Use 3/4" plywood, not 1/2". Fuel is about 8 pounds per gallon. So for the 15 gallons, you've got about 120 pounds of fuel and maybe another 20 for the tank. If you have 6 lift points that's 140/6=23.3 pounds at each lift point. Figuring about 6 square inches per block puts about 4 pounds per square inch where it's being lifted. Absolutely nothing to worry about there.

Remover the filler hose bracket at the top instead of the hose at the bottom.

 

Ooohhh Boy!!!

I'm not even sure I want to say this, mainly cause I may be wrong. But after going to 7 auto store looking for a extra deep 9/16 socket to get the nuts off the long threaded hanger for the fuel pump and chasing down pump assembly and pressure regulator costing 400.00, I came home to take apart tank assemble and stick a siphon into filler hole at tank. I could see into tank I expected gas to come gushing out when I disconnected rubber hose from tank. But only a tiny bit came out. It's about 6 inches from bottom of 35 gallon take. So I'm thinking I got lucky to not have a mess on my hands. So I start siphoning tank and was having problems getting the stiff hose from bending towards the bottom of tank since it's 30 degrees out. Finally started to get gas coming out into bucket. So I'm finally getting somewhere I thought.

Well I hate to write this down, but if I'm right I deserve a good bashing cause I'm an idiot. Seems I'm out of gas. I stick a long stiff wire inside tank with a washer tied to a string to hit bottom of tank and see how wet string gets. And start tapping on tank for hollow sound. And yep sure enough I have to say I think it's bone dry in there. I siphoned out about a half gallon of gas maybe. And thay's it. And of that about a pint is some Techron additive I had just poured in just before problem happened and I was going to put in about 10gals to run through fuel system.

Now my only excuse is my gas gauge hasn't worked right for quite some time now. As matter of fact when fuel pump got replaced a year and a half ago I asked mechanic about gauge being worse after new pump than with old pump. Forget what he said. Anyway I only know when tank is full and after 50 miles or so needle goes down to E. So after 300 to 350 or so miles I know I get about 14 to 15 mpg I still should have 10 to 15 gallons. And after I did plenum repair I wanted to find out right away if I could use regular gas again instead of 93 octane without hearing pinging. So I put in 15 gals knowing I also wanted to put in Techron additive and some other cleaner after wards.

So I can only say I lost track of my math. I never reset odometer at last station stop as I usually do. So I just kept a record in my head of how many miles I could go before I needed to fill up again. I know this is long and I'm sorry about that.

Just consider me a total idiot.

Well maybe not quite yet. Let me get to the store to get a 5 gal gas container and put gas in the truck. And if it starts then call me an idiot. I have to laugh at myself at this point. Since I'm totally broke charging left and right and spending almost a month and a half working on a bunch of different repairs that needed to be done. But if this is just no gas, I can bring back pump and regulator and get the 400 of cards. I deffinitely gain a ton of knowledge on how to, thanks to a bunch of you. So I'll have to owe you all a bunch of beers somehow.

 

I put in 7 gallons, cranked it over. And it ran, but not too good. I had to keep giving the pedal light pumps to keep an idle. Did this for about 5 minutes til I got a cramp. Shut it down. Let it sit for 15 minutes. Figure it must have a bit of dirt on the bottom of the strainer. Plus I had plywood with jack pushing into bottom of tank to relieve pressure when I was about to try to drop tank. Couldn't find anyone with a deep enough 9/16 socket or it would have been dropped and then I would have seen an empty take. I still have new pump and regulator is paid and should be in tommorrow morning on order if I stll need it. Figure to have both and just return what I don't need.

Anyway just went back out again to see if dirt or maybe the gas treatment I put in with only a 1/2 gallon settled/diluted a bit. It did run much better but still sound like crap. But I could let it idle on it's own this time and was able to rev it up a bit. So I'll keep trying this and see if it gets better. Right now sounds like it need a tune up really bad. Sputturing like it did when I barely made it home. So may just be the additive or possibly dirt?

 

Don't you just hate those days.

Don't feel to bad, many mechanic's have chased the gremlins that an out of gas situation causes. And for those who have not, don't laugh, it could happen to you.

 

Even though you plan on a tune up check the spark plugs, one or more may be fouled.

 

Well all is well. Just needed to clean out additive thrown in with only a gallon of gas I think. Oh tune up was done with plenum repair. Van run great again. plenty of power, can use regular gas again without annoying pinging, and seem new ECM fixed cold weather start problems. New battery, practically all new sensor for ignition system. NO more oil light coming on with new sensor also. Just need to fix ABS light on after rusted brake line failure. Good brake fluid flush and maybe speed sensor I hope will do it.

I do have worse situation with gas gauge now. It's not showing anything anymore. So once weather changes I may drop tank and try to fix it. I have a new pump assembly, so I'm gonna study it before I return it and see how it works and what goes wrong with em. Seems to be common. These pump are really cheaply designed from first glance. Look like toys made with cheap plastic. Hard to believe they get 200 hundred for them.

So thank you all for helping this idiot out

 

Congratulations, Once you get close to a full tank of fuel. Try standing on the bumper and rocking the van side to side. It worked once for me when the tank had been empty,.the arm was all the way down and got stuck I guess. You need a break and this might help. By the way,you have a rollover valve in the filler neck. It is a plastic ball that should keep fuel from escaping if the vehicle were to rollover. It is in the rubber hose section of the filler neck,this is why you couldn't get the hose to go in to the tank. Take care.

 

Here's some more info, for what it's worth. On my '93 B150 there is an anti-siphon mechanism (a plastic ball, I think) located in the filler neck to stop people from stealing gas. So if you were trying to siphon fuel using a hose from outside the cap area you would have been SOL anyway. Regarding the fuel gauge issue, I think the recent addition of 10% ethanol to the gasoline being sold in most areas of the country is causing your gauge trouble. I replaced my fuel pump about two years ago and my gauge worked perfectly until the ethanol showed up in my local gasoline. Now my gauge is screwed, and I think it's because the alcohol has messed up the sending unit contacts on the pump body.

When I had to replace my fuel pump I found myself with about 1/2 tank of fuel that couldn't be siphoned. After a few days of weighing my options I decided to drill a 1/4" hole in a low point of my plastic tank using an old manual carpenter's drill; the kind with a wooden handle. Can't use a cordless drill here because of spark danger - BOOM! Anyway, I placed two 5 gallon containers with funnels under the tank to catch the fuel after drilling the hole and actually managed only to spill a few drops of fuel on the driveway. You have to be quick, however - the fuel comes out of the hole like a fat cow pissing on a flat rock!

I drained the fuel from my containers into my wife's minivan and then proceeded with my repair. When finished replacing the pump I bored the 1/4" hole at the bottom of the tank to a slightly larger size and fitted one of those wing-nut style rubber stoppers from Autozone to plug the hole. It sealed perfectly, and if I ever have to work on the tank again I have an easy way to safely drain the tank.

 

Don't talk to me. :P

 

Thanks guys for the tips. Fuel gauge went to full today. Will see if it continues. Usually after 50 or so miles it'll drop to E. And I like the plug idea if I need to go through this again.

And Alloro, I ain't saying a word.