Problem with CRD!!!!

DieselJeepLuvr · **Posted:** Thu May 17, 2012 3:33 am

Well my wife has broke down twice in the last month and I think the problem is that the fuel gauge is reading 1/4 full but it's actually empty! What would cause this? I normally never let it get down below half but this needs to be corrected! This last time (today) I towed it home and was gonna change the fuel filter but noticed it was only about half full so I turned on the key (to activate the fuel pump) and ran a clear hose from the bleeder valve to a jar and nothing came out but air and the fuel gauge was on just a hair under 1/4. I have my lift pump installed in the engine compartment so either it's sucking air between the LP and the tank or the gauge is way off!

Any suggestions???

Hoosier CRD · **Posted:** Thu May 17, 2012 5:03 am

My first thoughts are that the float at the tank unit is not working correctly. A new drop in unit could take care of things. It sounds like the problem has been masked due to the filling of the tank when it hits half-full. Hope this helps.

FWIW,

Hoosier CRD

ChooChooman74 · **Posted:** Thu May 17, 2012 6:44 am

How much fuel are you putting in when it reads 1/2 and when it stops sucking fuel at 1/4? That will give you an idea if the fuel level is off or if there is a problem with your pick up.

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racertracer · **Posted:** Thu May 17, 2012 7:03 am

There was another member on the board who experienced this same problem. Here is the post: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=62759&p=698916#p698916

DieselJeepLuvr · **Posted:** Thu May 17, 2012 12:33 pm

Well I added 5 gallons of fuel to an empty tank (though it read just a hair under 1/4) and it brought it up to just a hair under 1/2. This is irritating. I'll have to drop the tank and check all my connections first to see if that helps, then pull the sender and replace it I guess.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Thu May 17, 2012 1:37 pm

Before you drop the tank that let me ask how old is your battery? I ask because both stoutdog and I experienced very strange, but not identical, gas gauge malfunctions. In my case extremely (within 10 miles) rapid drop from full to 3/4 followed a day or 2 later by a rise back to above full. In stoutdog's case a continuous rapid drop to empty when plenty of fuel was in the tank IIRC. In both cases we had the original red top battery and those batteries were about 5 years old. Also in both cases after installing a new battery the strange gas gauge problems went away.

Food for thought although there have been cases of bad sending units in the tank.

If you do go to the trouble of dropping the tank and replacing the in tank unit you might consider an in tank fuel pump install at the same time since you are already in that far.

DieselJeepLuvr · **Posted:** Thu May 17, 2012 3:17 pm

I have the original battery. It always performs flawlessly even in the coldest winters. I already have a lift pump in the engine compartment. Thought I'd go that route since it would be a 15 minute job to replace if it were ever to go bad.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Thu May 17, 2012 3:55 pm

If you have the original red top it's now between 6 and 7 years old which is great but that's a long time. When I replaced mine it was still cranking fine down into the mid-20s F and is still ok in my boat and stoutdog's was doing fine well into the teens F when he was in Flagstaff, AZ. But in both cases we had gas gauge problems that a new battery fixed.

My personal recommendation, do with it as you wish, is that you go ahead a get a new battery (I like the Sears P-1 but it is expensive - Interstate has a good 800+CCA 85 month series 34 Mega-tron battery that works fine for a lot less) and see if that fixes your problem. It may or it may not but either way IMHO you are going to need a new battery to get thru next winter anyway so it's worth a shot and won't be a waste of money not to mention it's a lot easier than dropping the tank.

The Red Tops are somewhat prone to dieing by slowly losing peak voltage which can do very strange things to computer systems before the vehicle won't start.

DieselJeepLuvr · **Posted:** Fri May 18, 2012 2:22 am

It's sitting right now after 24 hours of idle time at 12.48VDC which tells me it's fine. Besides once the engine is running it is supplied power by the alternator not the battery. BUT I've never taken anyone's advice with a grain of salt before so just to eliminate any remote possibilities I'll swap out the battery with a new one I have in my truck.

DieselJeepLuvr · **Posted:** Sat May 19, 2012 2:23 am

Well found the problem. I think. I found out that the filter housing was leaking air at the primer pump. Apparently my fuel pump wasn't keeping up with the CRD's demands causing a vacuum which would be fine it the filter housing was any good (the original one). I installed a Carter lift pump and that solved the air problem. As for the tank being empty when it reads 1/4, I'll just have to run it out and find out if that's still the case.

DieselJeepLuvr · **Posted:** Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:59 pm

Well I've burned out two Carter HP lift pumps already so I said screw it and ordered and installed the updated filter housing. One of the guys at NAPA said that those lift pumps are supposed to be installed as close to the fuel tank as possible and me having it installed under the hood is causing it too much stress to suck fuel all the way from the tank to the engine bay. Well if there was a convenient way to install it underneath without having to splice into the steel fuel line that runs along the frame rail I'd do it.

racertracer · **Posted:** Sat Jun 02, 2012 5:56 am

DieselJeepLuvr wrote:

Well I've burned out two Carter HP lift pumps already so I said screw it and ordered and installed the updated filter housing. One of the guys at NAPA said that those lift pumps are supposed to be installed as close to the fuel tank as possible and me having it installed under the hood is causing it too much stress to suck fuel all the way from the tank to the engine bay. Well if there was a convenient way to install it underneath without having to splice into the steel fuel line that runs along the frame rail I'd do it.

Use the Facet Flow thru lift pump, some of us have been using it for about 4 years now and it works flawlessly in the engine bay. No more than 4 psi is required and you can pick one up at NAPA.

http://www.facet-purolator.com

DieselJeepLuvr · **Posted:** Sat Jun 02, 2012 10:30 pm

Thanks. I'll check it out.

Problem with CRD!!!!

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