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OK guys, somebody has got to be able to help me out with this. here is the full story.
2.5 months ago i have a blow out on the drivers front tire. it tears out the fender liner and some wiring and does some body damage. i have it towed to shop and after 5 weeks they get it back to me. i pick it up with over 3/4 of a tank still in it and head out to the ranch after getting them to fix some minor cosmetics they missed. truck is running great, then after it hits 1/2 tank just dies. i pull off the road and crank on it, but no start. i have a spare fuel filter, so i change that, prime the bowl just for good measure and try again. still no start. getting frustrated i decide that maybe my gauge quit working on me, so i top it off with fuel from my transfer tank until full. crank it and she starts and runs great.
at this point i am not sure what the issue is, but now she runs so i continue to the ranch. after being there for 2 days and not having any issues with the truck i head for home. truck gets to 1/2 tank and shuts down. i top her off from transfer tank again and she starts/runs great. at this point i am sure that something from the accident caused the problem, or the body shop jacked something up, so i call insurance and take it to another shop. that shop sits on it for a few days, then sends it to the local dodge dealer for diagnostics. dealer tells them bad fuel pump. i ask what exactly the tech said. apparently he told them that they did a flow test and scanned the truck and that it came back as the pump getting a very high voltage draw. i am going to call the dealer tomorrow and get more info on exactly what they found because the body shop guy seems a little dim.
my truck is an '03 and i replaced the bowl mounted pump for the in tank pump about 25k ago. it ran great at all fuel levels prior to the accident. is there anything that i should be telling them to look for in particular? i would think this is accident related at this point because it ran perfect prior to that, but what do ya'll think? i would really like to get this figured out so i can get my dang truck back, so please help.
Just a SWAG--when you blew the tire, a piece of it slapped the plastic tank and hammered the sending unit. When it shows 1/2 it is actually empty--how many gallons are you pumping from transfer tank? Just a SWAG and worth abou $.02.
You may also have a crack in the draw straw. Once you get down to the hole in the straw, it starts drawing air. Just a guess. Y2K may be right as well.
I thought about the same things since the tank level vs gallons pumped vs miles driven add up to the giage being right. I read on another thread about a roll over vent getting stuck shut causing a similar problem, but what about the voltage being high? I am assuming the tech did not really trouble shoot or try and recreate the issue. More than likely he just hit it with a scan tool. Do any of you know about the vent being a possible cause?
After dealing with a plugged vapor canister on a Chev years ago, I found it was collapsing the tank---not to say that is not your problem, but your tank should be sucked in . Pull fill cap and BIG ole Gulp of air, there's your sign. Perhaps it smacked the draw tube and not the guage.
Last edited by Y2K; 05-02-2012 at 01:36 PM.
Reason: 2nd thought
Yeah, I know about the fuel cap test and I relayed that to the tech on the phone who immediatly got an attitude with me for questioning his diagnosis. I am out of state for work, so if I can`t get them to take my suggestions seriously I may have to wait until I get home to go in and do it my self.
Does anyone else have any suggestions, especially involving the additional amperage draw by the pump?
Ok I just reread the first post. Seeing how it is a VP44 truck. If you ran it out of fuel, it would require cracking the injector lines to get it started once you put fuel in the tank. I would have to think if it started right up after putting fuel in it, It would no be from running out of fuel and sucking air. I am now going with the suction theory. If you get down to half, and there is no vent, it may require more amps for the pump, trying to pull so hard to get fuel out of the tank. until finally it just dies. then you fill it up again, and it relieves the vacuum in the tank, so it starts right back up. Next time, just try opening the cap and see if it will restart.
well, i still don't know what the cause of the issue is yet. i went in and made an a$$ of the tech by asking him in front of his boss why he had not done anything other than scan the vehicle, then i had to explain how the tank not venting could cause an issue. between that and argument and one with my insurance company they are just going to replace anything that they can find that is or may be broken and have the truck back to me by monday.
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