Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Well, I believe I figured out Truck fueling problem. Out of Diesel. Yes, that is what I said, I ran out of gas as the saying goes, twice. No pump issues at all, just no fuel in tank. Simple problem easily corrected by stopping at many roadside stations and inserting a few gallons of diesel and be on your way. Now before you say you nincompoop, you gotta know I check gages regularly and often while driving. SO here is my hypothesis; it is the fuel tank level sending unit (of course not readily accessible, located in tank). Let’s go over some of the history: You, Jamie, stated “ Geese we drove dang near all week and your gauge still reads there is almost half a tank” “Your truck gets really good mileage” ok yes truck does get good mileage, but maybe a little too good that week? For if the sending unit was not reading correctly I was lower than almost ½ tank indicated, but could not determine by gage? Hmmm.
I leave Bremerton, WA with less than a full tank (normally I fill up, but I only used a little over ½ tank driving from my house to yours in Montana earlier or did I?). As I leave Kellogg area on I-90 I look at gauge ¼ tank I can make it to 50,000 bar & fill up; price is less than Idaho. Overt clue: Truck stutters and stops running going up Lookout pass. Obscure clue: Even if the lift pump goes out the VP44 injector pump will pull fuel from tank and continue to run truck unless there is a blockage in fuel line or no fuel in tank to use. This is how stock trucks with no fuel gages loose both lift and VP44 pumps with no clue until truck stops running properly.
Contributing factor I leave tools in Camper vice truck which is why I was driving to Montana to retrieve camper and equipment. So I have no way to troubleshoot myself. Tow truck takes truck 25+ miles to Dave Smith Dodge in Kellogg. They sell many Dodge trucks so should be able to fix them and most likely have seen lots of problems in past.
Dave smith condemns FASS lift pump, and would not try a few diagnostic tests for me such as trying to pull suction from a can of diesel vice tank. Dave smith added 5 gallons of fuel to tank and tried pump, but you have to prime pump by filling the moisture separator inlet to pump for centrifugal pump to take suction when there is no fuel in line. Even if they had pulled from remote can it would have failed if not primed. Cost me $400+ for pump & shipping, and Smith 500+ for labor & Misc shop repairs. Dave Smith has technicians not mechanics a good mechanic would go through the various functions of components and determine if working. Gage indicates almost ¼ tank when leaving Kellogg so I drive to 50,000 bar & fill up, but as I get off I-90 fuel pressure fluctuates a bit while driving to fuel station. Sucking air and fuel mix due to low fuel in tank? Me thinks original problem not corrected properly due to not being thrilled with service department at Dave smith. Great sales department needs a lot of customer service work in service department (IMHO).
After I get home from Montana, for next 6-8 weeks due to various reasons my truck is run at ¾ tank or above on fuel gage. No problems, but I now check gages especially fuel pressure twice as often (still suspect problem with fueling due to concern with Dave Smith technicians abilities) I run truck often and let fuel get down to just above ¼ tank. I let son use truck for a few days short distance drives. One cold morning he went out, started truck and went into house to finish getting ready to leave for my place. When he came out truck had stopped running and would not start. My first inclination was no fuel pressure so I took a 5 gallon fuel can with me and went to investigate. Fuel gage showed just under ¼ tank, but we added the 5 gallons anyway. We tried to get fuel pressure but none. My error was I should have primed pump. I did not think there was no fuel in tank due to gage reading ¼ tank. Tried to pull from 5 gal. can but the pump would not lift, again did not think it was empty to require a prime.
Discussed with parts guy from Alligator performance, same person who helped me on telephone when stuck in Idaho. He was very knowledgeable and helpful for what I could tell him of symptoms. He suggested prime pump, when I did it worked and it worked sucking fuel from tank (but remember I added 5 gallons of fuel) . Based on tank indicating fuel, we concluded I needed a different suction in tank so I purchased a sump to install on bottom of tank and bypass OEM suction tube and internal filter (this was suspect of plugging since gage showed fuel but truck no run) I had blown air into suction line so I could hear bubbles in tank thinking I was clearing the screen even if temporarily.
Since the fuel gage registered a little over ¼ tank I had 3each 5 gallon fuel cans ready to drain tank and install sump. To install you drill a ¼” pilot hole in tank, drain fuel, then hole saw a 2 ¾” hole in bottom and install sump. A ¼” hole takes a while to drain 5 gallons. Switched 1st can out and got about ½ to ¾ gallon, yes I said less than 1 gallon of fuel in 2nd can when fuel stopped draining. What barely over 5 gallons equals over a ¼ tank? BS, ¼ tank should be closer to 10 to 12 Gals in a 34 gallon tank hence the 3each 5 gallon cans in preparation. Ok I personally just put 4 ¾ Gallons min. into tank when trouble shooting lift pump so that means when the gage read ¼ tank there was maybe a gallon of fuel? I ran out of fuel again, but now I know for sure. Well you can’t back out of installing a sump once there is a ¼” hole in the low point of your fuel tank so sump installed and looks professional. Sump $160
Cha ching I’ve got $1200 into repair, week in Montana waiting for truck at Dave Smith, a week at home obtaining sump and preps to install and the original problem is not corrected. I do have a new higher capacity FASS lift pump, fancy new fuel sump, and lots more experiential knowledge of my 2001 Dodge.
So I go onto Turbo Diesel register ( I did not have computer with me to research when in Montana because it was only to be a weekend trip) and find fuel sending unit problems are known, there are fixes, and you can replace just the sending unit. Cost of part around $50, but drop fuel tank or remove truck bed required.
I need to obtain sending unit and plan for replacement. I can use truck, just need to track mileage and fill ups until replacement.
That is fueling saga, dollars tossed away, weeks of no truck use, a repair still in my future, but satisfaction of determining the issue? Sure wish I would have dissected all the indicators even obscure as some were. Side note I have all tools in truck now,
I leave Bremerton, WA with less than a full tank (normally I fill up, but I only used a little over ½ tank driving from my house to yours in Montana earlier or did I?). As I leave Kellogg area on I-90 I look at gauge ¼ tank I can make it to 50,000 bar & fill up; price is less than Idaho. Overt clue: Truck stutters and stops running going up Lookout pass. Obscure clue: Even if the lift pump goes out the VP44 injector pump will pull fuel from tank and continue to run truck unless there is a blockage in fuel line or no fuel in tank to use. This is how stock trucks with no fuel gages loose both lift and VP44 pumps with no clue until truck stops running properly.
Contributing factor I leave tools in Camper vice truck which is why I was driving to Montana to retrieve camper and equipment. So I have no way to troubleshoot myself. Tow truck takes truck 25+ miles to Dave Smith Dodge in Kellogg. They sell many Dodge trucks so should be able to fix them and most likely have seen lots of problems in past.
Dave smith condemns FASS lift pump, and would not try a few diagnostic tests for me such as trying to pull suction from a can of diesel vice tank. Dave smith added 5 gallons of fuel to tank and tried pump, but you have to prime pump by filling the moisture separator inlet to pump for centrifugal pump to take suction when there is no fuel in line. Even if they had pulled from remote can it would have failed if not primed. Cost me $400+ for pump & shipping, and Smith 500+ for labor & Misc shop repairs. Dave Smith has technicians not mechanics a good mechanic would go through the various functions of components and determine if working. Gage indicates almost ¼ tank when leaving Kellogg so I drive to 50,000 bar & fill up, but as I get off I-90 fuel pressure fluctuates a bit while driving to fuel station. Sucking air and fuel mix due to low fuel in tank? Me thinks original problem not corrected properly due to not being thrilled with service department at Dave smith. Great sales department needs a lot of customer service work in service department (IMHO).
After I get home from Montana, for next 6-8 weeks due to various reasons my truck is run at ¾ tank or above on fuel gage. No problems, but I now check gages especially fuel pressure twice as often (still suspect problem with fueling due to concern with Dave Smith technicians abilities) I run truck often and let fuel get down to just above ¼ tank. I let son use truck for a few days short distance drives. One cold morning he went out, started truck and went into house to finish getting ready to leave for my place. When he came out truck had stopped running and would not start. My first inclination was no fuel pressure so I took a 5 gallon fuel can with me and went to investigate. Fuel gage showed just under ¼ tank, but we added the 5 gallons anyway. We tried to get fuel pressure but none. My error was I should have primed pump. I did not think there was no fuel in tank due to gage reading ¼ tank. Tried to pull from 5 gal. can but the pump would not lift, again did not think it was empty to require a prime.
Discussed with parts guy from Alligator performance, same person who helped me on telephone when stuck in Idaho. He was very knowledgeable and helpful for what I could tell him of symptoms. He suggested prime pump, when I did it worked and it worked sucking fuel from tank (but remember I added 5 gallons of fuel) . Based on tank indicating fuel, we concluded I needed a different suction in tank so I purchased a sump to install on bottom of tank and bypass OEM suction tube and internal filter (this was suspect of plugging since gage showed fuel but truck no run) I had blown air into suction line so I could hear bubbles in tank thinking I was clearing the screen even if temporarily.
Since the fuel gage registered a little over ¼ tank I had 3each 5 gallon fuel cans ready to drain tank and install sump. To install you drill a ¼” pilot hole in tank, drain fuel, then hole saw a 2 ¾” hole in bottom and install sump. A ¼” hole takes a while to drain 5 gallons. Switched 1st can out and got about ½ to ¾ gallon, yes I said less than 1 gallon of fuel in 2nd can when fuel stopped draining. What barely over 5 gallons equals over a ¼ tank? BS, ¼ tank should be closer to 10 to 12 Gals in a 34 gallon tank hence the 3each 5 gallon cans in preparation. Ok I personally just put 4 ¾ Gallons min. into tank when trouble shooting lift pump so that means when the gage read ¼ tank there was maybe a gallon of fuel? I ran out of fuel again, but now I know for sure. Well you can’t back out of installing a sump once there is a ¼” hole in the low point of your fuel tank so sump installed and looks professional. Sump $160
Cha ching I’ve got $1200 into repair, week in Montana waiting for truck at Dave Smith, a week at home obtaining sump and preps to install and the original problem is not corrected. I do have a new higher capacity FASS lift pump, fancy new fuel sump, and lots more experiential knowledge of my 2001 Dodge.
So I go onto Turbo Diesel register ( I did not have computer with me to research when in Montana because it was only to be a weekend trip) and find fuel sending unit problems are known, there are fixes, and you can replace just the sending unit. Cost of part around $50, but drop fuel tank or remove truck bed required.
I need to obtain sending unit and plan for replacement. I can use truck, just need to track mileage and fill ups until replacement.
That is fueling saga, dollars tossed away, weeks of no truck use, a repair still in my future, but satisfaction of determining the issue? Sure wish I would have dissected all the indicators even obscure as some were. Side note I have all tools in truck now,
