payin' the man

[jim_22]

I just came back from a long trip with my truck parked in a commuter lot and found it surrounded by a huge amount of kitty litter and a note from the police that the rear fuel tank was leaking. At least they did not tow it. I took it in to a local indy that has been fair to me over the years, although he does not get my truck too much. The tank was pretty rotten and the sender was toast. New tank $195, new sender $377 (ouch!), new electronic gadget connected with the sender $44, + labor for a total of $889. Sounds very expensive to me! Is this the going rate? Maybe I should have gone with non-Ford parts?

 

[CaptTom]

I just came back from a long trip with my truck parked in a commuter lot and found it surrounded by a huge amount of kitty litter and a note from the police that the rear fuel tank was leaking. At least they did not tow it. I took it in to a local indy that has been fair to me over the years, although he does not get my truck too much. The tank was pretty rotten and the sender was toast. New tank $195, new sender $377 (ouch!), new electronic gadget connected with the sender $44, + labor for a total of $889. Sounds very expensive to me! Is this the going rate? Maybe I should have gone with non-Ford parts?

To me, the sender seems a little pricey. I'd look on the LCM site for the sender... unless the one he's selling you is the "diesel" one. If it is, ask him were he got the sender. He may be charging too much for the sender to make a gasser one work.

After adding up parts, his labor seems fair to me, tank cost for new factory is decent, and any part under 50 bucks to me is usually a no brainer.... although understanding money is tight for everyone.

I'm also used to Klownifornia rates so I may be off, especially on Mid-West pricing. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[NO_SPRK]

considering where you live and how much the elements get to everything i dont think thats unfair for the labor.. gas tanks are never fun. rubber filler hoses brittle. tank strap bolts snapping off. fuel line issues with removing and installing. it gets pretty nasty under there.

the price of the tank seems fair but the sender seems a big high but im new to fords.

 

[Diesel JD]

You got ####ed on the sender. He doesn't seem like a dishonest guy so maybe he put a sender with an in tank pump on there mistakenly. Check your sender # against the parts bin here on OB. I can't believe a standard OBS sender even from the stealer would be that much. This is only a little higher for an in-tank fuel pump and sender even in the after market. Not going to comment on labor rates, in my area you'd pay $70-100/hr. Fuel tanks are hard to handle. The rear tank takes an act of congress almost on the 80-86. I haven't done one on the OBS, but man are they a pain. You're either pulling the bed and/or trying to wedge it into a very tight area. Sorry about the high fuel bill.

 

[OLDBULL8]

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/pa...er=0&itemIdentifier=163333_133433_11993_60765 http://www.ebay.com/itm/200590833922?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

New senders are not available, but this one would work. What size fuel tank do you have?

 

[Brimmstone]

Senders are available from the dealer for 146 dollars brand new with my discount as of two weeks ago. Priced one for a friend in Ohio. Over 4000 nationally on the locator

 

[Optikalillushun]

Senders are available from the dealer for 146 dollars brand new with my discount as of two weeks ago. Priced one for a friend in Ohio. Over 4000 nationally on the locator

For what year trucks? The newer ones (92+) use a slightly different style...at least compared to mine.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Some of these trucks came with plastic fuel-tanks; there is no rhyme or reason as to who got what.

A few got BOTH tanks plastic; some got a plastic FRONT and a steel REAR; some (including mine) got a steel FRONT and a plastic REAR.

I said all of that to say this; I would NOT buy a steel replacement tank.

If I could not find a factory-issue or after-market PLASTIC tank, I would fabricate a THICK aluminum tank to take it's place.



You are very fortunate that the "environment" police did not get involved in your little fuel leak situation.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

For what year trucks? The newer ones (92+) use a slightly different style...at least compared to mine.

I believe there are THREE different OHMs-resistance sending-units, some being NEGATIVE and some being POSITIVE also.

I think 1983-1986, then 1987-88, then 1989 and up.

 

[jim_22]

Thanks for all the replies. The part number that he put on my receipt for the sender is F6T29275DA. I have been unable to locate this number anywhere online. It was quite a complicated looking gadget (he showed me the old one that he replaced). The truck year is 1994. BTW the rear fuel gauge worked before the repair and and works again now and never any problem pulling to the bottom of the tank. I understand that when the sender is removed from the tank that it often breaks. On my front tank, a few months ago the fuel gauge started ******* full until the level gets down below 1/2 or so. Also no problem pulling to the bottom of the tank. Go figure.

 

[Diesel_brad]

Everything sounds with in reason other than the sending unit

 

[jim_22]

Well, I called the local Stealer today just to keep my Indy honest and they quoted me the same price as the Indy charged me for the sender. He was even apologetic saying "They don't exactly give these away!" Could it be that this last year of the IDI in the Powerstroke mixed year has a more expensive sender than the older trucks? Or else it is just the Stealer price.

 

[OLDBULL8]

I found this. They have single port, dual port and this three port sending units. The three port is for when you have two tanks and a connection from the front to the rear, if one tank overflows if the VSV returns fuel to the wrong tank.


http://www.newfordparts.com/seccat/f350-1261/1994/fuel-sender-unit-33835/6/33835/

 

[Optikalillushun]

link doesnt work

 

[Diesel JD]

Well, I called the local Stealer today just to keep my Indy honest and they quoted me the same price as the Indy charged me for the sender. He was even apologetic saying "They don't exactly give these away!" Could it be that this last year of the IDI in the Powerstroke mixed year has a more expensive sender than the older trucks? Or else it is just the Stealer price.

I'm glad you're independent guy is honest like you thought. I'm usually a great advocate of these guys though you have to get to know them a bit to know if you should trust them or if they're nuts or both. I stand by what I said about you getting screwed on the sender...I suspected that the mechanic was honest but the part was misapplied...it looks like I was wrong, the mechanic is honest and the part is correctly applied but for some reason Ford wants our firstborn for this sender. We should find a different sender that isn't such a ripoff that will work. Why should it be special? Neither the IDI nor the 94-97 PSD have any special requirements like an in tank pump or anything like that as far as I know,