RATTLINRAM

Coming home from work today, tooling down I-295 running about 70-75mph and I glanced over at my fuel pressure gauge and ,,,,, I'm only seeing 10psi. I slowed down to 65mph and the gauge dropped to 9-8psi,,,,,,,,,,,, NOT GOOD,,,, I'm about 1 mile from the exit where I get off onto 460 and my usual fuel stop. I'm thinking that my fuel gauge says I have between 1/8 and 1/4,,,,,, so maybe that's the cause. As I pulled onto the exit, she started stumbling bad and then died!! These things don't steer so good without power-steering do they?
I coasted onto the shoulder and figured it's got to be one of a few things,,,,,,,, out of fuel (even thought the gauge says I still have over an 1/8 of a tank),,,,,,, the lift pump took a dump,,,,,,, or the VP-44 (OUCH!)
I called the wife and told her to bring the empty 5 gal can and I would try to check the electrical stuff because I couldn't hear the lift pump run when I turned the key on. While I waited for her, I removed a plug on top of the filter and hit the key,,,,,,,,,,,,,, nothing but white foam and I could hear the pump running now. WHEW! The wife took me two blocks down the road to the truck stop and I put the 5 gal in. I bled the air out of the fuel canister first and then had to crack two injector lines before she fired back up. She ran rough for a minute and then went back to her old normal RATTLIN self.
The good news is "It quit,,,, I figured it out,,,,,, and I got it going again Thanks to the info that we all share on this site every day."
The bad news is, "I am yet another victim of the famous "piece-of-junk-fuel-sender" ,,,,,, even after I have babied it by never letting the fuel gush into the tank at fill-ups.
I guess I'll do some searching for the fuel sender fix now.

wannadiesel

Yeah, I don't trust my fuel gauge even though it's never given me any reason to doubt it. I just refill between 300 and 350 miles on the trip odo.

Tfeore

Let me get this straight. I have been abusing my baby by pulling the trigger and lettin' the fuel just rip!
I have not heard of this so someone chime in please, only had her four months...

phox_mulder

Be glad you opted for the little 2 wheel drive.
Steering them's nuthin' compared to the 4x4's, especially with nice truck sized tires.

Shame on you for letting it get that low.
Everyone knows the VP44 relies on fuel to keep itself cool and lubricated.

Good thing you happened to have some tools with ya.
Thanx to this site, I now have a full set of metric open-end wrenches,
and deep metric sockets under the rear seat.
(metric? on an "American Made" truck, who'da thunk)
In addition to the standard tools I've carried in every vehicle I've owned.


phox

(mental note to check his odometer when he gets to the truck after work, fuel guage is sitting right in the middle of 1/4 and 1/8.)

dakar

Only 300-350? Just how big are the fuel tanks on the older rigs like that '93?

I shoot for 500-550 miles with a 35 gal tank... before I stumbled a across this site and found i was flirting with disaster I tried to run her down really really low just to see how far she'd go, only got it down far enough to add 33 gals, about 650 miles. Won't be trying that again any time soon.

Think I need to hit Sears and load up a small tool box to keep in the truck again...she's getting a bit older now with 80K on the clock and things are starting to go south every now and again.

Dave

dodgediesel4x4

Darn, you're gettin that kinda milage w/ your setup? Impressive. I usually fill'er up around 360-375. But I guess the lift and other heavy mods (bumpers, tool box) aren't helping too much.

Glad to see her rattlin again Rattlin.

RATTLINRAM

I normally don't like to get that low, but I had found that when I got down to the 1/8 mark (that's when the warning light and chime would come on),,,, I always had 8-9 gallons left in the tank. It had always been that way since I bought the truck. Yeah,,,,,, I know,,,,, still NO excuse,,,,,, the worst part is,,,,,, the wife had drove the truck the day before and said she was going to put fuel in it,,,,,,,, I told her it had plenty and don't bother,,,,,,, I would get it

The moral of the story is,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I have learned my lesson now!

Tfeore,
There are a number of threads concerning the fuel sender and filling the tank at "wide open",,,,, especially at the big rig pumps. The fuel senders in these trucks are famous for going bad and they tend to have a shorter life when they get slammed around filling at "wide open" plus this also makes the fuel foam up too. Do a search on fuel sender

BigBlue

Around 300-350 miles, I start looking for a filling station.

Tfeore, I wouldn't worry about gushing it at full flow. I've been doing that for the past 3 years on mine and mine is still good to go. If it's going to fail, it's going to fail no matter what. That's how I look at it.

dieselgeek

Exactly the same for me... the chime comes on with about 9 gallons left in the tank, I run it about 550-600 miles each fillup (according to the GPS - my odo reads 9% low because of my oversized tires) and I always have at least 5 gallons left in the tank...

Lary Ellis (Top)

Yep looks like a classic case of the WIFE messed up your truck

That will learn ya, dearn ya

HOHN

As everyone has basically said, ALWAYS ALWAYS set the trip Odometer and use that when judging when to fill.

jlh

spots

You should be mighty happy that it ran outa fuel on YOU instead of the Mrs. Then you'd be living in the doghouse.

Stamey

Dennis,
Bring it up to my house on Saturday and I'll put a new one in for ya. I've had mine out 3 times so I'm getting good at this.
Pick up the sending unit from the dealer on your way.

Chris

dieselgeek

Stamey- I just learned that a friend with an 01 HO truck needs a sending unit replaced... since you are good at these - will we REALLY need to lift the bed off the truck?? any advice you have is most welcome...

thanks,
-scott

Dieseldude4x4

Mine is still rattlin but now it has a few extra rattles in it that don't sound real good. And it is kinda missin. And it is puffing pretty bad out of the valve cover when you pull the oil fill cap off. And besides it don't sound real good. I think I must have hurt her pretty bad going over the mountain.
Word to the wise, get gauges and use that HP wisely to avoid a costly repair like I am facing.
Did I mention it has a few extra rattles? Sounds like someone inside with BP hammer trying to get out.