Fuel Filter Light

[Ceejmo]

Long story that I'm gonna try to make short.
Fuel pickup tube broken off in both tanks.
Sucking air from somewhere.
So, I dropped the front tank and did a pick up tube mod by adding a few inches of fuel line in the tank with a Vee notch at the end so it wouldn't suck to the bottom of the tank. I also noticed that the connections at the electric fuel tank switch were leaking. I bypassed the switch and connected fuel and return lines directly to the front tank. Ran great for about a week. I can even use that last quarter of the tank now.

Then the fuel filter light came on. O.K., it's been a year since I changed the filter so I put in a new one. The fuel filter light still comes on.
When I am sitting at idle the fuel filter light goes off. When I start to accellerate the light comes on after a few seconds. If I keep it at or under 2000 RPMs it will run fine (with light on). If I get it over 2000 RPMs it will start surging, spitting and sputtering.
I also put in a new mechanical lift pump about 8 months ago.

Any ideas??
Still got a air leak?
Need electric Holley fuel pump?
or a silver bullet to put it out of my misery?
I would much rather be down at the archery range than under the hood of the wife's truck.

 

[argve]

The fuel filter light is coming on because of loss of fuel pressure. That means that either the filter is plugged or you're not getting enough pressure from the pump to keep the switch OFF. Now why is the pressure dropping... that could be that the pickup is blocked partially or the fuel pump is failing or simply the filter is plugged.

 

[RLDSL]

It''s possible that the fuel hose in the tank is collapsing under suction. Some cheaper fuel hoses don't respond well to long term exposure to diesel. They can get pretty soft after a while.

The high dollar stuff for fuel injection, usually holds up nicely to diesel, veg/biodiesel, etc.

--------Robert

 

[icanfixall]

All the above postings really hit the problem areas well. You really don't have to drop the front tank to get at the sender-fuel pickup and return. Just remove the lines to it and knock loose the fastening ring. thats about all you really need to do. Now the rear tank is a pantload to get at. Some here just pull the bed....

 

[Ceejmo]

Rear Tank

All the above postings really hit the problem areas well. You really don't have to drop the front tank to get at the sender-fuel pickup and return. Just remove the lines to it and knock loose the fastening ring. thats about all you really need to do. Now the rear tank is a pantload to get at. Some here just pull the bed....

As far as I'm concerned, the rear tank can stay out of service. I'd have to remove the spare tire, tire hanger, Reese towing setup and then I could start pulling the tank.

I'd rather buy a 30 gallon tank and replace the front than to pull the rear tank. Besides, I really don't think that my wife needs two tanks of diesel to get to the grocery store and back.

There may be a small piece of the broken plastic pick up tube that could be stuck to the fuel line that I added in the tank. I think I got all the pieces but It's not that easy to see inside the tank. I could have missed a small one. I guess pull it again. The front tank only takes about 30 minutes to get out so it's not so bad.

 

[Ceejmo]

o.k. i dropped the tank today. i found a few mall plastic pieces from the pick up tube and found that my pick up tube mod was too long. i thought that it may have been kinking since it had to bend to run along the bottom of the tank.

I put it all back together and i still have the same problem. fuel filter light comes on the same as it did before. I was going to check the volume of fuel at the schrader valve but all I get is a slight sputter of fuel. Is the fuel that comes out of the schrader valve what goes to the filter or what comes through the filter. If this volume test is pre filter then I'm looking at a lift pump. If it's after the filter then It could be the filter. I just put the filter on 2 days ago. The symptoms that I have now are the same as they were before the new filter.
Also, the pump does not loose prime after setting overnight so, I don't suspect an air leak. I could be wrong but it seems to me that if there was an air leak thyen I would loose prime after prolonged periods of being parked.

 

[Exekiel69]

You could have a chunk of rubber or something inside the hose, I would disconnect the hose at the lp and put air pressure to it and see what comes out. Also, the rear tank is just as easy to drop, it would take Me also about 30-45 min to do this, there is a thread squirelltow started about this some time ago.

 

[Ceejmo]

electric fuel pump

I put in an electric fuel pump today.
It runs like a top and has plenty of fuel flowing to the schrader valve.
It starts when you just breathe on the key.
I used the $49.00 pump from O'Reilley's and wired the relay into the fuel shutoff solenoid connection.
The wife really likes it
I going to add a oil pressure switch and a manual over ride with a momentary contact switch wired to a 60 second timer (Radio Shack project). That way there will never be a chance of leaving the pump running when it shouldn't be.

 

[icanfixall]

Did you remove the lift pump? I reread your post about installing the lift pump about 8 months ago. Did you get it in properly and what condition was the cam lobe? If you have not removed it yet do so. You cannot leave it in place or run both electric and manual pumps. The electric will rupture the diaphram and gusee where all the diesel goes....

 

[Ceejmo]

Yes I removed the lift pump. Pump was working fine until last week. There were multiple problems with the fuel sytem. Broken pick up tube in both tanks, leaky quick disconnect fittings at the fuel tank switch valve and the last was the fuel pump failure. I didn't check the cam lobe. I just covered the opening with a Chevy big block block off plate. The electric fuel pump is working great.