96 dakota 318 only about 205K miles. Truck has been running great. it quit while driving. Now no fuel pressure. Switched relay and still no go. What next? If pump is bad how do you replace it? Drop tank --Lift bed? Help

 

6 one way half a dozen the other. It really depends on who you talk to and what kind of space you have available. To take the bed off you will need a couple friends to help lift it off, unless you try to hinge and prop the bed up. But on a truck that old you run the risk of breaking the fuel tank strap bolts, so either way it is not really easy. I for one think it is quicker and less frustrating to take the bed loose and hinge it up with a prop rod (or jack stand) by leaving 2 bolts in the rear of the bed in place but loose so that the bed can lift up. Make sure you disconnect everything before you try to lift the bed up and be careful that you don't hit the cab. You can also take the bed all the way off the frame but you have to disconnect the wiring for all the lights that way, which should only take a few more minutes to do.

 

Oh you may want to try to have a buddy hit the bottom of the fuel tank while you are trying to start it and that sometimes will kick the pump over and it may start for a minute or two... at least if it does you know what the problem is. Just something to try before you spend too much time and money on a guess.

 

If the tank has any more than a gallon or two of gas in it, take the bed off. You can get the bed bolts off and the 2 or 3 wires going to the bed and tailgate off faster than you can siphon a full tank of fuel. The bed is not nearly as heavy as you would think. It should be managable with just yourself and one other person. Make sure you either pull the fuel filler tube out of the tank or unscrew the tube from the bed behind the gas cap.

Once you have access to the fuel pump, take 2 wires and connect a battery directly to the pump to make sure that it is the pump and not the wiring.

 

I dropped the tank. and it is done and working. I think it is a 22 gal tank, but there was a 15 gal pump in it. I put a 15 gal pump back in. It was about half full. when done I filled it and it took 11 + gal. The most I have ever pumped in was 18 gal. so it must be the 22 gal tank. All is well now all I can ask for is another 203K miles. Great truck

 

Good to hear

 

huh? the 15 gallon pump and the 22 gallon pump are one and the same. the difference is teh length of the tanks not the depth. I have one of each tank as "spares"
When I had my 94 it came w/a 15 gallon tank. I am not complaining about MPG-mileage as much as the range-how far I could go between fillups So I went to a JY and got a 22 gallon tank;
Though the tanks are the same '92-96 the sending units are not. 92-3 are 2 line (feed/return) while 94-up is single line returnless. Same tanks across those years though.
I had gotten a tank that came from a 92-3 so being as how it was going into a 94, i had to take my pump out of my 15g tank and put into the 22.
I held them side by side before I put the correct pump unit into the other tank and they were the same depth. The 15 and 22 g tanks even take the same straps!
In the meantime I picked up a 93 Dakota it already had a 22 g tank.
The pump seemed to be gettin a lil weak so I got a tank/pump from another 93 that I found being parted close by via another Mopar forum. This truck had had a pump replaced like a couple months before the truck was wrecked. So I took the tank and put the whole tank into my 93.
but while this pump was obviously not very old at all it was a cheap knockoff brand and after running it for about 10K miles I got tired of using my trip meter for a "gas gauge" so I went to where I buy my parts from and got a new Carter pump (same exact as OE) and ya know the lines even fit different to the pump module, between the Carter and the knockoff; I think the brand on that one was "SPI" man what a cheap POS. I have had good service from Carter and Airtex, both.

 

Oh and i have a "secret" for helping drop tanks that have 1/2 a tank or more in them; (that dont involve siphoning) I use my tranny jack to pull the tank. I have an old Walker one here.

 

I used a floor jack to help lower the tank. The auto parts store was kind enough to order both pumps for me. They said there were 2, one for 15gal and 1 for 22 gal. These were both airtex. I took my pump to compare to be sure I got the correct replacement. The airtex pumps were identical except for the length. I am refering to the complete assembly with sending unit and is a drop in replacement and not just the actual pump. The difference in length was about an inch.