jrm1900

Last Friday I my car began throwing codes at startup only when cold, I don’t remember the numbers but they were related to the O2 sensors, one of them being a lean condition reading, since I had recently installed hi flow cats I just underestimated the problem, erased the codes with my predator, and kept going.
Yesterday I went to the gas station, the fuel gage read about 3/8, I couldn’t fill the tank because the nozzle kept spilling fuel all over the place as if it was full to the neck, I thought it was a problem with the pump’s nozzle, again didn’t pay much attention to the problem and just rushed home to clean up the mess before the fuel could cause any damage to the paint.
Tonight I went to a different gas station and to my surprise I had the same problem, it seemed as if the hose between the fuel filler neck and gas tank was clogged, the first thing that came to my mind was sabotage from some unhappy neighbor because of my car’s sound triggering nearby alarms, so I headed home, grabbed my wrenches, and began working on the problem, I removed the fuel filling hard plastic hose and it wasn’t clogged (sorry about the bad thoughts neighbors), the one way valve in the left tank was working properly and the tank seemed to be quite full, then I started looking for the problem somewhere else, it was then that I found that the plastic breathing hose of the fuel tank was totally melted against the right exhaust pipe(3") and another metal fuel pipe was rubbing against the same exhaust pipe, It gives me the chills every time I think of what could have happened considering I took my kids home on that car last Sunday damn….
At this point I don’t know if it was my mistake when installing the exhaust system, I remember checking clearances, but I also remember trying to align everything so that the exhaust tip would be properly aligned with the bumper openings, It also could have been caused by some of the clams coming lose due to heat and vibration. Right now the fuel lines are about ¾” away from the exhaust pipes and I am going to fabricate some kind of Isolation around the fuel lines to absolutely keep this from happening again, and if it happens to be the different exhaust sections moving around I’ll have to resource to soldering instead of clamping.
Anyway I thought I should share this with you guys just in case you run into a similar problem.

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ilmor

Wow, thanks for the information, and I'm glad it wasn't more serious. Although my exhaust system is installed by Shelby, your post will definitely make me take a look just to make sure I have no similar issues.

mightymouse

Not to be an A$$ but.The problem is because you have a 3" exhaust on your car and you don't need it even with the SC. Now if you were running a turbo I would say man that sucks.

28HopUp

Regardless, his post is informative for those who have modded their exhaust system.

mightymouse

I'm by no means disagreeing with that.

hammeron

thanks JRM for the heads up, i too am going to
take a look under my car, just to make sure everything is
A OK

sleeper2

Maybe that computer isn't completely bad after all. Seriously JRM, I'm glad you're okay. Do you have any idea where specifically the clearance issue was?

Sleeper2

8178A

There is a lot of clearance in that area on my 07.

Derf00

The problem is not the 3" pipe.... It's crappy bending from the aftermarket supplier.

Glad noone was hurt!

jrm1900

Thanks, basically the exhaust pipe makes a half loop to clear the rear axle, I totally replaced the OEM to install the 3" exhaust which unlike the stockone pieceis made with several segments of pipe hold together with clamps and it goes very close to the fuel lines right around the trunk floor where the spare tire is located.
I am pretty sure the Ford design is safe with plenty of clearence, changing the axle back exhaust wont affect anything but if you intend to replace all the piping as I did be carefull not to make the same mistake.
As I said before right now I was able to adjust a 3/4" clearence when cold, but I know for a fact that the pipes expand about 1/2"when hotso it gives me around 1/4" margin that in the best scenario might be transfering some heat to the fuel which I dont need at all, thus the need to look for a better solution or find some kind of ceramic isolation to keep things under control. I guess I'll be needing to find a lift and reinstall the whole exhaust system looking for better clearence.