Hercules

Anyone got the part # for the gasket on top of the fuel tank under the big white ring that secures the fuel pickup unit? It's for the truck in my sig. Mine is leaking anytime the tank if full and I'm parked facing up or down a hill.
Thanks for the help!

traverler48

I replaced my sending unit and gasket in 05. The mopar # on a 95 is 1-52018808 they are probably the same. Before buying one try tighten the big ring a little. The new one leaked on me and I had to retighten it a little and all was well.

patdaly

Also, make sure your lines coming out of the tank aren't rotted, that's the typical thing to happen.

Hercules

traverler48, thanks for the part #. I'll check it out and see if it will work on my 97.

patdaly, thanks for the tip. I actually thought about that earlier today. Before I left work, I sprayed everything down to get the diesel off the tank and see if I can better isolate the leak. When I got home, there was diesel back on the bottom tank that ran down from the top. I'm really thinking your correct about the lines coming out of the tank. When I replaced the fuel lines a couple years ago, I noticed the sending unit was metal, including the little lines that come out the top, then connects to quick disconnects. I'm thinking those tiny 90 deg metal angles out the top of the tank may be the source of my problem and not the gasket. So, I may just replace the sending unit. It's not spraying, the diesel just shows up through a weep of some type, which, if it's the 90 deg metal lines, I'm sure it will turn into a spray shortly. Thanks again!

Hercules

A little update. I just got back in from checking the top of the sending unit again. This time I was able to spray everything off, get my air hose out to the truck and get the area blown dry and clear of rust debris that had been built up. Sure enough, once I got the crap out of the way, I could see the fuel ever so slightly pumping out of one of the 90 deg metal lines right where it enters the tank. It looks like I'm going to be replacing the sending unit. Hopefully, the new ones don't have metal lines on them.

patdaly

Hercules, don't waste the $$ on a whole sending unit unless you buy a remanned one from Dodge ( 100-125 IIRC ). You can usually find then reasonable on Ebay, or do like I do, just order up a Vulcan Draw Straw.

It is REAL common for the tubes to rot out, and they only get worse, then you have a leak AND hard/no start.

I have mixed and matched modules form 94-02 without any real difficulties, though the level sender shows a different part number in some years. Also, remanned or later model units changed the tubes to plastic, though I know at least the 99 and older ones were steel.

If you want a sort of verification that this is your problem, just reach up above and run your hand along those tubes carefully, if they feel scaly, that is probably it.

Where did your truck live most of it's life?

patdaly

FYI:
http://www.vulcanperformance.com/Dra...shlo-p/dsi.htm

Hercules

patdaly, thanks for the link. The problem is definitely the 90 deg metal lines coming out of the tank. I can actually see diesel pulse out of it now that I got everything cleared away from the "hole."

I'm real curious about the Vulcan Draw Straw. How did you install it? I'm not running a FASS system or anything other than the stock from the tank to the lift pump and so on, then back to the tank. From what I can see, the two metal tubes on the tank unit right now are part of a small plate that, I'm guessing, screws down onto a rubber gasket with a red boardered sticker under it...at least that what it looks like while I'm sitting with my head between the bed side and frame rail looking at the unit. To the best of my knowledge, the metal lines enter the top of the unit and attach to rubber lines that run down to the fuel pickup. After looking at the link you gave me, it appears you eliminate the return line inside the tank. So, do I modify the straw to attach the existing feed rubber line inside the tank from the fuel pickup/strainer? Also, how do you secure the Draw Straw inplace of the two metal tubes? Like I mentioned, I'm really curious about this and it looks like a great solution.

Also, are there any "side effects" to using a draw straw? I got the chance to search around and saw some people were mentioning running out of fuel with a 1/4 tank of fuel still in the tank. I don't know if they were refering to the Draw Straw I or one of the later units.

Thanks for the help!!!

patdaly

Hercules, The part where the tubes comes out is held in by a rubber grommet. You pop that one out and the drawstraw bung shoves in. You do have to pay some attention to how long you cut the downtube, but on one of my installs, the guy runs it down to fumes as a matter of principle and no issues. I think people who had problems didn't grasp that the pickup is spring loaded and got it too far off the floor.

The best way is to talk to Vulcan, they are great guys, and fishin2deepfor4 on this board is affiliated with Vulcan, he is also a good inside source.

Hercules

patdaly, thanks again for the advice! The Vulcan DSI showed up today, so, I'll hopefully get it in on either Fri or Sat. Waiting for the delivery gave me a chance to resolve that it doesn't really matter if I cut the straw so as to leave the strainer intact, or just elliminate the strainer and go straight to the bottom of the tank. I'll decide when I get the tank module out and get a better look at it. If the strainer looks fairly clean, then I'll probably just go straight to the bottom. I'm just glad that there's a more permanent solution to replacing those steel lines. Also, while I have the tank out, I'll replace the brake line that runs between it and the frame. I'm thinking since I've replaced every brake line on the truck but that one, and that it looks pretty bad, it's only a matter of time before it blows out me. At least this whole event will allow me to take care of some other business along the frame that I couldn't get to...like removing the old fuel lines that I replaced with marine diesel hose three years ago. I guess better late than never. Thanks again for all the help!

Hercules

patdaly, just wanted to thank you again for the help! I installed the Draw Straw over the weekend and eveything appears to be working great. The only thing I did different was replace the steel fittings that came with the DSI with brass ones. Outside of that, everything went smoothly. I haven't had any diesel dripping off the bottom of the tank since the installation. I did have a little concern about the original gromet sealing well. The old metal lines/unit that I removed left a ring of rust stuck to the gromet. I scrapped it off so the rubber was clean and no rust was left stuck to it. I'm going to give it a couple days to settle around the DSI then take a look. So far, I'm assuming that no diesel dripping off the tank is a great sign, especially since where I park will causes diesel to flood up against the whole top of the module when the tank is full. BTW, I'm glad I decided to replace the brake line while I had the tank down. Once I got the tank out, I found a two inch long section of brake line that was moist through the rust. Not dripping, but, probably real close to blowing out. Thanks again for pointing out the DSI!