Fuel Tank Leak, Get In Tank Lift Pump Too?

[TimothyLong]

A few weeks ago I noticed that my fuel tank was leaking when I go to top it off. Normally I could get 2 - 3 extra gallons of fuel in after the nozzle lever trips. Now I can barely get 1 gallon in before I see it leaking on the ground. On Saturday, when I filled up I was able to see where it was leaking, but I can't narrow it down. It seems to be leaking around one of the fixtures on the tank control module. I can't tell if it's leaking at the supply or return line or even at the sending unit. I'm probably going to take it back to the dealer and have them service it. My question is should I have them do the in-tank lift pump conversion while they are at it? Is it worth it? I still have the filter housing mounted pump that I just changed out about 5K ago with a replacement from Geno's (the factory original had 132K on it). TIA!

 

[Prairie Dog]

If I had it to do over again I would get the in-tank rather than the noisy FASS.

 

[Crunch]

If I had it to do over again I would get the in-tank rather than the noisy FASS.

I'm glad you said that. When I replaced my transfer pump I considered going the FASS route but needed a quick fix. I bought the replacement transfer pump from Geno's and have no regrets, but was considering buying the FASS if it went out again. I've heard that for any in-tank lift pump one should never let the tank get below 1/4 full because you lose some of the cooling the pump needs.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Sadly, I bought the FASS before the in-tank kit or Geno's replacement pumps came out.
Even with the TST PowerMax on my truck I could tell no difference in performance with the FASS. I've since retired the problem riddled TST and gone to the Smarty Jr. and I suspect the stock pump would be fine with that too.

 

[BGlidewell]

autozone sourced the EXACT same in tank lift pump for my truck as the one that was OEM for 1/3 the dealer price

(I broke the return nipple getting the connection off the original pump else it would still be there)

 

[Bill Stockard]

If I had it to do over again I would get the in-tank rather than the noisy FASS.

Comments like above and TDR friends who had problems with aftermarket pumps are the reasons why I decided to go with the OEM in-tank pump upgrade.



Bill

 

[TimothyLong]

Comments like above and TDR friends who had problems with aftermarket pumps are the reasons why I decided to go with the OEM in-tank pump upgrade.



Bill

Yeah, this seems to be the trend. At one point, I too was considering going with a FASS or AirDog. I know that there are a lot of folks out there who have them and like them, but I've also been seeing a lot of regrets too. I think I'm going to go ahead have the dealer do the lift pump conversion while they're taking care of the leak.



Thanks for all of the input!

 

[steved]

Yeah, this seems to be the trend. At one point, I too was considering going with a FASS or AirDog. I know that there are a lot of folks out there who have them and like them, but I've also been seeing a lot of regrets too.

There are LOTS of us that didn't have the choice of the in-tank pump, nor had it been out long enough to prove itself. I got 180k out of my FASS, that's good enough for me.

 

[chazj]

I had the in-tank pump installed under warrenty. After watching the pressure vary between 8 PSI max towards Zero PSI under the slightest throttle; I decided on the FASS HPFP. Didn't want to take the change of starving the VP44 (I was on my 3rd one) with the "in-tank fix". So far so good... "knock on wood"...

 

[TimothyLong]

There are LOTS of us that didn't have the choice of the in-tank pump, nor had it been out long enough to prove itself. I got 180k out of my FASS, that's good enough for me.

180K isn't bad for any lift pump. That's a lot of fuel to be pushing!

 

[Crunch]

A few weeks ago I noticed that my fuel tank was leaking when I go to top it off. Normally I could get 2 - 3 extra gallons of fuel in after the nozzle lever trips. Now I can barely get 1 gallon in before I see it leaking on the ground. On Saturday, when I filled up I was able to see where it was leaking, but I can't narrow it down. It seems to be leaking around one of the fixtures on the tank control module. I can't tell if it's leaking at the supply or return line or even at the sending unit. I'm probably going to take it back to the dealer and have them service it. My question is should I have them do the in-tank lift pump conversion while they are at it? Is it worth it? I still have the filter housing mounted pump that I just changed out about 5K ago with a replacement from Geno's (the factory original had 132K on it). TIA!

On my last few road trips I have not noticed the same thing. So on one of them when I was filling up at night I grabbed a flashlight and watched the top of the tank as it filled. Just as the hose was shutting off I noticed fuel spurting up out of a black rubber cap that looked like an upside down cow teat. I looked at it in the day time and saw that the rubber cap had degraded and cracked. Looks like it it easy to replace if I can get the part... and reach over the top of the tank and am able to grab the squeeze clamp holding it on. It's right on top of the big white screw on cap where everything plugs in.

 

[rscurtis]

If I had it to do over again I would get the in-tank rather than the noisy FASS.

I also had a noisy FASS. I took it apart and replaced the relief valve spring with one about half the strength. Can barely hear it now, and I'm sure it's easier on the motor. The inside of the pump was like brand new- like it had never been run. The engine will also continue running without the FASS running.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I also had a noisy FASS. I took it apart and replaced the relief valve spring with one about half the strength. Can barely hear it now, and I'm sure it's easier on the motor. The inside of the pump was like brand new- like it had never been run. The engine will also continue running without the FASS running.

Hey that sounds great. Any idea what it does to pump pressure?

 

[sag2]

Probably the same cap that started leaking on my old 96 gasser. PN is 4418065. It just started spewing fuel out when I stopped until you pulled the gas cap to relieve the pressure. It looked to be about 3/8 ID.

 

[rscurtis]

PD, I had a friend do the same to his, cut the pressure from 20PSI down to about 12. According to TC Diesel, that is more than sufficient pressure.

 

[timelessconstructionllc]

when my pump went out i replaced it with a raptor, it is pretty noisy so i may try a new spring. I can attest for the fact that the truck will run without the pump running because i unplug my pump before i set a new tune on my smarty (otherwise the pump cycles on and off repeatedly, have no clue if this will do it any harm but it bothers me anyway). So one day i set a new tune and then got in and went down the road, not realizing that i hadn't plugged my pump back in. I made it about 5 miles without noticing a problem, but then when i hit around 80 on the interstate it started starving for fuel, so i eased out of it to about 70 and it was fine, then i had to ease back to about 65, but made it home, about 5 more miles then i realized what i'd done.