a combination of the busted float in my front tank and me being an idiot led to me running out of fuel in Hazleton, PA on my way up to my Uncle's hunting cabin this past weekend.

until I figured out what it was could have sworn it was a busted connecting rod or main bearing or something. sounded/felt like the engine was going to bust loose of the mounts and rattle right out of the truck!

luckily someone with an SD powerstroke drove by when I had the hood up checking the fuel bowl (which was bone dry) and drive me the 2 miles to the nearest diesel station. I will no keep an extra gallon of diesel in my tool box at all times. I had a full rear tank, but no way to get it to the fuel bowl without killing the batteries.

even with the fuel bowl filled manually it still took about 2 minutes of cranking to get her running again!

i'm never going to do that again!

 

It's probably the fuel pickup umbrella dealeo in the tank that's broken. They get brittle and break off leaving you unable to tap all of your fuel supply but still showing good on the gauge.

 

I made one with a screen that goes down into the tank

 

You can also take a piece of fuel line cut to the right length, notch the end, and put it where the pickup was. Or buy - E5TZ-9J306-BA it's from another truck but is the same part and fits fine.

 

I did that once, I thought it was the injectors making all that noise.

 

I did it once too, I freaked out, untill I figured out I was just out of fuel. She made some not so pretty sounds cranking her over, but I got her running. I know now that I cant run the back tank under a 1/4, front one seems to be fine. Going to pull it down in the spring I think and fix it. And do the mod so the pump doesnt shut off every 5 seconds. It takes an eternity to fill that tank up!!!

 

what is the mod for fixing the fuel tank so pump doesn't shut off?

 

It is funny. There is more variation between our trucks than between brands. I ran mine out once. I was driving near Washington DC. And there was a big storm and the power was out. Finding a fuel station with diesel .ear DC is hard enough and one with a generator back up doesn't exist. But long story short when the roll back dropped me at a pump I filled it up and it fired right up after like 30 seconds to a min of cranking. I didn't have to touch the fuel bowl.

 

nope - it was just operator error. the level sender on my front tank is busted, so I drive by mileage on that tank. I do just 200 miles per fill-up to be on the safe side. well, last time I filled up, I used some rewards discount I get in conjunction with my grocery store. it saved me 50 cents a gallon, but it limits you to just 20 gallons of fuel per fillup. so, after filling the back tank first (which I do since I find the back end rides better with a full rear tank), I only filled the front about half-way.

i was in a big hurry when fillin gup and I hadn't used that discount card since my front sender quit working, I didn't think about the fact that I needed to adjust my mileage on that tank.

hence - i'm an idiot.

I got to 168 miles on that tank, and it probably only had 8-10 gallons of fuel in it to being with. so, the good news is that i'm getting decent fuel economy - at least 16 mpg.

 

Well at least that's(should be) an easy fix then.

 

Ummmmm....I'll have to see if I can find the thread, but from what I understand, the vent in the fill up tube collapses or restricts and thus causes the hard fill ups cause it can't vent. Someone please correct me on that if I'm mistaking.

 

So from the PO who said to never run the front tank below 1/4 this is prolly my issue?

 

I've done this twice, both times intentionally. Not all the way out, just to the point where it sounds like the engine is coming apart. Intent was to run the tank down to empty in order to replace it (rust). It worked; there was probably no more than about 1/2 cup of fuel in the tank in both cases. Good thing is, now I know the sound, so if the gauge or floats ever whack out, or I lose a showerhead or whatever, that sound will be unmistakeable, and I'll be right on that switch....

Might be a good exercise for everyone to try -- once -- just to know the sound and be able to recognize it if it ever happens "for real".

 

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No Thomas, there is a one inch or so rubber tube that runs down the larger fill tube. Around the rubber tube is your vent, the difference between the size of the fill line and rubber hose, while the rubber tube carries the fuel. It is way to small to take the volume of fuel that can be pumped thus shutting off the pump.

In the picture you have to drill a hole by the top of the fill line and run a hose from the top of the tank where the roll over valve is. This of course is after you pull the inner rubber hose out and throw it away.

 

It took my truck an unheard of 400+ hard miles to work the air out of it when I ran out of fuel this summer. I kept thinking something else was wrong as I was having real long extended cranking before starting. It finally came around.

I will NEVER do that again either JP.

The only time I've heard the injectors hammering was not this time, but when I switched to efuel. I had my oil pressure sender wired wrong and starved them and it died, they were hammering real loud!