hey guys, so i filled up with fuel tonight, and i have a long bed which is a 35 gallon tank, my gauge was sitting right at the top of the red E line and my DTE was about 15 miles. Why is it i only got 30.3 gallons in my tank (including filling up very close to neck) when everything showed i had like....a gallon of fuel left. Do we have a 5 gal. reserve capacity that doesnt register on the computer/gauge or whats going on here.

 

the fuel light comes on when there is 10 gals left usually. dont run it so low, this is not good for the vp44. it uses fuel for cooling. less fuel the hotter the fuel will, which is bad for the vp!

dieselfan

 

ok....but i drove a good 70-80 miles with it on today, wouldnt i have under 5 gal. still in the tank? that cant be right, cuz 35 gallon tank, my light always comes on when my needle hits 1/8th of a tank...that puts me at just over 4 gal. left....if i drove 75 miles today averaging 15 mpg thatd put me at 5 gallons, id be dry. if it came on with 10 gal. left then itd be coming on at like 3/8 line on the gauge.....thats above a 1/4 tank yet..........im confused as hell right now

 

i cant explain it but when it comes on, it has 10 gal, wherever its at. i think dodge designed it this way so people wouldnt run them out of fuel b/c its bad for the vp44. you need plenty of fuel for cooling the vp44. i m almost postive this is why its like that. figure your stuff up like you had 10 gal left when it came on and it comes out almost perfect. just think about it.

dieselfan

dieselfan

 

Your fuel sending unit is going bad, a very common problem. The low light is controlled by the same unit as the gauge, so if the gauge doesn't read right the low fuel light won't come on when it should either. The sending unit is a dealer only item, about $40. There are posts in the TDR on how to fix the old one, maybe this site also. If you have a helper and not much fuel in the tank it is about an hour job. If you don't have a hitch or toolbox in the bed then it may be easier to lift the bed than drop the tank.

 

Sometimes the diesel gets foamy when it is being blasted out of the nozzle and it fills more space so once it all settles out, you may have had room for a few more gallons. I remember a post earlier about someone who filled really slowly and managed to actually fill the tank because it didn't get all foamy.

 

I've got to replace my fuel sending unit. It's pretty erratic. When I get down to 1/8th of a tank, I fill up and have never put over 25 gals in the tank. I have a 35 gal tank also.
While I'm in the tank, I'm gonna go ahead and put the Draw Straw in.

 

hey redneck,
have to second what GAmes said. i had my sending unit go bad a couple of years ago - when all was said and done, i had replaced not only the sending unit, but the lift pump, injector pump and starter as well. not to mention a nice tow bill to get it to the shop. so, i learned the hard way, DONT let your fuel get that low. but, im not perfect either.... my light came on the other day and about two minutes later my truck died. obviously, not 10 or 5 gallons left - more like NONE. luckily i was right in front of a gas station. put some fuel in and it fired up on the third crank. now im praying i didnt kill the VP44 again. also installing a FASS system and fuel pressure gauge. bottom line - i dont trust those sending units anymore. (mines only 2 years old)

good luck!

 

my gauge seems fine and everything, id rather not HAVE to put one in at this point if i dont have to....i dont really have the time.money for one right now, plus, my gauge is telling me pretty close to where my fuel level is

 

ok where do the low fuel lights come on like what mark. 1/8, 1/4 cause ur telling him that there something wrong with the light coming on at 1/8 of a tank, but ive got two dodges and both of them have been coming on at 1/8 of a tank, one of them was got when it was brand new. me and redneck have been trying to figure this out since you all told him 10 gallons left.

 

The 3 dodges we have in our family (mine, 98 1500, and a 00 Intrepid) all come on at 1/8th of a tank. I'd guess its Chrysler's reasoning to make people think they are gonna run out of gas before they actually do. I've never put more than 110L in my truck, and it should have the 35 gallon tank. And that was after 30km past the fuel light coming on.

 

ok so far thats 6 vehicles that light up at 1/8th tank...anyone else?

 

Yep, my light comes on at 1/8th tank.

 

So maybe it's as simple as the truck being tilted slightly to the left.
As to when the light comes on and when the the overhead goes to zero, the owners manual state it for the newer models. Without looking it up, I think it states that the light comes on at 15% and the overhead zeros at 8% for my 04.5
Interesting point about the fuel cooling the pump....does that apply to my 04.5? I learn something just about every time I sign on to this great forum. Thanks!

 

yes, my light comes on around 1/8 (on the guage) as well. what GAmes and myself are alluding to is that the sending unit that controls the gauge can go bad, causing it to give an inaccurate reading. when my truck stalled out, the guage was reading 1/8, the light had barely come on, and with in a couple of miles the truck ran out of fuel. obviously, the gauge is not giving an accurate description of whats in the tank.
just sayin', dont put to much trust in what the sending unit is telling the gauge to read.....