Keith Browning Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 I am picking up a lot of buzz about a class action lawsuit that seems to have a lot of momentum concerning these rusting fuel tanks. I know of several owners including a fleet (20 trucks) that are getting on-board. Anyone hearing anything on this? I think it's about to hit the fan. What pisses people off the most is that Ford is simply denying any responsibility or admitting that their fuel tanks are are not as goos as they should be. Enter the new revised tank that I hear is galcvanized... adding fuel to the fire... so to speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LARRY BRUDZYNSKI Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Keith I don't know if this relates to a class action but it looks like this is happening all over. http://www.finishing.com/442/19.shtml This is another one you should read it makes more sense to me. http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6673472/description.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 I wonder what all that zinc will do to the fuel system. AFAIK, there are no fuel tank makers that use galvanized fuel tanks. They're either painted steel, plasticised steel, aluminum or plastic. I'm not so sure galvanized will work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Going out on a limb... because things are from a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... IIRC, fuel tanks were made of galvanized steel... They worked. By and large - when we see something made of a new material, we can rest assured that it is cheaper to make or lighter - it is rare that it will be "better". In the 60s or 70s, nobody would have even dreamed of a plastic fuel tank. Why are midship tanks plastic but aft axle tanks aren't? Class action lawsuits? Seems like if you and/or your product aren't the focus of a class action suit.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 We installed one yesterday and took a good look at it. Looks the same so it would suffice to say the change is indeed likely in the materials as reported. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Going out on a limb... because things are from a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... IIRC, fuel tanks were made of galvanized steel... They worked. Not on the inside of diesel tanks AFAIK. There's a lot of info on this issue, diesel fuel isn't like gasoline in this respect, and galvanized tanks aren't used in diesel applications for the most part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 Mind you, I stated the tanks look the same so if the steel is in fact galvanized, it only matters if the lining fails for any reason. I think the big debate or problem here is that the lining is failing. Ford states that bio-diesel and certain additives are attacking the linings exposing the steel. Add some moisture from the naturally occuring condensation and you get rust. From what I know from my customers, NONE of them are using bio-diesel or use additives of ANY kind. Here in NJ, bio-diesel is as far as I can tell is not distributed or available anywhere. If there are chemicals in the fuel itself that are harmful to the linings there is nothing the vehicle owners can do. In observing the many, many tank failures that have come to my dealership almost all of them appear to have suffered from insufficient lining material. We have only seen a handful of obvious lining de-lamination where large areas of lining have separated from the metal and clogged up the pick up screens or filters. In those cases I would agree that something has attacked the lining. From discussions with a few customers and from our commercial sales manager, customers are more angry about the way Ford Motor Company is handling this. They make the standard statement that tank failures are caused by the fuel and that they will not cover the failure and subsequent repairs - then turn a deaf ear to them. This is how theses vehicle owners feel and it will have an effect on sales and customer loyalty. We at the dealerships are caught in the middle. I sense that there are going to be a lot of fuel tanks that will need to be replaced. In that sense we will see some work coming through the doors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LARRY BRUDZYNSKI Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Quote: They make the standard statement that tank failures are caused by the fuel and that they will not cover the failure Obviously Ford hasn't seen the wide spread failures as we have. This reminds me...Back at the Honda dealer we had the 80-83 Accords 84-85 Accords 86-89 Accords all the different design changes have fuel contamination issues, At first Hondas stance on this was because we were in the Salt belt and the filler necks were rusting out and not a defect. Pretty amazing how it turned into a recall on the filler necks and Honda fixing the fuel contaminations as well. It spread a little further into the Civic line as well as the Preludes. Eventually I believe Ford will have to do something similar about this situation. All I can say is keep a eye on the pricing from Ford, when it nose-dives be ready for something to be announced. Remember the CMP's the price dropped like a brick before they announced the campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 My father had a 1981 Accord. He and my brother used to do all of his oil changes and usually at home in the garage. One day they put the floor jack under the cross member just under the engine to lift the car and the car did not move. It went through the cross member because it had rotted out in five years. He brought it to the Honda dealer and they immediately replaced it without hesitation. Mind you, we live in NJ where there is more salt on the road than a million Bloody Marys. I think a product should be able to withstand the environment and variances in the fluids put into it. (within reason) Like somebody mentioned, Chevy and Dodge tanks are not rusting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 IH tanks do this, though. Maybe we can attribute this to the Blue Diamond Truck Company... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 I'm not going to pretend I know everything about fuel tanks - especially old timey fuel tanks because we didn't have delaminating issues way back when... What we DID have was fuel tanks with a bung in the bottom. If you had bad fuel, what can I say. Delamination of fuel tanks is a modern day concern - because we have steel tanks with a coating... some mystic space age crap that can (and apparently will) delaminate. I will admit that modern day fuels can offer challenges to modern packaging. I know that gasoline smells different and feels different and does different things to my skin from what it did nearly 40 years ago. I see modern diesel fuel giving old O-rings a hard time.... As far as galvanized steel is concerned, Damon, I don't think any manufacturers are currently using galvanized steel tanks.... for any kind of fuel. They are heavy and require some care in assembly - zinc really affects the welding process and sealing technology. Blow molding a plastic tank or chemically lining a steel tank come up looking cheaper and easier - even if the tanks don't stand up quite as well. The modern world is full of great improvements.... Used to be I'd pull into the A&W and a young lady in a short skirt would come out to my car and take my order. My burger would arrive, freshly cooked to my specification and served hot. Now, they can instantly pull a hamburger shaped object from under the heat lamp - no waiting..... YUM!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EECGeek Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Wow, I had no idea there was an issue. I've seen my share of rusted out tanks, but I can remember only one tank from an Econoline being replaced, and that was a month ago. Other than that only one other tank failure about a year ago and it was a salt truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 As far as galvanized steel is concerned, Damon, I don't think any manufacturers are currently using galvanized steel tanks.... for any kind of fuel. Exactly what I tried to make clear in my posts above. They CANNOT be using zinc galvanized tanks for diesel fuel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I'll add that modern fuel itself adds another variable: It's more hygroscopic than it used to be. That makes things interesting on our end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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