Need help and opinion on fuel problems

[Jacob Noel]

Well, I guess a year and a half ago I ran over a small boulder on a country road. I heard it knock the bottom of my truck but didn't see any damage. Has ran fine ever since.



Now the truck is having problems starting. The ford house said that I knocked the fuel tank up into the fuel pump causing a lot of problems. Estimate was $1410 to replace fuel tank and pump. Sounds kind of high to me.



Anyone have any good ideas. How difficult is it to change out myself. Don't want to put that kind of money into an '04 ST that has 153k miles?



Thanks for the help

Jacob:angry:

 

[Gerald Pierce]

go to a junkyard/salvage yard and get a tank and fuel pump.

 

[Scott Heckler]

Why is it that it took over a year to show up? When was the last time you replaced the fuel filter? That can cause the trac not to start.

 

[Dingo]

Sounds to me like the dealer is full of crap.

 

[Bill Barber]

Would start by checking the fuel pressure at the schrader Valve.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

I am not saying that your pump is not faulty, but,,, it would have presented itself earlier if the dent in the tank was the actual cause.



Sure, maybe in the mean time the pump is or has become defective...



But not all of a sudden from a dent last year.



I agree that further testing needs to be done to deterimine if it is the pump or the filter or other fule related componenets.



If you do need to go the pump route, take it someplace other than the dealer, when the remove the pump they can push the tank back into place thru the hole where the pump was removed. I have done it several times for others in passenger cars and trucks..

 

[chris laigaie]

Change the fuel filter and do a fuel pressure test. 153K the pump might just be worn out, but start at the filter.

 

[scott degroot]

These have plastic fuel tanks so I highly doubt that it is dented in any way. What kind of issues are you having??

 

[Bill Barber]

The tank will not dent as it is plastic as said above, the Pump is in the tank, so given enough deflection, you could damage the pump.

This is an easy 3 hr job max, the OEM pumps are not cheap (about 300 bux) the dealer should charge maybe 600 max, not twice that for the complete job.

Are plenty of aftermarket pumps for around 150.

Change the filter, run some pressure tests, than go from there JMO

 

[Jacob Noel]

Thanks to the guys that gave their opinions about the tank probably not being messed up. IT IS NOT!! Thanks to you guys, I decided to go back to the dealer and pick it up. Today I am in the process of removing the tank and going to replace pump and filter(because they also claim they were getting a error code about the pump). I can't believe they wanted to replace a perfectly fine tank???????? How do these people sleep at night.

 

[Aaron Yarbough]

How do these people sleep at night.

The bonus checks they probably get based on their shops repair volume probably luls them to sleep at night....



I would definately start with replacing the fuel filter, it would not surprise me if that resolves your issue. Also, ask the dealer what error codes they pulled from your truck. The guys on here can help you troubleshoot with that info.