Has any of you ever run a fuel tank totaly out before switching to the other tank? if the truck is moving and you run the tank dry then it starts to slow down, then you switch the tanks will it prime itself again before the truck stops? or do you have to bleed the system?? has this ever happened to anyone? Just wondering in case i ever run a tank dry on a long trip on the interstate. by mistake. forgetfullness, it almost hapened the other day, guage was way under empty, but i switch in time, tank holds 38 gallon, and when i filled it it took 37 gallons, caught it this time, but worried. manual tranney, 1996 psd

 

What year of truck do you have? If it is a 99 and up it should not be any problem because they have an electric fuel pump and it can supply fuel fairly fast just by cycling the key to run the pump. If it is a 94.5 to 97 they have a mechanical pump and it would take a while of cranking which could cause the starter or valve cover gasket wiring to burn out. But if you had a manual transmission letting it coast would also pump fuel with out having to crank. This is only from my experience I am sure some else could add or delete from this.

 

The fuel flowing thru the pump keeps it cool, no fuel, more heat, burnt pump. Not a good idea, don't forget.

 

I have run the tanks dry on my '97 more times than I want to admit! The truck will start to slow down as you describe and lose power. When I switch over to the other tank, it takes about 10 seconds for the engine to wake up again. I have only had this happen at highway speeds, never in the city. I have never had to crank the engine over, or try to "restart" it. Mine is an automatic.