A free laugh at my expense(Oil Spill Story)

[billman]

Let me preface this by saying that it was not very funny when it was happening. I have an 02 Ex with the 40 gal. tank and filler mounted in the door behind the driver side.

I figured out the hard way what the vent is for. I filled the tank in the garage last night and backed it out in the driveway to warm it up this morning. Well after about 10-15 min in the driveway (driveway has a slight pitch to it) there was oil flowing out of my rear door on to the driveway. My best guess is this: vent ball stuck, air pocket at front of tank, oil heating and expanding, no where to go but out and the fuel filler cap was the first to allow the expansion.

So I did this: Quickly turned the Ex around so the nose was pitchted down and the air pocket moved to the back, opened the rear driverside door and braced for the worst, opened the cap, took a small oil bath then "BURP" out comes the air pocket and all that pressure. This is my first oil cleanup in the truck. Most of the stuff hit the plastic and outside. I'm more pissed at myself for filling the tank all the way. Looks like something else to look at when I drop the tank when warmer weather arrives.

All said and done it was between 1-2 Gal. This may not seem like much but when it is hapening it is alot.

Has anyone with the Ex tank have the breather fail?? I know this is a better question for the Ex forum but I posted in General so that you can all get a chuckle. Sorry: No youtube video to attach.

[lancaster,pa]

billman,
Bummer!! Feel bad you had to go through all that. The post is appreciated and may help someone else avoid a mess. - Patrick

[skyskijason]

1-2 gallons can make quite a mess - especially so close to the pristine interior of an Excursion. Thanks for sharing. Really, we are laughing WITH you!

I fill our Ex to the brim almost every time, usually no issue. Until.... the wife drives kids to bus stop (maybe 4 miles) one morning and sends me a pix msg of a small VO spill just behind drivers rear tire. Short story long, she purged when she got there (prolly only switched over for a quart of VO) and there was no room for it in VO tank.

I routed my VO tank vent line up to as high above factory fuel filler and back down after first full-tank/parked up hill experience - solved that little problem (so far).

[Hooter]

HA HA HA...

Hot oil does expand, and I learned that the hard way during filtering. I filled the drum to the very top with cold oil. Turned on the heat and walked away. Came back to find the floor covered in oil. I never measured it though, and it gets me thinking, does anyone know how much a gallon of cold oil will expand to?

[2000XLIFTED]

Ya, I have overfilled my tank probably 5 times now. Its great when it shoots out the fill down the side, then on the running board. I have extended my vent over and up about 1 foot. The filter is now directly above the differential but still get drips when full.

[Marv]

Wow...that sucks man...but, glad to hear you got it under control before it made a REALLY big mess!

[billman]

Judging from the pressure of the oil comming out and the "Burp" when i turned the Ex around, I am guessing I would have sprayed another gallon or 2 before the pressure let off. The problem for me is when I got under the Ex to see if any oil climbed up the breather tube there was nothing. I am guessing the breather is not functioning or I would not have had this problem. Has anyone had the breather stop working or stick??? Any way to fix this?

I guess it could have been worse and blown a hose off (some pretty tight spaces to reattach a hose clamp), or split/bulge the tank (that would probably have to be alot of pressure).

[Jack_Toepfer]

billman... blow into that hose... and then suck through it. That will tell you if it is functioning or not.

I can't imagine 2 gallons in the interior... that would suck.

[billman]

More like only about 12 oz. in the truck and most of that hit metal and plastic parts. leather seats were easy to wipe off. In the spring I will give the carpet a good scrub and wet vac with dawn and hot water. The majority of the oil ran down the door jam and on to the running board before finding its way to the driveway. I was snowblowing the driveway at the time so the oil mixed with the snow to make a greasy snowkone that I was able to shovel up and toss off the driveway. What nature does not take care of, I will wash down with some purple power in the spring. Like I said before, It could have been alot worse.

[Fordnut74]

Wow! I'm sorry that had to happen. At least the filler cap is on the outside of the doorseal, so if the tank overflows like that it won't get inside. Well, until you open the cap! Also, If you are able to fill your tank without problems, then the vent is working. If the vent wasn't working, the only place for the air to go when filling the tand would be to gurgle right back out the filler neck. I have also had a few spill stories with my own Ex. I am used to how quickly my pumping station pumps and can usually just put the hose in the fill port and lock it on the second notch without issue. So I did this same procedure right after processing some oil, and it was still warm. Didn't think about the really cold stuff in the hose. The hot stuff going through the pump started forcing the cold stuff through faster than it would normally. So after a few seconds that I had turned away, I look back to see Thick cold grease blurping out of the fill spout all over the door, back of the front seat, ground, etc. looked kind of like a vertical lava Fountain. . Not too much on the inside though.

Just a hint, I always watch the fuel level gage when filling and stop once it reaches full on the gage. The newer style tank is designed in such a way that there should be an air pocket left in the tank so that you can't overfill it. But once hills and angles are involved, all bets are off!

[billman]

Jason,
I did notice that when i tried to fill the tank with cold oil i couldn't. I had to heat the oil in my centrifuge barrell and pump it in slowly so that there was always a gap of air to allow for good flow. The cold oil was too thick to give me the air exchange that I needed. I'm not exactly sure how the breather works, but if it has a ball in it, could that be stuck? Is there a way to break it loose? If I get dirty and pull the hose down on the breather, will it do me any good to try to pour diesel in there or kero? I do plan to drop the tank when the warm weather comes but if there is a quick fix to try I am all ears.
thanks