I've just acquired a 2015 Octavia estate, 1.6 diesel, 4x4.
Both times I've tried to fuel up, the pump has clicked constantly, forcing me to keep the trigger just slightly pressed. It now takes ages to put in even a small amount of fuel.
I've done a general web search and found advice ranging from "This happens with lots of cars, you just have to put up with it" all the way to "Such-and-such component is faulty, it needs to be replaced". Components have included a valve and some sort of charcoal filter. Some of the comments were probably referring to petrol engines, so I don't know which are relevant.
However, one thing about this car is that it was very dirty in places. We were told that it had been valeted, but when we picked it up we could see straight away that it had just had a quick surface wipe in places. Much of the inside of the car was still dirty and we found artefacts from the previous owner. When I opened the fuel flap, the whole area inside was thick with dirt and grease. It was still like this the first time I fuelled up, but I cleaned it all out before the next fuelling. There was a lot of crud on and around what looks like a breather tube. I would bet that this may be the cause of the problem.
I got as much as possible away from the surface of the tube, but haven't tried cleaning down inside the tube, in case I make it worse (for instance by dropping something other than fuel into the tank).

Has anyone else had this problem? Are there any recommended ways of safely cleaning the breather tube (if that's what it is)?
Or is it more likely that there is a more serious problem to deal with that might require a garage? There was a warranty with the car, so I might be able to get it done on that.

Or is this just something that we have to put up with? Both times were at the same petrol station, but different pumps. It may be that other stations have different pump nozzles that won't have this problem with this car.

 

The photos show the fuel cap area, before (or rather, during - I forgot to take a photo before I started) and after cleaning.

 

Hi , I had the same problem when I got my Octavia. At the rate diesel was going in I was going to be there all week.

I suddenly realised I had to push, quite firmly the pipe into the filler . It didn't feel right at first, but is just normal now.

MK1 & MK2 Octavias are very poor in this respect, the MK1 was abysmal, its better with fuel with more defoaming agent, I cant recall if the UK or Europe is better (its been a couple of years) but there is a marked difference.

 

You just have to adapt the pump position and the discharge (big hint the trigger is not an on/off switch you can modulate the flow) to get the minimum of back pressure which triggers the cut off, I found the best was the nozzle maybe 2" withdrawn from fully in (phnaar phnaar!) with the tip elevated and about 3/4 flow rate whilst keeping an eye on the volume delivered to know when to slow down.

 

You will either work out what I am saying and find your best way or not, some people, usually the impatient ones are incapapable of the fine control & feedback required & get nowhere or simply can't comprehend the mechanics of what is going on without being to see.

 

The problem was finally resolved 100% with the Yeti, I don't know what the difference is but it fills as it should.

Thanks for the replies. So far we've got one vote for shoving it in hard and one for having it further out.
Looks like it's just the luck of the draw!
At least it doesn't seem that the car has a mechanical fault though. Phew!

Finbar Saunders would love this thread. . . :¬)

The word was firmly. 

Then hold it in as normal, it will click off as it should. 

I'm pretty sure that I'd pushed it in as far as it would go, and it would go no further, so I don't think it was failing to push past any valve or other mechanism in the pipe. But I could have been wrong.
I'd also tried withdrawing it back from that position slightly, to see if that would make a difference.
I'll give it another go, though. . .

Edited 14 September, 20214 yr by Bassthang

20 minutes ago, Bassthang said:

Finbar Saunders would love this thread. . . :¬)

I had to Google that🤣

Try angling the nozzle a bit as well.  We found with our bold Octavia 4x4 that we occasionally had the same problem as you but usually managed to find an angle that worked.  Also the breather as you called it is just a water drain tube that runs to the wheelarch.

Thanks for putting me right on the "breather". That just shows the depth of my technical know-how - doh!

9 hours ago, skomaz said:

Try angling the nozzle a bit as well. 

+1

 

I found that turning the handle 90 degrees anti-clockwise to horizontal helped a lot.

Edited 15 September, 20214 yr by PetrolDave

11 hours ago, Bassthang said:

the pump has clicked constantly

That's the pump overfill cutoff being oversensitive. My best guess would be that you need to only use half flow, and since we're talking about a diesel, use the half flow trigger lock if it's fitted to the pump. Yes it takes longer, but I've been known to get back in the car and wait on very wet days, or pop into the shop and buy new wiper blades!

I had this happening to me once... only to realise my foolishness by using the pump which was actually for trucks. And i was wondering why it was so hard to put in the filler pipe into the tank filling hole. :D