99 SI - stalls and won't restart for 5 minutes after filling gas tank
 

After filling up with a fresh tank of gas the car will stall and refuse to start while cranking. Once the car sits for about 5 minutes it will restart and drive fine. This has happened two consecutive times now. The first time the automatic shut off on the pump did not stop and the tank started to overflow.

Background:
Vehicle has ~130K on the chassis. Previous owner claims to have the engine rebuilt twice at a reputable shop (due to over revving). Last rebuild was at ~75K. Receipts have been provided for the rebuild.

The car was purchased with 100K miles on it and has run almost flawlessly since purchase. The car has a skunk2 TB and intake manifold as well as a DC Sports header. Spark plugs, coil, wires, rotor, cap, and O2 have been changed within the past 3K miles (due to regular maintenance) prior to the problem occurring. IAC motor was replaced due to a high idle condition within the past 3K miles. Overall the car is pretty well maintained.

Prior to the incident at the gas station the car has stalled twice (during the warm up cycle) and needed to sit before restarting. When the car stalls it is very obvious that it is running rich.

Currently there are no CELs being displayed, but I have a suspicion that the computer may not be checking emissions related issues. The reason why I say this is that the CEL will come on for the O2 below threshold (cat is removed) when the battery is pulled and reinstalled. Once reset with a scan tool though, it will not come back on until the battery cables are disconnected again.

Any help or ideas are appreciated. It seems like the culprit may be the ORVR (or something related to the carbon canister) but without having a CEL on I am hesitant to start ripping into the car on whim.

Regards,
Josh

Re: 99 SI refuel problems
 

The next time the engine stalls and won't start:

1) Turn the key to ON(II), and listen for whether the fuel pump in the gas tank primes for 2 seconds and for whether the CEL turns on and then off after 2 seconds.

2) Check for spark at the plugs. Click the Spark link in my signature.

Re: 99 SI - stalls and won't restart for 5 minutes after filling gas tank
 

Since the original post the car has stalled two more times. The only similarity I can find seems to be that the car only stalls while warning up (about 130 degrees). When the car stalls i have to wait about give minutes then it will restart with no other issues. The car has not stalled more than once pet driving cycle and only stalls when it has to go through a full warm up cycle.

There is still no CEL. I will be refueling tonight. When I refuel I am going to fill up worth a half rank only. If the car starts normally i will disconnect the battery to reset the ECU and finish filling up.

Regards
Josh

Re: 99 SI - stalls and won't restart for 5 minutes after filling gas tank
 

Seriously, the car isn't going to tell you what is wrong with it. You need to do the tests in post #2.

Re: 99 SI - stalls and won't restart for 5 minutes after filling gas tank
 

stuck open evap purge check valve

Re: 99 SI - stalls and won't restart for 5 minutes after filling gas tank
 

So after a few days the problems are coming back. There is spark and the fuel pump is priming. We have been able to avoid problems at the gas station by not filling up all the way. We usually fill up with about 10.5 gallons and have been stopping the pump at 10 now. The problem seems to happen more if the car sits for an extended period of time (over 24 hours).

The problem also seems to occur only during warm up. It seems to happen when the car switches from the warm up cycle to the closed loop.

Re: 99 SI - stalls and won't restart for 5 minutes after filling gas tank
 

Check whether unplugging the O2 sensor eliminates the problem.