Waiting AAA (again)

[joeq]

This truck is absolutely the "WORST" vehicle I've ever owned. Bought it for towing project cars, and other towing and hauling, but it has been on the back of a wrecker, more than all vehicles I've ever owned in my entire life, combined.(And I'm almost 60). And almost every single time, it's been fuel system related.(Out of fuel, one way or another) Faulty fuel tank level signals, water in fuel, switcher valve malfunction, and fuel pumps, up the ying yang. So many times I've considered swapping to gas. Everyone tells me to "junk" the truck. But once I cool down, I always look at it this way.
!st off, it's mine and payed for. I've had it over 20 yrs. and being a C-30 dually, it has a rugged suspension. Plus it's a stick shift, and the 117 granny low 4 spd will also take lots of abuse. So even tho the sheetmetal is totally gone, to me it's worth fixing up. The tranny has a PTO, which I've installed a Holmes 440 winch to, and with the diesel, it'll pull most any loads with ease.
What I just can't get a handle on, is keeping the fuel system reliable. I tested the sending units yrs ago, and they checked out fine. I did replace the dash gauge once already. Also, filling the tanks is a chore, cause of the mounting design of the filler necks to the pick-up body. The hoses run parallel with the ground, which cause the fuel to push back, when filling. I've always thought about remounting the hoses verticle, into the bed. I know it will take away space, but the alternative is me fighting fuel ups.
Then I'll need some better indicators, seeing the gauge system is crap. I'm thinking dip-sticks in the filler hoses.
Well, I could keep rambling on, but I'm killing time waiting my Triple A call. I envy you guys who can "confidently" run your vehicle, W/O hesitation. Now, I (once again) need to do the troubleshooting thing, and figure out, why no fuel? I just topped both tanks off a couple days ago, and have replaced multiple fuel pumps in the past yr or so. But it is a fact, there is no fuel in the primary filter. Why? the question of the day.:mad:

[Yukon6.2]

Hi Joeq
What year is your truck?And is your fuel system all stock?
My 90 has been reliable,but did have a few issues.The stock square filter had a plug in the bottom of the mount that was almost rotted through which gave me a lot of hard smoky starts before i found it.
I'v had a bunch of these trucks as gassers,and never had any fuel system problems,the diesels have the same system.
Having said that they are a simple system and it would be easy to build your own.
I know that the tank switch has changed maybe yours has the wrong one in it?
Do you have an electric pump ? You could run from a can to see if it is downstream from the pump.
Thomas

[joeq]

Howdy Tom, I guess you could call the system stock...kinda.
The truck was originally a 1983 C-30 cab and chassis, (flat-bed ordered), but I installed a P/U bed for a more "domesticated" look. (Had to tub it, to accomplish it.) Twin tanks, hose connected from the stock tanks, to the P/U body. Not a good fit, like I mention above. Also, the original primary filter was missing, so I installed a standard agricultural glass filter. The stock secondary filter is still operational. and lastly, I had supplemented the mech. fuel pump, with an A/C electric pump. (To help prime the fuel system, when it goes dry...which has happened all to often).I've replaced 2 mech. fuel pumps in 1 yr, and my new elect. pump went bad quickly. I have another replacement on the bench, which is my plan of attack tomorrow. And the factory tank sw went bad last year, so I installed a new one. Yrs ago, I had water in the fuel, and my father-in-law told me to run Iso/alcohol in it regularly to dissolve any water. I wonder if this is affecting my pumps? If my new mech. pump is bad, and the elect. one fires the truck up, maybe I'll think twice about how often I should pump in the Iso.
P.S. The new elect. pump is rated for 10-13lbs. (All I could find at the time). Was wondering if this will affect the operation of the inj/pump.

[Yukon6.2]

Hi joeq
I was going to do the same thing with a truck, tub the box to go over the narrow dually axle.Never really cared for the super wide dually look.
I would quit using the iso,I've heard that alcohol was bad for diesels.If you can find someone who carry's FTTP products try their additives,I've been impressed with them and Kennedy swears by them.
The early diesels had a valve near the tanks for draining water,not sure how many years they had them.
In all the years iv been on this site i can't remember anyone having hassles with the mechanical fuel pump.Are you getting New GM pumps or are they aftermarket?I installed an electric pump inline on my truck for priming the filter and in case the mechanical pump quit.It's been inline now for about 8yrs.
Your truck should have the early tank switch,the later one needs to be held down for a few seconds to make the switch were the older one you just switch.
If it was my truck i would replace the two filterers with one good raycor,that would cut out a few areas were you could have problems.
Have you tried pressurizing the tanks to try to find leaks?Take a old cap and put a valve stem in it,screw it on and add about 4-5 psi and look for wet areas on lines,filters ect.
My 90 has gotten leak free it can sit for months now and start like it was running yesterday.Not trying to make you feel bad,but when i first got it it did have leaks and always was a hard smoky start.After i found the rotted plug in the filter base things have been great,i'v even run out of fuel and priming with the electrical pump was a snap.One of my tanks sprung a leak.and it was just a matter of a minute and i was running again.
Good Luck Thomas

[joeq]

Hey Tom, thanx for the advice.
I got the thing running ...again...and this is what went down. Because I knew the primary filter was low, (glass element), and I had recently bought a replacement elect. pump, I started there. Once installed, and turned the pump on, it didn't fill the filter immediately. I tried pumping for about 30-45 seconds, but nothing. Then I switched to my other tank. Gave it another 30 sec. or so, still nothing. So I removed the hose going into the filter, to check the pumping volume of the new elect. pump. it appeared to be pumping fine. So I hooked it back up, and the filter then began to fill. After installing my battery charger to the system, so I wouldn't wear them down, I began cranking the starter. Soon, it fired, and ran normal. I was hoping this would be the happy ending, and blame it on another bad mech. pump. (Not the case).
I needed to make an auto parts run for my DD, so I took the truck downtown. On my return, the truck started to act up...AGAIN! As it was idling rough, I looked into my glass primary filter, and could see air bubbles being pumped in. Why? Didn't have any leaks. Needless to say, it died shortly after. The fuel filter appeared to be low, again. My last ditch effort was to switch tanks, and low and behold...it started to fill the filter. Then it ran, and I got it home. Turned out to be...(wait for it..) the RHS tank was M/T, AGAIN!
I had just filled both tanks the weekend B4, but in reality, because of the poor fill hose routing style, I really didn't top them "both" off. And my gauge system hasn't worked properly for yrs. The truck generally sits in the yard, so I never deemed it a priority. Now I need to get on the stick, and give some well deserved attention to this thing. This summer, I need to re-rout the tank fill hoses, get the gauge working properly, rebuild the frt-end, and make a new Y-pipe for the exhaust. All the sheetmetal needs work too, but don't know if I'll get to it this summer.
Tom, you mentioned the narrow dually, and I can say, it has it's ups and downs. I also like the stream lined look, and getting around is so much easier than the "big bulging fenders". But the lack of 4' between the inner wheelwells is tough when hauling 4x8 sheets. Got to weigh your priorities.
If you want to see a couple pix of the truck, check out my photo gallery. Hope your day goes better than mine.

[AKMark]

I know a few folks who have had the tank switching system give them fits.

A possibility is to grab a fuel tank from a K-5 or Suburban and convert to a large single tank and get rid of all the excess.

I've had a bunch of 6.2's and have never experienced fuel issues like you mention.

Hope you can get it figured out!

[More Power]

I ran a dual tank 80s era 6.2L diesel pickup for 9+ years, and didn't have a problem with the tank switcher. So, they can be reliable.

However, if I had one of these dual saddle tank trucks with an unreliable tank switcher that couldn't be made to be reliable, I'd plumb the driver's side tank permanently to the engine by removing the tank switcher, and I'd plumb in a transfer pump to transfer fuel on demand (manual) from the passenger side tank to the driver's side tank.

Jim

[joeq]

I know a few folks who have had the tank switching system give them fits.
A possibility is to grab a fuel tank from a K-5 or Suburban and convert to a large single tank and get rid of all the excess.


Not a bad idea Mark. I replaced both tanks with new roughly 10 yrs ago. I'm hoping there's still some life left in them. But if they do start leaking, I might give your idea some thought.

[joeq]

I'd plumb the driver's side tank permanently to the engine by removing the tank switcher, and I'd plumb in a transfer pump to transfer fuel on demand (manual) from the passenger side tank to the driver's side tank.
Jim

And yet another possibility, thinking outside the box.
My tank sw did go bad last year. I was thinking I was pulling from 1 tank that was low, so I'ld switch it to the other tank, which had fuel in it. But the sw in reality wasn't grabbing the second tank, so I'ld run out, still being on the low tank. It didn't help, in that the gauges were reading improperly also.
I know the truck isn't a spring chicken, and I've definitely got my monies worth, but I want to breath some new life in it, and these are the areas I need to address. Thanx for the ideas men.

[AKMark]

Good luck

I'm throwing a 45 gallon from a 87 Suburban under the rear of my DMax just for another auxillary tank for long distance trips. My spare stays in the bed thanks to bumpers that make getting to it a bear. I already have an 80 gallon Auxillary tank in the bed as well. I haul fuel oil from the transfer station to my house to stay warm in the winter, much cheaper than having it delivered. But I figure make it so I can fill them with Diesel when I want 2000-3000 miles on a full load.

I live in Alaska and plan on driving to MN next summer and want to do it without having to buy fuel in Canada where prices can be twice what they are here.

[MajMike]

If your tanks are emptying too fast for your mileage, have you considered if someone might be getting a 5-fingered discount from you (i.e. stealing fuel)? Just a thought, it does happen.

[Warren96]

I don't know how I could take long trips without a reliable fuel gauge. I have mine eqquiped with two 42 gal. plus the original 30 gal. tanks. Depending on my destination, thats enough fuel to take me to Florida and back.( 114gal x25MPG=2850miles) The spare tanks can be dropped in the back, and fuel dumped as needed into the original tank. Easey Peesy, manual valves, gravity flow.I have often pondered how i could install a gauge in the spare tanks, but have always discarded it because i always felt it would be two unreliable. If your tanks are at the same level 'More Powers' idea of using an electric pump to transfer fuel sounds like a good idea!