What's new
Never mind the cap
Jil McIntosh, Metro Canada, October 06, 2009
If you’ve ever struggled with a gas cap, forgotten to put it back on, or had the “Check Engine” light up because you didn’t tighten the cap enough, you’ll appreciate Ford’s Easy Fuel capless filler.
The system is now on several new Ford and Lincoln models, and will eventually be on all of them. You simply open the fuel filler door, push an inner flap out of the way with the gas pump nozzle, and refuel your vehicle.
“It’s pretty much what it looks like,” says Brian Aitken, supervisor for Ford’s core fuel systems engineering in Michigan.
“It’s a simple metal trap door held closed by latches at the 3 and 9 o’clock positions. Those latches are the hooks that keep the door closed. They have two little lobes that detect the diameter of the nozzle, so as the customer inserts the proper-diameter nozzle, they swing away left and right. That allows the nozzle to continue through and open the door.”
The basic idea isn’t new. Some early patents date back to 1939; Ford held a patent in 1991. The 2003 Ford GT, the company’s exotic supercar, was the first to use it, “and I’m sure that was mainly for the coolness factor,” Aitken says. “We had two or three suppliers who had been showing off this technology to us.” Ford’s European branch was the first to use it in volume production, introducing it on the 2008 Ford Mondeo.
When the inner flap is closed, the filler pipe is completely sealed. This prevents escaping fuel vapours — a situation that can illuminate the engine warning light.
Since diesel and gasoline nozzles are different sizes, the latches prevent filling with the wrong fuel, and also guard against a thief siphoning the tank. And Aitken says that while he definitely doesn’t recommend it, “There are some people who have difficulty getting the cap off, so they don’t bother to put it back on. They just set it back in there for next time.”
Ford estimates that the valve will stay tight for 5,000 fill-ups, and the filler pipe is replaceable. The company is the only one currently offering the system in North America, but “it’s such a handy technology, I expect to see it in other automakers,” Aitken says. “There are different designs that use different technologies.”
And if it makes refuelling so simple that you forget all about it, don’t worry: each car comes with a special plastic funnel that will let you fill it with a portable gas can.
