pump is broken so it doesn't shut off when it detects the tank is full, or when someone lets go of the trigger -- there's a real risk of a fire/explosion at that point, regardless of where the person is standing who started pumping the gas. (If something breaks with the trigger itself, how am I supposed to stop the gas from spewing all over the place, even if I'm standing right there? Seems like in that situation, I'd be *safer* if I was inside the station instead of right by my vehicle, in case it did blow up!)

 

Every self serve station here in PA has a sign that says that you must remain at the pump while fueling. Some have even removed the catch on the pumps so you have to hold them open for them to work. It is dangerous to leave those unattended. I have had many of those not shut off when they should, and luckily I was right there to catch it, although it gets gas on my car and I get pissed.

If the pump does not shut off you have a chance of the gas hitting the tailpipe or something else hot and cause a fire.