Running out of fuel and 1/4 tank issues on hill

[015point9]

 

Looking for a working around solution for 1/4 tank issues. 

Fuel is thru a sump that is at very rear of tank.      When going down step hill I run out of fuel.  (Actually when wife stops at mail box on our step driveway) Now she is scarred to death she'll be going downhill and run out of fuel and no power steering. 

 

I would like to install something that has more of "supply" of fuel than the small filters on airdog.   Thinking about a filter housing without the filter installed, which would be just a space for more fuel than the airdog filters provide.     I'm thinking about something about the 1/2 gallon size.   

 

Question...this should work if I install post airdog filters right?  Or if I start sucking air anywhere in (pre or post filter ) I'm sol? 

I'm under the impression the pump will keep pushing fuel forward toward VP under pressure. 

 

(I know... keep tank on 1/2 or better and I won't have fuel issues...but that's not always on my mind.)

Edited November 15, 2016 by 015point9
readability

[notlimah]

In all honesty, keeping the tank above a 1/4 is your best, hassle free solution. 

 

Just to make sure though, the sump is drawing fuel from the bottom rear of the tank?

 

A couple ideas come to mind, one, you could just add another sump towards the front of the tank or middle (where it should've been to begin with) and connect the hoses from the two sumps and then run them up to your Airdog. 

 

Other option that's more inline with what you were originally thinking would be to just hook back up the stock fuel filter canister (leave out th filter if you wanted but the space save would be negligible for the added filtration) and call it good. 

 

Only real issue I see with adding some sort of bucket post Airdog or even the stock fuel filter canister is that air is still getting into the fuel delivery system and will cause problems. Air should always move past the stored fuel in the canister or fuel lines prior to depleting that fuel supply so while I get where you're going, I'm not sure it'll work out the way you intend.

 

Curious though, when it does die from being on an incline, how long does it take to die? Does it need to be completely re-primed after that or can you just crank for a bit and be on your way?

[015point9]

36 minutes ago, notlimah said:

.........

 

Thanks for reply.  I was editing same time you posted.  Going to consider real hard what you said.  I never thought about adding a sump, sounds good idea.

 

"Curious though, when it does die from being on an incline, how long does it take to die"?

About 3 or 4 min I think.  Remember this is wife marching in house saying " it ran out of fuel again" Both times her phone rang and she got distracked.       I won't say what I told her

 

"Does it need to be completely re-primed after that or can you just crank for a bit and be on your way"?

I had to unscrew couple injector bolt lines.  Then when I see anything wet around them or think to myself "boy long time priming this thing" I turn over key.  Runs rough for maybe 20-30 seconds, then smoothes out.  Then I think to myself,  this is never going to happen again.

 

When I dropped the tank to re-do fuel system because of running out of fuel and few other things I drained 9 gallons, don't know what angle driveway is but 9 gallons wasn't enough to keep fuel flowing and exposed the sump at rear of tank.  

 

 

36 minutes ago, notlimah said:

I'm not sure it'll work out the way you intend.

 Me neither...Tank has sump, the module has plugged off AN fitting with alum pipe going thru it, and has a draw straw. 

Edited November 15, 2016 by 015point9

[notlimah]

Ah ok, I remember your other thread on the drawstraw debacle now. 

 

Honestly man your fuel tank is only a few holes shy of being Swiss cheese at this point so what's another hole gonna hirt, right?! 

 

Seriously though, unless you can snag a good tank for a decent price (honestly I'd personally go this route) then I say put another sump in the front or middle and call it a day. Not ideal but it should prevent the truck from at least dying at idle. Although you'll still have time where you'll be sucking air into the system (which is why I mentioned a whole new tank) but it should be manageable since fuel will still be supplied to the Airdog as if it were running off one sump. Plus sounds like you have an air/water seperator which should help. 

 

If were a little closer I wouldn't mind getting in there and helpin ya out! 

[dripley]

Your problem is all fuel pick up and not the AD. Mine came with a kit to remove the in tank pump and the pickup and the return lines are all in the fuel module. I can literally drain the tank with that set up. It looks to me from your other thread that the previous owner or owners all had different ideas and just kept sticking stuff in there for fuel pick up with little thought as to how to do it right. Unfortunately you get to pick up the pieces. Most of the pickup systems I have looked at show installed near the oe fuel module. It seems to me that is where the fuel, when low, spends most of its time, hence the location.

[Mopar1973Man]

I typically never let mine below half tank because of the distances to the town. As for my old school draw straw without a sump. I've been all over at 1/8 and down to near the Empty line without a issue with Idaho mountain roads. It just must be all in the way I installed my draw straw.  No, its not touching the bottom it got the clearance of a quarter (coin).

 

Edited November 15, 2016 by Mopar1973Man

[IBMobile]

Two Fuel pick up in the same tank that feed the same pump will not work.  The first pick up to run dry will suck air and cause the pump to loose it's prime.  They would have to be isolated by having their own shut off valves and controlled to close be for air enters them.  

[01cummins4ever]

2 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

I typically never let mine below half tank because of the distances to the town. As for my old school draw straw without a sump. I've been all over at 1/8 and down to near the Empty line without a issue with Idaho mountain roads. It just must be all in the way I installed my draw straw.  No, its not touching the bottom it got the clearance of a quarter (coin).

 

@Mopar1973Man  how do you have your return plumbed?

[015point9]

Thanks for all the replies. 

I know of a gas model being parted out and maybe he still has the tank.  Are our diesel tanks the same as gas tanks in  1998-2002?

 

(side note...yes this has been a lot of frustration and $$$ with this problem.  Fly by night mechanics put this thing in.  It's been a long time since we've been hosed by any mechanic.  Usually no problem but not this time. Not since our 1976 chevy love truck have I had this many problems with any vehicle.  And to top it off, last week wife had a heart attack.  One of her first words out of ER was "it's OK if truck stays broken for awhile longer, I'm not planning on riding in the back in a horizontal position any time soon".)

[joecool911]

BD sump and hit the brakes to slosh the fuel into sump when starts running out? I can remember my dad swerving back and forth rapidly to get gas to keep coming up when I was young. I ran out once too. Leaving my house requires going up a pretty good hill. So far my solution is to fill up more often. 

[dripley]

The gasser tanks are probably smaller. Like 10 gallons smaller maybe. Mine is 35 gallons and short bed is a couple smaller I believe. The gassers are a little over 20.

[Dieselfuture]

In my opinion its best to modify your fuel basket or just buy one that's already done from vulcan (costed me about $70 to do it myself, buy a draw straw 5 from vulcan and make all of the mods to basket your self(it also depend on stile of your basket, it may not work and you need to buy one)). Reason I like mine is if snow bank or whatever hits bottom of the tank,1 I'm not losing sump and all of fuel,2 if tank gets pushed inwards basket is spring loaded,3 fuel gets returned to basket so you always have some in there, I know that it doesn't help heat issues to recycle fuel out basket but if for the most time you keep it a half or better, I don't think heat is an issue. But the time you do run low on fuel it's there. 

[Mopar1973Man]

3 hours ago, 01cummins4ever said:

@Mopar1973Man  how do you have your return plumbed?

 

Filler neck. I've got a filler neck Y that plumbs the return into the filler neck. So the engine return is in the stock module yet.

 

[notlimah]

I still say your best bet is to replace the tank. You have a lot of different 'fixes' on the tank and personally, I'd hate to finally get my fuel system fixed and working the way I wanted and still have all these older 'fixes' strewn about on the tank. I doubt it'd be hard to find a good fuel tank, problem would be making sure you got it for a good price as I don't see tanks getting sold to often you could fall victim to someone going way to high for a tank just because they don't sell often.

 

I will also second what @Dieselfuture said and go with the drawstraw 5 (or whatever version needed for your fuel module) as I personally feel it's the best option because of the reasons stated in his post. I'm currently running one on my 02 and despite some random starting issues (that I'm not sure I can attribute to the drawstraw) it's been flawless. I've taken it down to an 1/8th of a tank before, although I do try and stay above a 1/4 at all times.

 

Edited November 15, 2016 by notlimah