When I got the truck one of the first things I did was get the "build sheet" for the truck. I just went to a dealer, gave my vin# and they gave me a print out of how the truck left the factory. I had noticed a 8 gallon reserve tank. I have owned the truck for a while and ran the truck low on fuel but never got 34 gallons back in it. On numerous times I have ran over 50 miles with the over head saying 0 miles until empty. I still only get about 32 gallons back in. I never had the pleasure of priming our fuel systems and something that I wish to never do from running out of fuel. My question is does anyone else have this option. Could I run another 100 or so miles on empty? Does anyone know anything about this?

 

I don't know what the answer is that your looking for, but I too have run about 70 mile on Empty with 0 on the overhead!!!

I was in denile and refused to pay $3.89/ gal when at home it was still $3.35/ gal...

Now... Screw it... just give me the fuel and please... Wear a condom???

 

Well even after running 50 miles on empty I still only get about 30 -32 gallons in and that is topping the tank completely off. My question is how does the reserve work? After I have 0 DTE, can I run another 150 miles with the 8 gallons that it should have in a reserve tank?

 

I think that reserve is to prevent guys like you and me from running out and having to go through the PAIN STAKING job of bleeding the injectors and what not...

Also truth be known, when you get to the bottom of your tank, that is when you start picking up the majority of the trash in said tank... which intern causes fuel filter clogging and recurring replacement...

 

Thank you for your constructive input. I'm sure from your expertise you can relate to priming a fuel system along the road. It was a serious question. 8 gallons is a lot of fuel and if the reserve is part of the main tank then I never got below ten gallons and all of the dirt that you are talking about is still at the bottom.

 

It's all in the main tank. If you fill to the neck in a 3rd gen, you have ~39 gallons total in the tank.

 

Also, if you have a 3rd gen priming the system is a breeze. No more need to clrack an injector line. Just bump the starter a couple times and your good to go! Now running your fuel that low can cause a lot of other problems such as Lift pump cooling. It uses the diesel that surrounds it to cool. I wouldn't use this method on every tank, only emergencies. I never let mine go below 1/4 tank.

 

Sucking up all that debrie from the bottom is no problem, you do that every time you start your truck. Your fuel pickup is at the bottom of the tank.

Fuel for cooling the in-tank lift pump is not a problem. The pump sits in a canister inside the fuel tank. The canister is spring loaded to always be on the bottom of the tank, it also has a pickup hole in the bottom to utilize all the fuel in the tank. The lift pump pushes fuel to the fuel filter. The fuel line from the lift pump has a by-pass about 3-4 inches from the lift pump and feeds fuel back to the canister. The canister is always full unless your fuel tank is completely empty. In that case the truck quits running just like a gas vehicle when the lift pump quits.

There is no reserve tank.

The in-tank lift pumps are on 2005 and newer trucks.
The in-tank lift pump is the replacement part for 98.5-2004.5 trucks.
The 98.5-2002 used engine mounted electic lift pumps.
The 2003-2004.5 used a fuel filter mounted lift pump.

 

The way I read that "reserve" fuel comment is that you generally have about 8 gal. left when the gauge reads empty, not 8 gal.beyond the rated tank capacity.
Dan

 

never had to crack a fuel line to re-prime my 2nd gen 12v- just pumped the manual lift pump plunger button (it's right under and slightly forward of the fuel filter on a 97. I ran out fuel on several occasions (mebbe 8 times) during the time I had the truck. Sold her with 289k on the clock, she was still runnin' fine never plugged a fuel filter either (changed it 3-4 times total during that time)

The disinfo/BS/oral diarhea on here is getting bad. Starting to sound like the TDR here where people report stuff like: "I'm getting 27mpg on a 4wd duallie with auto" or "I'm getting 47 gallons of fuel in my tank after the vent mod"

My 3rd gen automatically primes itself after running out of fuel, BTW (as stated in the manual) If you don't know *** your talking about- please don't post!