I'm sure everyone remembers the Nissan recall that came out back in February/March 06 concerning the potential for a fuel filler hose leak.

If not, here is the link:


http://www.nissanhelp.com/Ownership/.../NTB06-014.htm

Well, I was one of the skeptical many who said that they would hold off on getting this recall work done unless I had a problem. If you look at this link, you will see how extensive this job is. In my experience (and with that of MANY other members), we just can't seem to trust the dealers to do recall work without causing some other problems. I got my recall notice way back in April and stuck it in a drawer.

I had to break it out last month. When I filled my tank up, fuel LEAKED ALL OVER THE GROUND!

I was concerned about the amount of work involved and since I had an aftermarket exhaust (Borla and Crawford HFC), I was worried that this would be damaged or reinstalled incorrectly.

I was also concerned about suspension problems after the entire rear suspension was dropped for this work.

 

I had the recall work done about 3 weeks ago. I reluctantly left off the car in the AM before the dealer opened with my customary box of two dozen donuts in the front seat with a small note to the techs and service writer.

I went to the dealership at lunch and spoke with the tech who was working on the car. He seemed very knowledgable and told me he used to work at a dealership in the south that did service on a lot of high end cars. He himself had a BMW M3 that he had modded back in the day. Talking to him made me feel a lot better as he knew a lot about performance mods and such.

Here are some pics I took that day:

 

Those pics were taken just before he dropped the rear suspension and just after he took off my entire exhaust.

They did the work all in one day and I picked it up that night. I had asked if I could keep the hoses that were recalled and was told that they had to be sent in to Nissan. I asked if I could take pics of them before they sent them in, and they said "sure".

Here are pics of the rubber hoses that were replaced.

 

The larger of the hoses (the first pic) is the fuel filler hose. Mine had no cracks but the tech said that the clamp that held it onto the tank was a bit loose and could have been the cause of my leaking.

The smaller hose is one of the evap hoses. As you can see, it had cracked. No actual fuel runs through this one, but he told me that this crack could have been the cause of the strong smell of fuel I have in my garage all the time.

Anyway, I tested the car every which way and the suspension seems just fine. No problems whatsoever. I was concerned that I would have vibration or noise from my exhaust (I have the Borla with Crawford High Flow Cats). They were meticulously installed initially so that there were no noises and to my surprise, everything was great post recall work!

 

You would think that this would be the end of a happy story.

Unfortunately, it wasn't.

I went and got gas a few days later and to my disappointment, fuel leaked all over the ground when the tank was full (as I was pumping and just before the nozzle kicked off when the tank is full).

I drove around with the STRONG smell of fuel and with a drip drip drip everywhere.

This happened until I got below half a tank and it STOPPED.

I called the dealer back and they took the car in again. The same tech took another look and had to AGAIN, take the exhaust off, drop the rear suspension, and drop the fuel tank down.

I was on vacation im Myrtle Beach when he called. He said that when they installed my return fuel system (at Altered Atomosphere in MD) they tap into the tank on the passenger side. They unfortunately drilled a bit eccentically (not perpendicular to the tank surface) and this made the connection off kilter which caused the O-Ring to deteriorate. Thus my leak.

The tech basically fabricated something to fix it and redid the whole thing with a new ring etc. This fixed the leak and the smell of fuel in my garage all the time.

The bad news is that since this WASN'T a part of the recall, I had to pay for it this time. Cost of the parts was TEN BUCKS. Cost of the labor FIVE HUNDRED BUCKS!

I wish that they would have found this out when they had the thing torn apart for the recall work but they didn't so I suppose there isn't much I can do.

I am just happy they found the problem and fixed it.

Then End!

 

Hey Doc,

Thanks for sharing your story - even though the ending sucked.

BTW, the link needs to be fixed.

Dave

 

Thank Dave. Should work now.

http://www.nissanhelp.com/Ownership/.../NTB06-014.htm

 

Great that the tech found the problem, too bad it was a $500 problem.

 

I was surprised that he would even attempt to fix it since it was purely an aftermarket problem and not a dealer installed or OEM problem.

 

umm, the o ring is on top of the fuel tank. Why did they take the whole suspension off again? Just to see if they installed the fuel hose correctly?

 

great write up doc. I'm definately going to try the donut offering if I ever have to go back to the dealer (which I don't plan on ever having to do). sucks about the aam problem though. I believe thats the second one posted today.

 

Not sure if he could have done all of the work from above (via the bottom of the glovebox behind the passenger seat) but the tech mentioned that he was afraid to mess with the spaghetti of wires I have back there for my PC.

 

I also had the fuel filler cutoff valve replaced at the same time. I dealt with the intermittent pre-mature fuel fill cutoff since 2003. Anyhow, I'm getting clicks again in the rear :-(

Not only that, my navi lid broke not long after the warranty ended. Months before I complained about the lid not closing, and it opened by itself while driving. They said it was normal that the lid is easy to lift up with the fingers without releasing the latch. When it broke, they wouldn't fix it since it was out of warranty despite me complaining about it before. Also, they said it would be void because an aftermarket stereo installation.

Welps... it is unfortunate I'll be kicking the Z to the curb in a year.

 

I'm not wild about letting my local hackers tear my Z apart, to replace that filler neck. They would rip the rear end, suspension and all, off it, drop the fuel tank, replace the neck, and "try" to put it all back together again.

I garage my Z, and only drive it when it's going to be dry, and usually only when it's going to be less than sunny, or for short trips. I'm not really concerner about "normal environmental degradation," so should I take it in, and let those hackers tear my baby apart?

I hate to procastonate, but I don't see any time limit on this recall, and so far, I'm not willing to take the chance. Agreed?

Dave king, 2003 Redline Touring Coup

 

There is no time limit on the recall. So if experience problems 1,2,3 years down the road you could take it in then. I'm not taking mine in either, just don't trust them.

 

yeah, i had mine done earlier this year and so far no problem even though i got aftermarket rear struts and y-pipe. Anything could go wrong due to the extensive works required. i also had my Armada 4x4 SE in to have a fuel sensor replaced under warranty. I guess in the process they somehow messed up the ABS system when they dropped the fuel tank to get access.

 

F--K. I should have read this thread before I took mine in to the dealer/stealer/hacker/f-ups/whatever. I thought the summertime would be a good time to get this done, but was very reluctant compared to past experiences with them (joy rides, damaged door sill, huge interior scratches on the driver's window, tranny work).

At any rate, I went in... everything seemed fine, but now it's about 3 wks later and I'm hearing a rattle in the rear end. It's only when the car is moving on bumpy roads or I'm on an incline (anything greater than 12 degrees). I'm taken a quick look and it seems my exhaust is loose.. at least it feels looser than normal. Sure enough I slightly move it and I hear the rattle. It's clanging up against something... what? no idea, yet.. but I don't want to take it back to them, because they will most assuredly try to charge me for something and screw something else up in the interim.

I'm going to get down there and take a better look, but I need to wait for the thing to cool off first.

Any advice what the problem might be?

--meth

 

I was extremely surprised that my car as ready to be picked up at 11 am after dropping it off at 7 am. Does everyone agree that this work can be done in 4 hours? I'm somewhat concerned that they did not do all the work.

 

Nah, don't sweat it, my dealer did the same work on my car and they had it for 4 hrs. I think you are good.

 

+1, Mine is garage kept also. It only gets driven about once every 2 weeks. I have entirely too many mods and variables that could be damaged, scatched, or items perhaps stolen too let the dealer perform the work. I can't say that I would entirely trust the dealership with all the audio work I have in the Z. If the time does come that it leaks, I might be inclined to buy the parts and just do the work myself in my garage/shop.