trucks been running out of fuel or sucking air at up to a 1/4 tank of fuel (not faulty gauge reading). I figured it was a hole in the line going to the bottom of the tank and well when i pulled the whole sending unit there was like foam slices all inside it and in the tank, with a massive chunk both in the tank and between the two screen's at the bottom of the sending unit. What looks like a pre-filter at the end of the intake line in the tank is not in the location/ hole where it appears it should be. What the hell is going on with all this garbage I found in the tank?

I was planning on simply using 1/2" fuel line into the tank with the very end cut so that it wont stick and pull vacuum. I would have this extend to the bottom screen inside the sending unit. Would this work? Is this essentially a draw straw? I can't see spending 40 bucks on something that simple if my way works. . .

Anyone had to tweak their setup? Any tips, pictures, walk-throughs, or advise?? I don't want to starve it for fuel if the truck is at a funky angle or have a negative influence on filtering or flow either.
Thanks,
TNutcher

 

You can buy a draw straw kit for a 24V from Geno's, which would take care of your problem, personally, I dropped the tank, drained and cleaned it, blew the prescreen out with air and put it back in...everything works fine now. If your pickup tube is cracked you'll need a new one, but its just a 3/8" line. If you want to replace it, you'll need a whole new pickup assembly since I haven't found anyone that sells just the tubes. You could splice the line at the top of the pickup, and at the bottom where it goes into the screen and replace it with soft line, but you may not like the results.

Its up to you, how much peace of mind do you want?

 

Any reason to think someone put something in the tank. I have that reason and have found things like hair, plastic, grass, in the tank when inspecting it.
BTW, I found that the larger pic-up tube caused my truck to not draw fuel when at/below 1/4 tank. I simply went back to stock and all is fine.
The pick-up tube is sensitive to velocity.
Do an experiment.
Put a bigger hose on a straw in a large soft drink. Now, with very little liquid in the cup, Try to sip a little bit, slowly.
I bet you got air!

 

Are you sure your getting air from the tank and not your fuel lines? I just replaced all my hard lines and soft lines, from pump to tank and back with Marine Grade B1 hose, and now I am not sucking up any air... it took me a few hours, but was well worth it.

 

If you are running bio diesel, check your fuel lines.

 

Well it isn't from biodiesel i'm running the regular stuff at pumps. I took it apart and cleaned out all of the crap which i think came from the deteriorated paper or foam filtering devise between the two fine screens at the bottom of the sending unit/pickup tube. I was planning on simply replacing the hard main line with a soft 1/2 fuel hose and make the hose either connect to the other pre-filter like stock or simply dangle down on the bottom fine screen. I'll figure it out and maybe take some pictures to better illustrate this but i think it should work.. . I understand about the too big straw thing i think this will still be alright though.
Thanks for the replies!
TNutcher

 

Well no pictures sorry but I figure I'd finish up the post. I used 1/2 inch soft fuel line and hoseclamps to connect from the underside of the top of the sending unit to the bottom. The bottom has sort of an open end inline filter which plugs into the bottom where the screens/paper filter are. I only have the one bottom screen now. THis took some measureing and cutting but otherwise I'm pleased with the results. I've noticed no stumbling or cutting out that would indicate air in the system and have had it 1/16th of a tank and no problems. Hopefully this cured it! Thanks for all of your help,
TNutcher