Archived HELP! Fuel delivery issues!

[Alphacowboy]

Ok, my fuel level sending unit stopped working about a month ago and I finally got around to replacing it today. Found out why it wasnt working, I want to know WTF did this to the float! this black shiat is now all over in my tank! I did clean out the sending, tossed the filter screen on the bottom as it was full of the shiat, and I have a prefilter before my lift pump so I am not worried about this crap making to the lift pump. Well, heres the pics...



Filter plugged up with gunk, no wonder my FP has been sporatic...

 

[Alphacowboy]

heres a pic of the float! :--) and a comparison pic to the new one!

 

[Alphacowboy]

black crap in the canister... :{

 

[Alphacowboy]

now. . my big issue, I had 14-15psi of pressure before I tore into this biatch. Now, I put it all back together, and blead it all out, pressure SUCKS! I let it run for a few minutes, then pressure dropped and truck stumbled and died. I cranked the line, blead it again, same problem! So, I pulled the filter before the lift pump, when I started to unscrew it, I got a suction sound. So, I put it back on, pulled the line off the tank, and dropped it in a bucket of #2 and it fired right up, 15psi again! Now, I dont know what the hell is the problem, I gutted all the filters in the tank, so I know there shouldnt be any restrictions! I even took the cap off the tank, still after a couple mins, pressure drops from maybe 9 really fast to 0, then stumbles and dies! I even reversed the pump and blew fuel back into the tank, and I could here it bubbling and it was sucking fuel out of the bucket... so what gives, I am frustrated! HELP! I need this figured out before tomorrow, this is my work truck!

 

[DavidC]

Not sure but it sounds like an algae problem. Maybe blow some air back into the tank as some maybe clogging your suction tube?. Found this stuff at West Marine. Do not know if it works or not.

http://www.starbrite.com/productdet...t=Gas & Diesel Additives (Auto)&ProductSSCat=



Dave

 

[DavidC]

Is that black stuff from your broken float?. First thought of black was algae. Either way the suction being clogged sounds like the culprit.



Dave

 

[Alphacowboy]

sorry, forgot to mention, the black crap is little pieces of the float, not algea. its hard little flakes, and match the color of the float. I am seriously wondering if there is somthing in the newer fuel that ate the float, because, really, what else would eat it?



I just need to figure out wth is the problem with the fuel pickup... I wonder if I made a mistake by gutting the filter screens and valves off the bottom of the canister... :{

 

[DavidC]

Don't know what broke the float but there is a capped pickup tube on top of the sending unit. Wish I had paid more attention to it when I had mine out. Don't know if maybe you can tap into it or not with a hose to your filter setup. Now that I think of it I should have tapped mine into a wye and then to the external strainer.



Dave

 

[Alphacowboy]

Victory!

VICTORY! After messing with it a little more, i hooked up a air hose to the pick up line (tried blowing on it, couldnt blow air in it, but it did compress the line enough that when I stopped blowing, I got a mouth full of diesel! doesnt taste bad actually... i expected much worse! :-laf ) anyway, compressed the line, then "boom" it let go in the tank and finally I heard bubbles!!! hooked it back up and what do ya know, solid 15+ PSI at idle!



Temp fixed, but when I have more time, I am going to drop the tank completely, and replace it with the 3rd gen 35 gallon tank I got in the garage. The tank looks identical! if that doesnt fit for some reason, I am going to completely clean out the tank.

 

[DavidC]

Glad to here you have it cleared. I am still going to think about using both tank pickups to a wye and one hose to the strainer. The chances of both pickups clogging could be slim (could happen tho). Besides, I would double my tank suction side.



Dave

 

[Oil Burner]

FWIW, my float looked exactly the same when it failed last year. Dropped the tank and it looked like something ate it! Those things are so fragile that I think they just get beat up by the arm that holds them.



Jason