Has Anyone plugged the capless fuel filler?

[EDankievitch]

There is a drain between the first and 2nd flapper and liquid that gets past the first flapper will pour out inside the fender on to the ground. Over fill the tank just a wee bit and you'll find out fast. I have a red plastic plug that the new trucks are shipped with that the dealer tosses away when they make the truck ready for your pick up. It fits sung works well and best of all was free.....

 

[PMcCall]

I have the metal cap from genos and it works great. Other than the plastic cord breaking from the round lug to secure it to the truck, its been a winner.

 

[Dieselnerd]

I have a red plastic plug that the new trucks are shipped with that the dealer tosses away when they make the truck ready for your pick up. It fits sung works well and best of all was free.....

My truck came with a green plastic plug that the dealer did not remove. It has worked fine for me so far. Seals good and is the right color.

 

[Motschman]

There's not enough room for a diesel fill w/cap and DEF to cohabitate behind the fuel door. Instead of having an unsightly large fuel door like the F-Series, I imagine RAM opted to keep the same opening and thus went capless.

Call it blind ambition but I don't see how that's posible for there not to be enough room. I think it's just a marketing thing. My 300 has the same thing but at least that car they had the foresight to put a rubber cap that's attached to the fuel door that covers the fill neck when closed. It locks too. I hate it though if you ever need to put some gas in from a gas can you can't if the neck on the can is not the same diatmeter as the pump as the flap lck upnless the neck is the right width. Plus I'm kindd of intrigued about if you go to a big rig stop and they have the super wide nozzles how do you fill the tank then? My new truck should be here in a few weeks I'm going to measure and try to get a fill neck to fit that has a cap. Wish me luck

 

[Too Tall]

It's all about money, they didn't want to redesign the fuel compartment and door. Same reason they didn't relocate the oil filter to a more user friendly location. Ram won't bother fixing these things till it starts effecting their sales.

 

[SHobbs]

The green cap pictured above works very well, I have one on my truck. It has an O ring to seal it and can be ordered with a magnet in the center.

 

[MattandLana]

OK, this has me intrigued. Is there really a problem here? Other posts on this and other forums have said there are 2 flaps. With all due respect to those who fear contamination, it seems improbable to me that even budget-constrained engineers would build a system that lets dust, water or maliciously-inserted contaminants straight into the tank. I know we all have fears, but think about how the world works. Would any auto maker really sell a car in 2014 with such a glaring defect? Really?

Too Tall I'm not sure what to make of your schematic without labels or closeups. EDankievitch you describe a drain inside the fender. That must be right.

Can anyone post a photo or schematic of the parts and how they interrelate, so we can see what the protection actually is ('cos I bet it ain't zero) and judge how effective it might be.

I will be driving extensively on dry dusty roads. The dust gets everywhere. So I'm keen to assess the defenses. But I bet there are some.

 

[mpaulson]

Well, in my opinion, just seeing some grit and water drops sitting down in the neck on the first flap, then you jamb the fuel nozzle in there dropping the grit and water drops in and past the second flap, then flush them down with the new fuel, there's no way that these are going out the small vent tube, which if I remember right come up from the top of the tank anyway. For a few buck, I'll feel better idiot proofing the issue with a cap. I see water in there every time I wash the truck, and that is before I intentionally open the door and rinse out the dust accumulation in the filler area. I'm sure in 99% of the trucks out there it won't ever amount to enough contamination to ever be known, but why not be on the extreme safe side rather than be wondering? Especially if you like to wash the truck and rinse in there once in a while.

 

[Too Tall]

Put me in the camp of crying chicken little like GSBROCKMAN's cartoon shows. The manual doesn't show any bypass. It shows a vent line to the tank. I've pull the nozzle out just to see and the diesel overflows. It's not diverted to the ground under the truck. (I don't think the EPA would appreciate that). I ordered the cap in my original post. Call me chicken, but I don't want to test that $65 water separator/ 2 micron filter by leaving the tank open. But that's just me, I'm funny that way.

 

[Too Tall]

Notice the diesel fuel sitting on top of the 2nd flapper. Any dirt or water that gets into the fuel compartment will mix with that fuel sitting on the second flapper.
There is no bypass or no engineering marvel to divert water and dirt. It's a **** poor design, regardless of the number of flappers and it's inviting trouble. Water will go to the bottom of the fuel tank but at some point, if you get enough water in the tank, the suction is going to start picking it up.

The billet cap is really heavy and snaps right over the neck and has a tether. Geno sent me the green one free. From the attached PDF it looks like he's sending them out with every order but not sure about that. View attachment 2014_05_30_19_57_38 - Geno fuel cap.pdf

Diesel on top of second flapper

Free Geno Cap

$20 Cap with O ring.

 

[MattandLana]

Thanks for the photos Too Tall, very helpful.

 

[firefighter_2000]

I think there might be a malfunction. The way mine works, if the second flapper/spring ball is disengaged (closed, with the nozzle out) anything on top drains out of the area where the diesel is sitting in the pic. If I slightly pull the nozzle out, it will just dump out on the ground under the truck. Maybe the drain is stopped up or something.
Craig

 

[Too Tall]

It's a brand new truck, No malfunction, there's no overflow on my truck. You can't see it in my photo but there is nothing coming off the filler. With all the overflow protection in various states, I can't see how that would pass EPA requirements. Dumping fuel on the ground?

 

[firefighter_2000]

Yeah, seems like it SHOULDN'T do that, but I know more than one truck that does it. I guess we aren't really supposed to "top off" the tank like we do.
Craig

 

[Too Tall]

There is a vent line but it goes to the tank. I crawled all under that thing looking for an overflow. Maybe some models are different.

 

[jus2shy]

I have an oily mess behind my fuel filler from topping off. Whenever I can see foam and a little bit of diesel, it starts dripping down the inside of my truck. So I always thought there was an overflow there between the two flaps. Wonder if something changed in production, as manufacturers do mid-run updates all the time. (just look at how they secure transmission cooling lines on a 2013 RAM 3500 vs. 2014.

 

[Too Tall]

Could be. Or maybe I'm missing something but I have not found any evidence of an overflow. I'm going to pay more attention next time I refuel.

 

[terb]

I have an oily mess behind my fuel filler from topping off. Whenever I can see foam and a little bit of diesel, it starts dripping down the inside of my truck. So I always thought there was an overflow there between the two flaps. Wonder if something changed in production, as manufacturers do mid-run updates all the time. (just look at how they secure transmission cooling lines on a 2013 RAM 3500 vs. 2014.

My 2014 will run down the inside of the fender if I try to top off.

 

[mpaulson]

I'm pretty sure there is a little 1/4" or so line coming from the top of the tank up to under the filler neck area under the truck that acts as a vent, hence we can plug the filler neck without deflating the tank and if you fill the tanks up and fill it up into the neck to a point where it comes higher than this little vent tube, you get the dribble that you see making the mess under the truck. At least I'm pretty sure I saw this on mine when installing my slip tank y in the line.

 

[Too Tall]

If you use the Geno's billet cap that I posted above, it doesn't actually seal off the filler neck. The neck has a lip on it and once the o ring snaps over the lip, the cap will still allow venting of the filler neck.