# Gas tank trouble

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/gas-tank-trouble/11483>\
**Category:** Power/Fuel\
**Tags:** gasoline\
**Created:** [March 6, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/gas-tank-trouble/11483 "2008-03-06T01:03:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![vanillagorilla](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vanillagorilla/32/698_2.png) [@vanillagorilla](https://community.cartalk.com/u/vanillagorilla)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/gas-tank-trouble/11483/1 "2008-03-06T01:03:08Z")

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The gas guage on my son’s f-150 dual tanks do not work.  
  
 They say we’ll have to drop them to repair.  
  
 What actually will need to be replaced and can we do it ourselves?

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**Author:** ![Roadrunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@Roadrunner](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Roadrunner)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 2:13am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/gas-tank-trouble/11483/2 "2008-03-06T02:13:10Z")

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The gauge doesn’t work at all?

Do the two tanks drain together (no switch over)?

Before dropping the tanks ensure the wiring circuit is good and there is a good ground connection.

It is possible the sending unit may be faulty. In the tank?

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**Author:** ![BustedKnuckles](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bustedknuckles/32/25_2.png) [@BustedKnuckles](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BustedKnuckles)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 2:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/gas-tank-trouble/11483/3 "2008-03-06T02:17:18Z")

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The reason the tanks need to be dropped is to get access to the senders in to gas tanks. But, for both to be out, I question the immediate need to drop them. For both senders to be bad at the same time is unusual. The usual culprit is the three-way tank switch or a wiring problem under the dash. These need to be ruled out before spending money to drop the tanks. BTW, electrical problems like this can be hard to find, and cost a lot just in the labor time.

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**Author:** ![vanillagorilla](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vanillagorilla/32/698_2.png) [@vanillagorilla](https://community.cartalk.com/u/vanillagorilla)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/gas-tank-trouble/11483/4 "2008-03-13T01:16:24Z")

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No, the gauge doesn’t work.  
There is a switch, and when the switch is flipped there’s movement.  
One solution I came up with was to fill the front all the way, and put about $20 in the back.  
When the front runs out, he can switch to the back.  
That way, writing down the mileage we’ll know approximately how far he can go.