Sending unit/fuel pump question.

[flyin-lowe]

Recently bought my son an 04 XLT with 3.0. When I bought it the seller told me the sending unit was bad and noted the gauge would go from full to about 3/4 tank at the lowest. Been using the odometer to keep track of when to re-fuel. Today the gauge dropped all the way to E and now the low fuel idiot light is on. This is my first ranger so I don't know anything about the fuel pumps. If I am reading right the fuel sending unit and fuel pump are two separate parts. I am curious if these fuel pumps are prone to go bad, thinking if I am going to drop the tank or pull the bed would you guys replace the fuel pump while I am there, or are they reliable enough it likely won't be an issue? The truck has 115K miles on it. Also for those of you who have done this, is it preferred to drop the tank or move the bed?

 

[scotts90ranger]

If it were me I'd just pull the bed, if you get one to two friends it isn't too bad, T55 torx socket, breaker bar, you're likely in the rust belt so some WD40 or more stout penetrating oil from the underside before hand and that should be about it. On the drivers side rear end by the back of the frame there's a connector there which is for the tail lights, disconnect that then there's the 3 bolts for the filler neck, they're probably 7mm heads and at that point the bed is loose...

I'd just get the whole housing, there's several options on rockauto for $50-100, fuel pump is probably fine but doesn't hurt...

 

[flyin-lowe]

Thank you, glad I looked on there. I checked my local Oreily and the sending unit was close to 200.00 and the fuel pump was several hundred dollars as well. Is there any brand that stands out as the go to brand? Rock Auto had a Bosch for around 150.00.

 

[superj]

i have never bought any particular brand and only had to change pumps rarely in vehicles. generally, i buy the least expensive one, which is contrary to what most people say and do but i have never had trouble with them.

i lift the side of the bed and put a 2x4 to hold it tilted over while i do the pump or sender work on my ranger.

open yours up and check before you buy anything. my old 98 mazda b2500 had the dead sender on it and i drove it for two years using just the trip meter. one day i got bored and figured i would see what was wrong. since the pump was fine hte whole time, i knew it was just something in the sender side so i undid the bed bolts and tilted the bed up, put my little 2x4 in to hold it tilted up, and unlocked the sender from the top of the tank. i pulled the sender out and the float was completely missing, like it had dissolved away. i put a float from a turbine engine oil level indicator on it, because it looked just like the indicator arm on the t55-712 engine. it was just a foam float that is sealed with some type of coating so fuel doesn't eat it, but anyways, my fuel gage worked from then on.

sop check yours first and if you are missing the float than you can just use any float you have, even a carburetor bowl float would work.

and the 04 is the same as my old 98. i just googled it. you can find hte assembly on amazon, ebay, rockauto, basically anywhere.

this video is the hard way of doing it, he lowered the tank, but it shows the pump removal and install

 

[flyin-lowe]

Thanks, that video is part of the reason I asked. When I went to youtube a big majority of the people drop the tank instead of moving the bed. Was curious what the consensus was on here, if one is a lot easier or not. Given the price of the entire unit I'll probably just replace it all while I'm at it.

 

[superj]

undoing the couple bolts to the bed and unplugging the unhooking the tail light was way easier than dropping the tank, to me. i don't have a lift, or even a concrete driveway, so trying to maneuver a bulky, possibly liquid filled large tank (and fuel is 6-8 pounds a gallon) is just to much of a pain. i have had to drop the tank on some vehicles, and it was not fun. trucks are just to easy to undo the bed bolts and tilt the bed.

and actually, you can probably undo the bed bolts and tilt the front of the bed up so you don't have to worry about the tail light wiring. then just put a small 2x4 to hold it up while you reach in and pull the assembly

 

[superj]

someone just did their pump in another thread and here is hte pic of how they did it

here was a good answer.

"Dropping a tank is difficult. At least the 20 gallon tanks. The front of the tank sits on a crossmember and there’s not enough room to slide it rearward off the crossmember without hitting the rear axle. So the crossmember has to come out. In addition to tank straps, skid plate (if equipped), evap lines, fuel lines, pump electrical wiring.

It’s one electrical plug, 6-8 bed bolts, and three screws that hold the filler neck to the bed. Shift the bed back and there is the pump. Much easier."

 

[flyin-lowe]

Thanks

 

[flyin-lowe]

So I jumped on Rock Auto and they have a pretty big selection. I took a couple screen shots of the "daily driver" options they have. Any of these brands stand out as a definite get or definitely do not get?

 

[superj]

motorcraft is probably a good choice

i have seen delphi on other forums being used and seem to be ok, bosch has been good too

 

[flyin-lowe]

I ended up ordering a Bosch from rock auto which should be here this week. Was driving yesterday and the engine light came on and it was the P4061. I wasn't really in a hurry to replace the sending unit but since my son is a new driver I don't want him to get used to driving with the engine light on in case something else pops up. Hopefully I can find a day in the next week or so to get it swappped out. Going to slide the bed back, not drop the tank.