Hole in Fuel Pick Up Tube (2024)

Truck=1968 F100 with the fuel tank behind the seat..........

I think the pick up tube in the tank has a hole in it . I had just enough time before the rain to work on it a little. I blew air back through the line to the tank and there is not a clog, I just can't get fuel to the pump. I replaced the filter since the filter and spin on housing had a lot of sediment in it. I pulled out the sending unit from the tank and can see sediment in the tank and the pick up tube has scaly rust on the outside.

Tomorrow I am going to hook up a rubber hose to a gas can and see if the truck will start to rule out a bad fuel pump.

The pick up tube on this tank is welded it, not a part of the sending unit. Any thoughts on what to do next if the pick up tube does have a hole in it? Keeping the fuel level above the hole is a short term solution, and right now I do not know if there is more than one hole. Is there a sending unit available for another year that has the pick up tube as part of the sending unit that could be easily swapped in?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Jeff

Answering your question out of order, fuel tank sending units are available from multiple sources which can be found right here at Fordification.

uboughtwhat? wrote:Tomorrow I am going to hook up a rubber hose to a gas can and see if the truck will start to rule out a bad fuel pump.

...has me confused as you've indicated you've already replaced your fuel pump?

uboughtwhat? wrote:The pick up tube on this tank is welded it, not a part of the sending unit.

...AGAIN, I'm confused? Is this something someone did as a repair? If so, I'd replace the entire sending unit due to this.

uboughtwhat? wrote:pick up tube has scaly rust on the outside.

...reason enough to replace the sending unit in my book.

I believe that all of your ills are directly related to:

uboughtwhat? wrote: I pulled out the sending unit from the tank and can see sediment in the tank

Clean out your tank, replace/clean all fuel lines and install fuel filters BEFORE and AFTER your fuel pump. That means you'll have three fuel filters in your system counting the one that's inside your fuel pump.

1970, 2WD, F-250, C/S, Dual Tanks, 390 FE (of course), C6, Power Steering, Power Disc Brakes, Dana 60 3.73, Sky View Blue, Ranger XLT

1970, 2WD, F-250, C/S, A/C, Dual Tanks, 390 FE (again, of course), C6, Power Steering, Power Disc Brakes, Dana 60 3.73, Wimbledon White & Sky View Blue, Ranger (almost twin brothers!)

"One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do" - Henry Ford

Larry

what i did to my tank was to remove the sender and remove the gas cap. i then had my wife hold a flash light pointed downthe filler neck. i looked in the fuel sender hole of the tank. while air was being blew into the tank from the pump line. i got bubbles about half way up the suction tube. so i knew the tube was bad at half tank.

if you dont find a hole in the suction tube. then you are just working the same problem all these pumps end up doing when the line is empty. it takes alot of suction from the pump to suck the fuel up the tube and into the pump. if you can prime the line then you wont have to crank the enigne over quite as long to get the pump to suck up the fuel. when these pumps get worn they will also suck and blow from the same hole. so yo uare just moving fuel back and forth. when they go bad. then they wont suck or blow from either hole. to test the pump you can take it off and run a line from the pump into a can of fuel or water and actuate the pump by hand and see if it shoots gas or not.

if the tank pickup tube is good you can remove the whole tank dump it and try to either clean out the tank by hand or have it boiled out at a radiator shop.

My Ebay ~My Truck

The pick up tube on this tank is welded it, not a part of the sending unit.

I explained this to my hard headed younger brother (owns dents) for an hour-with no results!
You are absolutely right Jeff-it is welded in-but could be replaced if need be!

I know this due to my tank being out of the truck at present due to a similar issue, (had mine boiled out by my radiator shop). You should have a radiator shop there around Mickeytown that could replace the pickup tube if need be.
I'll gladly snap the picture tomorrow if anyone needs any more clarification on this.

basketcase0302 wrote:

The pick up tube on this tank is welded it, not a part of the sending unit.

I explained this to my hard headed younger brother (owns dents) for an hour-with no results!
You are absolutely right Jeff-it is welded in-but could be replaced if need be!

I know this due to my tank being out of the truck at present due to a similar issue, (had mine boiled out by my radiator shop). You should have a radiator shop there around Mickeytown that could replace the pickup tube if need be.
I'll gladly snap the picture tomorrow if anyone needs any more clarification on this.

did they unsolder it and resolder in a new one? i didnt know that could be done exactly. i mean finding a replacement tube and then getting the solder to hold. but mainly finding another tube.

My Ebay ~My Truck

did they unsolder it and re-solder in a new one? i didn't know that could be done exactly. i mean finding a replacement tube and then getting the solder to hold. but mainly finding another tube.

Craig, I didn't have the tube in my tank replaced (had to have mine flushed due to trash), but I can see how to do it. A new pickup tuber could either be mig welded or brazed into the tank. The female part of the tube would have to be discarded in favor of just a "raw" piece of 3/8" fuel line coming out of the tank, (that rubber line could then be hooked up to).

I'm gonna be flying around the house and yard today like a rocket! I'll try to snap the picture(s) and maybe get them uploaded later tonight.

Any luck today Jeff? I sure don't miss the daily rain ya'll have down there! He's talking about the "lightning capital of the world folks-another little known fact.

Edit: I've got the pictures, I'll have to email them to someone for posting. Photobucket has kicked me out due to it being so long since I'd logged in!
Edit again, here's the pictures as promised:
Here's two shots of the pickup tube showing it welded into the tank / also showing the 3/8" inside flare fitting that is an integrated part of the pickup tube,
(the pickup tube being separate of the sending unit):

And here's a few (sorry for the quality) showing the pickup tube inside the tank. The red stuff is all my blood I've lost on this truck through the past 7-8 years.
Actually it's the sealer put in the tank after the flush ate pin holes into my tank that had to then be soldered up.
The pickup tube sits about 1/8" from the bottom of the tank. To me it won't take much in your tank to clog this very close tolerance:

Wow, a first glance I though these were pictures of open heart surgery:-)

Well, it looks like the fuel pump is the culprit. The original pump would not pull fuel out of a can and once I took it off it had no suction. Pump #2 leaked fuel like a sieve from a hair line crack in the pump housing, but the truck started up and ran. Waiting for Pump #3 to arrive this afternoon and hopefully I can get up and running tomorrow.

I did add an in line filter under the cab where the line from the tank meets the line to the engine. If there is any trash coming out of the tank it should collect here and not move forward to the new fuel pump.

Hopefully good news tomorrow!

Jeff

Finally the leak has stopped!!! Hopefully I can spend my free time driving my bump instead of working on it!!!!

As Murphy's Law would dictate, things with Pump #3 did not go smoothly either. The pump has two threaded ports and a hodgepodge of fittings and adapters to make it work with my truck. Of course these fittings turned out to be imported junk and I kept getting gas dripping on my driveway.

I took a trip into town and found some better quality fittings and after new fittings, some new rubber fuel line, some thread dope and a few four letter words of persuasion the leak has stopped!!!! Hopefully I won't have to deal with the fuel pump again for a while.

I am still pondering the pick up tube though. If a sender was available with the pick up tube as an integral part it would definitely be a good upgrade. I think Basketcase was on the right track of fabricating a tube out of tube stock. Now to see if there is enough free space in the sender flange to drill a hole and be able to solder a tube in place. A screen could be installed at the bottom of the pick up and we would have a bolt on upgrade for those that are having fuel tank issues.

Hmmmmmm

Jeff

My Ebay ~My Truck

uboughtwhat? on Mon Jun 27, 2011 1:45 pm
Wow, a first glance I though these were pictures of open heart surgery:-)

Well, it looks like the fuel pump is the culprit. The original pump would not pull fuel out of a can and once I took it off it had no suction. Pump #2 leaked fuel like a sieve from a hair line crack in the pump housing, but the truck started up and ran. Waiting for Pump #3 to arrive this afternoon and hopefully I can get up and running tomorrow.

Dangit Jeff...you jinxed me man! Went out to move the truck yesterday, and it started then stumbled. Heck with it-don't have time right now kinda' day.
Troubleshooted this morning and the dang fuel pump has gone out! I just put this pump on it back around December I believe! It came from autozune and it makes me wonder what 3rd world country is rebuilding their stuff these days...
I'll try a NAPA one and see how long it will last I guess?

"derekm803"]Does the fuel pick up tube have a strainer/sock on the bottom of it? I have a 71 model that will run maybe 10 mins then the inline filter goes dry.

Highly debated topic here as Craig above, (Fordman) I believe has seen them.
BUT MINE DID NOT.
I still have the images PB stole from me on my puter here that shows where the end of the 3/8" steel pickup tube goes all the way to the bottom of the tank with no "sock". And when I say bottom i mean bottom of the tank as there was no more than 1/4" of clearance between the bottom of the steel tubing and the bottom of the tank on mine.
Real...easy to clog / stop fuel pump suction when ANYTHING gets in the tank (including fouled fuel that has become jelly in the tank).
Knowing it's a lot of work but might be time to yank it out and flush it, (there are kits you can use to seal the inside of the tank, (as most have surface rust in them) or just tank it to your local radiator shop (as i did) and have them flush and seal the tank for you.