SVE BULLETIN SPECIAL VEHICLE ENGINEERING BODY BUILDERS ADVISORY SERVICE Toll-free: (877) 840-4338 E-Mail: bbasqa@ford.com (preferred) Fax: (313) 594-2633 Website: www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas Q-132R1 Date: September 24, 2007 Slow Fuel Fill Models Affected 2005 model year or later F250/350 Super Duty Light Trucks, with gas engine (diesel not affected). And completed from Pickup Box Delete Option, or Altered by Pickup Box Removal Program. Customer Concern Description Fuel fills at a very slow rate, or repeatedly shuts off the fuel station delivery nozzle. Purpose of this Bulletin The guidelines in this bulletin are intended to help the upfitter install a fuel fill and vent system that provides a customer-acceptable fuel fill rate of 10 gallons per minute. Following these guidelines do not provide certification to any government regulations, which is the responsibility of the Final Stage Manufacturer, or Alterer. Root Causes (1) A dirt-clogged carbon canister system. More specifically, the canister's vent, fresh-air box, and filters, clogged with dirt from operating in extreme muddy or dusty environments, such as off-road mining operations, typically showing up as slow fuel fill after approximately 20,000 miles. Solution: Replace the carbon canister assembly with the latest available. Also, consider relocating the fresh-air intake port to a more protected location. For vehicles with pickup box: connect the 5/8-inch hose to the dust box and route the fresh-air intake to the inside of the box support channel. For vehicles with an aftermarket second unit body (SUB) locate the fresh-air intake inside of the framerail beside the midship fuel tank and terminate the hose with a mushroom cap fitting. See Figure-1. (2) Inefficient or improper fuel fill system installation during aftermarket up-fit. Solution: The balance of this bulletin. Fuel Fill Design: General Description The fuel fill and vapor management system design in the subject chassis changed with the 2005 model year to meet government emissions requirements for Onboard Refueling Vapor Recovery (ORVR) and LEV-II. One effect was the fill hose and vent lines became smaller in diameter to improve vapor management during the refueling process. The design uses a venturi-type liquid seal, and a vent tube in the filler pipe to re-circulate fuel vapor during refueling. The primary path for vapor displaced by refueling is through the carbon canister, and the fuel fill vapor vent line helps to keep the carbon canister from becoming over-charged by allowing some re-circulation. Dan Pelcher Page 1 of 5 Date Issued: 8/22/05
Recommended Fuel Fill System Installation Figures 2 and 3 illustrate a proper installation using Ford-production components currently specified for box-removal or box-delete. Field investigation discovered that an aftermarket SUB support cross-member prevented sufficient fuel fill hose slope, and had to be altered or relocated to achieve good fuel fill rate. An alternate installation is discussed later in this bulletin, incorporating a fuel filler pipe with a larger vent line, in cases where SUB alteration is impractical, forcing the fuel fill hose below the minimum 4-degree slope requirement. For Box-Removal: Use Ford Fuel System Conversion Kit 5C34-9B149-G* (see Table-B, "Fuel Fill Kits"). For Box-Delete: Use the shorter Ford fuel filler that comes installed on the chassis (P/N 5C34-9034-R*), and the additional hose, pipe and attaching parts found in chassis dunnage (same parts as in Box-Removal Conversion kit). General guidelines for installing and routing the fuel fill plumbing These guidelines reflect things-gone-wrong found in field investigation of slow fuel fill. Optimize hose routing and minimize length to reduce fuel flow restrictions to the fuel tank. Maintain a minimum 4-degree slope under all conditions. The slope at installation may need to be greater to accommodate vehicle attitude change with customer loading, and slope of the parking pad at the refueling station. The Ford fuel filler tube support cup angles the fuel fill tube down 32-degrees below horizontal. Fuel fill tube support cups of different angles are available in the aftermarket, and may be used to help with routing. Make any bends in the routing as large of a radius as possible. Maintain circular hose shape. Create support for the plumbing to maintain the proper routing characteristics as the vehicle ages and hoses sag. Ensure that the complete vapor line vent system has no kinks or restrictions. Consider that booted vapor recovery nozzles, typically used in California, naturally compete with the vehicle's design for capturing refueling vapors, and may contribute to poor refueling. Important Compliance Notes Changing from an ORVR fuel filler pipe to a non-orvr pipe will not affect OBD reporting performance in the Powertrain Control Module (PCM). Ford-completed pickups, which meet ORVR requirements, are intended to remain ORVR-compliant after box-removal alteration. The Ford fuel system components, installed on the vehicle or in kits, meet LEV-II emissions requirements. Removing the formed sealing beads at the ends of metal pipe is not recommended. Hose clamps alone may not meet LEV-II emissions requirements for vapor leakage. Also, these sealing beads prevent hose pull-off during a crash, making them necessary to help meet FMVSS 301 "Fuel System Integrity" requirements. Bodyside location for fuel filler tube and support cup: The 2006 model year Incomplete Vehicle Manual (IVM), page 23, shows the minimum height above the frame of the rectangular Ford plastic fuel fill support cup, dimension "D" at 267 mm (10.5 in.). This minimum height is critical to help meet FMVSS 301 requirements in a crash. However, the maximum height dimension shown for dimension "D" is driven by ergonomics, and therefore exceeding this dimension to get better fuel hose slope to the tank will not adversely affect FMVSS 301 certification. Protective sleeve material for flexible fuel hose is provided in the Ford Fuel System Conversion Service Kits, and helps meet FMVSS 301 for additional protection against fuel expulsion from punctured hose material in a crash. It is specifically illustrated in the IVM to use where the fuel fill hose crosses over the Ford frame to the fuel tank. This sleeve material (or equivalent) is further intended to be used wherever vulnerable fuel hose material is near any threatening metal edge or surface of the second unit body (SUB), or its supporting crosssmembers. Dan Pelcher Page 2 of 5 Date Issued: 8/22/05
Alternate Installation (refer to Figure-4) In the case where altering the SUB to meet the 4-degree minimum slope requirement is impractical, then increasing the fuel fill vent line diameter may improve fuel fill rate sufficiently. One method is described here. NOTE: this solution is not recommended as a continuing general practice, but as an intermediate remedy until the aftermarket SUB can be re-designed to achieve proper fuel fill routing/slope. Replace the fuel fill pipe subassembly with part number 5C34-9034-D* (5C3Z-9034-D*); normally installed in F350 chassis cab. It incorporates a larger vapor vent tube for a 3/4-inch I.D. vent hose. Its use on the subject vehicles also poses a threat of contaminating the carbon canister with raw fuel during refueling. To prevent this refer to Figure-4 which illustrates a special way to route the 3/4-inch fuel fill vapor vent line into the 5/8-inch vapor line to the carbon canister. The aftermarket upfitter would add a "T" and a section of 5/8-inch I.D. vapor vent hose between the pressure transducer and the fuel tank, and create a raised hump in the hose to divert any inadvertent raw fuel to the fuel tank. To plug the unused 5/16-inch vapor vent tube at its tap into the vapor line to the carbon canister, either pinch-close and solder-seal the opening, or use a quick-connect SAE end form cap. Leaving this unused vapor vent tube open to atmosphere will trigger an OBD malfunction code in the PCM. The operator will first see the "cap-off" light on the dash, and after some time the MIL light will also turn on. Reference Tables Part Numbers: Engineering [Service] as shown. Asterisk (*) indicates dealer to use latest level suffix. Table-A: Identifying the fuel filler pipe and vent systems GVWR Model Vehicle Type Fuel Fill Tube Sub-Assembly Under-10K F250 Pickup Complete Sub-Assembly P/N Vent Orifice Diameter Vent Hose I.D. (inches) F250 Box-Delete Incomplete 5C34-9034-R* (5C3Z-9034-R*) 5.0 mm 5/16 10K F250 Pickup Complete F250 Box-Delete Incomplete 5C34-9034-R* (5C3Z-9034-R*) 5.0 mm 5/16 Over-10K F350 Pickup Complete F350 Box-Delete Incomplete 5C34-9034-R* (5C3Z-9034-R*) 5.0 mm 5/16 Table-B: Fuel Fill Kits Gas Engine Chassis Cab with 19-gal. Midship Fuel Tank: Chassis Cab with Aft-Axle Fuel Tank: Pickup Box-Delete: Fuel System Conversion or "Service" Kit: 2006 Model Year Carry-over 2005 5C34-9B149-BA 5C34-9B149-DA 5C34-9B149-F* [5C3Z-9B149-FA] 5C34-9B149-G* [5C3Z-9B149-GA] Kit Contents 5C34-9034-D* fuel filler with 19 mm orifice, installed on the fuel tank at the Ford assembly plant. 5C34-9034-D* fuel filler with 19 mm orifice, installed on the fuel tank at the Ford assembly plant. 5C34-9034-R* filler with 5 mm orifice installed on the fuel tank. 5C34-9034-R* filler pipe subassembly with 5 mm orifice. Extra LEV-II hose, clips, straps, etc. Diesel Engine Fuel Fill Conversion or "Service" Kit (Reference Only): 4C34-9B149-H* [8C3Z-9B149-H*] for 2005 thru 2007 Model Years Dan Pelcher Page 3 of 5 Date Issued: 8/22/05
Figure-1: Protecting the carbon canister fresh-air opening from dirt ingestion. Figure-2: Proper Fuel Fill Orientation / Rear View Dan Pelcher Page 4 of 5 Date Issued: 8/22/05
Figure-3: Proper Fuel Fill System Orientation / Side View Figure-4: Special vent line tap when using "D" fuel filler. Dan Pelcher Page 5 of 5 Date Issued: 8/22/05