Great Post

Great info Man!
Wondering if this will work for my 01?

 

Great info Man!
Wondering if this will work for my 01?

I'm not sure if your truck have the metal piece in figure one. If you have that then this fix should work.

BTW it works without the spring but we put the spring in there just in case the plastic worn out after 100k (like the original). Once the plastic is worn out a bit the spring will hold the unit down and hopefully we will not have to drop the tank again.

 

Yep, I tested it without the spring and it works, but it will be good insurance .

 

So the reason causing it not to work is the plastic wears out and lefts the level shift enough that the sensor cannot tell theres fuel?

 

Yea, the plastic wears out nearly 1mm and that's too big of a gap for the sensor detect any resistant from the board. Once you have it out you can test it with a voltmeter and make sure everything is working before putting it back

 

Correct, there is a plastic "washer" that wears out over time. You can see it when you take out the unit. The plastic is there to keep the terminals in contact with the circuit board. By doing this repair, we are holding the sender's arm to the sending unit and therefore will have connection. I was looking at this:
CJ Johansson's fuel sender repair for reference.

 

Ahh yeah i can see that happening. Well i got a full tank at the moment, but once i get that down ill give dropping the tank some attention and hopefully gettin this fixed. Thanks again!

 

mine in my 01 stops working correctly (moves slowly) when it leaves the full mark. 1/2 tank reading is actually empty. so i'm gonna try this, but was wondering what spring you bought, and did you cut it down some from what your pic show, or did you just smash it all down in there? i've also had better luck taking the box off my truck, than trying to figure out how my fuel is in the tank.

also my third lift pump is going out, i know i should have put a good pump in! has anyone put the pureflow raptor 100 in? any problem with this pump? i'm planning on putting the edge juice in it this year, and was wondering if this pump is enough or should i go with the 150? Thanks!

 

I bought one that fit from ace hardware. Bring the fuel sending unit to the store and find a spring that fits. I cut about 1/4 of that spring off from what the picture shows. Use common sense and just estimate how much force would be required to hold the arm to the sending unit.

 

Thanks!, i'll do that.

 

Whoa HI HO, you might have the sending unit in your truck that cannot be 'fixed'. There were a couple of different fuel modules in the 2nd gen's and they had different sending units. You'll have to pull the module to see which sender you have. The first pic is of the sender that can be fixed, The second photo is of the sender that can not be fixed. I think they were used from '99 to 2001. I had the "can't be fixed" sender so I had to buy a new one from the dealer for 65 dollars. Hope you are luckier than I was.

CAN BE FIXED:

CAN"T BE FIXED:

 

Bringing a dead horse back to life, those of you that did the spring trick, did your float arm still have the full range of motion freely without catching? When i tried the spring, it seemed that I couldn't get the right amount of tension, so the float would kind of hang where it was, without a little shake for it todrop back down. I ended up using a small washer over the pivot pin, and the reversing the plate and screwing it down, to hold it in place. It seemed to take up the slop from the arm, and still allows the arm to swing freely. Hopefully this works, as I've got to have it all back together tomorrow, to reinstall in the tank.

 

Mine works without the spring. I just put it there because the plastic part will worn out a bit more in probably 50k miles? (no clue when it will, I put about 9k miles on the truck since this mod and its still working, around 5 months) The spring will prevent it from wearing out. You can just have a little tension there, cut the spring till the float can move freely. Keep in mind that once it is in the tank the fuel will move around and that will help the float get to the right place even if the spring is slightly tight.

 

My problem was that.I couldn't get the right amount of.tension, even cutting the spring, and allow the float to move up and down freely. it seemed either I could create the tension I needed on the arm, to tighten it up and bind the arm to where it wouldn't move freely on its own, or it would not create tension, and he arm would swing freely. I figured if the arm wouldn't fall freely, then even with the fuel, it might bind, causing false readings and not fixing my issues anyways. I'll have to see what happens now, when I fill my tank up and watch it now, to see if it works or not.

 

Double post.........

 

Did you drill the hole on the metal piece big enough (+ a bit more for less friction) for the plastic to slip through and move freely? If you remove the spring it should move freely.

 

Yeah, the hole was big enough, and without the spring, it did move.freely, its just no matter what length of spring I put in there, I couldnt get the arm not to bind. I ended up putting a round washer over the end of the pivot, and clamping it down with the metal cover. That seemed to work for me, and Ill let you know if it did as I go through this tank of fuel

 

Doing my tank tomorrow. Any more updates? I'll get started on mine around noon, wish me luck.

 

Good luck! If you decide to cut the spring, place the cut end down toward the plastic (non-moving) end. I guess if you place it toward the metal brace it might stop it from moving because it's not as smooth as the uncut side.

 

DrinkMe, Thanks for the advice. I was already done with the job when I read your post, but fortunately, I had done as you suggested, with the spring, for the very same reason too.
What took me the most time and work was disconnecting the 2 fuel lines and the electrical plug. Biggest pain in the butt of the whole job.

 

Yea it took us a long time disconnecting those hoses too and I have pretty small hands. I was able to squeeze the tab and remove one of them after a few hours and I wasn't able to do the same with the other one. Used this tool

to remove it. That tool is so hard to work with in tight space. If I were to do it again I'll probably invest in some metal ones.

Chokemaster, so I'm guessing it works perfectly now?:thumbsup:

 

DrinkMe, Never knew they had a special tool to disconnect the fuel lines. I think they make these things like this, just so they can sell you a special tool to undo it.
As for the gauge, it's seems to be working fine. Still too early though to know for sure. Before I worked on it, the gauge would register full when the tank was full, but only for a 100 miles or so. At which time it would then go to empty and the low fuel light would come on and stay that way till I topped up the tank. I need to drive a few hundred miles or so to see if I've really fixed it. Wish me luck

 

Diesel Fuel Sending Unit

Great info! I need to do the repair; where do I get the tool to remove the lines? I have a canope on the bed and would rather not have to take it off to remove the bed, etc, to get to the tank. I don't have small hands and usually a small supply of patience. Any suggestions?

 

Great info! I need to do the repair; where do I get the tool to remove the lines? I have a canope on the bed and would rather not have to take it off to remove the bed, etc, to get to the tank. I don't have small hands and usually a small supply of patience. Any suggestions?

I got pictures of the procedure I did on my truck. Problem is I don't know how to post the pictures on here. If you tell me how to do that I will. In any event, good luck. Johnny

 

Upload them to a Photobucket account, and then link the pics to this thread.

 

If I do that doesn't that allow anyone to see all my pictures too?

 

See if any of this thread helps you:
http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/9...com/forum/98-5-02-non-powertrain/326807-sending-unit-fuel-lines-stuck-help.html

 

I havent grid it, but you might be able to make a new album, set the rest to private, and just link that album by itself. Might work.

 

I haven't check this thread for a while. I'll just post this for anyone who need it in the future. Anyway there was a question about the fuel line/ac line quick disconnect tool. I got them at what used to be checker (o'reilly now). You probably can get them at any autopart store. If I were to do it again I would get the metal ones. It might be a bit easier.

When I was doing this I spend hours trying to disconnect those lines. I went on here and did searches on how to remove them and it seems like most of the people just press the tab in and pull the line out. Everyone had trouble with it but it will eventually come out. In my case it took about 1-2 hrs total time off and on in two days messing with the tab. Remember that I only drop my tank a few inches and then try to disconnect it. Some people remove their truck bed just to do this. That may be a better approach since you may not have to drop the tank. Good luck all!

BTW my fuel sending unit is still working perfectly.

 

Mine is working great as well. I'd get that special fuel line quick disconnect too as well. Taking those fuel lines off without it was a major pain in the butt. Took me more time and work then I spend doing everything else.

 

All 98.5 to 01 trucks have the new.sender and cannot be fixed