GlenB
07-06-2008, 02:30 PM
In 2008, Ford apparently decided that people who buy Explorers are too damn dumb to put the gas cap back. So they did away with it.... there is no gas cap.
The neck of the filler tube seals by the flapper door. The door locks shut. In order to open the flapper door, something that is just the right diameter... like a the fill nozzle of the gas pumps must depress the tabs at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. Once those are pressed, the door unlocks and swings down. The spring loaded door automatically swings shut and latches when the nozzle is pulled out.
The inside of the painted exterior fuel door has a weather seal that is ... um... expected to keep out dirt, water, and salt.
If the user has to fill the vehicle with a gas can, a special shaped funnel is supplied with the vehicle and located in the spare tire stow. Hopefully it won't be busted or lost by the time it is needed.
And in case you are wondering.... yes, the filler neck appears to be easy to replace. Personally, if I were the engineer and wanted to provide this "convenient" feature.... I would have just ordered a bunch of fill-through gas caps... but hey, he gets paid more than me, so he must be smarter.
The neck of the filler tube seals by the flapper door. The door locks shut. In order to open the flapper door, something that is just the right diameter... like a the fill nozzle of the gas pumps must depress the tabs at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. Once those are pressed, the door unlocks and swings down. The spring loaded door automatically swings shut and latches when the nozzle is pulled out.
The inside of the painted exterior fuel door has a weather seal that is ... um... expected to keep out dirt, water, and salt.
If the user has to fill the vehicle with a gas can, a special shaped funnel is supplied with the vehicle and located in the spare tire stow. Hopefully it won't be busted or lost by the time it is needed.
And in case you are wondering.... yes, the filler neck appears to be easy to replace. Personally, if I were the engineer and wanted to provide this "convenient" feature.... I would have just ordered a bunch of fill-through gas caps... but hey, he gets paid more than me, so he must be smarter.