95r Fuel safe cell

[boogie]

I have one of probably many newbie questions on my R.

After it has set in the garage the last couple of days, I have a fairly strong gas smell. I have not seen any leaks on the floor. I am suspecting it is coming from the fuel cell area as it is stronger smelling at the back of the car than the front.

Has anyone had any problems with fuel odors coming from the cell? I plan on going over it tomorrow, any recommendations on places to target my search?



Thanks for your help.
john

 

[Cobra R Man]

fuel cell replacement

I saw a used one at the all FORD swap meet in Ohio a couple of weeks ago. The owner of Classic Design Concept in Detroit had the one out of his race car (with maybe 2yrs.? use) for sale. He is just trying a new product for promotion is why he replaced it. Had all the attachments and filler tube. I think he was wanting around $600. A steal in my book. It looked great, I almost bought it myself. I still might. (addicted to "R"s)

 

[griffined]

The only time I smell gas is if I fill up the tank and then park the car immediately afterwards. I can come back to my storage unit a day or so later and still smell gas.

As long as I drive a little while after a fill up, I can them park and no odors.

Granted this is on a 00R. FYI when I pump gas in, I used the slowest setting and once it clicks off, I don't put any more in to top it off.

 

[boogie]

Well I stuck my head up under the back and looked around the tank.

Looks to me like there is a gasket that surrounds the filler tube as it goes into the fuel cell. It looks like a black rubber donut that surrounds the filler tube and looks like it is suppose to also seal against the tube and tank. On one part of the tube, I think it is torn (i.e. I can see a very small gap between the tank opening and the filler tube.

Does anyone know if this is a stock Ford part or do I need to get this from FuelSafe?

Also, how tight should the plate (one that the filler tube goes into) bolts be? I could wrench turn most of them with little effort.

thanks,
john

 

[tomshep]

John,

This has been covered in a past issue of VENOM, the publication of the SVT Cobra Owners Association. You can go to our website, www.scoa.org, and download the newsletters. I think it was in the Snake Bites section.

From memory, this was a problem identified by Fuel Safe. When they brought it to Ford's attention it was determined the cure was too time consuming in the assembly process. However, I do believe Fuel Safe does sell the correct replacement part to cure your problem.

Please report back on your findings.

 

[boogie]

Thanks Tom! That article was exactly what I was looking for and describes my problem to a 'T'. It was in the April '99 edition of snake bites.

I contacted FuelSafe and they gave me the part # for the replacement plate and gasket.

The only downside is that you do have to modify (cut) your filler tube. I'll probably get a replacement one so I don't muck up the original. FuelSafe also said that some people experienced problems when filling up at gas pumps with this part as the flapper that is built in (prevents gas from coming out in case of a roll-over) sometimes causes the gas to back up. He did say the flapper can be removed.

He was also not sure if the tank had to be dropped to remove the filler tube..guess I'll find out when I start work on it.

I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

 

[tomshep]

Glad you found it.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[presvt]

Well thanks to Tom, I was able to fix the fuel cell. I thought I would share a few pictures for those of you that are curious as to what the new part looks like.

I worked with Harold at FuelSafe ([email protected]) to get the part numbers.

FV1200 (IMSA filler)
CG012a (12 bolt gasket)

ended up being about $100 for the parts.

Also for anyone interested, the replacement gasket (for the original setup) is F42c-9072-DA (I think the original is a -CA, but the -DA is the replacement version).

This first one is a comparison of the new part (left) to the old part (right). As you can see the new part replaces the hole in the middle with a welded in filler neck.

 

[presvt]

In this picture you can see the new assembly on the fuel cell. Notice the cut filler tube.

 

[presvt]

Here it the last picture and a tip from your uncle John.

There is a rubber grommet that goes on the inside of the new part. It is designed so that if there is an accident and the filler tube is ripped off, there will be minimal leakage of fuel.

However, it also impedes gas from getting into the fuel cell. Or in other words, you will not be able to effectivaly fill it from a standard gas station as the pump pumps the gas too fast. It will fill fine from a 5 gal. gas can.

So, if you plan on using gas station pumps, I would recommend removing this rubber part (it is held in place with a bolt and nut). The flip side is that if you do this, it does compromise the safety feature of the part.

 

[tomshep]

Great photos and info on the part as it was originally engineered. I wanted to see pics of the new items since I now have a 95R and was hoping they had already corrected this area. After reviewing the pics it has been done so I don't need to worry about that area leaking.

Tom