manual tank selector valve

[ADV]

Having problems when I switch to my front tank truck seems to be starving for fuel. I am going to drop front tank and clean it out and check the pickup to see if its clear before I do anything else. But I am thinking about going to manual valves. I picked up a 3 way ball valve from ACE hardware today but it has 1/4 pipe thereds.. is that big enough or should I look for something with 3/8 or 1/2?

Thanks and merry Christmas everyone

 

[icanfixall]

Slow down just a bit. No need to drop the front tank. Just reach up over the top of the tank and remove the lines and electrical plug. then knock loose the ring that holds the sender in the tank. notice the locating pin in the tank seal lip so you can reinstall same sender in correct location for the lines and electrical connections. the suction supply line is 3/8 and the return line is 5/16. inside the tank the suction has whats known as the shower head suction that usually breaks off causing us to never being able to suck the last 1/4 tank of fuel out. also the return line ends with a red rubber check valve in the tank on the end of the tube. No not remove that. It keeps fuel in the return line system and prevents siphoning from the fuel system.

 

[bike-maker]

I used ball valves with 3/8" NPT outlets on it.

Here's a pic of the backside of the valves.

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You'll notice that there are reducing bushings on all of the ports of the valve on the left (return lines); they neck it down from 3/8" NPT to 1/4" NPT, then go through a sharp 90. The one on the right (supply lines) stays at 3/8" NPT for the 90 and hose barb. No issues after running this way for a few years now.

Here's the important part. I looked at my spare hose barb fittings that go from a 3/8" hose to 1/4" NPT vs the same thing with 3/8" NPT threads; the hole through the middle is the same size on both.
So basically, the spot where the hose goes on it's fitting is the restriction regardless of what the port size is on the valve.

Run it, you'll be fine.

But you will need a second one for the return lines.

 

[FarmerFrank]

1/4 NPT is plenty. ive used 1/8 npt fittings before on supply lines when trying different pumps but do not recomend it looking back

 

[ADV]

Thanks for the picture and the information on this. The front tank is the tank I use for my wmo fuel. I was rebuilding my filtering setup this summer and have not made any for a while so I was not using that tank. Well I got a batch of fuel made so I wanted to make sure front tank still worked as it should I put some diesel in it and it did not want to run on that tank. So I am thinking because it went un used with a wmo mix in it for all summer something is clogged up. Tank is full so I know its not the shower head broken off. I will try to get it apart with the tank still in the truck. Hopefully its not to rusty.

Thanks

Playing with the valve I bought in the package the handle is loose an wiggly so I will return it and look for something with better quality.