About 2 months ago I ran out of gas. My gas gage doesn't work. A day or two later my truck started running like crap. Missing 7 kind of chugging. So since I haven't tuned it up in a while I changed the fuel filter, plugs, wires, dist. cap ,& button. It ran good after that for a few days but I could tell it wasn't right. Then it started running like crap again. I took it to a mechanic & he replaced the ECM, TPS, & the idle air controle. It ran good for a day or so but I could tell it still wasn't right. Yesterday I was going down the interstate & it started running like crap again. I'm PISSED! Any ideas?

 

ok same problem with mine a while back if you run these trucks to empty it can burn out the fuel pump. it will still work for a while then it will work like crap and then it just quites. changing the pump should fix your problem. good luck.

 

thanks I was just looking at the autozone web site & it says this truck may have 2 fuel pumps 1 in the tank & 1 external. Any idea wich one it would be?

 

what year is this truck as far as i can remember they stoped using the external one at some point all my truck has is the one in the tank.

 

It's a 1989.

 

I think 90 was when the single in tank pump was instituted by ford. Pretty sure 87 and 88 had the low and high pressure pumps, one in the tank and one on the frame rail. 89 I am not so sure about, it may have been a change over year.

 

bout all you can realy do is go take a look follow the fuel line from tank to engine and see if there is another pump

 

I'll do that after work. If it has 2 wich one do you recomend I change? Is there any way to check them?

 

if there are 2 the one in the tank is a low pressure and the other is a high pressure i would start with the high pressure one first

 

If you are going to the trouble of doing the in tank fuel pump make sure to spend the extra cash and get the new sending unit with it so your gas gage works again!

 

and if you do the one in the tank its easier to pull the bed than fight with the tank.

 

whyjay, you are getting some REALLY bad advice in this thread. 17fordguy, you must be an absolute genius if you can diagnose a bad fuel pump without knowing ANYTHING about the problem other than the truck doesn't run right.

Replacing the high pressure pump (you have one, it's external) is a waste of time and money unless you have tested the fuel pressure with a gauge and confirmed that the pump is failing. Running a tank low on fuel will not cause a fuel pump to fail.

First thing you should do is describe the problem. "runs like crap" doesn't tell us anything. Also remember to post as much information about your truck as possible. Year, engine, transmission, mileage, recent repairs, etc are all helpful information and you have given us none of that.

One of the first things you are going to have to do in any case is pull the codes from the computer. You can either do it the free but error-prone way using a paperclip (http://broncodata.com/tech/codes.htm) or you can buy a code reader for about $30. People misread codes all the time using the free method, but the code reader is pretty fool-proof. I bought an Innova 3145 a while ago and it's super handy.

BTW, you could have saved yourself a lot of money by replacing those three things yourself, they are very easy to get to and would have cost you about $120 total - but I doubt there was anything wrong with them to begin with. Mechanics love to throw parts at the problem without diagnosing it properly, this makes them money and keeps you coming back.

 

thats funny because every time mine was run out of fuel less than a hundred miles later i was replacing the fuel pump.

 

I used to have a dual tank pickup, and the gauge on the front tank didn't work. I would fill both tanks up, run the front tank dry, and then switch to the back where the gauge worked fine.

Never had to replace the pump, and it had the internal high pressure pumps.

It also makes NO sense why running a tank dry would damage an external pump. I can kinda see how it might shorten the life of an internal pump, because the fuel will help keep it cool.

Bottom line is that advising someone to spend a couple hundred bucks and a few hours of his time to replace a fuel pump without bothering to check the fuel pressure is bad, lazy, sloppy advice.

 

I would have to agree with 17fordguy on this one. The only thing cooling and lubricating the pump is the fuel going thru it. I have known lots of guys having to replace pumps on all types of cars/trucks after they ran out of gas.