Truck 97 3.9 4x4.

Truck was running a little ruff lately. So I put a little Lucas in the tank.

Drove to work 35 miles. Truck died in the middle of the road on the way to get lunch. Tested and no fuel pressure at the rail. Tested fuel pump relay, it was good. All relays good.

Had truck hauled home. Crawled under and started beating on the bottom of tank and had son turn key ON. Pump did pump a little. Still no start just cranked. Had brother purge the fuel rail. Wait 5 minutes. Turn key ON, no pump noise. Beat on bottom of tank. Got pump to kick in. Truck started for a split second. Son went WFO on gas pedle and scared the sh*t out of me while I was still under the truck. Changed underwear and repeated above, finally called it a night and ordered a fuel pump from Rockauto. Just the pump not the full module.

The rear strap was put on about a year ago and I was able to get it to turn enough to get some slack in the rear strap so I think it should come off. The nut for front strap on the tank is rusted tight and rounded. The bed bolts I'd say are in the same shape. Would also have to remove the tool boxes and ladder rack.
Was thinking about making a trap door above the pump on the bed. Or should I take a 3" cutting wheel and cut the bolt holding the strap. Far as I know no fuel leaks just don't like the ideal of making sparks that close to the fuel tank.

Anybody got a better ideal.

Also has anybody taken the fuel filter off the fuel pump module and relocated a fuel filter on the frame or somewhere else. Thoughts on this.

Thanks

 

Buy new straps and cut the old ones. Sparks near the tank won't hurt anything unless you have fuel leaking out. Don't bother relocating the pump. It's not worth the effort for something that will likely never happen again in the life of the truck.

 

Well I will give you my 2 cents on it...

I would not want to be making sparks anywhere near the gas tank either. I would just cut the strap with the rusted bolt, remove the other strap and drop the tank. Then order a new strap, I am pretty sure Rock sells them, and I believe Napa does too. If I were doing the job I would probably replace both straps and both bolts and nuts too, just to be proactive and not have to do it again later on. With all the tools and stuff in the bed I would be very reluctant to cut a trap door to get at the pump, however I have heard of that being done. When I replaced my fuel pump it was easier for me just to drop the tank. I had no helpers to R&R the bed.

I have replaced just the fuel level sending unit on a fuel pump assembly on a Dodge Caravan. It was a royal pain in the a$$ and I would not wish that job on anybody. My own opinion is it would be much easier and a more reliable repair in the long run to just replace the fuel pump/sending unit/filter as a whole assembly while you have it apart and be done with it. The fuel pressure regulator is part of the fuel pump assembly too, and if you have close to 125,000 or more miles on the truck now, the regulator may not last much longer anyway. There is a check valve in the regulator that goes bad around 120 to 125,000 miles. I know the fuel pump and filter are sold as a complete assembly, and a new pump also has a new sending unit. You can buy and just replace the sending unit but it is a tedious and aggravating job. I don't know if anyone makes or sells a Dakota fuel pump without the filter. I have never seen one like that myself.

That is my 2 cents on it. Others will have more ideas for you.

Jimmy

 

I took my bed off. 6 bolts,fuel filler neck,rear bumper and tail light connectors. I had mine off in a hr. Plus this allowed me to clean up the frame and undercoat it.

 

If the bed bolts are in the same shape, I'd say just cut the straps... You can just buy new ones for pretty cheap I'm sure rather than screwing around with the rusty bed bolts. Honestly sparks won't do anything unless you have a leak. On my old Ford it had 2 gas tanks and I welded a new wheel arch, which meant having to weld RIGHT next to the rear tank filler neck/door. I taped a plastic bag over the fuel door as a precaution, and I'm sure you can do something similar if you're really concerned.

 

Thanks everybody for the input.

When I replaced the rear strap a year ago, it came with the front and I still have it.
Think I will cut the bolt and drop the tank.

01SilverCC wished I knew bout all the Stuff in the fuel pump tower before ordering just the replacement pump. Truck has 165,000 miles. Hope the other stuff lasts but if not. At least it shouldn't as hard to replace since the bolts and straps will have been off once already after replacing the pump.

Thanks again to everyone for all the input.

 

Got replacement pump yesterday. Going to tackle it Saturday. Will TRY to take pics or video on replacing the pump.

Replaced a in-tank fuel pump module in the boss man's bucket truck a few months back. The old one had been spliced with butt connectors. No heat shrink or anything else just butt connectors. Thought this was a bad ideal but it had worked for who knows how long.

Anyone got ideals on splicing the electric wires in the tank for the fuel pump. The new pump did NOT come with butt connectors or anything.

 

Solder and heat shrink?

 

That's what I would do.

 

After taking fuel pump module apart, blew backwards through the filter/regular.
Here's some pics of what I found:
Attachment 20506 Attachment 20508 Attachment 20509

New fuel pump module on it's way.



/ EDIT reason for edit had to delete the pics to make room in my attachment for pics on page 2. was just dirty gas in a bottle and pored on some white cardboard.

Do yourself a favor and just get a COMPLETE fuel pump module. You will thank yourself in the long run.
/ END EDIT