Putting gas in the car:Shut off or leave running?

[gn1220]

The other day while getting gas, I left the wagon running with my wife and daughter inside. I paid at the pump with my debit card, and as I started to fuel, a woman at the pump in front of me says "I thought you are supposed to shut your engine off when you put gas in your car." Automatically, I'm pissed. Who does this old battle axe think she is? I said: "Well, if I put the hose under the hood and sprayed the engine, I might have something to be concerned with." Then she says: "Well, I just thought it was dangerous." "I really don't care what you think, besides it's harder on your car to shut it off and start it over and over again than it is to let it run." I said. I don't know why, but this lady really bothered me.

So my question to all of you is: Shut it off or let it run, what do you do?

 

[equalizer442]

i leave it running, hell if im gona wear out my turbo because of the risk of a explosion.

 

[gn1220]

How is the car going to explode from putting gas in the tank? And please don't tell me fumes.

 

[Nick Micale]

Originally posted by gn1220
.., a woman at the pump in front of me says "I thought you are supposed to shut your engine off when you put gas in your car." Automatically, I'm pissed. Who does this old battle axe think she is? I said: .....

So my question to all of you is: Shut it off or let it run, what do you do?

That "old battle axe" may have been someones, caring, sweet mother, or grandmother!

There are lots of stupid laws on the books and this may be one of them. The sign on the pumps here say it is the law that you must turn off the engine when fueling. Why?

Maybe when cars did not have a "Park" position in the auto trans, or before the auto trans period?

Or possibly when they had manual timing levers and were prone to backfiring through their leaky exhaust system?

Or maybe to get the stupid drivers to make sure they take the nozzle out of the filler before they drive away?

OK, maybe I am bored and someone has the REAL answer?

 

[gn1220]

Yes, I know, she probably is someone's mother. I didn't say that to her, as much as I wanted too, because I respect my elders. It just made me mad the way she said it, she was a real smart a** about it.
You have some good points, there. Maybe you're right

 

[TTA197]

I leave the engine running on all my vehicles (including the TTA) when refueling. Less wear and tear on the starter. To each his own but that's way I see it.

 

[Buick From Hell]

Remember the '50's, and spark plugs in the tailpipes? I'm betting more than one teenager caught the back of his '49 chebby on fire that way! Could be at least part of the reason for the "engine off" instructions...

But these days, I'm ALSO betting that if "they" did some research, they might find that leaving the engine running will help keep that pesky static electricity from building up!

 

[equalizer442]

How is the car going to explode from putting gas in the tank? And please don't tell me fumes.

gas fumes are more dangerious then gas imo, it only takes one little static electricy spark to blow you sky high.

 

[turbo buicks]

Re: Re: Putting gas in the car:Shut off or leave running?

Originally posted by Nick Micale
That "old battle axe" may have been someones, caring, sweet mother, or grandmother!

ok then shes someones caring, sweet, old grandbattle axe.

 

[WakkoSS]

Gasoline is not flammable...gas fumes are. Leaving the engine running is dangerous because of possible static electricity. Some say that cell phones have somehow started fires at the pump, though I can't see how.

All said and done, I always shut off the GN, never shut off the police car...and talk on the phone all the time.

no need to be nasty to the lady though...she wasn't rude or anything, just telling you what's Federal law.

 

[SinistrV6]

Way too many sources of ignition available on a car to leave it running. It CAN and DOES happen. Had 4 people burned to death and 1 that lived through the Hell of being on fire here just a few years back. Dumbass truck driver overfilled underground tank at a Texaco in Biloxi. It ran down the street, pooled under some cars at the intersection and "voila!" instant inferno. Granted, that's an extreme case but the fumes catching fire is the point. Alternators and starters are some of the worst offenders for sources of ignition.

Cell phones can cause fires. They are not "intrinsically safe" devices (though there are some models available that are). They present the highest risk while answering them, according to the experts. We recently fired two contract tankermen for repeatedly violating our "no cell phone" rule while loading gasoline and LPG barges on our dock.


Who cares about a starter? Use it till it craps out then buy another one. The risk of fire is small, but real.

 

[TurboJim]

Originally posted by gn1220
How is the car going to explode from putting gas in the tank? And please don't tell me fumes.

You are supposed to shut it off.

How will it explode? There is electricity all over the car. God forbid something arced. Or, even worse (and it happened in my old shop) god forbid your kid one day crawls over the seat and knocks it in gear while refueling, yes, I said this happened in my old shop. Kid pulls it into gear, falls off the seat onto the DS floor, gettring stuck on the gas pedal...car went up over a snow mound in our parking lot. Just because the bitch wanted to leave the heat on in the car for the 10 minutes it takes to refuel.

Just shut the thing off for a couple mins. It aint gonna kill you.

PS: you guys with plastic bed liners using plastic gas cans..in case you didnt know, there have been MANY instances of fire when refueling those cans in the bed. The bed liner and gas can get charged from sliding around. Kinda like walking on the rug in the living room. Anyway, the gas nozzles have a vapor vent in them, that has vapor in it, well, as soon as the grounded gas nozzle touches the gas can, guess what happens? It is very common, and Shell Oil even put out a memo to its dealers about this.

Dont say I do it all the time, because there may be that ONE time that the thing arcs and you get burned, or even wose, your kid or someone at the next pump gets burned because you didnt know. Those using plastic gas cans, please take them out of the bed and put on the ground befroe refueling.

 

[salvageV6]

Always shut the car off.

Looks like we may have a few Darwin award candidates in our midst.

Don't forget to confront idiot smokers too.

 

[ACME RACING]

off

A lady across the street always left it running when paying at the pump , but one day while putting the gas hose back , a guy jumped in her SUV and took off, groceries,dog and all.
So she don't leave it running anymore . That's how some are stolen with kids in the back seat .....take the key with you...

 

[Gary Wells]

FWIW & IMHO:
I always shut off a motor vehicle while refueling.
Maybe she was just worried about your wife and daughter.
You should have been thankful.
Let's see here: A chance, even though a very remote one of something happening to your wife and or duaghter, against the cost of more wear on the stater and turbo.
I don't see how you could ever compare the two.

 

[36IndexGN]

If I am gassing up the saab, I have no choice, seeing as how the ebrake likes to let itself go.

The Buick, honestly if I'm just gassing up usually it stays running. I am to lazy to site in the car to cool the turbo down just for a tank of gas. But if I intend on going in for a twinkie, then I shut it down.

 

[b4black]

Good reading on static electrcity, cell phones and car fires:

http://www.snopes.com/autos/hazards/static.asp
http://www.snopes.com/autos/hazards/gasvapor.asp


Shut the car off and be nice to little ol' ladies trying to help you be safe.

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

Just make sure that when your filling it up, NOT to get back into the car...
this winter when your downfilled coat builds up static electricity against your cloth seats getting in and out of the car

you grab the plastic handle to get out of the car, shut the door with the glass window, then touch the metal fuel handle, THAT becomes the ground and BOOOOOOM!!!!

so dont get back into the car and wait it out-

also, DO NOT fill portable fuel tanks in the back of your pickup truck with a plastic bed liner- you will be another statistic if you make it spark-

 

[Buick From Hell]

Guess there's "risk" in everything. The wife took off the stair railing so she could paint the wall, now I may fall down the stairs & kill myself! (probably happens as often as static car-fires too)

For what it's worth, your starter motor (engine off) and alternator (engine running) are almost as likely to start gas fumes on fire as anything else is. There's a reason they put spark-proof starters & alternators in boats...

 

[gn1220]

You guys make some very good points.
BTW, I wasn't rude to her, if anything, she was rude to me. Also, when I am alone and the car is left unattended, it is shut off. Way to easy for someone to hop in and drive away. The reason I left it running was so that the air could stay on, a little warm that day and my wife has bad allergies.

I would never leave my daughter in a car alone, let alone leave it running and unattended. Had a case here a few years ago where a woman "Just ran inside" and a guy jumped in her Explorer. Ended up dragging her son to death after he tried to get out Remember that Bryan? Out on Noland Road.
Oh yea, Bryan, the Wagon has leather!

Anyway, thanks for the input. I guess it's never to late to learn, or change for that matter. Just seemed to me like another one of those PC, avoid a bogus lawsuit type things. I was wrong. No need to put my family at risk for something so easily avoided.