Not sure if original post took.
May need fuel pump … where should I get it? And how much should it cost to install. Have one quote so far … sounds high, especially since the shop mgr, didn’t even touch Dakota before telling me I need to spend $300 for a fuel pump, installed. (I did my own water pump a few years ago and I’m a girl and it definitely wasn’t too terribly difficult; and yes I did the thermostat at the same time.) I’m logged in as Dakotablue. My truck is a 1995, 3.9L six with 235,000 miles and mostly original. I’ve replace one water pump, one serpantine belt; the power steering pump has been rebuilt. But that is it. Original oil and fuel pumps; orig tranny. Never over heated; never died; never towed.
Anyway, yesterday, we stalled out in an ARCO gas station close to home. I went on line and followed some threads about fuel lines and ASD relays etc.
Dakota started when I squirted gas directly in carb; but then quickly died. I tried tapping the fuel tank with a mallet, but nothing; don’t want to screw up filter seals so didn’t touch; pulled 30a pink fuse for ASD it looked fine; took ASD and fuel pump relay to Kragens … they can order but can’t test. Since Dakota cranks but won’t fire … how can I test the relay?
If its an electric pump and in the tank, then replacing it requires removing the gas tank. $250-300 is about the standard price although other parts like the filter and wire harness also need to be replaced. Also depending on the rust involved, other parts might be damaged beyond repair. I’ve paid up to $500 depending on the other parts. If you do need a pump, get an original equipment pump, not some aftermarket from Autozone.
To test, you use a fuel pressure guage to see if you are getting fuel pressure or not. Also you use a test light, at usually there is a factory prime wire under the hood, that you connect the test light to. If the light lights, then the relay and everything except the final wire length to the pump is good. You can also crawl under it and connect test light or a voltage meter to the pump connector to see if there is power there or not. If there is, the relay and wires are good. You can also supply power right to the pump to see if it goes on or not.
This is just stuff that the mechanic should do before pulling the tank to replace the pump.
but can’t I bypass the original pump? Buy a small purolator universal pump and use that? Like leave the old one alone and add another one … removing the fuel tank just sounds stupid unless you have to replace it.
Or isn’t there a simple way to get the pump out … when the pump was dying on my Volvo, one repair shop said the tank had to be removed (and quoted a fortune) but the Swede who ended up doing the job spent 5 minutes pulling the old one)going down through a seat and simply unscrewing the pump from the tank …
… so why wouldn’t a Dodge in-tank pump be as accessible if you know where to look?
I really need a down a dirty fix here …
Even if you do what you say…you’ll still have to mess with the tank somehow. What are going to connect the new pump to?? It’ll have to have some way of drawing the gas from the tank.
I have a Ford wagon and found that the fuel tank and pump was right under the rear seat. After a lot of measuring I cut a 7 inch dia. hole in the floor and replaced the pump in 30 min.
This MAY be an alternate solution to dropping the tank on your truck.
I was hoping some Kansas farmer out there would be able to tell me.
This is a KANSAS FARM DAKOTA (factory-installed over-sized fuel tank and (not that it affects this repair … a factory-installed over-size radiator and separate transmission cooler).
I hear what you say about the gas having to come out some how … so I have high hopes of bypassing that internal pump … This is a regular Holley carb.
I can clearly see the entire tank just next to driver rear wheel. And in the bed of the truck there are a couple of round recessed places, under the bed liner and above the tank, that look like they’re scored to easily pop out; about four-inches in diameter … like the ones you pop out on an electrical box for household electronics , don’t know what to call them.
Did you lose this, your other, post? http://community.cartalk.com/posts/list/2126046.page
A test of an intermittent relay won’t reveal anything, because, most of the time (99.9%) it’s working fine. A proof testing is a replacement of the relay.
You can bypass the fuel pump by pulling the relay out of the socket, and using a jumper wire from the “hot” terminal to the terminal which goes to the fuel pump. If the fuel pump runs, that shows that the wiring to the pump, and the pump, itself, is OK. The engine computer turns the fuel pump relay ON, in normal operation.
Here is the wiring diagram that shows you where the jumper points are: http://www.autozone.com/autozone/repairinfo/repairguide/repair(you may have to “register” at the site to see the information) e=Chassis+Electrical&pageId=0900c1528007154c&partId=0900c152800712a4 Go down to Fig. 35. (yes, Fig. 35). The red/white wire is power to the fuel pump relay. The dark green/black wire goes to the fuel pump. Jumper these to make the fuel pump run.
You want a cheap and easy way to bypass the pump? You said it had a Holly Carb? You also said that your 3.9L motor was “mostly original”. I don’t think that truck came with a carb, rather either multi port or throttle body injection. So if you (or someone else) put a carb on the truck, then you’ve already bypassed much, if not all of the fuel and emissions control systems such as MAF, O2 sensor, TPS, etc. Also if you have a carb, you don’t even need an electric fuel pump, why don’t you strap a 5 gal gas can to the roof and let the gas gravity feed down to the carb. That should provide enough gas to supply the holly carb. Then as a safety measure, you can use a pair of vice grips to squeeze off the flow of gas when you shut the truck off? Seriously, there is something wrong with the “mostly original” part of the story if that truck has a carb.
Hey I like the “strap on” idea. That would at least get me home!!
And when the Dakota died at the ARCO station I had just filled it up … we’re talking about $120 worth of gas (at 2.61 per gallon).
The truck was a custom order for a Kansas Farmer in 1995 with humungus gas tank; over-size radiator; over-size transmission cooler and some other “tuff truck” options. I’m the second driver.
You’re right about the bypass of emissions … I had to spend a fortune and get a variance to license it in CA … It’s really more of a “farm-vehicle” than a city truck.
and yeah I was thinking I could buy a cheap Purolator tracktor fuel pump for $20 and get that attached outside the tank, leaving the original inside and undisturbed. I feel that messing with the tank is going to open up a lot of cans-of-worms.
For a mechanic (even on his back) dropping the tank is no reason to re-invent the wheel. Yes you get dirty and you must have some strength but its not as bad as its being made out to be.
Fix the truck as it was designed (you never really cleared up the “carb or not carb” situation,or did you?
Yeah I know the tanks full of gas,they always are.