Loosing power

[icanfixall]

Heres a thought. A while back a member had shuddering issues at idle and low power. He replaced everything. finally found the rubber hose from the frame to the mechanical lift pump had a kink in it. That hose takes a beating flexing all the time. Usually the crack and you end up sucking air. I suggest no matter what you replace that hose now. Its probably original and sucks flat when you run the engine.

 

[sjwelds]

Now would be a great time for an e-pump...

 

[fields_mj]

Now would be a great time for an e-pump...

Why? I looked into an e pump shortly after I bought the truck, and I still haven't come up with a reason for doing it. The mechanical pump that I replaced last year was the original, and was still in good working order. I only replaced it as a possible cause to an issue that I was having at the time, and it only took me about 30 min to do the swap. The mechanical pump only runs around $20. The electric pumps are a lot more expensive, don't last nearly as long, and require a reasonable amount of work to swap over going from one to the other. The e-pump is eaiser to replace, but that's mainly because you can position it in a location that is easer to access, and lets be honest, it dang well better be easier to replace because you can bet that you are going to have to do it a couple of times. The stock mechanical pump on my truck went over 200K, so I think it's a reasonable estimate that it may never need replaced again.

Thanks for the heads up on that fuel line. I'll take a close look at it tonight and get one on order so that I can swap it next time I change the oil.

 

[icanfixall]

No need to "order it". All this is is a short piece of 3/8 fuel rated hose. It has a clamp on both ends. Buy about 2 ft so you have some left for other jobs. It wont go bad sitting in the shop.
As for reasons to install and electric lift pump. HMMMM. Now more long cranking to purge air from the fuel systems with a filter or injection pump replacement. That saves the starter and the batteries too. You have an instant purge every time you fire up the engine. When the engine is cold and your waiting for the glows to warm up its pushing any air our of the system. Run a tank lower than 1/4 with a broken suction shower head.. No problem. Fill the tank and run the pump. It will purge the air as you wait. As for not lasting very long well thats not even close to being true. The Carrier electric pumps run for thousands of hours on all the refer trailers going down the roads. They will run dry for hours with no harm too. Installation is easier than the mechanical because of the tight area for the mechanical bolts. The oem mechanicals ran plenty long but the new replacements are at best suspect for reliability these days. The Carrier is more cost but for what you get.. I feel its a no brainer. The Carrier can be installed any place on the fuel system too.

 

[fields_mj]

I don't seem to have a problem with air in my system. Neither of my fuel gauges have worked for almost 2 years now, and both have lost the pickup. The truck will surge or hickup a little at a stop/start long before the fuel gets low enough to cause starting problems. I make sure one tank is always full, and switch at the first sign of an issue. Now that I keep some ATF/K1 behind the seat, I don't have to crank very long on a filter change either. I have heard that the carrier pumps do pretty well, but I've been known to run some "alternative" fuels and as I understand it they don't do well with veggie oil. That was my biggest reason for not doing the change.