Truck is Acting Like It’s Out of Gas–And I Just Fueled It!

Reader Question:
Sir, yesterday I gassed up my front tank on my truck, and it will not start.
The truck is acting like it’s out of fuel. It runs fine on the rear tank.
Please help with any advice. Dave

Hi Dave,

Your truck has a separate electric fuel pump inside each tank,

and then there is usually one “helper” frame mounted pump that assists

with both tanks. So you either have a bad fuel pump in the front fuel tank,

or there could be a problem with the switching valve on the frame or

the selector switch on the dash not sending power to the front pump.

Since this situation happened immediately after filling up with gas,

I would suspect you have a bad front fuel pump.

The sloshing around and the sheer weight of the new fuel you put in the tank

could have done something to the pump. To prove this, you can have someone

get under the truck and bang on the bottom of the front fuel tank with a rubber

hammer or with their fist WHILE you are cranking the engine over. If the pump

is just weak, your banging should help jump start it again…but it should be

replaced soon. Please make sure vehicle is in park with the parking brake

applied before you attempt this.

You can always just use the rear tank if you don’t want to repair the front.

Dropping the tank and replacing the pump can be costly.
Let me know what you find out,

Blessings,

Austin C. Davis