2013 Fusion - Fuel Tank Filling Issues?

[txtenor]

My last 3 fill-ups continue to show the same pattern:

 

3/3/13 -- Had driven 252.8 miles & used 11.89 gallons (at 15 miles to empty). Stopped on first click due to being in a hurry... pumped 11.339 gallons.

3/9/13 -- Had driven 235.9 miles & used 11.34 gallons (at 9 miles to empty). Did a very slow fill with several additional clicks (seemed like gas was about to overflow from tank)... pumped 12.608 gallons.

3/15/13 -- Had driven 256.3 miles & used 12.16 gallons (at 13 miles to empty). Normal fill with three top-off clicks (again sounded like gas was right at the top of the tank)... pumped 12.662 gallons.

 

I guess no one who has opened a ticket with a dealer has heard anything yet???

 

Your experience mirrors my own. Most I have ever gotten into the car is 12.9 gallons. The fuel used is consistent with the fill-up amount and the car reads at or near empty when I fill-up.

 

Not being willing to drive the car completely out of gas, I now have it at the dealership to start the process of investigating and troubleshooting the issue. I will keep folks posted as I learn more. There is something on the Hotline about the issue, so I know Ford is aware of it outside of local dealers having to figure it out on their own. Fingers crossed.

[FusionNewbie]

Just did my second fill up at 16 DTE - got 13.34 gallons in using the 3 click method. Got 13.35 in last time at 10 DTE last time so at least it's consistent...

[cranbers]

Your experience mirrors my own. Most I have ever gotten into the car is 12.9 gallons. The fuel used is consistent with the fill-up amount and the car reads at or near empty when I fill-up.

 

Not being willing to drive the car completely out of gas, I now have it at the dealership to start the process of investigating and troubleshooting the issue. I will keep folks posted as I learn more. There is something on the Hotline about the issue, so I know Ford is aware of it outside of local dealers having to figure it out on their own. Fingers crossed.

What do you mean exactly by "There is something on the hotline"... ? is there literally a phone number saying they know something is wrong or did you mean in general you know they know something is wrong?

[FusionDiffusion]

What do you mean exactly by "There is something on the hotline"... ?

 

Probably referring to the Ford Technical Hotline Support that the dealer service techs call when they're stumped. They can get help directly from the engineers at Ford to solve complex and unusual problems.

[txtenor]

What do you mean exactly by "There is something on the hotline"... ? is there literally a phone number saying they know something is wrong or did you mean in general you know they know something is wrong?

 

FusionDiffusion answered the question for me...

 

Probably referring to the Ford Technical Hotline Support that the dealer service techs call when they're stumped. They can get help directly from the engineers at Ford to solve complex and unusual problems.

 

Took the car in today at 3 miles DTE. Went with the tech to fill the car up while he had his computer connected to the car. Said it showed 10% fuel in the tank (so, about 1.5 gallons of a 16.5 gallon tank). I filled it up and it shut off at 12.6 gallons on the first click. He said the computer showed the tank at 90% full and asked me to pull the nozzle out slightly and try again. This took me into uncharted territory at 13.4 gallons. We waited a minute and tried again...this time we got to 13.8. At this point the computer said 98% full. He asked that I keep trying which I did...each time with the nozzle slightly pulled out from the car. (If I pushed it all the way in, it would click off immediately). After about 7 more clicks we ended up getting 15 gallons into the car. The whole process took about 20-30 minutes...much longer than I ever plan to spend filling my car. At the point we stopped, the computer still said 98% full

 

He then put the car up on the rack and did some more investigating...he will be updating the hotline with the information he gleaned from my car today and said several times that he does think it is an engineering issue. He confirmed that the venting system was working properly in terms of the back-pressure in the system during the fill and before and after which also suggests that the issue is a design issue internal to the tank.

 

The positive is that I have a full tank of gas for the first time since owning the car. The downside is how long it will take me to get the car full going forward until they can get a response from Ford. He was leaning towards taking the action of replacing the tank, but was concerned that he would get another tank with the same issue since there is no clearly identified way of knowing which thanks have the problem.

 

Additionally, we were able to confirm that the fuel gauge was reading correctly for the amount of fuel left in the car.

 

What this all means to you folks is that when you take your cars in, you can tell your technicians that there is an entry in the Hotline system for a problem very much like what you are dealing with. My technician was able to find 3 other Hotline entries that he was using as reference.

[FusionDiffusion]

10% remaining is the traditional calibration point for 0 DTE, so good to know that's still the case. Fuel gauge probably doesn't register above 98% so that's understood by others as normal behavior (fuel gauges can't measure level changes when the tank is almost empty or almost full). Also very good that he was monitoring the fuel tank pressure to confirm the tank was venting properly as it was being filled. Sounds like you got a good tech.

 

What this all means to you folks is that when you take your cars in, you can tell your technicians that there is an entry in the Hotline system for a problem very much like what you are dealing with. My technician was able to find 3 other Hotline entries that he was using as reference.

 

Only three other entries? Based on how many people have been to the dealer for this problem I feel there should be more than three! If you guys take in your cars make sure your dealer is making an entry in the hotline system so there's a record! It sounds like calling customer support isn't getting it done.

[FusionNewbie]

FusionDiffusion answered the question for me...

 

 

Took the car in today at 3 miles DTE. Went with the tech to fill the car up while he had his computer connected to the car. Said it showed 10% fuel in the tank (so, about 1.5 gallons of a 16.5 gallon tank). I filled it up and it shut off at 12.6 gallons on the first click. He said the computer showed the tank at 90% full and asked me to pull the nozzle out slightly and try again. This took me into uncharted territory at 13.4 gallons. We waited a minute and tried again...this time we got to 13.8. At this point the computer said 98% full. He asked that I keep trying which I did...each time with the nozzle slightly pulled out from the car. (If I pushed it all the way in, it would click off immediately). After about 7 more clicks we ended up getting 15 gallons into the car. The whole process took about 20-30 minutes...much longer than I ever plan to spend filling my car. At the point we stopped, the computer still said 98% full

 

He then put the car up on the rack and did some more investigating...he will be updating the hotline with the information he gleaned from my car today and said several times that he does think it is an engineering issue. He confirmed that the venting system was working properly in terms of the back-pressure in the system during the fill and before and after which also suggests that the issue is a design issue internal to the tank.

 

The positive is that I have a full tank of gas for the first time since owning the car. The downside is how long it will take me to get the car full going forward until they can get a response from Ford. He was leaning towards taking the action of replacing the tank, but was concerned that he would get another tank with the same issue since there is no clearly identified way of knowing which thanks have the problem.

 

Additionally, we were able to confirm that the fuel gauge was reading correctly for the amount of fuel left in the car.

 

What this all means to you folks is that when you take your cars in, you can tell your technicians that there is an entry in the Hotline system for a problem very much like what you are dealing with. My technician was able to find 3 other Hotline entries that he was using as reference.

Great run down txtenor - thank you for dedicating your time to this issue. It will probably end up helping more people than you realize.

[daciresi]

Yes, thanks txtenor! That's great info. I was finally able to confirm today that I don't have a 13.5-gallon tank...LOL. Ran it down to 0 DTE and ooooh so painfully managed to squeeze in 13.793 gallons (with the initial "full" click off at 12.6 gallons). Most ever, but still about a gallon or so short of expected capacity.

[jayyvee]

FusionDiffusion answered the question for me...

 

 

Took the car in today at 3 miles DTE. Went with the tech to fill the car up while he had his computer connected to the car. Said it showed 10% fuel in the tank (so, about 1.5 gallons of a 16.5 gallon tank). I filled it up and it shut off at 12.6 gallons on the first click. He said the computer showed the tank at 90% full and asked me to pull the nozzle out slightly and try again. This took me into uncharted territory at 13.4 gallons. We waited a minute and tried again...this time we got to 13.8. At this point the computer said 98% full. He asked that I keep trying which I did...each time with the nozzle slightly pulled out from the car. (If I pushed it all the way in, it would click off immediately). After about 7 more clicks we ended up getting 15 gallons into the car. The whole process took about 20-30 minutes...much longer than I ever plan to spend filling my car. At the point we stopped, the computer still said 98% full

 

He then put the car up on the rack and did some more investigating...he will be updating the hotline with the information he gleaned from my car today and said several times that he does think it is an engineering issue. He confirmed that the venting system was working properly in terms of the back-pressure in the system during the fill and before and after which also suggests that the issue is a design issue internal to the tank.

 

The positive is that I have a full tank of gas for the first time since owning the car. The downside is how long it will take me to get the car full going forward until they can get a response from Ford. He was leaning towards taking the action of replacing the tank, but was concerned that he would get another tank with the same issue since there is no clearly identified way of knowing which thanks have the problem.

 

Additionally, we were able to confirm that the fuel gauge was reading correctly for the amount of fuel left in the car.

 

What this all means to you folks is that when you take your cars in, you can tell your technicians that there is an entry in the Hotline system for a problem very much like what you are dealing with. My technician was able to find 3 other Hotline entries that he was using as reference.

 

As has been said - high 5 for keeping us updated on your side. I was awaiting a follow-up day to get my car to my dealer, this info helps arm me before I go in!

[David8753]

I have the SAME problem with my Fusion. Gas guage keeps going down...I filled it up last week, drove it 60 miles and its ALREADY on half tank.

I took it into the dealership on Santa Monica, and they basically told me that I am an idiot and there is nothing wrong with the car and that i need to "get used to it"

I turned to the guy and said "So you are telling me that this car has a range of 120 miles and <5 MPG?"
He said "I'm not saying that, i'm saying there is nothing wrong with your car"

I have never been so mad in my WHOLE life. IDK what to do.
I'm calling Ford tommorrow.
This is SUCH a mess.

NEVER should have bought an American car

[akirby]

NEVER should have bought an American car a car from such an idiot dealership.

 

FTFY

[iamweasel]

Someone in an earlier post asked if anyone had truly used 16-ish gallons on one tank before. Well today I present the proof. Check out the attached pics, as you'll see I used 16.01 gallons on one tank (as shown in the car's gauge) and pumped in 16.20 gallons at the pump.

 

I ran the car 33 miles past the time it said zero miles to empty. The pump initially stopped at 14.43 gallons but then a handful of clicks later (while pumping VERY slow) I stopped at 16.20 gallons.

[puppybone69]

I found this thread somewhat accidentally, trying to figure out if I have a problem with my car or not. Now I'm gonna have to monitor it a bit more closely. I have every receipt for every fillup, minus the first one when the salesman went with me to give me my first full tank of gas. I usually fill up at half a tank, but on a few trips I filled up at a quarter tank. As far as I can tell, I have a 16.5 gallon tank, and each quarter tank increment represents 4 gallons. I'll have to check my receipts to be sure, but as I recall my half tank fillups put in about 8 gallons and my quarter tank fillups put in about 12 gallons, so I think it's pretty safe to assume that letting it go all the way down to E would result in a 16 gallon fillup. I know for sure on a recent fillup while traveling, my car showed 120 miles to E and a quarter tank remaining, and I'm getting about 30mpg everywhere I go, city and/or highway, so that reading supports my belief that everything is as it should be expected. By the way, that particular fillup showed 500 miles to E after refueling! Anyhow, the reason why I'm wondering if my car has a problem or not now is my last couple of fillups. My guage always goes to F after I fill it up, but the last couple of times, it moved off of F almost immediately, and continued to move much further away from F than it should have, given the very short distance traveled. Interestingly, I never noticed this happening until after one fillup at which I didn't fill it all the way up to F, as I was just using up the remainder of a gas card at that time. So I wonder if any of these issues have something to do with our fillup habits? My car can only be filled up slowly, and that has always been the case. I wouldn't say it's unusually slow to fill it up though, it just clicks off if I try to fill it up fast. Also, I've never even filled it up to 2 clicks before, I just top it off to an even dollar amount after the first click, and off I go with my gauge all the way up to F, merrily on my way. My car's build date is 11-30-12 and it's an SE 2.0 with no MyFord touch. I'll go through all my receipts and report what I find, if it helps any. I still have no complaints though. After 3 months and 3000 miles on only $300 worth of gas, I'm just thrilled to have a new economical car!

[puppybone69]

OK, I checked all my receipts, and filling up at roughly half tank intervals I've been putting in 6-8 gallons, at roughly quarter tank intervals I've been putting in 10-12 gallons, so I'm pretty sure that I'm getting my full 16.5 gallon capacity without any problems. Also, for those of you not getting the gas mileage that you should be getting, perhaps you should try filling up before E and calculate it that way. The worst mileage I got was about 20mpg, waiting till a quarter tank to fill up, and the best mileage I got was about 40mpg, filling up after using only a quarter tank, so it seems the longer you wait to fill up the worse your mileage is gonna get. Filling up at half tank intervals produces fairly consistent 30mpg results for me, so I don't see why it would be any different for anyone else driving a 2.0 unless you only know two speeds, floor the gas and floor the brakes. Otherwise, you should get roughly what the car is rated at, or better. Mine is rated at 22/33/26, and I'm generally getting 24/35/28 at best and 20/31/24 at worst, so if that's not the case for you, either your car has a serious problem, or your driving and/or refueling habits do. I believe those of you having problems are indeed having real problems though, which definitely affects your mileage. As for what's causing them, I have no idea, but apparently 11-30-12 (a Friday) was a good day for Deep Impact Blue 2.0 SE's with moonroofs!

[puppybone69]

P.S.: If you're waiting till E to fill up, and you're not putting in 14-16 gallons when you do, I'd definitely be raising hell! At some point, I'll wait till E to fill up to verify this for you, but so far from what I can tell, this should always be the case, if you don't have a problem with your car!

[cranbers]

OK, I checked all my receipts, and filling up at roughly half tank intervals I've been putting in 6-8 gallons, at roughly quarter tank intervals I've been putting in 10-12 gallons, so I'm pretty sure that I'm getting my full 16.5 gallon capacity without any problems. Also, for those of you not getting the gas mileage that you should be getting, perhaps you should try filling up before E and calculate it that way. The worst mileage I got was about 20mpg, waiting till a quarter tank to fill up, and the best mileage I got was about 40mpg, filling up after using only a quarter tank, so it seems the longer you wait to fill up the worse your mileage is gonna get. Filling up at half tank intervals produces fairly consistent 30mpg results for me, so I don't see why it would be any different for anyone else driving a 2.0 unless you only know two speeds, floor the gas and floor the brakes. Otherwise, you should get roughly what the car is rated at, or better. Mine is rated at 22/33/26, and I'm generally getting 24/35/28 at best and 20/31/24 at worst, so if that's not the case for you, either your car has a serious problem, or your driving and/or refueling habits do. I believe those of you having problems are indeed having real problems though, which definitely affects your mileage. As for what's causing them, I have no idea, but apparently 11-30-12 (a Friday) was a good day for Deep Impact Blue 2.0 SE's with moonroofs!

 

I can honestly say i've never met someone that fills up their tank when its half empty, unless of course your going on a very long trip.

 

Why don't you run the tank down until it gets to 5 miles distance to empty. Then quote us your miles per tank, gallons used on the trip computer, then how many gallons are you able to put in when you fill up. What the concern here is, how much usable fuel can you get from full to empty. Average is 12.5 to 13.5 gallons per tank on a 16.5 gallon tank. Its unknown at this point of its the gauge quotes it as being empty when its not, or the tank isn't able to accept its full amount due to some sort of capacity issue.

[jayyvee]

I have worked out essentially that the dang car has decided it has 3.5 gallons as a reserve.. After using Fuellog on my phone the last few times I've refueled and compared to the car's #'s on actual gas used, vs actual gas put in, vs what it says 'Left to E' vs the actual miles I get on the 13 or so gallons the car lets me replace...

 

It's got a monster reserve it would seem. Does not make sense to me for it to be so 'big' and the way it reports it's fuel consumption vs what it thinks is in the tank vs what it tells you you have left, is why so many of us are griping about it (me too), methinks... I'm getting close to 300 miles a 'tank' on my 13 or so gallon fill-ups before 'E' is shown.. The car continues to say when full '351' or '357' miles to E yet I only get around 300... The fact that I only get about 300 miles out of that potential '351' or '357' or whatnot before it says I am on 'E', tells me I've got 50+ miles worth of fuel that I can get at if I want to run past E, but the car will scream bloody murder about that.. Basically that's also what Fuellog tells me; the average MPG I am getting that the car reports, matches darn near exact to what Fuellog tells me when I enter in the numbers. It all adds up - the car treats 3.5 gallons as reserve.. WTF.

 

The car (mine at least) just will not get into that reserve 3+ gal, without first warning that it's Empty.. The thing that sealed this for me was yesterday; I ran the car 2 miles past E, refueled and put in the most it's let me yet without repumping - 13.44 gallons. In the past it's choked at just short of 13 gallons - with about 10-13 miles 'Left to E' showing. That extra half gallon I pumped this time, equates to the extra 12-13 miles I drove before refueling again this time.

 

This also seems like something that could be fixed with software updates to change the reporting.. I mean really, 3.5 gal 'reserve'? Honestly I don't care if it has a 'reserve' just give me actual real world numbers, and when it says '1 mile to E' I really want it to mean that. Guess I will just get used to running 'past' E to get the full distance out of the car before refueling - as I'd planned to do when I bought a car with a 16.5 gal tank. I realize most modern cars do run with 1 gal reserve so that the fuel pump is never 'dry' but 3.5 gal is a bit more than that, unless the dang fuel tank is flat, the length of the car, and 6 inches high?

 

Still going to monitor my gas #'s, but think I solved it for me (Some of you had other issues tho that sounded different - or maybe they 'are' the same, hope this helps someone).

Edited April 4, 2013 by jayyvee

[hermans]

Not everyone is having the problem that you have. My yellow light comes on and I drive about 20 miles further and can put 12.5 gals. in the tank.

Edited April 4, 2013 by hermans

[jayyvee]

Yep, not all cars are experiencing the same thing. Since it relates to all these fill-up issues though especially for folks bouncing into that 13 gal limit even when right near 'E', it's worth note for someone coming into it and getting worried about potential gas tank issues - experiences will vary as to what the issue is. (Tank vs just not expecting a 3.5gal reserve vs actual gauge issues).

 

I really think most of this will work out to some software updates from their (Ford) various TSB's on this, but will everyone 'get' that update from their dealer unless they ask or take their car in after reporting said issue, is another thing.

[jinx8402]

I posted this over on another forum, but thought I'd share it here as well:

 

I just want to add another observation of mine, that leads me to believe my issue is only a calculation of the reserve issue (some may have an actual fuel tank issue, I'm not debating that).

Today, my yellow low fuel light did not come on until I was 10 miles to empy (about 13 gallons used). From experience, cars will usually give this warning at 50 miles to empty. I have been averaging only 20 MPG, as I drive almost all city. If we figure that the light should come on when you have 50 miles to go, that would have put me 13 gallons used + 2.5 gallons left usable (10 DTE showing plus what would have been 2 more gallons at my current 20 MPG) + 1 gallon of what should be the "true" reserve.

I pulled into the gas station at 1 mile to empty, and my red light never came on, at all. To me, this is telling me the computer knows there is still plenty usable fuel left, it is how Ford is calculating and displaying the amount left. It is also why plenty of people have been able to drive an additional 40 miles after hitting empty. When I did fill up, the screen showed I used 13.6 gallons, and I was able to get in 14.

Again, not downplaying those that seem to have a legitimate tank issue. This is what I just noticed today.

[Cuppycake21]

I took my fusion in today and told them about the gas tank problem. They looked at me as if i was crazy and a "stupid girl who knows nothing about cars" Really made me mad! They "checked" it out but quickly dismissed it. Ford said since my car is new (830 miles) the car is still breaking in and all of my mpg estimates don't matter. When i fill up my take it says 250 miles to e.. 250 MILES TO E ON A FULL TAKE OF GAS?? My old fusion would say about 410 miles on a full tank. Something is wrong somewhere. Not sure if its the tank or just the way its being calculated. Come on 4 gallons of a reserve tank? That doesn't seem normal. They also told me that was normal. Ive had my Fusion about 3 weeks and filled up 6 times!! Besides all this I love my car!

[Titanium_2013]

I have roughly 900 miles on my car.. I have filled it up three times now not including the full tank that the car came with... So in total 900 miles, 4 fill ups.. The first two times I filled up my Titanium, it read about 60 miles to empty, the car got 13 gallons for a total of about 45$. Yesterday was the first day that I took the car to about 6 miles to empty. The pump shut off at about 12-13 gallons and I took it all the way to 15.5 gallons. The car used to read 335 miles to empty, but yesterdays pump got me to 410 miles to empty. This is all on Premium gas.

 

The only thing I have noticed is that the gas gauge goes down very quickly.. I mean very quickly. I know the car is still learning us, but my wife gets on my about my driving so I let her drive. We took a road trip from Orlando to Jacksonville over the weekend, of course my wife drove because she is a very good driver and never punches the pedal at all.. At her best, we were able to get 26 Avg MPG. both ways.. I have tried my hardest and driving 90% highway everyday to and from work, we can't get over 25mpg avg. This car doesn't seem to be producing the numbers that it estimated, and the tank damn sure doesn't seem to be getting as far on a full tank as it should.. 900 miles, 4 fill ups!! C'MON.. I will go broke in a hurry with this thing.

[RUTBAY]

I have observed the fuel tank issue on my car as well. I check this thread once a week. I let the dealer know of the problem and let them know that I will bring it in when I get some time.

[kfrance16]

I saw in the thread that there are hotline notifications with Ford (sorry I don't know their reporting process). I called my dealership and he said he didn't see anything in the system. Does anyone know of how/what this issue would be specifically listed as so that they can find it?

Definitely great posts, I thought I was crazy until I found this!

[FastByte22]

Well, I just return from the dealer regarding this problem. If I drive my 2013 Fusion SE 1.6 EcoBoost until 0 miles to empty a fill up takes 13.1 gallons. The tech called Ford and their feedback was that this is normal. Also, the fuel gauge comes off full extremely fast. Obviously it's not full. So I spent 30k for a car with a 300 mile city driving range which all my driving is.

 

The tech at the dealer called Ford and I actually received a typewritten response which is copied below verbatim. However, I'm not buying it. Not sure what my steps should be. Ford needs to recognize the problem or design failure and fix it.

 

Quoted text from Ford follows:

 

The low fuel warning message on the 2013 Ford Fusion is based on fuel level and Distance to Empty (DTE). Referring to the Message Center Description and Operation in section 413-01 of the WSM, the low fuel warning is turned on when the fuel level reaches 1/16 tank. When a MyKey user is operating the vehicle, the low fuel waning will turn when the fuel level reaches 1/8 of a tank. Verify that the customer is using an administrator key and not a MyKey.

 

The Distance to Empty (DTE) reading is calculated based on two inputs; the current fuel level in the tank (as indicated by the fuel gauge), and the Running Average Fuel Economy (RAFE). The RAFE is a calculation of the average fuel economy of the vehicle over the last 500 miles of driving. The RAFE is affected by terrain, vehicle load, driving style and speed, ambient air temperature, fuel quality, and other factors. The DTE is an approximate estimation of the distance remaining, however the fuel gauge should be seen as the absolute indication of the fuel remaining in the tank.

 

As the DTE is based on the indicated fuel level, if the gauge is working correctly, the DTE is being calculated correctly, suspect the low fuel warning is activating with approximately 2 gallons of fuel remaining. A 16.4G tank and with 2 or so gal remaining at 0DTE should fill approximately 13-14 gal. the vehicle is operating as designed.

 

If the customer desires, the vehicle can be operated with a MyKey, which will display the low fuel message with over 2 gallons remaining. Please note, this will effect other features and systems including placing a speed limit on the vehicle. In either case, note that the vehicle has a reserve fuel capacity. The customer should not relay on the reserve capacity, however reserve fuel is present.