hello all. I have a 98 mercury grand marquis that has a check engine light that came on. took to the ford garage and they said it needs a new gas cap because of a leak and also the filler neck is leaking. asked if this is required for inspection they said yes, for emissions. i’m exempt from emission testing due to low annual mileage. currently the sled has 113,000 on it.
can I get away any cheaper than this? thanks
A new ford filler neck is half of that right there.
The age of the car hints that neck problems would be logical. ( old rubber drys and cracks )
– but –
Have a little independent shop take a look to see if a parts-house section of gas filler hose might fix it instead of an entire filler neck assembly. ( Ford only sells the neck assembly. )
Unless it’s rust and corrosion on the steel neck, a section of hose may be enough.
An indy shop may also charge less hourly shop rate and use aftermarket parts adding up costing less overall.
Some dealers will use aftermarket parts , but only if YOU say so. They don’t default to that suggestion opting to stay OE. Have them show you what’s wrong with the neck. If it is just the rubber hose, tell yhen you want aftermarket parts.
We give both options to many repairs stating clearly if they’re getting Ford parts or not and what the comparative time tables and warranties will be.
I had to have the filler neck replaced on my Mustang last year. The part alone was around $250, add two hours of labor and you’re a little over $400 total, plus tax and “shop supplies” and you’re right around $450 and that was at an independent shop. I could easily see $600 from a dealer.
Might be easier to just look in a junkyard for a viable part or even an entire gas tank. If you pull the tank, might as well get a new fuel pump too if you’re on the original and plan on keeping the car–it’s right there and might as well replace it while the tank is out.
The filler neck is not part of the gas tank on your car. The filler neck is the steel or composite part attached to the side of the car, the part that the gas cap screws on to. The filler neck attaches to a pair of rubber hoses which then attach to the gas tank.
I’ve seen filler necks not seal properly due to rust or corrosion, I’ve also seen one just broken for some reason. I remember needing one for a Ford Van and found the price to be surprisingly high–hundreds of dollars. So I suppose $600 at a dealer isn’t too out of line.
Can you get away cheaper? Sure, don’t fix it or find a shop that will take a chance with a used part.
if I decided not to fix it is it possible to turn the light off?
No, probably not. You’ll have to live w the light on. You could put a piece of black tape over it I suppose. Be aware, there’s a downside to leaving the light on or blocking it’s view. It will prevent you from knowing about future problems, some of which could prove to be cheap to fix if done straight away, but very expensive if not. For example, misfires will turn on the light, and usually easy to fix. But if not fixed, could damage the cat, which would yield a bill approaching $1500.
Why don’t you just quote an aftermarket filler neck?
Rockauto has the filler neck for your vehicle for $130.00
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=3582636&cc=1305201
However, in order to replace the filler neck, the gas tank needs to be dropped slightly.
Tester
There is a beat up Ranger in our fleet that had a rotted and leaking filler neck assembly
Because of the truck’s condition, we couldn’t justify the price of a Ford filler neck assembly
I installed an aftermarket part and everyone was happy