Fuel tank Pickup foot options
 

Hi guys,

Dropped the aft tank on my '94 350 dual tank and found the pickup foot broke off as some of you predicted. Question now is - has anyone sourced a replacement foot or mod that can be done to remedy this problem? Just drives me nuts to buy a whole new sender to replace a working one because an easily replacable rubber part broke off the pickup tube.

And what's the purpose of that flap valve on the side of the unit.

How about some extending the tube with a rubber hose with a screen at the end and a donut magnet to hold it in place in the tank - or something like that? Just thinking out loud.

A rubber hose with a 'v' cut in the end to prevent it suctioning itself to the bottom is a common cure for this. The shower heads are available from Ford, Oreo has apart number for them I think.

Just cut a V in the end of a piece of Fuel hose and clamp it on ...

The V prevents it from sucking up against the tank and blocking it off.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

does anyone have any comments before I do this.... and does anyone know the length of the tube I should use. the foot was in a hundred pieces so could not measure it.

fuel hosing, double sided barb, and two sized harbor freight O-rings, two internal and two top. and a car in tank strainer

http://www.la-ventana.com/P1010066.JPG

assembled
http://www.la-ventana.com/P1010068.JPG
http://www.la-ventana.com/P1010068.JPG


and assembled more. will shorten the hose once I figure out correct length. if no one can tell me it will be trial and error...

http://www.la-ventana.com/P1010070.JPG

That looks like a creative solution, I like it.
The flap valve on the side of the rubber thing is in case the pickup gets blocked (like gelled fuel in the winter) it will still suck fuel in instead of leaving you stranded.

To find the correct length of tube, measure the depth of the tank at the fuel sender location. The measure the length of your assembly and trim the tube to fit. You may need to fiddle a little bit due to the offset of the pickup, but should be easy to figure out.

I say roll with trial and error, then post your results and because this is a common problem, we can have David or somebody lock it and make it a sticky to show what we can do to remedy these issues

I did something very similar with the 3/8" rubber fuel hose and the heavy brass coupler however I used a replacement fuel sock for a 70's mustang. It's a ridgid / hard plastic sock shaped and sized like half a cigar. I figured it would lay in the bottom of the tank better than some of the other shapes and the heavy brass fitting would keep it on the bottom??? So far so good! It's been in there for about a year with no problems.

If you take the vent out, and shine a light through the fill hole, you can see into the tank and how it fits.

Here it is ready to go back in the truck, with cutting the barbs it is metal to metal with hose and hose clamps. i also added a small diversion with a 1 inch right angle copper tube on the return line. so the bubbles are a bit farthur from the supply line. I had to slightly smash the 1 inch tube to be a bit oval to fit on the guel guage sending positiner. I did not interfere with it. I also used some brass wire to tie it up as a back up.

here is the cut off of the barbs. removed 2 barbs and it is a perfect fit.
http://www.la-ventana.com/P1010071.JPG
http://www.la-ventana.com/P1010071.JPG


here is finished unit
http://www.la-ventana.com/P1010077.png



http://www.la-ventana.com/P1010077.png

here is high resolution of the job
http://www.la-ventana.com/P1010076.JPG

and the best part of this, i did not have to go to the store for any part of this project.

The gasser strainers have smaller pore size, easier in get stopped up with gelled fuel in winter. May never be a problem, just wanted to let you know. FYI the strainer will separate the air out of the fuel. Elbow not necessary. :-drink

how does the strainer seperate the air not sure what you mean.

I was doing a simplified "hutch" modification that they do for the powerstrokes with a similar strainer to what mine use to be. I also installed a electric pump inline for easy starting and when I run out of fuel in a tank switchover. I really like this electric fuel pump. just played with it after I put the tank back in. works so nicely.


here is the hutch modification I was talking about.
Welcome to guzzle's In-tank Hutch Mod Web Page
Strictly Diesel Webstore[terms]=Hutch&search[mode]=any

I do not know if I will be able to test the flow in the winter, I live in baja, last winter low was 52 degrees. my first diesel was a volvo in the chicago area where I lived too many years. and our record high here is 96, norm in summer 92 without humidity.... this is a desert. it has rained 1 inch in two years, up in the mountains in the summer it rains about every 4 days.

nice mod!!!

That looks cool, we will be redoing all the fuel lines in a few weeks when we take the bed off to deal with the senders.

I have seen simple fuel picking pieces that are barbed on one side and a brass mesh on the other side but this looks better than that as long as its ok for diesel?

The socks are made of saran. The surface tension of the fuel closes the pores so fuel will flow through the mesh easier than air. You can verify this by taking a paper towel, blow through it. Then wet it and blow through it again. It isn't much but it will be slightly harder to blow through it wet. The original intent was to prevent water from getting into the system. It will never be an issue for you, but someone in Montana may. Just something for them to be aware of. :-drink

Sorry I didn't say earlier, nice mod. Well done. :-drink

thanks for the detailed explanation I now comprende! saves me doing it to the next one.

I re-installed and tested the front tank and it is working great. So nice to have the entire fuel tank to use in theory.

I did bend the fuel gage sender arm a bit to match the bottoming out of my tank. I noticed that it was not going as low as the tank pick up. when my tank was full the guage was well over the F mark. this may bring it to match the full analog guage range with the mechanical swing range.

I will do the rear tank shortly. I have to go to the autoparts store, I do not have another filter and ran out of SS hose clamps... parts store 30 miles, well everything is 30+ miles.