Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Fuel Filling problem

Well if any of you remembers, I used a antenna stainless steel element - instead of the 1/4" nylon tubing to loosen the flapper. Well I turns out as summer heated up, i guess I didn't break it out.
Anyhow instead of getting the TSB applied I'd unstick the flapper with this 56" piece of nylon tubing. It works> I did this because several years ago the dealer said the tank had to be dropped and his de-fueling tank wasn't working and they had trouble with cracking the plastic tanks. Also none or very few tanks were available in Ford's parts network. Never had time to re-schedule or was affaid of more problems than what I had!
So it does have to be due with the flapper sticking, I only have this problem when it's in the 90's or when the inside tank pressure is higher than normal ( what ever that might be), I'm guessing the pressure is pushing the flapper tighter into it's seat????
Paul

Let me try to clear up a few things about recalls and TSB's.

First, about TSB's, since it is not as complex. TSB's are Technical Service Bulletins. TSB's are information about repairing specific problems. They do not provide for any sort of authority to pay for repairs after the vehicle is out of warranty. If your car has a problem that a TSB covers and the car is still in warranty, the information from the TSB can be applied. If the car is out of warranty, payment for the repair would be customer responsibility.

Recalls are much more complex. Ford now calls them Field Service Actions, ore FSE's. The middle letter of the recall tells the general nature of the recall. XXEXX, an E recall, is an emissions recall. Emissions recalls are made to correct a problem that may cause higher than permitted emissions. Emission recalls are due to government mandates. An E recall never expires and is cleared when the recall is performed.

XXSXX recalls are safety recalls. S recalls are also done due to government mandates. S recalls also never expire and is cleared when the recall is performed.

XXMXX recalls are not truly recalls. They are Owner Notification Programs. ONP's are essentually an extension of warranty provided by Ford Motor Company for specific problems. An example of an M program is the head gaskets on some 3.8 V6 Tauruses and Mustangs. Anothe example would be Firestone tires on Explorers. M programs usually have time and or milage limits.

There are a few other less used catagories, namely B (body), I (information), T (emissions information stickers and the like). All of these are in the ONP catagory rather than the government mandated catagory.

I hope this helps.

So, once again, is this fuel flapper replacement something us weekend warriors could do with a little time and effort or does it have to be put on a lift and require special Ford tools? I figure if the dealer is charging $400 there has to be more to it than removing the exhaust and dropping the fuel tank.

Well, IIRC the book rate for this fix is 3 or 4 hours (trying to remember back to 1997 when I had it done). Assume Ford underrated the rate by 25% (to screw the dealers and save $$$ on paying warranty work). The $400 doesn't seem so unreasonable any more. (What does your local Ford dealer charge?)

I do know that under pressure (from me), a Ford dealer did the work on my car between 9 AM and 1 PM on a Saturday (5 hours).

By looking at the Service Manual, removal of the tank and filler pipe doesn't call for anything special in the way of tools. Either drain the tank or run the fuel as close to E as you dare.