Tank Assembly problems of the 2002 Ford Escape

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the fuel tank shield was completely rusted allowing the fuel tank to be exposed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 69,500.

Driving to dover DE. Pulled into gas station outside lancaster PA for fuel. Filled tank and went to pull away from pump. Heard something dragging and found fuel tank strap had snapped and left fuel tank dragging on driveshaft.

Gas gauge reads between 1/2 & 1/4, car ran out of gas this morning. Aaa brought gas, I went to a gas station and filled the tank. Gas gauge still reads only 1/2 full.

My wife's 2002 Ford Escape has aprox 40k on it the steel cover that goes over the plastic gas tank is rotting away and dropping off rusty parts I hope that emissions would cover this. The strap has some rust but I am concerned we live in the northeast with salt on our roads.

The car was making a noise. The repair shop found that the gas tank was scraping on the drive shaft because the strap that holds the gas tank and shield in place had rusted through and broken in half causing the gas tank to fall down on the drive shaft. Luckily I did not drive very far with this situation because the drive shaft would have put a hole in the gas tank and could have potentially caused a fire.