How To: 2002 Fuel Filler Neck Replacement

[vaprtrl]

This is a duplicate of the original thread: How To: 2002 Fuel Filler Neck Replacement. I restarted it for two reasons: 1) I was using photobucket to host the photos, and they don't allow linking to external sites, and 2) when I edited the thread to change the URLs of the images, the editor restricted me to 10 images per post. The easiest solution for me in the short term was to create a new thread, and break out 10 images per post.

Originally posted 14-Dec-2017:
I had a little trouble with this repair, so with it now complete I thought I would post some pics and comments on how I got it done. I missed a lot of pictures along the way, but I got the main pain points for me.

First, take a look at the old filler neck. You can see all of the rusted material around the plastic inlet. It was giving me P0442, "P0442 Evaporative Emission Control System Leak Detected (small leak)". I took it to the shop, and they determined it was the fuel filler neck. If I had known better, I could have saved the service charge - there was a HUGE accumulation of rust particles inside the fuel door area. It's pretty clear now where it came from - this is what it looked like when I took it out:

and

The part number, in case you're wondering:

I had already ordered the replacement from FillerNeckSupply.com. I was a little leery that it was not a legit site (who sells ONLY filler necks?), but it worked out. The new part was FNSF043-01. It was $79.95, and shipping to Cleveland/Akron was $16.95. (I paid an extra $2.00 or so for 2-day shipping.) There was also a promotion, so I got $2.40 off the purchase, for a total of $94.50 delivered.

Labeling of the FillerNeckSupply.com part:

Side-by-side of the old and new parts:

The only big difference I could see between the parts was the screen at the bottom of the pipe. The original (factory) part had a pretty fine mesh compared to the FillerNeckSupply.com part:

 

[vaprtrl]

Removal and installation is pretty straightforward. The only thing that gave me trouble was the vent line at the top of the neck. And for me it was a LOT of trouble. Details below.

First, I backed the truck up onto ramps. It would have been convenient to remove the rear tire, but my jack is giving me problems and my stands are inaccessible right now. But the ramps worked for me.

Next, I removed the spare. In hindsight I should have pulled the spare out first so I didn't have to let out so much cable, but it didn't really matter that much. As an aside, this is where I learned that if I ever had to use the spare I would have been in trouble - my explorer had a lock to retain the spare. The lock worked great, but the bar it was attached to was rusted so badly that I never would have gotten it out. I would up cutting it off in order to get the spare out.

Finally, I removed the splash guard from the passenger rear fender. There were five christmas tree fasteners. Two of them were no problem, but the three outer ones went through the metal body, and one of those was behind the plastic fender trim. I just kept working them until I could get them out. I just tore out the fastener that was behind the fender trim.

So that got me access to everything.

I made a few mistakes along the way for removal, so I'll re-order the steps and tell you what I SHOULD have done...

First, I would cut all of the wire ties that hold all the hoses together. There are a few things going on down there. There are the more obvious filler neck (large diameter) and vent hose (small diameter, about 5/8 in OD). There is about a 1/2 in OD vent hose with a plug to prevent insects from entering - I think it went to the differential. And finally there is another tube that goes up to the fuel door area - it is hidden to the right inside the fuel door, I think it is to push excess fuel up into the fuel door area to tell you you're putting too much in. If you aren't careful with this one you're break the plastic fitting that holds it in place.

Next, I removed the two screws that hold the lower section of the filler neck. The following picture shows "after" the repair. There are two bolts that need to come out in order to remove the lower section - you'll need to knock the rust off, and you'll need a 13mm socket. It makes it a lot easier to manipulate the upper section of the filler neck if you remove these bolts first.

Remove the bolts holding the lower section of the filler neck ("After" pic):

While I was down there I loosened the clamp that holds the lower tube of the filler neck to the fuel tank hose. Sorry the first pic is out of focus, but you can see the screw for the hose clamp in about the center. The second pic shows the hose after the tube has been removed. We're right above the passenger-side CV joint in these pics.

I didn't remove the tube from the hose at this point, but I guess you could if you wanted to. The hose was pretty flexible, and I didn't have to fight too much to get it off. I pushed a screwdriver between the hose and the tube to loosen it up a little bit, and it came apart pretty easily.

At this point I unscrewed the top of the filler neck from the fuel door area. Remove the gas cap (it is on a tether), and remove the three screws. They have a 7mm head. I used a hand driver and they came out pretty easily. Then you have to just work the filler neck out of the body by pushing it downward and manipulating it inside the fender. Just remember not to pull out that line that is still attached up there, or you'll break it's holder.

At this point I had the filler neck sticking out the side of the vehicle above the tire. And there was this vent line attached that I thought would be a no-brainer, but I couldn't get it to come off the filler neck for my life. The pic shows that there is a nylon tube that serves as the vent, and there is an outer rubber tube that protects it. The arrow is pointing to the nylon tube.

Well, I couldn't get it off of there, so I split it and it came right off. This is what the inner and outer look like after I cut the end off:

I had already decided to splice in a new piece of fuel line. The parts I needed were

• Prestone 3/8" x 2ft Fuel Line Hose, part number FU0308 ($3.29 at O'Reilly)
• 3/8" Fuel Line Unions, part number 800-011 ($7.99/2 at O'Reilly) - they were in fact steel, and not nylon as the label in the picture shows.
• 5/16" - 5/8" Hose Clamps, part number MP6202V ($2.99/4-pack at O'Reilly)

Before cutting the hose and attaching the union, I installed everything and tied all the hoses up. I would do it in the following order:

• Install the new fuel line to the vent pipe on the upper portion of the filler neck. Tighten the clamp.
• Feed the lower portion of the filler neck from the outside of the vehicle through the frame. Get under the vehicle and install the lower filler neck tube to the fuel tank hose. It was helpful to have someone stand outside the vehicle and hold the upper filler neck, because it tended to flop all over the place during this step. DO NOT tighten the hose clamp yet. DO NOT install the bolts to the lower filler neck yet.
• Go back outside the vehicle and install the top of the filler neck to the body. Install the three screws, and remember to install the gas cap tether. Again, it was helpful to have someone hold the filler neck up against the body, otherwise the screws won't engage.
• Install the two bolts to hold the lower filler neck in place on the frame.
• Tighten the hose clamp between the fuel tank hose and the lower fuel neck.
• Route the vent hose from the bottom upward. Route the new vent hose from the top downward. They will cross somewhere in the middle, and you'll need to decide where you want the union. At this point I also tied all of the hoses together so I had the best guess of where to make the cut.
• Cut one or both hoses to length so that they meet up where you'll install the union.

One of the earlier pictures showed that 2 feet of hose got me about to the first mounting point of the lower tube. I'll show that picture again:

 

[vaprtrl]

Starting from the top, the final installation of everything looks like:

1. Filler neck and hoses attached to body, viewing from outside the vehicle behind the rear tire.

2. Coming down the upper filler neck to the central connecting hose, viewing from outside the vehicle behind the rear tire.

3. Central connecting hose going across the frame to the lower filler neck, viewing from outside the vehicle behind the rear tire.

4. Central connecting hose connecting to the lower filler neck, and the union I installed for the vent hose, viewing from under the vehicle in the spare tire well.

5. Lower filler neck connected to the fuel tank hose, viewing from under the vehicle in the spare tire well.

 

[Drewmcg]

unfortunately, the photos still do not post. I wonder if you could link them through a cloud service?

If you email them to me (drewmcg@yah**.com) I could post 'em . . .

 

[vaprtrl]

Alright, looks like I got the images working. Good luck with your repair!

 

[Drewmcg]

thanks so much!

 

[Drewmcg]

So, now that I've had a chance to study these photos an accompanying text (the pix make all the difference!), I have this observation:

• There appear to be TWO vent lines associated with fuel fill functions in the '02 four-door Explorers, not one!

The one I've been focused on (up until now) is part of the EVAP system. It's hose is is cinch-tied to the same stack with the fuel fill hose, diff. vent tube, etc., but never attaches to the filler neck at all. Instead, it turns toward the front of the vehicle at its upper end, and clips into the side of the same gas cap housing that the fuel filler neck bolts into (3 x 7mm bolts for filler neck). It is that hose that runs down to the small black box (not a charcoal canister) "fuel air separator"/ "dust filter" that is depicted in your last photo.

As I commented in another thread, if this vent hose (or anything it attaches to, including eventually the charcoal canisters) are clogged, changing your fuel filler neck won't do any good. But I've fully de-bugged this EVAP vent system (except replacing charcoal canisters), and still have a problem fueling my truck.

Your picture nos. 3 (tip of thumb), 10, and 11 show another vent line (as you describe it). I have always thought that this was a fuel drainback for overfilled filler necks. But maybe it really is a vent line. Consider:

• when one inserts the filler hose at the gas pump and squeezes the pump handle, this attempts to force a large volume of liquid into the tank very quickly;
• the air in the tank has to go somewhere (or will push back and trip the pump handle off); and
• there is the EVAP port/hose, but that is (i) a small diameter (compared with the fuel filler hose); and (ii) leads out the front of the tank and snakes through byzantine hose paths, t-connectors, TWO charcoal canisters (in series), an (open, but still somewhat constricting) vent solenoid, that little black box fuel vapor separator, and three more feet of small diameter hose terminating in a 90-degree nylon elbow on the outside of the gas cap housing. That's a long, narrow, constricted path for the air to escape.

Hypothesis: maybe Ford engineers realized that they needed a second vent to allow an adequate volume of air in the tank to be displaced in a short enough time for the gas hose not to constantly shut off due to backpressure. Maybe that second vent tube--which IS part of the filler neck--rusts out, becomes corroded or constricted, and can't do its job. In that case, replacing the fuel filler neck WOULD solve the problem.

Any thoughts? I wonder if there is any way to check/ream out that "second" vent path attached to the filler neck without first removing the entire filler neck? That seems tough, given how much trouble you had even getting it off.

Vapr: Did you ever figure out where the other end of that 3/8 i.d. hose that you had to split to get off of the fuel filler neck ran to underneath the truck?

 

[Trucking2019]

Do you know where to get the entire fuel filler vent hose instead of use a portion of replacement? My concern is that the plastic connectors on the ends will be brittle.

 

[Drewmcg]

I just replaced the filler neck (Evans-Fischer? on Amazon) and that took care of it.

 

[4slash6]

I just replaced the filler neck (Evans-Fischer? on Amazon) and that took care of it.

2002 explorer xls error code P0442 and , has begun to give me problems fueling. 130k miles and just replaced fuel pump for 3rd time. Have read where oem smaller neck screen can get debris and cause this slow fueling issue. hoping the new neck will also solve the P0442 service engine soon light that has been on for years now. thanks for the nice right up.

 

[4slash6]

2002 explorer xls error code P0442 and , has begun to give me problems fueling. 130k miles and just replaced fuel pump for 3rd time. Have read where oem smaller neck screen can get debris and cause this slow fueling issue. hoping the new neck will also solve the P0442 service engine soon light that has been on for years now. thanks for the nice right up.

update: New filler neck installed. Did not have to remove rear tire or lift vehicle, just dropped spare and removed mud flap inner well trim.. Did not have the funky connection at vent line and fuel inlet, so just cut end and re installed with screw clamp. After I finished, I re-set P0442 fault, but, light Came back on, so I played with my gas cap a bit, pushing it on and off, twisting.etc.. also lubed the o ring seal on it. Light went out while driving it soon after and has not come back on! Also, I was able to give full trigger at pump as I can now take fuel as fast I can pump it. Thanks again for this write up. TOM. purchased the part on line for $75.00 but saw it for $60.00 a week later...