Ford recalls Five Hundred, Mercury Montego over fuel tank risks

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced a recall of 2007 Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego sedans over a concern around the filler neck of the fuel tank.

It seems that on the 2007 Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego sedans that are being recalled, the welds that connects the fuel tank filler neck to the fuel tank itself could be “defective”. In vehicles with those defective welds, there is an increased chance that the welds can fail over time, especially in the instance of a rear-end collision. When the filler neck welds break the fuel could leak around the junction between the filler neck and gas tank, increasing the chances of fire or explosion from a hard rear end impact. Also, the crack can allow gasoline vapors to escape and for those unsure, gas vapors can be more flammable and explosive than the gasoline itself.

Regardless of whether fumes or actual gasoline is leaking, there is an increased risk of fire so Ford has opted to recall these certain 2007 Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego sedans. There are no reports of injuries or deaths stemming from this recall issue but based on the lessons Ford learned from the Pinto fuel tank fiasco of the 1970s – Ford has very wisely made the call to get them back into dealerships for inspection.

Luckily, the 2007 Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego were fairly unpopular in their short existences so this recall only affects 2,945 vehicles. The NHTSA bulletin doesn’t go into any detail as to what “certain” models are affected but Ford will begin notifying the owners of those 2,945 sedans on or around August 15th, asking them to return to their local Ford or Lincoln dealership where a technician will inspect the fuel tank system – making any repairs or replacements free of charge to the owner.

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