Filter change with bad lift-pump..How I started the truck

[johnrv4]

I was working on a Dodge today that had a bad lift pump. I checked the pressure at the VP44 and had 5lbs. at idle and 0lbs. under load. The owner of the truck had 49K on it without ever changing the fuel filter . I offered to change the filter for him before he brought it in to the dealer. Well, I removed the filter(year 2000 truck) and drained the canister. It didn't look too bad considering how many miles were on the truck. I cleaned and assembled the fuel filter, then I proceeded to bleed the air out of the system. I do this by hooking up a hose to the VP44 Schraeder Valve, and bumping the starter to let the lift-pump run. Usually after three lift pump cycles, the hose will be flowing fuel and all you have to do is remove the hose and start the truck. Unfortunately, the lift-pump decided to give up completely, and no fuel would flow out of the hose on the VP44 . Now I had a stranded truck in front of my garage, and I was wondering how to get it going and out of my way. What I did was hook up the hose (from the VP44) to my trusty Mityvac(hand-held vacuum pump)and sucked the fuel through the system until all I had was clear fuel coming out. The truck fired-up after about 2 revolutions, but now the pressure on the gauge was below zero(vacuum). The pump was running everytime I tried to bleed it, but there was no pressure coming out. Even after I sucked the fuel through with the Mityvac, the pump(even though it was running) couldn't pump any out. At least it was warm outside, and there isn't a stranded truck in front of my garage

 

[Evan A. Beck]

Here's another trick:



Use an old bicycle pump or somehting similar, and put the end of it in the fuel filler, and use a rag to kind of "seal" the opening. Open a bleed fitting on the engine, and have someone start pumping the bike pump. Keep doing this until you get guel at the engine. The air pressure in the tank will force the fuel through the lift pump and into the filter housing. Works pretty good.