<https://www.fordcontour.org/topic/14005-rusted-rear-crossmember-needs-replacement/#comment-84300>
<http://schema.org/text>
"While you are in the process of replacing the rear subframe, take a close look at the following: \n  \n1.  The gas tank filler neck.  Your filler neck may also be very rusty.  There have been several instances of filler necks rusting out.  There were three different filler necks on Ford Contours / Mercury Mystiques and all of them are discontinued.  The production dates for filler necks (and the gas tank) are \"beginning to 2-1-1998\", \"2-2-1998 to 5-2-1999\" and \"5-3-1999 to end\".  My filler neck was looking rather sad for a car with only 44,900 miles on it so I had it grit blasted followed by zinc phosphate pretreatment and then three coats of POR-15.  The plastic lock ring and rubber seal that go on the neck for my car were still available through the dealership system earlier this summer but I don't know if they fit your Contours / Mystiques since yours used a different filler neck than mine.  If yours is in bad shape, now is the time to take care of it since you have to pull the gas tank to do it (the rear cross member also has to be pulled). \n  \n2.  Check out the evaporative emissions canister which is the metal box with all the hoses that lies directly underneath the spare tire tub.  The bolts and stamped steel nuts may be corroded to the point of needed replacement (mine were).  My evap control valve on the canister was horribly rusted so I replaced it at the same time (it was still working). \n  \n3.  If you do pull the tank, inspect the metal locking ring that holds the fuel filter / tank level sensor assembly in the tank.  The removable lock ring will likely be OK but the metal ring that is fused to the tank may be pretty rusty.  If this is the case, remove the lock ring and pump assembly so that you can paint the ring with something like POR-15.  All gas tanks have been discontinued by Ford and as usual, there is a minimum of three different gas tanks possible. \n  \n4.  If the gas tank straps are looking really crappy, Rock Auto should have those in stock.  They will come in unpainted condition so you may want to get them powder coated. \n  \nAll I'm prescribing here is preventative maintenance to make the car last as long as possible.  This maintenance is a lot of work but if it needs to be done, it will cause the least grief if you do it all at once. \n"
<https://www.fordcontour.org/topic/14005-rusted-rear-crossmember-needs-replacement/#comment-84243>