after driving for a while (about an hour) the truck dies. The gas hand goes to E and the engines gets no gas. If I try to crank it it just spins and spins--no gas. After letting it sit for a few minutes I turn the key on and the gas hand will go back to where it should be and it will start no problem. It will then run for a while and then start the problem all over again. Mechanic has had it twice--first time he put a new alternator on it but did not solve problem second time he couldn't find anything wrong and of course it would't die for him.
any suggestions would be appreciated

 

Fuel-pump would be my guess. Get's heated up, shuts down.

 

check the relay also. they have been knowed to short out evry now and then. also you may have a splice in the harness touching the frame and grounding itself out

 

thanks for the suggestions.
relay has been replaced with no change. the fuel pump was my guess too, but there are quite pricy from what I understand.

 

does it do it when the gas is at a certain level? try keeping it above 3/4 of a tank for a couple weeks and see if it does it then

 

The fuel level sending unit and the fuel pump are part of the same assembly. You have an electrical problem that is common to the two. Could be a bad ground, or the assembly needs replaced.

 

I was going to say ground as well. It seems it would be the only thing common to the 2 units. Get a buddy over and pop off the bed of the truck (8 bolts and a few plugs). It only takes like 20 minutes to get it completely off the truck. That will get the pump completely exposed. Check the harness and the plug, check the ground. It could also be internal and not a "wire" at all, so you may end up changing then entire pump assembly, but if you've already got it all off, it's a piece of cake. The pump just comes out by turning the big plastic lock ring, and the hoses are quick disconnects.

 

Same problem. Please help, I see you had this in quite a while ago!

 

I was at AutoZone last week and a guy had his 1999 Dakota fuel pump their asking questions about his pump the guy at the desk said see that you will be doing that soon he has the same auto as you I asked is it a common problem with the Dakota he said yes.
I will watch this post to see how many people have this problem.

 

I'm going to side with the others and say a shaky ground. I would agree with JB on one hand, the pump getting hot and locking up/shutting down, but that wouldn't explain the fuel gauge. But a ground would.