Paying for gas is getting painful, and the only thing worse is paying for gas and then having it stolen from your gas tank.  As gas prices increase, reports of fuel theft also rise, but Ford owners can feel a little more secure.  Ford vehicles have a fuel system innovation known as Easy Fuel (capless fuel filler).

The Ford Easy Fuel feature is designed to easily let fuel in and make it difficult to get fuel out.

“Our first goal is to make the refueling process as easy and trouble-free for the customer as possible,” said Brian Aitken, supervisor, Fuel Systems.  “But if it also slows down would-be thieves, Ford customers benefit that way too.”

Reports of gasoline theft have been rising across the United States; a police department in California even issued a warning to residents about a rise in fuel theft that it attributed to the increase in fuel prices.

Ford’s capless fuel filler, however, deters gas theft two different ways. With Easy Fuel, a spring-loaded flapper door is held closed by latches that can only be released by a standard-size fuel nozzle. This feature eliminates the need for a fuel cap. When the proper nozzle is inserted the latches release and nozzle pushes the spring-loaded flapper door to the open position.

Easy Fuel also has a unique mis-fueling inhibitor to reduce improper refueling and siphoning. The inhibitor consists of a fuel nozzle detector that guides the nozzle to the opening. If a nozzle or foreign tube of a different size is placed in the filler neck, the latches will not release.

“Unless they understand how the mis-fueling inhibitor works and come prepared, many would-be fuel thieves are unsuccessful in siphoning fuel from Ford vehicles,” said Aitken.