chrisdh79 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I dropped my car off yesterday to get a leak fixed where there's water coming in on the driver side. They told me the same thing that I would be charged if they look at the gas tank. Total BS. I contacted my ford customer service rep and told her what they told me. You guys should be contacting reps to get this issue more well known. Cause the dealer says they never heard of this issue. He advised to use different gas stations because the pressure is different. Ok... Here the email of the rep I've been talking to. mcruz54@ford.com 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cranbers Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 So there seems to be a bunch of different stories going on in this forum. 1. Someone says they were able to get 15.1 gallons in their tank by continuously over riding the pumps auto shut off. (without spillage) 2. Someone said they got spillage at a little over 14 gallons. continuously overriding the shut off 3. Someone said they can get a max of 14 gallons (dealer filled it when completely drained, a new tank was installed and now they get 15 gallons at fill up 1.5 gallon reserve... 4. Some have said the car has a 3 gallon reserve 13.5 usable out of 16.5? Dealership / ford says this isn't a problem its normal based on user/gas pump pressure? 5. People have ran out of gas right when the car says DTE 0 to -12 below after 13 gallons or so? Some have said their dealership checks everything out for them free of charge / warranty repair, someone else mentioned their dealership will charge them to even look at it? So to clarify the main theme and car: The ford fusion SE/Titanium (NOT the AWD or Hybrid) have a 16.5 gallon tank. But the issue is most of us only get 13.5 / 16.5 usable tank and DTE show near zero after 13.5 gallons. This is reflected in the fill up, but sometimes you have to over ride auto shut off maybe fit 14? So to sum things up: 1. If your Ford fusion titanium/SE only gets 13.5 gallons on empty when being filled up, let your dealership service department know. 2. See what their reaction is: do they say nothing is wrong its normal? Do they ask to look at it? Do they say its warranty related or will be an out of pocket expense? 3. What would be acceptable "reserve"? (on this note it seems there isn't a usable reserve, (meaning you can go at least 30-40 miles on empty given its a gallon or two of fuel left in the tank at empty. Some have said gas gauge on zero means you will run out of gas and be stranded until road side assistance comes in. One thing I just can't get over is how often I have to fill up now, 340 miles to a tank vs 450 in my camry really isn't acceptable. I plan on bringing my car in to be looked at mid feb. I have too much going on until then. I also don't understand why I get less MPG, I had a v6 camry that got 29 mpg 450 on 15.5 gallons at fill up. This car gets 26 - 27 mpg and I have to fill up at 13.5 gallons or 340 miles. I drive the same route the same way. So I don't get it. Pretty frustrating from a car touting fuel efficiency and power. The one other issue I found out today: They don't have a low wash fluid warning? WTH? So I am driving down the road with road spray and im rinsing off my window and all of a sudden the fluid spray drops to nothing and completely out? No warning? Camry has had this since 2007. Sorry for the comparison but how could that not be monitored? Its a safety hazard... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FusionDiffusion Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 (edited) Based on all the descriptions I have an educated guess that the problem may be related to an internal tank baffle. Baffles are used in fuel tanks to reduce the effects of fuel slosh, which can cause a noise concern. My guess is this baffle closes off part of the tank when filling. The baffles are supposed to have holes in them so fuel and displaced vapor can flow freely around them when the tank is being filled and drained, but I have a feeling these holes are somehow missing (someone forgot to drill all of them?) or they are blocked/restricted from improper molding. When you fill the tank, the gas can't pass through these holes fast enough, and it creates vapor pockets under the baffle that displaces liquid and reduces the amount that can be dispensed into the tank. An interesting experiment for someone that has this problem would be to fill the tank to the first click, then wait a good five minutes or so for the fuel to equalize through the baffle holes, then resume filling again at the same rate to see how much more additional fuel fits in the tank. If you are patient, then I would wait another five minute period and try again. Does anyone know if the tank in a 2013 is metal or plastic? If they are using a rotomolding process around a metal baffle the baffle is probably getting clogged with plastic during the process. Edited February 1, 2013 by FusionDiffusion 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamweasel Posted February 1, 2013 Author Share Posted February 1, 2013 For those of you who's dealers say they have checked the tank and it seems ok I don't think this is possible for them to determine that. The internals of the tank are the problem with some of them and the only way that you can see it is to x-ray the tank. That is what the Ford Engineer did with mine. The dealer was not able to find the problem themselves and replaced the tank at the direction of the Ford engineer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kunfuzn Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Looks like I will have a good opportunity to have the Dealer check out the tank since I now have to take it in after getting rearended on the highway this morning. Car came out of nowhere and hit the right rear corner, then tried to flee and spun out again and crashed into the guardrail. Young girl and of course.......wait for it.........no insurance. police gave her two tickets and let her drive away.....with no insurance. Gotta love it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostRider Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 (edited) Looks like I will have a good opportunity to have the Dealer check out the tank since I now have to take it in after getting rearended on the highway this morning. Car came out of nowhere and hit the right rear corner, then tried to flee and spun out again and crashed into the guardrail. Young girl and of course.......wait for it.........no insurance. police gave her two tickets and let her drive away.....with no insurance. Gotta love it. How was she able to drive away with no insurance??? If that happened to me, I would definately go after her in civil/small claims court and ask for the maximum $5000 allowed by Ohio law and then let the judge figure out what to give you. Edited February 3, 2013 by GhostRider 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cranbers Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 How did this thread get so off topic? That's a good point about the xray tank problem. One thing we need is if there is anyone that has a tank that can be filled beyond say 14 gallons at empty to have proof there is a problem. The problem we have here is that no one will visit or post unless they have this issue and google it and find this threat since its so specific. Also a lot of people may not even notice or care. they will think welll new car only goes to 13.5 usable gallons, guess thats just the way it is, car works fine..... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarhead727 Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Post 43 and 74. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 How was she able to drive away with no insurance??? If that happened to me, I would definately go after her in civil/small claims court and ask for the maximum $5000 allowed by Ohio law and then let the judge figure out what to give you. No need to do that. Just let your insurance pay for it and they will go after her to recover the cost. And it won't raise your rates. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acdii Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 One thing I have discovered with these cars, if the pump is high volume, it will shut off long before the tank is full. It took me a couple tries to find the right pump that will fill consistent to the first click, which on a 1/4 tank is roughly 9 gallons on the 13 gallon tank. The pump on the opposite side of the same isle I get gas at fills too fast and clicks off after the first gallon, so it is either a venting problem at the filler, or a baffle in the way that backs up the fuel if it goes in too fast. As far as those who cant get enough in the tank, that could also be a baffling problem(oh brother a doohicky pun). There is something in the tank that is taking up volume, would be interesting to see a cutaway of these tanks. IIRC the Prius has a tank bladder that collapses or has some kind of filler in it to reduce vapors, I wonder if the Ford tank is similar. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_h Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 IIRC the Prius has a tank bladder that collapses or has some kind of filler in it to reduce vapors, I wonder if the Ford tank is similar. Yes, the Prius had that bladder in there so during warm/hot weather you could fill the tank to the full spec, but during cold weather apparently there was "shrinkage" and it was about a gallon (or two if really cold) less. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drm1redsox Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Wow, thanks for the info Any idea the date your car was assembled? I think its in the door jam sticker. Says where and when it was made. We all seem to be having the same symptoms. Let us know what your tank takes when its time to fill up and how many miles to the tank you get (also what the trip meter says you get for gallons used before measuring empty). The strange thing is that the gas gauge says full, and empty and the DTE seems to be accurate with a reflection of 13.5 gallons to empty. So if your tank actually only fit 14 gallons, then 13.5 means you had a reserve of a half gallon? Which pretty clearly was shown since your car stalled with out of gas right when DTE said it would. On that note: I filled up today with 10 miles to empty. It cut off just shy of 13 gallons I got it to fill a little over 13. (340 miles to the tank is what I got), every click of the nozzle lasted a second or two. So I am sure it was pretty full. Sorry for the delay: After tank replacement I drove 343 miles using 15.25 gallons of fuel. The MPG was 22.5. The MTE showed as 0. It took 15.9 gallons to fill. My tank capacity issues are solved. Now on to the next issue, MPG. I drive mostly highway and am getting only 22MPG on average. Unfortunately a new consumer reports article states that the Ford Fusion is not getting the MPG advertised: http://autos.yahoo.com/news/consumer-reports-finds-small-turbo-engines-dont-deliver-050100955.html 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdbayer Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 I have had this problem on my SE, with about 7000 miles on it now, I have experienced all of the above. Today I took the suggestion to wait 5 minutes to see if it continues to fill, only I did my own variation of this. With 4 miles to empty I stopped every 4 gallons for 1 minute. After the auto shut off I waited 2 minutes 3 times. This resulted in 16.156 gallons before gas began to overflow a very small amount. So...we know the tank has the capacity, just slow to accept it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FusionDiffusion Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I have had this problem on my SE, with about 7000 miles on it now, I have experienced all of the above. Today I took the suggestion to wait 5 minutes to see if it continues to fill, only I did my own variation of this. With 4 miles to empty I stopped every 4 gallons for 1 minute. After the auto shut off I waited 2 minutes 3 times. This resulted in 16.156 gallons before gas began to overflow a very small amount. So...we know the tank has the capacity, just slow to accept it. Thanks for doing the test. It confirms my suspicions about the baffle openings being restricted. Ford should definitely put a TSB out for this specifying fuel tank replacement. Unfortunately it seems like we have a better understanding of this problem on this forum than Ford does. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cranbers Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 That's great its confirmed that by replacing the tank we should be getting a reasonable number of gallons in the tank. So it looks like 16 gallons with a 1.5 gallon reserve total 17.5 (who knows if its usable or not) which is reasonable and expected. It wouldn't be surprising if we all have the initial run of the vehicles with some issues, so no doubt the new ones being made may not have this issue which means we will have to really fight to get the tank replaced. Big companies tend to not listen to a few people unless they really fight for it. I really hope they don't give the run around when I bring my car in to be tested. I'll give them a copy of this forum posts with numbers and the fixes. Hopefully they will be more understanding and will replace the tank without questions or hassle. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acdii Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 Thanks for doing the test. It confirms my suspicions about the baffle openings being restricted. Ford should definitely put a TSB out for this specifying fuel tank replacement. Unfortunately it seems like we have a better understanding of this problem on this forum than Ford does. BOYHOWDY you said it all! Would really be something if it turns out all the problems I have with my car are related to the cooling system. Guess who diagnosed its running cold........... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostRider Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 I am sure if people file enough complaints, something may get done https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/ 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jinx8402 Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 (edited) I agree ghost, I just submitted a complaint. To be fair, this is not really a safety issue, so it might not be the "correct" channel, but getting Ford's attention at a widespread issue is what's important. Edited February 12, 2013 by jinx8402 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisdh79 Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 I submiited a ticket also. Thank you for providing the link.. I'm tired of this issue.. I took pics with 12 miles till empty (warning light). I was only able to fill up to about 12.5 gallons.. And thats with about 5 clicks stopping few seconds each time till fuel started coming out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drolds1 Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 I submiited a ticket also. Thank you for providing the link.. I'm tired of this issue.. I took pics with 12 miles till empty (warning light). I was only able to fill up to about 12.5 gallons.. And thats with about 5 clicks stopping few seconds each time till fuel started coming out. OK, it's been established that there's an issue here. You're not helping anything by overfilling your car's gas tank this way. Five clicks after auto shut-off can be detrimental to your car. You're leaving absolutely no room in your tank and creating excess pressure that may eventually force liquid fuel into your EVAP system. If you have to replace the EVAP cannister, it's going to cost hundreds of dollars if they decide you caused the problem and won't cover it under the warranty. That aside, if your state requires vapor recovery systems for gas stations you're pumping fuel back into the stations' tanks and thus paying for gas you just gave back. Lastly, if you're concerned about pollution, spilled fuel adds to that. Do the pumps in your state say "Do Not Top Off?" There's a reason for that. 2013 Fusion OG: Do not overfill the fuel tank. Thepressure in an overfilled tank may cause leakage and lead to fuel spray and fire 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jinx8402 Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 (edited) I would also suggest leaving a message for Trina on Ford's customer service facebook page: facebook.com/FordCustomerService. Natasha @ Ford is no longer running this page and Trina is the new contact person. Perhaps if she receives quite a bit of the same inquiries on the fuel tank issue she can have it escalated to proper channels. I sent a message earlier today and she said she will be escalating my concerns to the service manager. Edited February 12, 2013 by jinx8402 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostRider Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 I agree ghost, I just submitted a complaint. To be fair, this is not really a safety issue, so it might not be the "correct" channel, but getting Ford's attention at a widespread issue is what's important. Its not a safety issue? I disagree. Suppose you are driving in traffic on the highway and suddenly your car quits running because you prematurely ran out of gas. Now you are involved in a crash. Some of the complaints are not safety related. However, it gets someones attention. A few others and I complained about the paint flaws on the Crown Victoria. Ford had a TSB about it even, but you were S.O.L. if you werent a government agency. Same issue in 05 (I believe) with the steel wheels. S.O.L. if you were a civilian. Thats BS. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jinx8402 Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 I still disagree with that. If you don't notice your gas gauge when it's at 1/4 tank and don't plan to get gas soon then that is an operator problem. It's not as if once you get to 1/4 Tank you only have 1 gallon left. You will still have 3 gallons of fuel to plan getting gas. I agree its an issue that needs to be addressed as I'm experiencing the same issue. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 If you run out of gas and the fuel gauge works then it's your fault - plain and simple. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodburbon Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 No problem here. 11.5 gallons to fill up when the gauge says 1/4 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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