If you’ve been topping off your tank at the pump consider this your warning. Do not overfill your gas tank.
Houston mechanic Jaime Avila (@boss_shittg) is warning all his viewers: Overfilling your gas tank will damage your vehicle in the long run. And that “extra” fuel isn’t going into your tank.
Avila posted his video yesterday. The warning already has 201,700 views and counting.
Don’t overfill your gas tank
“You know when you’re pumping gas and you overfill the tank?” Avila asks his audience. “This is what actually happens.”
Avila then aims his camera at the undercarriage of a car that’s been jacked up on a hydraulic lift.
“The fuel does not go to the fuel tank,” he warns. “It actually goes to the charcoal canister.”
At this point, Avila’s camera pans to an assembly that has been dismounted from the vehicle. As he picks it up, gasoline begins dripping out a pipe in its side. The fuel and beads of charcoal can be seen in a pan beneath the assembly.
“It messes up the charcoal canister,” he continues. “It clogs up your EVAP lines,” he says as he clears beads of charcoal out of the line.
He concludes, “Technically, it costs you a lot of money to repair.”
What is a charcoal canister?
Most car owners are probably unaware their car even has a “charcoal canister,” much less know what it does.
The charcoal canister is an important component of your vehicle’s car’s emissions controls. Vapors from the vehicle fuel system are ducted to the canister where they are absorbed.
According to Cars.com, “Vapors trapped by the charcoal are released back into the engine through the purge valve and then burned,” cutting down air pollution.
When you overfill your gas tank you run the risk of the canister becoming oversaturated.
It’s not worth it
Furthermore, a damaged charcoal canister is only one of the risks you run when you overfill your gas tank.
Autotrader.com outlines other problems topping off your tank could lead to, including solenoid damage and purge valve failure.
“Overfilling the gas tank can ruin the car’s evaporative emission control system. The EVAP system prevents gasoline fumes from escaping from the tank and fuel lines into the atmosphere.”
The article also notes, “While the EVAP canister is efficient at filtering gasoline vapor, it’s not designed for liquid gasoline coming from an overfilled gas tank.”
Viewers respond
“Well, now I can use this as an excuse to why I can never fill up my tank,” Dubs Up Mendoza (@dubsup_mendoza) joked in response to the video.
Another user similarly responded writing, “I don’t have to worry about filling up $10 at a time bc I can’t afford it.”
Some users were surprised to find out about their emission system.
One viewer commented, “Today years old when I learned about charcoal canisters.”
@boss_shittg #mechanic #snapontools #manlife #matco #bluecollarboys #automotive #jdmcarsoftiktok #fyp #viral ♬ original sound – Jaime avila
Another wrote, “What the heck is a charcoal canister??”
And of course, some just refused to believe Avila.
“My car is 18 years old been fulling extra till it drips out and still running like a champ,” Ellis (@privateducady) wrote.
“I overfill the tanks with gas and nothing happens to them to this day they still run like new,” another viewer added.
The Daily Dot reached out to Avila for further statement.
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