Kerley

Okay, friends, I'm back with another question. My friend arrived Saturday, crawled under my truck and took a look. He told me that the inner side of my tank was bent, or pushed in, possibly causing my fuel level arm to be stuck in place as AlpineRAM suggested, he also said it would be difficult to tilt the bed because my fifth wheel hitch was also bolted to the bed ???, so it would be easier to drop the tank.
With the tank being bent, it would have to be popped or pushed back in place which may crack the tank, which would need repair or replaced. I guess it may or may not. I do know that I have cattle troughs with metal frames and flexible heavy duty plastic inserts which gets disfigured when some calves stand in them, but I just apply pressure and they pop back into there original position, without breaking or leaking. I'm kind of in a pickle, new tanks for my truck are no longer made so that means, salvage yard?
I'm going to have the truck lifted so I can take a look, and hoping for the best. I will let you know my findings, Thank you, kerley

AlpineRAM

If the tank looks like a compressed milk carton this points towards a plugged tank vent.
My suggestion would be to simply open the fuel filler cap and, if necessary, appli a maximum of 5 psi of compressed air to the fuel filler as a first step.

If this does not help, support the tank and loosen (not remove) the tank holding straps and retry with max 5 psi to straighten the tank.

If this does not work, you will need to heat up the plastic of the tank, and retry the operation.
I had good success with boiling water poured on an empty tank and compressed air to get them back in form.

Kerley

You folks have been very generous to me with helpful information on repairing my Dodge/Cummins. My friend is going to drop the tank Saturday and I want to siphon fuel to lighten the tank. I can't get the siphon hose into the tank, is there an OEM screen installed to prevent fuel theft? The gauge does not work and I have no idea how much fuel is in the tank, just trying to make the job easier for my friend.
kerley

BarryG

On my 01 there was nothing in the way. Perhaps it is catching on the transition from the large rubber hose where it meets the fitting on the tank IIRC the top part of the filler neck is metal then after 6 inches or so transitions to a rubber hose then transitions to a plastic fitting at the tank. I only siphoned it out once otherwise I just drove till I knew I was very low on fuel either by mileage or the gauge if it was working at the time. The tank itself is not heavy no more than 25 lbs just long and awkward. I tried using a jack once and found it to just to be in the way but that was me. If you can unhook the fuel lines while it is still in and disconnect the wiring plug you dont have to use a jack well if it is not too full of fuel otherwise if you dont have enough room to disconnect the lines and plug you will need a jack to lower it some to give yourself enough room as the wiring, filler hose and fuel lines will not let you lower it the ground they are to short. You can get to them from the bedside of the tank there just isn't a ton of room for your hands up there and they came with a variety of fittings depending on year and removal process differs a bit for the different types. If you have a service manual it will show you the different types and how to disconnect them. I no longer have the 01 or manual so cant help with that.

Kerley

It's fixed, Two of my friends came to my rescue this morning. They dropped the fuel tank and removed the Module, there is a slotted metal slider around the top half of the tank secured by pan head screws, one screw had worn the slotted slider and the screw was stuck and it could not slide up or down, we repaired that with a larger screw with a washer. The screen was dirty so we cleaned it with brake cleaner, then sanded the copper sending unit connector and tightened the clip that holds the measuring arm to the Module. Tested and all worked as it should.
I thank everyone who advised me on this repair.
kerley