Lately I have been experiencing the fuel pickup sucking up air before the tank is actually empty, between 1/4 and empty. I performed the intank mods this weekend as well as installing a b&w hitch. When i took the fuel assembly out of the tank the lower portion of the pickup was broken into many pieces. The screen, foot, check valve, and several other plastic pieces were all in the bottom of the tank. While doing the mod, I did not have anything to measure to for the depth since it was broken. I took the mixing chamber off, put the extension on and check the depth with a stick and making a mark to get depth of tank and comparing against the assembly. The bottom of the pickup tube is about a half inch above the bottom of the tank. I took the return line and clamped a hose and directed it away from the pickup. This is essentially the gist of this mod, correct?

There were still several small pieces of plastic still left in bottom of tank that i could not get out as the pieces i was able to pick up crumbled in my hand while removing. Do I need to replace the foot and screen? Is there an advantage to replacing it or should i just leave it alone? Or should i just put an inline filter before the pump and call it good? It is back together and i have put over a hundred miles on it as is, but the tank is full so its not close to sucking air yet. Where to pick up a foot and screen? Do they come separate or is it all an as one assembly? See pics below.

As removed from tank









With extension





Whats wrong with this picture?



Broke off several T50 torx bits getting the bed bolts out and had to cut one with a torch. Wheres a good place to pick up some replacement bolts?

 

Nice ingenuity on the bed. That's the gist of the mod, I think you could get a foot and bolts at the dealer, but I also think you will be fine, as long as no large objects get sucked onto the tube. With the foot, you have a larger surface area in the event something gets stuck to the screen it will suck around it.

 

Diesel o rings. Com has the pickup. The bolts are available through ford but are crazy expensive for my budget. I want to remove my bed to do the same mod and I know a torch will be needed. I may just get bolts at a local hardware store.

 

thats awesome! Hanging from a limb or the power line?

 

LOL. Its a a limb, not the power line. Guess it really confirms status as shade tree mechanic.

 

How did you get the large cap off the tank. Dose it turn counter clock wise to loosen ?

 

Yes. There are lil tabs molded into the side of the cap. I used a brass punch and hammer to knock it loose until i could turn it by hand. I dont know about the others, but i had a lil trouble getting the threads started when going back together, it kept wanting to cross thread. But it finally got going and used the same brass punch and hammer to tighten it back up. Use some sort of punch or block of wood or something to knock it loose. Dont hit it direct with hammer or im sure you will break the cap.

 

A good tip for reinstalling to heat the cap, then it will thread right on, some use microwaves, some use the sun, I use a heat gun. Just another pointer.

 

Put on a dump bed and forget the bolts haha.

 

Yep...getting the cap back on can be frustrating. You'll get it on and start screwing and realize it's cross-threaded. Gotta be careful. And yes, a block of wood and a mallet (dead blow hammer is great) work good for taking it on and off.

As for not having a pickup foot on there...you should be fine as long as you got the extension really close to the bottom of the tank. That's exactly what happened in "HERS," so I just have the tube as close to the bottom without touching as I could. It's been that way for more than one year, and still works fine.

I need to do this to "HIS," because the foot's broken in that one too. But I did buy a replacement in advance.

 

How much clearance is there normally between the pickup and bottom of tank? I figure mine is about a half inch from bottom of tank as it is now. Is it closer than this from factory? Just curious.

 

I think I slammed mine!! I'm not sure what it was from factory but I put mine as low as I could and haven't had any problems.

 

mine was right on the bottom of the tank, the foot is flexible so if you was a little low it would flex up, i left a 1/8 inch gap with new foot, right or wrong it works good.