looking for some experienced feedback.

i've got an Airdog 150 on my 01 CTD...also 150HP injectors, HR VP44, head studs, SBC, Edge comp...few other things.

my truck has stalled and run out of fuel when the tank reads 1/4 or even better.

diesel mechanic that installed it says, i need a bottom sump feed. i spoke with Airdog tech support, they said, "if installed correctly (draw straw depth correct), it won't run out of fuel.

what is the likelyhood that the draw straw is cut too short? or is my fuel getting sloshed around too hard and it doesn't pick up the remaining fuel (how likely is that?).

im trying to get the original mechanic to redo the draw straw and set lower. Or do i really need a bottom sump draw? (of course, this route is a few hundred dollars more).

input please.
thanks

 

I haven't used the draw straw, but every Dodge I've owned has had inaccurate fuel gauges. I always found it best to run off the odometer instead.

For an accuracy check, how many gallons does it take to fill the tank when the gauge is on 1/4?

 

Answer that one and we can tell you what is going on.

I would almost bet it is your fuel level sender..............

 

Aside from the notoriously bad senders mentioned previously. Mine had gone through several until I replaced the unit with a capacitance type sender and I used one of these which incorporates a draw straw Modified fuel module they were quite a bit cheaper years ago when I installed mine.
When the draw straws first came out they were also notorious for the 1/4 tank issue and the above was one way to get around it and it was plug and play no drilling into the tank or anything else pull the old canister and put in the new one. I have added just over 34 gallons a few times over the years.

One of those units will fix either issue as it comes with a new sender and the draw straw is installed in the basket/canister. When I got mine they were just under 200.00 so to do the draw straw and the sender it was not a whole lot more to do the liberty module now I see the prices have gone up on them for whatever reason and it may not make as much economic sense.

 

seen the same with stock truck. light weight on truck and kinda aggressive driver or really rough road conditions.

fuel tank sender gets a crimped rod which does not drop smoothly as designed. will also overfill if you try, not recommended. 35 bucks if you replace your own sender. performance under those conditions, even the draw straw big gulp will vary.

 

Had same exact issue with my 2001 CTD (mostly all stock). After much diagnosing (and at least two tow truck rides) I replaced FUEL TANK SENDING UNIT LEVEL KIT. Mopar OEM 4897669AB Fuel Tank Sending Unit Level Kit.

When I removed the old item, I noticed small chunks of black in the old unit...looked like pieces of rotting gasket (not many...but enough they were apparently blocking any suck-age)

No more tow truck rides since.

 

I'm not sure this is the same situation as I had, way back in time, but I discovered the rubber fuel lines that connect to the metal feed and return lines near the rear of the engine had deteriorated enough to allow air to be sucked into them. I replaced them with marine grade lines from LarryB, as I recall. This fixed the problem then and it hasn't happened since.

 

My 01 24v takes 28 gallons when the gauge is at half way. I try to never let it get much below the gauge reading half. I just go off the odometer as previous posts have stated.

 

Things to think about:
Plastic tanks expand and contract by volume of fuel and its temperature. If your draw straw is too long, it could come in contact with the bottom of the tank closing it off. That is why the OEM basket is spring loaded.
The OEM basket has a fine mesh screen in the bottom to filter out debris. If this screen gets clogged, the only way fuel can get into the basket is by going over the top.
In either scenario, you will run out of fuel prematurely.
IMO, the best solution is a flexible draw straw adapted to the bottom of the basket. 1, so it can follow the change in tank expansion. And 2, the OEM fuel returns into the basket providing a warm fuel header tank. The sump type pickup has the drawback of collecting all the crud and water that is sloshing around in your tank clogging the hole.

 

I was quite surprised to see how clean the inside of my tank was when I modded the in tank pump back to the stock pick up for my FASS...many worry about this debris when doing a new or modified pick up.

My feeling is you have a bad sender...when my low fuel warning comes on I have about 7-8 gallons left and the gauge is around 1/8 tank...8 gallons is not 1/8 of 36 gallons. I must also include I rarely top it up the filler neck, that is a shut off, a short wait and another squirt til it shuts off again...