Going to try it

[thekitten]

I have an old (1990) Dodge pick-up that I have narrowed it's problem to being a bad fuel pump. The pump is in the tank and the tank is 30 miles shy of being full. I've never attempted changing an in tank pump and know i need to drop the tank. I can't snake a hose in to siphon out the gas. Any advice?

[butt]

Chiltons manuals FTW! Not the little paperback versions, but the beefy hardback version. I put down my wrenches a good while ago,  but Chiltons manuals were a "must have".

The first thing that comes to mind is the weight of the gas, and "safely" getting the tank from the truck body to the ground. Water for example is about 8.4 pounds per gallon. So, your looking at in the negiborhood of 250 pounds of fuel + the weight of the tank.  Somehow, your probably going to figure out a way to siphon at least some of the fuel out of the tank. Is there a flex pipe somewhere between the fuel fill port and the tank? If you cant get a siphon tube all the way from the gas cap to the bottom of the tank, if there was a fitting between the two points that you could loosen, and get a tube in from there, I'd look into that. If there is not, the you'll either need to rig up a way to drop the tank by yourself, or have a helper.

What is the make/model of the truck? Assuming a 1/2 ton? Engine size? 4 wheel or 2 wheel drive? Lemme know, and I'll nose around and see what I can come up w/

[BJ1435]

the best way i have found is to take off the box off. there should be only 6 bolts and the tail light wires and the gas tank neck. This is how we do it at the farm especially on older vehicles. 

[thekitten]

1990 Dodge Dakota (not the sport editition)
6 cyl
4wd
1/2 ton

The truck has 189K miles on it and it is a beater vehicle, but, This is the only thing I've had problems w/ besides general maint. and a $20 power steering hose, since I bought it for $1500 5+ years ago. All I use it for is hauling big crap and an occasional side job. Can't see junking it yet.

Removing the bed may be an option if I can't siphon the gas.

Probably about 12 gls of gas in the tank.

[Mongo0909]

sorry bro but its the only way to do it ! the only other thing i can tell you is forget it and put a holley inline fuel pump on it just make sure it has enough psi to run the injectors cause if im thinking the one you have is a throttle body  not  inline fuel injection im pretty sure its like 19lbs to run them!!! hope this helped, one other thing we changed my dad's by taking the six bed bolts out and tilting the bed up so take your pick!!

[jebthapm]

Another way, if you don't feel comfortable removing the bed, is finding the center where it will balance, a jack and a small piece of plywood.  Put the plywood, with the jack around the center, pump it up to where it just puts pressure against the tank, loosen the tank straps and all hoses, and slowly lower it down. The only other good way is to remove the bed. But, if your doing it alone, getting the bed off can get tricky. I normally use the jack method when going solo. And as for repair manuals, I  personally despise Chiltons. They leave out good info. I always use Haynes.

[thekitten]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'll be taking a wack at it soon.

[thekitten]

So...it turns out that siphoning the gas out of the tank wasn't all that difficult, after all. Turns out that theirs a vent tube that runs with the filler neck, which does not have an anti-siphon thingy in it. I was able to snake a 1/4" tube down it and get about 8-9 gallons out. That should make removing the tank much more manageable. I'll take a wack at it today, perhaps.