2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Replacing the fuel tank sensor

[Bseg]

Figures, I just thought I had things under control now that I got rid of that height sensing valve for the brakes.



Now the fuel tank level sensor went out.



What is the best/easiest way to change it out? Dropping the tank or removing the bed?



Is that special collar tool necessary or will the cap on top of the tank unscrew easily?

 

[Kirwin]

Fuel tank sending unit replacement

I dropped the tank. The plastic nut that holds the fuel pickup/sending unit in can be difficult to remove and install, but if you are careful and work it around it will come off. When putting it back on the trick is in getting it started straight. The fuel fittings can be disconnected after you drop the rear end of the tank a few inches. Then you can reach up in there and unclip the plastic hoses from the tank fuel pickup/sending unit. After that its easy until you try to reconnect those plastic fuel lines and that can be difficult. Keep in mind that the fuel pickup/sending unit assembly goes into the tank in a certain orientation. Good luck. Ken Irwin





PS You may need a very deep 15mm socket to reach the foreward hanger clamp bolt. I had to actually take the extension head out of the socket square and that gave me just enough to get the nut started. I couldn't get an end wrench up in there to start the nuts on my 03 when I did the fuel tank vent bomb on that truck. They are lock nuts so you have to drive them all the way! If you have an air ratchet its worth it to break it out for those LONG clamp bolts.

 

[Bseg]

Ken, thanks for the info.



I'm not sure if I want to drop the tank or try and lift the bed. I got a shell and bedliner that I would have to deal with before getting the bed off.



After reading most of the posts about the sender can anyone tell me if it's normal for the unit to die all of a sudden?



Seems like a lot of people's gauges were reading weird for a long time, mine was fine one day after I filled the tank, the next day it dropped from full to 3/4 and then within 50 miles it was down to empty. I filled up the tank and then it read full again, and within 50 miles it went to empty again. The low fuel light would come on then go off and now it won't even come on.

 

[Kirwin]

Sending unit failure

Mine was just becoming less accurate. I never saw the wild swings from 1/2 to E that others have seen. I think its a progressive thing. The wiper just wears through the sending unit contact area from all the constant motion in the tank. Dropping the tank is much easier in my humble opinion. Just run it down to less that 1/8 of a tank and you can support it with a normal floor jack and a piece of plywood. Having a second person helps. Especially when you are trying to get the straps lined back up for reinstallation. Ken Irwin

 

[R D Brown]

My recomemdation is to raise the front of the bed. Leave the two rear bolts in, just back them off a few threads. Been there quite a few times.



RD Brown

 

[Bseg]

bed bolt location?

Do you remove nuts from under the truck bed or are there bolts in the top of the bed that go down through?



I am asking cause I have a bed liner and it may be hiding the bolts.



Has anyone ever had the unit act erratic all of sudden and then just die like mine did? Seems like most of therm went out gracefully over a period of time, mine was fine and all of a sudden it went down like I had a leak in the tank, now it just stays below E.



Looks like I'll bite the bullet and buy the part and if I find otherwise I have a spare for the future.



Got the part# for the '97 unit: 5013467AA cost is $47. 45

 

[TRAMPLINEMAN]

I've done this many times. Get yourself two tie downs. Not the ratchet type, but the type that slide with the push of a button. Put one near the front of the tank and one near the back. Take the tank straps off and slowly let the tank down with the tie downs. Give yourself just enough room to work. When your done, raise the tank up with the tie downs. Tighten it down and your done. Normally takes me about 45 minutes. This method you don't need another hand to hold anything, it is very simple. Hope you try it and see just how easy it is.

 

[djbobo]

The bed is unbolted from the bottom. Taking out the spare tire made it easier to get to the rear bolts. Just did my 97' last week. I did as R D Brown suggested. My fuel lines went back on easily once lined up properly. Taking them off was easier when slightly pushing in before pulling while pinching the plastic retainer clips.



Good luck!

 

[Bseg]

The new sender should be here tomorrow. I'll try and drop the tank first and if it seems like it's going to be a pain then I'll go for the bed lift.



My tank will have about 15 gallons of fuel in it still, I don't have any container to put it into. Hopefully that won't make it more difficult.



I hope this sender fixes the problem, hate to go through all this for nothing.



I'll post what I find once I get it opened up.

 

[Junior]

Just last week mine died. worked perfectly then went to start it up a half hour later and no readings anymore. It stays on empty with the gas tank light on. Ordered the part and hopefully it solves the problem.

 

[Bseg]

Junior, that's about the same as mine did. Worked great last Sat and Sun when I started down the road it went down and within 50 miles it was on E with the low fuel light on.



I pulled into a station cause I thought maybe I had a major leak somewhere and filled it up and it went back to full and went down at about the same rate as before, by 50 miles it was on E with the light going on once in awhile.



I've put almost 200 miles on it since then and now the light stays on and the needle moves back and forth between E and all the way down below the E.



Just don't want to find out that the whole module housing busted cause that's another $300 plus I'll have to put it back together, order the part and wait until the next free weekend.



Hope your's works out okay. I should know about mine by this Sat.

 

[Junior]

I know, got price for whole unit and was shocked. Hope the leveling gauge is all i need. Let me know how it goes in chnging it. I will not get mine for about 5 days.

 

[CORed]

However you end up getting to it, make sure while you are in there that you clean the screen at the bottom of the pickup / sender bucket. It's a fine silky like screen that some have actually removed since it kept getting full of biogunk.



Additionally, do some searches on this. Sometimes you can fix the sender by taking it out and cleaning the contacts that the arm moves on. Then some guys have added a washer to help keep the contact points tight. Free fix except for your time. From what I have read, Dodge dealers have replaced hundreds of these when many just needed a bit of attention.



Here's some pics of what you can expect inside the tank / sender bucket...

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/user_gallery/displayalbum.php?&userid=13345&albumid=933



Steve

 

[Bseg]

Steve, nice pictures, very informative.



Definitely going to check out the screen, I'm sure it has some gunge in it.



l noticed you used clamps on the one hose connecting to the plastic fitting. I read that the plastic breaks real easy and was wondering if those are special clamps that don't tighten too much or do you just have to be real careful not to over tighten?



I was thinking when I take mine off that I may put screw type clamps on to avoid the hassle of the clip on jobs they come with but was worried about breaking the plastic.



One other question, to drop the tank down enough do all the hoses ie; large filling hose, return, fuel line, return fuel line need to be disconnected or is there enough slop in them to lower the tank a little then disconnect them?



Regarding the sender I have a feeling I will probably be able to clean up the old one and get it working, I already ordered the new one just in case so I have it covered once I get it apart. The old one will probably come in handy in a few years when the new one acts up. I'm going to try and fix the old one with that info that was posted on Dave Fritz's site.



I will take pictures and report back hopefully with good news.

 

[Kirwin]

Hoses

I disconnected the vent and fill line hoses when I dropped mine. Its not to hard the hoses were still quite soft considering how old my truck is. I set the tank all the way down on the floor on a piece of cardboard without jacking the truck up; slid it out from under the truck; replaced the sending unit then slid it back under and put it back up under the truck. The fuel lines are not that hard to work with and they are pretty flexible for plastic lines. I wouldn't mess with replacing them with rubber hoses as the fittings on top of the tank are set up for those plastic dojiggers and there aren't really any barbs to put the hoses on. All IMHO Ken Irwin

 

[CORed]

Bseg, I haven't actually done this myself as my sender is working properly at 49,000 miles so far. I just posted this information from stuff I read about over the past couple years on this issue. If mine started acting funny, this approach would be what I would try first. The pics are someone else's. Sorry for the confusion.



Steve

 

[Bseg]

3 times to get it right

I felt ambitious Friday night after a long day here at work. Decided to drop my tank and replace the sending unit. Got it done in about 1 1/2 hours. The gauge read about 1/4 tank so I thought it was working okay. Proceeded to have a few cold ones and let it go.



Sat, I drove to the station to fill up. To my surprise, after filling the tank, it still read down on E! I got home and decided that now I had a full tank and didn't want to drop it again. I lifted the bed and un-screwed the module cap.

Pulled the module out, checked the wires, tried to check the connector on the module but couldn't get it to release. Checked all the wiring up under the truck and even tied the sending wire to ground which made the gauge go to the full position. I put the module back in and all of a sudden the gauge was reading full and working fine. Drove the truck around and got home and found that I had a fuel leak on top of the tank which was dumping fuel all over the place.



Sun, I go out in the rain, jack up the bed again and unscrewed the tank module top and sure enough the gasket had come off the lip of the tank and this was causing my leak. Put it back together and all seems to be working fine. The gauge is going down as it should.



I still can't figure out how to disconnect the electrical connector at the module top. I moved the red clip over but the connector wouldn't disengage.



For now I'm just going to hope it works for awhile.



Last of all, I repaired the old sending unit, cost 17 cents for a push on nut, I used the instructions on Dave Fritz's site. Now I have a spare sending unit.

 

[Junior]

I also had an ambitious weekend. My fuel gauge is not working but avter putting my Kore Pace System on over the weekend i looked down today and noticed that the fuel gauge is working. Kore fixed my fuel gauge somehow. Any way i have the fuel leveling sensor so i might drop tank and clean old one and hold on to the new one for future misbehavings.

 

[Brashear]

fuel tank module installation

I know that when you reinstall the fuel sensor unit (complet canister) into the tank the location is important. Does anyone know what the location show be?

 

[Bseg]

Brashear, when you put the module back in you want the two fuel lines, return and feed line and to be facing out towards the frame on the drvs side. They should be like that already cause that is the direction that the factory puts them and there really isn't enough slack in them to have them face any other direction cause they route up the frame rail.