99 Intrepid hiccups/stalls when tank full

Last summer, I purchased a '99 Intrepid with 96K miles on it. On the advice of the previous owner (and the decal on the inside of the fuel door), I have consistenly avoided topping off the tank. Despite this precaution, it is consistenly susceptible to running rough and/or stalling when idling down, until I have gone through the first couple of gallons. Once in awhile, the Check Engine light will go on; when I had this checked by the shop, they said it was registering a "too rich" code.

Even after 100K mi. service (belts & plugs, mainly; I'll have to post details when I have the invoice in front of me), it's still doing it. Any possible remedy for this (short of siphoning out 2-3 gallons after filling, to be put back in later)?

Thanks!

Do you have a check engine light on when you fill up? Also, when you fill up, when the fuel pump clicks, do you keep going until you reach an even dollar amount, like $20 instead of 19.86? The reason why I say this is because all these cars are equipped with an evaporative emission system that draws excess fuel vapors from your fuel tank and put them inside a charcoal canister which is later purged inside the engine when it starts it. If you keep on adding excessive fuel after the shut-off from the gas pump, what happens is when the evaporative emissions system goes into affect when you turn your key off, it draws in addition to fuel vapors, it draws liquid fuel and that gets dumped into the charcoal canister. And when purges those fumes/fuel, it purges raw fuel into the intake manifold causing it to stall and/or hiccup; in effect it floods out the engine. Just a few things you can do to make sure that your avoid mix-ups like this, make sure you gas cap is on tight, you stop adding fuel when you hear the first click or shut off from the gas pump, also make sure your seal or gasket on your gas cap is intact. The system develops pressure and a leaking gasket will not allow the system to build up the pressure needed to purge fuel vapors and cause a check engine light.

At first, I was rounding up to the next nickel, but I quit doing that and it hasn't helped. I know about making sure the gas cap is tight (I make sure it clicks). The check engine light has NOT been on immediately before nor immediately after filling; it comes on some time later, and goes off after the tank has been run down a ways. One time I wound up with an accidental overfill due to a malfunctioning pump shutoff.

The only times I can remember it not acting up are (A) one time last month when we had single-digit and subzero temps at the time, and (B) when an overly sensitive pump cut out early (fuel gauge only got up to between 3/4 and 7/8 marks). I'll have to check the cap gasket, as you have suggested.

Any suggestions as to the best way to deal with it when it does happen? (i.e., how to clear up the flooding and make sure it doesn't happen again on the rest of the tank).

Any suggestions as to the best way to deal with it when it does happen? (i.e., how to clear up the flooding and make sure it doesn't happen again on the rest of the tank).

I overfilled my LHS one time and it did that to me too but didn't stall, just hiccuped a lot. I took it out on the highway and floored it through 1st and 2nd gear then let off and it quit doing it.

The best thing you can do is to check all your hoses that are in association with the evap system. Look under your hood for a vacuum hose diagram and look for those hoses associated with the evap system. If they're cracked, broken, etc., replace them. On other cars, you can take the charcoal canister off and pour out any trapped liquid fuel, but unfortunately on these models, the charcoal canister is mounted on top of the fuel tank; which required that you have to drop the tank; so if you don't to create more work for yourself, leave that be for right now. If it continues to act up, go to a shop that can test your evap system and they can perform a leak down test to see if your system is building and holding adaquete pressure and if there's excessive fuel built up in the system.

Well, it took me awhile to get around to it, but I believe the problem has finally been corrected. I took it into the shop when it got a Check Engine light (along with the usual symptoms) a week ago Friday, and all they got at that point were misfire codes. They swapped coils around to see if that was the problem, and reset the CE light, telling me to bring it back in if it came back on. Over the weekend, it did, so I brought it back in on Monday, and they finally got meaningful codes. They wound up replacing the fuel vapor control valve (thought they would have to replace the fuel pump as well, but thankfully I dodged that bullet). I ran it down to about 1/2 tank, then filled it. So far, so good--no hiccups or stalls. All told, it wound up costing about $350 (would have been over $600 if the fuel pump had to be replaced).

where did you go to get your intrepid repaired?