Fuel sender failure?

[Rogan]

Drove to work yesterday, and saw I had 1/2tank fuel; seems right. Left work, started the truck, DING DING.. Low fuel light; WTF? Needle was below E mark. Rushed to fuel station ($3.899) and filled up... 18 gallons, that's it? Started the truck to only see the same thing. Reseated the connector on the tank to no avail. The needle barely moves from key on to key off. Do the level senders fail in this manner, or do I need to look elsewhere?Thanks, guys!

[Mopar1973Man]

Yeap... Fuel sender is shot... Mine was running out of fuel and showed 1/2 or 5/8 of tank... Its a dealer only item but cost only $70 bucks to replace...

[Rogan]

Well, crud... Lol

[flagmanruss]

Something more for me to look forward to... Like replacing VP44 and root canal!

[Mopar1973Man]

Something more for me to look forward to... Like replacing VP44 and root canal!

Replacing a VP44 is easy... But the root canal...

[MnTom]

A lot of times you can pull the gauge out of the tank and repair it. The wiper on the sender looses connection and gives you wrong readings. Once you pull it you can see what you need to do to get it to work. Another thing, lifting the box is about the easiest way to get to it. A long box has eight bolts and a short box has six. Pull all bolts (15mm socket) EXCEPT for the two at the rear. Just loosen them. Remove the three screws holding the filler neck and lift the box to gain access to the tank. BE SURE you block the box so that it is safe to be under it. You don't want it to fall on you!

[dobienut]

A lot of times you can pull the gauge out of the tank and repair it. The wiper on the sender looses connection and gives you wrong readings. Once you pull it you can see what you need to do to get it to work. Another thing, lifting the box is about the easiest way to get to it. A long box has eight bolts and a short box has six. Pull all bolts (15mm socket) EXCEPT for the two at the rear. Just loosen them. Remove the three screws holding the filler neck and lift the box to gain access to the tank. BE SURE you block the box so that it is safe to be under it. You don't want it to fall on you!

Have any pics of the part of it to look for? I'm in the same pickle and would like to know what I need to find to fix it when I get it off..never had one apart before

[Mopar1973Man]

I didn't any pics of mine... ( I know I'm usually good about that!) :banghead:

[MnTom]

Sorry, but I didn't get any pictures either. Once you get the sender in your hand it really is 'self explanatory' for what you need to do. On one of them (I repaired three so far) all that I need to do was flip the wiper over and it worked again. Take a look at this for a better visual: http://dodgeram.org/tech/repair/fuel_sender/sender.htm

[ISX]

Tsk tsk guys..

Bed removed, power washed.

Better view of the top of the sender thinger on the tank. That big ring on the outside unscrews.

After you unscrew it, the whole thing comes out. Be careful not to catch the float on something and bend it all up.

Then the actual sender, just a variable resistor or rheostat, you can put your multimeter on it and watch the resistance change as you move the float up and down.

[dripley]

very good pictures. Hows the shoulder?

[ISX]

very good pictures. Hows the shoulder?

Don't ask

[flagmanruss]

I'm suspicious of my fuel sender since the diesel shop had the tank down... it seems the sender is reading more than I have. It's never been real accurate... It is important to know if the guage is trustworthy. We kind of take fuel guages for granted.

[Rogan]

A lot of times you can pull the gauge out of the tank and repair it. The wiper on the sender looses connection and gives you wrong readings. Once you pull it you can see what you need to do to get it to work. Another thing, lifting the box is about the easiest way to get to it. A long box has eight bolts and a short box has six. Pull all bolts (15mm socket) EXCEPT for the two at the rear. Just loosen them. Remove the three screws holding the filler neck and lift the box to gain access to the tank. BE SURE you block the box so that it is safe to be under it. You don't want it to fall on you!

Tom, are you just suggesting to hinge the bed back on the two loosened rear bolts, similar to a dump bed position, rather than removing the entire bed? Just making sure I was understanding your suggested procedure.. I've went a week or so, now, with an ill gauge, and I've had about all I can stand of it now :banghead: I'd like to try and fix it, before I drop the coin to replace it. I know that when the tank is almost empty, I can have the tank dropped and out in about 10-15 minutes, but right now, mine is quite full, so I'd rather not pull it out.

[ISX]

Pulling the bed is just as easy as dropping the tank, if not easier. Tom's method sounds really good, rather than taking the whole bed off, but it's a piece of cake. Take the 8 bolts out, take the filler neck off, unplug tail lights, good to go.

[Rogan]

I agree, ISX.. the downside is doing it by yourself, in the driveway.. Hinging it back is a more viable method, I'm assuming, if you're flying solo.

[ISX]

Yeah I think you could come up with something to lift the front up and hold it there. I do it by myself, with the front end loader

[Rogan]

haha! well, I'd say you have a slight advantage, then

[dripley]

I'm suspicious of my fuel sender since the diesel shop had the tank down... it seems the sender is reading more than I have. It's never been real accurate... It is important to know if the guage is trustworthy. We kind of take fuel guages for granted.

mine is doing the same thing. i am pretty sure that the basket rotated slightly when i rinstalled it and i just did not notice:doh:. i think the float is probably hitting in the corner of the tank and giving me a false reading. i use my trip odometer as much as my gauge anyway.i am just going to have to get used to it until i drop the tank again.

[Rogan]

Drove to work yesterday, and saw I had 1/2tank fuel; seems right. Left work, started the truck, DING DING.. Low fuel light; WTF? Needle was below E mark. Rushed to fuel station ($3.899) and filled up... 18 gallons, that's it? Started the truck to only see the same thing. Reseated the connector on the tank to no avail. The needle barely moves from key on to key off. Do the level senders fail in this manner, or do I need to look elsewhere? Thanks, guys!

Yesterday afternoon - POOF! The thing started working again, on it's own...