'93 Dakota V8 5.2L LE

tl;dr: truck broke down. Thought it was fuel pump, changed it out. Was not fuel pump. New ignition coil fixed issue. Truck doesn't seem to move fuel like it should and even with 10 gallons it's still telling me my tank is empty. Possible cause in picture below (the valve at the top of the picture should have another side with a hose connecting to it. What do I do?

Greetings!

Going to provide a bit of backstory here for as much detail as possible on my issue.

Truck died at a red light. Thought "My fuel pump has been a concern for some time now, probably why it died and won't start". My fuel light wasn't on (which is an indicator for me that it's time to fuel up since my gauge doesn't work), so that was my initial thought.

Get towed, get home. Take bed off, and pop old fuel pump out. Now, while taking the old fuel pump out, I barely tugged on a hose and it snapped the valve off.


I am not sure on the importance of that valve (other than it could possibly be an intake of some sort) nor do I know the name of it to see if I can get it replaced. Anyways... we lave it all alone and continue putting it back together, go to crank over to start... nothing. Continue troubleshooting, it's definitely moving fuel and it's getting to the engine. So we check for spark on one of the plugs... nothing. Check for spark at the ignition coil.. nothing... So I replace that and it works. Truck starts up. Hooray!

I take off to get gas, and right down the street it sputters out as if it's out of gas. So we go get 2 gallons of gas and come back and put it in. Acts the same. We were able to eventually get it to the gas station somehow (didn't drive it, roommate has sorcerous ways). We get 10 gallons into it and it won't start up anymore (does crank, no start). Then after trying some various things, we wound up with a rotten egg smell coming from my truck.

Anyways, any help on what to do would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

Always lubricate old hoses before trying to remove them. I install them with vaseline so they come back off easier. That is the overflow valve. It looks fine to me. Mine in the 94 Dak 3.9 had only the one nipple sticking out of it. They are no longer manufactured. I broke mine (the inside parts) transferring it to a new pump and had to buy a used pump to get one. I just installed the used pump instead of trying to remove it. The hose is part of the Evap system which may be causing your problem. I had an issue in a 99 VW where it would not start for 5 minutes when I filled the tank. Turns out to be a known issue with the charcoal evap filter. On mine the evap canister is in the engine bay at the front passenger side. If you have the part still get some plastic super glue and try that. I would test the pressure at the fuel rail before buying anything it should be 32psi+ There should be a schraeder valve on the driver side. It may be the pump you have is not pushing enough pressure. On the gauge issue make sure the float is pointing toward the front when you stick the pump back in and snug it up.

 

I barely touched it and it snapped off. That's the crappy part. I didn't even pull on it, just kinda started to tug then SNAP.

I was going to take a coffee straw or something close to the diameter I need and some JB Quick and put it back on that way. I don't remember which way the float is facing, so I will probably adjust that, even though all the valves are pointing the way they were when I took the old one out (and assuming the correct way).

 

Found out it was my ignition coil again. Tested it and the ohms and voltages were okay. Found that the plug going into was just loose enough to fall out with some vibration due to the clip being broken on it. We currently have it zip tied up to hold it in and will be ordering a new one.

Truck runs fine now. Will be diagnosing the fuel pump this upcoming weekend and finding out why it's still saying i have no fuel.

 

Cool that's good news. You should be able to get a coil wire at any auto supply. The three items stuck in the top of your fuel pump rotate so you can move them if your pump is not facing in the right direction. There is a known issue with these fuel pumps and gauge not working. Once you eliminate direction of sending unit if it is still happening you can search this site to find repairs others have done involving that sending unit and I think there may be a TSB on the issue as well. I was happy to find the used pump placed in the correct direction made my gauge work.