Hello,
I been a member for a long time... but mostly a lurker. I ordered a 2011 GT 01JUN10. It arrived 20AUG10 and picked it up 23AUG10. I drove a rental (on way from Panama City Fl to Tampa Fl to pick the Mustang up Monday. My experience with the Brandon Ford dealer was great I highly recommend them (ask for Lyle-internet sales). Here is what happened when I left Tampa... long read.

I left Tampa with a full tank and about 15 miles on the odometer. Around Gainesville (roughly 160 miles on the odometer) I watched the fuel gauge drop from ½ to empty in about 2 seconds and then the low full light came on with the computer showing 4 mile to empty. I pulled off I-75 north and stopped at a gas station. I was able to pump 7.7 gallons into the Mustang before it started to overflow. Additionally I could only pump the fuel with about 1/4 or less of the pump lever travel because the pump would shut off, like the tank was full (weird right?). It took about 15 minutes to fuel the 7.7 gallons before it started overflowing from the under the car... Thinking that the tank was full I then pulled back on the interstate. At 318 miles the fuel gauge again dropped ½ to empty in about 2 seconds and then the low full light came on with the computer showing 5 mile to empty. At 322 miles the Mustang shut-off... I am assuming because it was out of fuel. I called Ford roadside assistance and choose to have them dispatch someone to bring 2 gallons of fuel. Since it was around 1100 CST and I was about 90 miles from my home towing was not an option since they wanted to tow the vehicle to Tallahassee. I would then still need someone to pick me up... so I choose to have Ford Roadside Assistance bring the fuel. About 45 minutes later an individual arrived at my location and I attempted to fuel the 2 gallons provided. Again I had the same problem with fueling the vehicle; if I poured to fast the fuel would leak out from under the car... I was able to pour about 1.5 gallons in (later I learned that there is a funnel in trunk for this purpose). I was then able to drive to a gas station in Chattahoochee on I-10 West. Again I had the same problem as I had in Gainesville. This time it took about 20 minutes to pump 7.3 gallons before the fuel started leaking out from under the car. Again the pump lever could only be pulled ¼ or less before the pump would shut off (as if the tank was full). I was able to drive the remainder of my trip back home with no other problems. Additionally, the MPG indicator consistently showed 20/21 MPG and I did drive very conservatively and obeyed the speed limit.

My brother in-law, a former Ford mechanic, told me this…

“The mustangs have a fuel cell that is basically a split system. They are equipped with a sending unit for the fuel gauge and 2 pumps. The first is the main fuel pump and the second is the jet pump for the reserve side. He thought that the car was experiencing an intermittent failure on the sending unit causing the fuel gauge to read incorrectly and the jet pump may be tied to the sending unit.”

The local Ford dealer left a message today that they looked at the Mustang and they are replacing the fuel sending unit and that a funnel is needed to fuel the vehicle (I am assuming they mean when using a gas can). Any ideas on this would be appreciated... What I am mainly concerned with why was it so difficult to fuel the car?

Sean

 

Sorry to hear that after picking her up brand new. Hopefully it is an easy fix and you can enjoy her in the coming days.

 

For it to back up so bad when fueling, would bring to my mind that there is pressure built up in the tank due to the vapor evac system malfunctioning.

Just my guess.

 

I had a few friends tell me that it could be a vapor lock issue. Thanks.

 

Hope it works out for you so you can enjoy your stang

 

That would be my guess as well.

 

I would guess this too. I'd even put money on it.

Luckily this is the internet so that money is just imaginary.

 

As far as I know, vapor lock occurs when the fuel in your fuel system vaporizes before reaching the engine usually caused by some external heating source that vaporizes the fuel.

 

Yeah, not vapor lock, but vapor return, part of the emissions system.

You can't really vapor lock one of these cars.

 

I, and others had a similar issue with the 05-09 GT's. You can turn the pump nozzle upside down. That helps refuel faster if you ever have the same issue. I think the problem had to do with the gas tank vent filter. It would become clogged, and not allow the car to be refueled quickly. This hasn't occured on my 2011 yet.

 

As someone previously pointed out, this was a common problem on earlier models, including my '07 GT/CS. I also had this problem on my 2009 VW CC with the 2.0 Turbo, which took 20 minutes to top off the tank. It seemed to be heat sensitive, that is, the hotter the days, the harder they were to refuel. Of course neither Ford, nor VW could "duplicate" my problem.

So far, no problems with the 2011 GT/CS, but now I am getting paranoid. I thought they had solved the problem with the new model.

Hopefully, the new sending unit will be the answer to your problem.

 

ask them to fill your car up before they call you to come and pick it up. Tell them you will pay for the fuel if need be. Just to make sure its fixed correctly.
My fuel pump went out less than 30 miles of driving it home. lucky I was at work kind of. They had to haul my car out on a flat bed in front of all the windows. I still hear about it sometimes. LOL

 

Picked up my mustang on Friday. It was pouring down rain here so I just drove it home. It appeared to drive ok. The Ford technician replaced the left fuel pump module (called a sender and pump assembly on the work order). I have not driven it today, hopefully I can tomorrow. I will also put gas in it to see if that problem was resolved.

 

Hopefully problem solved. Enjoy your new toy!

 

Well I just had a similar issue today.
My car has only 190 miles on it and it showed just over 1/4 tank of gas left and somewhere around 100 miles distance to empty.

Suddenly a low fuel light came on my dash and caught my eye while driving.
I look down to see the yellow low fuel light as well as my gas gauge needle had plummeted to empty. The on screen info system read "3 miles distance to empty".

I mile up the road was a Shell gas station.
I pull in, fill up with 91 premium and the car took exactly 10.0 gallons.
It clicked full at 9.9xx and I squeezed another .10 or so in and it clicked again at exactly 10.0 gallons.
So clearly I had 6 gallons of gas left in the tank.

I hope I don't have the same issue and this was just a one time freak occurance.
Don't really want to have to take the car in to the dealer already.

 

As someone said, I remember hearing about this when the 05's came out and I can't believe it's still happening. I've never had an issue with my 2006 though. Hopefully it's not ruining the fun of having an awesome brand new car...

 

So far so good... almost 7 days and the Mustang is running great.

 

Update?

Any further issues?

I am going to have to take my 2011 GT 5.0 in too for this same issue.
Twice now in the first 550 miles when the gas gauge reached about 1/3rd tank left (less than 1/2 tank, but a bit more than 1/4 tank) the needle suddenly and instantly dropped to empty the gas gauge lit up in red, and the info display saying, "4 miles distance to empty"

Both instances I pulled over within a mile to fill up and the car took only about 9-10 gallons of gas (so clearly there still was 6-7 gallons left).

I have not allowed the tank to go below 1/2 tank since then, but now have to make an appointment to have this "sender and pump assembly" replaced.

So I'm curious for an update to make sure that was in fact your issue and it's all better now.

I figure I'll have the clutch assembly updated in the apparent TSB at the same time too, though I have not experienced the sticking clutch pedal however.

Thanks

 

Still no problems with the car after the repair. Your problem descriptions is very similar to mine. To be clear the Ford dealer replaced a "Sender and Pump Assembly" part number (BR3Z 9H307 B). Hope this helps and good luck with the your service.

 

Even inside the "50 miles til E" zone, I haven't been able to put more than 11-11.5 gal of gas in the car. I remember when the first S197s hit the street, they had issues with pressure build up in the gas tank and eventually replaced them with a revised design. Not sure if there's something I need to do to avoid this and fill up the full 16 gal.