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2013 Fusion - cant fill gas tank

66K views 110 replies 23 participants last post by  jinx8402 
#1 ·
Hi all,

Just got my 2013 Fusion SE. Company car actually.

Im having a real hard time filling up the gas tank. The 2010 Fusion had a cover on the tank spout but this is different. Its almost like a gas cap now that has a cover you push thru now.

No problem getting the gas spout in. However over the last 3 fillups Ive been about 3 gallons under full. I can force it by pumping it but it takes a while and have to do it at least 10 times. I havent had it overfill yet and spill out on the ground. I know its supposed to be like 15 gallons to full.

Ive got an average of 30 MPG on the system and max out at about 400 miles when I fill the tank as much as I can so I know theres more room.

When I got the car there was hardly any gas, about 50 miles to empty. I filled it up and only got 12.5 gallons in it.

Any ideas?
 
#52 ·
assuming the average person usually fills their car up right around the time the light comes on, which is at an 1/8th of a tank, they would still have at least 2 gallons in the tank before the reserve. factor in a 2 gallon reserve,when you fill up you still have at least 4 gallons in the tank. 16.5-4=12.5 gallons per fill up tops on average.
 
#53 ·
We aren't talking about people filling up at the normal 1/8th (and its actually closer to 10% no matter the size of the tank). We are talking about people on regular not being able to 3-4 gallons in after they hit DTE 0. When that happens or on any car where you no longer can see any form of measurement for how much fuel is in the vehicle, you are running on reserves. That means that again we aren't talking about a 2 gallon reserve we are talking about 3-4 gallons. That isn't normal in most cars and apparently Ford doesn't think so either. But that isn't just it, apparently at least one person proved that the tank was only holding ~14 gallons. I think the big problem and in a week or two when I get mine I probably won't either is most people won't chance running out of fuel just to test the actual tank size.

But the biggest point I would make is that if it has a 4 gallon reserve, that is bad and if I was still driving 130 miles a day I wouldn't buy this car if that was normal. That would kill my driving range because I am not going to go 100-120 miles with no idea what my fuel situation is like and depending on driving style there could be a 60 mile differential in distance after DTE 0.

Think of it this way at a 1 gallon reserve (high for me, but lets say that is normal) and 31 highway MPG, you could be talking about 480 mile range. That is what Ford is selling people. At a generous 27 MPG for 2.0 drivers and lets call it a 3.5 gallon reserve you are talking about a 35o mile range to be comfortable. That is what for at least some people what Ford is delivering. Are you saying that people should just accept it. Certainly its not a show stopper considering what else you get, but think reasonably. People are paying 30-35k for these vehicles, is it alright, just because you think its OK to undershoot their own words this much?
 
#56 ·
Maybe we can simply return to gathering data and leave the "is 3-4 gallons a normal reserve or not" question behind for now.

Those of us experiencing the issue first-hand recognize that the car is requiring fuel earlier than we expect if it indeed is filled with 16+ gallons of fuel. We want to gather as much information as possible regarding our experiences and the experiences of others so that we can work with our local dealers to determine what to do about it.

I am an avionics troubleshooter as part of my work and the first step to figuring out any resolution of a technical issue is to gather data and then organize it into relevant and non-relevant information.

We have accomplished an initial round of this with regards to which cars seem to be affected. It appears that none of the Hybrids nor AWD cars are seeing short fill-ups. Those owners have thus far reported that their cars take the amount of fuel they expect. Based on this, it would suggest that the issue is not related to the capless system since that is something all of the cars share. The one difference is the actual tank installed in the non-Hybrid/non_AWD cars...the 16.5 gallon tank.

One note: Fuel tanks are not just metal bags...they are complex structures with supports and reinforcements to make them crashworthy and the internals are designed with various baffles so that the fuel doesn't slosh around and is consistently available to the fuel pick-up or pump even when the level is very low. Even if it is rather rare, it is not far-fetched to think that there could be build errors that might prevent normal operation.

At least 2 people from the other forum have had tanks replaced with positive results. This also backs up the idea that the tanks may have a defect of some kind. One of them even got that specific feedback from Ford engineering if we are to believe their story.

The issue now is that getting a dealer to do a tank replacement under warranty is not a normal activity for a brand new car and is likely something the dealers will resist. I would recommend that any of us who are feeling like we have the issue begin discussions over the phone with your dealer as soon as possible to ask them to contact Ford on the issue to see if there are any TSBs or internal notices regarding the Fusion tanks. (For the record, that is exactly what has happened for the headliner issue...Ford has put out a notice that they are investigating the issue...but it is much easier because it is something the dealer service people can see for themselves. The tank issue cannot be visually verified, so it will require more convincing)

I would also ask that anyone who has spoken with the dealer share their experiences here so we can see how the dealers are treating the issue.

If we approach this systematically, we should be able to gain traction on service actions and get a final answer regarding the real issue.
 
#57 · (Edited)
Hi everyone!

I picked up my Sterling Gray 2013 Fusion SE 2.0 EB last month and love it. I came across this thread and thought I'd add to it. I've filled up 3 times so far and I'm on E now and will fill up again later today but all 3 times when I've filled up, I could only get 12.8 to 13.2 gallons at the most. I've been to the dealer and brought it up but they won't do anything unless Ford tells them to. I didn't get mad because in all honesty, I love this car and this isn't something that will eat me up inside. It's hurts the range and it's more stops to fill up I know, but it just isn't a big deal to me. I personally won't bother with it until Ford issues a TSB or recall to fix it. Oh and my car has a build date of 10/12 on the sticker.

EDIT: Weird thing is that when I filled up the last few times it was past MTE and today when I got gas it said 7 MTE and I managed to get 13.5 in exactly. The gas gauge was yellow too this time and not red. Hmmmm..
 
#58 ·
EDIT: Weird thing is that when I filled up the last few times it was past MTE and today when I got gas it said 7 MTE and I managed to get 13.5 in exactly. The gas gauge was yellow too this time and not red. Hmmmm..
I have noticed inconsistencies with mine in terms of the low fuel warning as well. I ave taken it all the way to 0 DTE once and have yet to see the gauge go red...it goes yellow way late in my opinion since it typically happens at about 10-20 miles DTE. I have been wondering if this issue is somehow linked to the tank issue...(maybe it's a calibration issue that shows up because the tanks aren't holding as much fuel as the gauge is set to expect?) But that's just fishing...and fodder for another thread.

Thanks for letting us know that you are seeing similar behavior with your car.

I am with you in terms of having it not affect my love for the car, but I still intend to try to get Ford to do something about it pretty soon.
 
#62 ·
Cheesy - For the record, the issues we are having filling the tank do not appear related to any gauge calibrations. It is a simple capacity issue. So far as I have seen, everyone is getting indications of how much fuel is available or used that are consistent with the fuel pumped in...the problem is simply that we don't get the amount of fuel in the car that we need...or should.

And to your comment about getting 11 gallons in the car with 150 miles DTE...I have to be at less than 30 miles DTE to get close to 11 gallons in mine. I am also pretty sure that if I go very far past 0 DTE, I will end up needing roadside assistance like a couple of other folks have who tried it.

I take your results as verification that there are 16.5 gallon tanks out there that allow for more fuel than mine does and that is a good thing, because it means there is a potential solution. Thanks for the info.
 
#61 ·
Yeah, I don't have MFT and zero problems for me. I put in 11 gallons yesterday with a 150 miles DTE reading. After I filled up yesterday my estimated range was over 500 miles.
 
#63 ·
txtenor, it most certainly could be a computer issue. Think of it like this. If the computer is using 3.5 gallons as reserve, it will calculate DTE to be 0 after using 13 Gallons. In fact, Ford released a TSB for the escape due to this very issue. See: tsb 13-2-1.

iamweasel, over at fordfusionforum.com had his tank replaced (he was the one that was able to have a Ford engineer determine part of the problem as a tank issue). He just recently reported that he still can't properly fill up, this after the dealer put 1 gallon in the tank after install, drove it to a gas station and was able to add 15.3 gallons.

There could be issues with some tanks, but I think the reason we can only get 13 Gallons in might be because it is saving 3.5G as reserve, which is absurd to use almost 25% of the tank as reserve, reducing the effective driving range of the car.
 
#64 ·
jinx8402 - If that were the case, then we could simply drive past 0 DTE for another 3 or 4 gallons worth of driving (60-100 miles depending on economy)...we would all learn that pretty quickly and we would be complaining about the gauge calibration...but a couple of folks have tried driving past 0 DTE and never got more than a gallon's worth down the road (20-30 miles)...thus, there is not 3.5 gallons sitting there simply not being used.

All reports suggest that the tank has a normal amount left when it gets to 0 on the DTE. Now, there may also be an issue with some gauges, but the gauge doesn't make the gas pump shut off at 11 or 12 gallons.

I will ask the dealer to confirm the amount of fuel in my tank when I take it in as part of the evaluation and repair...just to confirm that the tank truly is not holding gas that the gauge isn't telling us about. I am at 7000 miles and plan to take her in for recommended service around 7500. When I do, I am going to have them look at the tank filling issue (among a few other things...like the trunklid that won't stay open) and see what they can do.
 
#67 ·
I for one think I have a gauge issue. I have a 2.0 with MFT. The first few times I filled the car with gas I never put more than 13 gallons in it.The trip meter would show that I used relatively the same amount of fuel that I put in. After a couple weeks of this I decided to drive my car past empty. I drove it 65 miles while the car showed I had 0 left to empty. My car held almost 15 gallons the next fillup. I have contacted my local dealer and scheduled to bring it in this coming weeked. I am not sure what they will do if anything .
 
#69 ·
Info from my session with the Ford tech...(Note: Mine is definitely NOT a gauge issue...and I have MFT.)

Took the car in last week 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.

(Note: I also posted this on the Blue Oval forums thread on this topic.)
 
#71 ·
I've been following these posts since I got my Fusion about 4 months ago and finally decided to share my experience. I have a 2.0l (No MFT) with 16.5 gallon tank and haven't been able to get more than around 13 gallons in the tank. If my DTE shows ~30 miles, I am lucky if I get 11.5 gallons.

About 3 weeks ago, I was close to empty on the fuel gauge and went to fill up. The auto-off on the pump kept coming on every 1/2 gallon or less. I'm in NJ so it's full-service and the attendant kept asking me over and over again if I was full. I obviously knew that I wasn't but I hadn't seen that before so I just told him to give me 10 gallons. It took close to 15 minutes just to get that much with dozens and dozens of "clicks" as the pump continuously shut-off. I have "filled up" with the usual 11-12 gallons 2 or 3 times since so I don't know why this happened. I also haven't seen anyone else mention anything like this so I'm not sure if it's related or a much bigger problem or if it was just a one time thing. Once I get closer to 7,500 miles (I'm at 4k now), I'll be going in for regular maintenance and asking about this, or sooner if it happens again.

I don't really understand why people keep insisting that it's the reserve, I'm sure this isn't everyone's first car with a fuel reserve so the whole concept of a reserve isn't new. There's clearly a problem with the fuel tanks whether it affects everyone or not.
 
#72 ·
Some advice, I have often had it not fill up all the way and auto shut off too quickly.

Some pump nozzles are not long enough to open both valve doors on the capless fuel port. Or, the attendant just jams it in there, with no concern for whether the nozzle is properly seated. If the nozzle is long enough and seated correctly, it wont auto shut off prematurely.

Now, I used to live in NJ. The problem is, since its "illegal" to pump your own gas in NJ, you have no idea what kind of pump nozzles they use. Now that I am out west, pumping my own gas, I have definitely noticed that some nozzles just dont work.

So, you may have to shop around for a station where you dont have these issues. The manual also has instructions on properly filling the car.

Granted, this doesnt address what appears to be a common problem with people not getting the full ~16gal in their tank. I have been lucky not to have this issue.
 
#73 ·
The one tank of gas I have put into was at DTE 10 M. It auto offed at almost 13 G on the dot. I proceeded to attempt to get it up to at least 14 G. Sometimes I would give it some time to rest some times I would just squeeze away like crazy. By the time I got to 14 G it started leaking.
 
#74 ·
So...an update on behavior since getting the dealer to evaluate the issue:

I have filled up several times since then and am at around 9500 miles on the car. Now that the car has been full once, I can track gallons used so I know about how much I should be able to get in her without getting to an overflow. This has been very useful as it has taken anywhere from 10-12 up to 20 or more clicks to get roughly the same amount of gas back in as has been used. This is not something I plan to live with for the life of the car, but for now, at least I have a system for getting the tank full. Once the tank is full, the gauge seems to be happier too as it takes about 3.5-4 gallons to get down to 3/4 and the low fuel warning is much more predictable.

Also, when combined with the improving fuel economy, I am starting to see some predicted range numbers up around 400 miles and that is with city miles averaged in. I am sure that a road trip will yield ranges of well over 400 so long as there is no protracted city excursions...

This is indeed a design issue fellas. Keep reporting your problems to the dealers and get them to use the hotline. Hopefully we will all have an engineered solution very soon.
 
#76 ·
Assuming that you are having the issue I have where it takes many, many more than 3 clicks to get the tank full...don't give up.

Keep on them. Did they look at the hotline? You will need to get them to watch you do a fill-up from near empty before they will admit to any issues.

It is not normal for the pump to click off 2+ gallons below full...it is also not normal to have to go through 10-20 clicks of the pump to get a car full of gas. If things were working properly, gas would be running down the side of the car and onto the ground by the time you got to the 4th or 5th click...so don't let them dissuade you.
 
#77 ·
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!*
 
#79 ·
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!
 
#80 ·
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.
There are many variables that go into the mpg. You seem to be the exception. I got close to your numbers at sea level with normal fuel. I now get much less than that at altitude with 10% ethanol.

I get about 16-17mpg around town, and max 27-30 on highway. And no, I am not mashing the gas pedal. But the fact is, at altitude, the car will barely move under 2k rpms, so going into boost is required just to get moving.

So, instead of saying people's cars are broken or they dont know how to drive maybe you should be more considerate of the fact that in 90% of cases, these engines are not getting advertised mpg.
 
#81 ·
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!
 
#85 ·
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.
 
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