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Motrolix

Ford Creates New ‘Spider Screen’ To Keep Arachnids From Clogging Vapor Lines

Trundling along on American roadways, mechanical issues caused by the nesting of so-called “yellow sac” spiders might well be among your least-pressing concerns. But in fact, it is known that throughout North America, the spiders can – and quite often do – decide to build their dense silk nests within narrow tubes or crevaces.

An example of one of these might be your car’s fuel vapor line, and when a yellow sac spider does decide to nest there, the results can include impaired engine performance, and quite possibly even damage.

So, to combat the problem, Ford produced an innovative “spider screen” back in 2004. The intent was simply to block and prevent spiders from accessing and nesting within the fuel vapor lines of Ford vehicles, while permitting the flow of the vaporized gas through the car’s emissions system. And just today, Ford Motor Company introduced “spider screen” version 2.0, building upon the research and fundamental principals of the original spider screen from 2004. It will make its North American debut in the 2016 Ford Focus RS.

Ford Fuel Systems Engineer William Euliss said of the new-and-improved arachnid-inhibitor: “We are constantly improving and adapting, even when it comes to technologies that are already working. There is a significant amount of engineering that goes into every detail of our vehicles, like the spider screen.”

Aaron Birch is an automotive enthusiast and writer/filmmaker from Detroit, MI. As a rule, he only buys cars older than himself.

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