A couple of times we’ve notice a small puddle of diesel at the back of out Kuga.  Today I decide to look into it.

Firstly with much googling this is a common problem with the Easy (capless) Fuel system.  Either brimming the tank or removing a fuel pump nozzle too quickly results in fuel being trapped between two flaps in the immediate neck, and finding its way down to the floor via an overflow hose – OK, understood.

Yet we’ve recently had this car serviced, which included the usual sent video with the mechanic observing tyre wear, brakes and suspension condition from under the car whilst its up on a ramp.  Now, under the car myself today within very easy sight I can clearly see years of Diesel has be coating the fuel pipe to the tank – its covered in old sticky diesel & gunk.

So WTF have Ford not mentioned this?  Surely we should have been told?   And is this dangerous especially bearing in mind we are carrying two kids around in the car?

I’m nor sure whether to be angry with Ford and/or get the car into an Indy to replace the fuel pipe.

1. Since it’s finding its way out via a designed in feature (the overflow hose) it sounds like it’s doing what it’s supposed to do.
2. Diesel isn’t flammable. Unless you’re driveway is over 55deg or is somehow making a highly vaporous mix of diesel and air?

If your towing the children behind the car on bicycles at the end of ropes you can froth.

Beyond that they will laugh at this statement.

It’s not great for vehicles especially motorcycles following you …. But given you have not noticed it for the previous X years it’s probably not a lot

You could stop briming your tank (because it’s a bad idea anyway) and you could remove the nozzle slower and it would be as effective S frothing at ford about carrying kids

Surely we should have been told?

Told that the underside of your car is a bit dirty?

Thanks.   I think my point was that year on year a Ford Mechanic must have seen this and provided some advice based on that, and I’m a bit pissed that they haven’t – especially with the hindsight its been going on for years.  I’m guessing as there’s no recall they don’t consider it a danger.

I understand Diesel isn’t necessarily flammable, but that whole pipe sits quite close to the exhaust system.    And as I’m not particularly mechanically minded, am also asking STW if its dangerous / does it need a cleanup?

Told that the underside of your car is a bit dirty?

Coated in fuel is a bit more than dirty?  Or maybe I’m over reacting to the potential danger level – I’m happy to be told I am by someone more educated than I in these issues!

Unless your Ford looks like this, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Stop brimming your tank.

year on year a Ford Mechanic must have seen this and provided some advice based on that

“They are all like that, sir”

What was your helpful Ford Mechanic/money generator engineer suggesting needed doing…apart from you spending lots of money with them?

Nothing – it was in for a regular service, no issues.

At least it won’t rust in that area……

The flashpoint of clean diesel is about 55-120deg dependent upon grade, mix, etc, but the dirty oily mess that’s attached to filler overflow hose isn’t likely to be anywhere close to that. You’ll have a mix of oil, water, dirt and yes, diesel which will push the flashpoint higher. As I intimated above, you really need a decent vaporous mix to get diesel to ignite at all. If it really bothers you, spray some decent foaming degreaser on it and then wash it off.

Yep, just view it as an anti rust treatment, not worth getting your knickers in a twist over.

No big deal, at all.

You just need to work out if its actually leaking when the tank is full, or if its just overspill each time you fill the tank. Did the Ford mechanic think it was leaking?

My Transit Custom had this type of filler, hated it as you could not remove the nozzle without knocking the drips off.

Autoignition point of DERV is even higher at about 210deg. So I wouldn’t worry. It’s basically a light oil.

why is brimming your tank bad?

Have a look under any old car (or a landrover) everythings plastered in oil, it doesnt generally result in fiery death.

why is brimming your tank bad?

Fuel systems normally pump the fuel in a circuit from the tank to the fuel rail/injectors and back to tank. Even with fuel coolers in circuit the fuel can return to tank warmer than the fuel already in it. As a result it expands and can push out of the tank if you’ve tanked it to the top of the filler tube.

You just need to work out if its actually leaking when the tank is full, or if its just overspill each time you fill the tank. Did the Ford mechanic think it was leaking?

Its just the overflow, nothing on the tank.  Fords haven’t mentioned it in over 11years of servcing.

Anyway, thanks for the responses, nerves restored to normal levels.

Is there still a sticker explaining that you should only remove the nozzle slowly?

I’m sure when I had my Focus which had that fuel cap I read somewhere to not keep going past the clock when the tank is full. Might have been owners manual or the guy who delivered it (was a new car).

Pulling out the house before the fuel stops flowing properly is just dumb and more proof that common sense isn’t as common as people think it is. 😂

Might have been owners manual or the guy who delivered it (was a new car).

Instructions are in the user manual. Stop fuelling on 2nd click of the pump. Wait at least 10 seconds after releasing trigger before removing nozzle.

Instructions are in the user manual. Stop fuelling on 2nd click of the pump. Wait at least 10 seconds after releasing trigger before removing nozzle.

Brilliant – I thought so. Mind you with newer cars I always read the manual quite thoroughly after having an Astra which had a few useful things which I would have never known about without reading it, and that was a relatively basic car.

As someone who tends to keep his cars, I once in a while lie on the drive with a torch and have a look around to see if there are any oily marks etc – preventative maintenance. Get yourself some screw-fix no-nonsense degreaser (£8 for 5l), mix with some water in a sprayer, and brush over it to remove the gunk. It’s also great for cleaning bike drive trains.

Fueling – 2nd click deffo stop.

Yeah I had a fiesta in 2017 with this “easy filler” cap rubbish. It would constantly cut out while filling from certain pumps so had to avoid some filling stations altogether. What I understand is that theres some kind of airlock with a bypass that prevents your tank from being siphoned by thieves (like that ever happens).

Definitely follow the advice above of not brimming the tank and stopping at first or second click and wait a good ten to fifteen second after this before removing the nozzle or the last few ounces will spill out the bypass and onto the floor.

Also, please dont pull the child safety thing with Ford regarding the diesel on the exhaust you will be laughed at by the mechanics for as long as you get your car serviced there. You could drop a lit match on a pool of diesel from a filling station and it wont ignite.

In summary the easy fill system is rubbish and I had nothing but problems with it.

Unless you live a distance from a petrol station brimming your tank wastes money. The extra weight your hauling around will harm fuel economy. Not much maybe but over a year it’ll add up, and why burn more fuel than you have to anyway.