83 F-150 Dual Tank Rear Fuel Tank, Sending Unit, and Selector Valve Replacement
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
- All the detailed steps to remove and replace the rear fuel tank, the sending unit and front/rear tank electric selector valve on a 1983 Dual Tank Ford F-150. Specifically, these procedures should directly apply to 1980 - 1986 F-150's with a 5.0L or 5.8L gasoline engine. Video shows how to test the Sending Unit and Selector Valve to confirm they are good before installing, and also test the front/rear selector switch in the cab. These basic steps for tank removal and sending unit testing also apply to the front tank, the rear tank by itself if a single tank truck, or virtually any car from the 1940's through the 1980's equipped with a rear or mid mounted belly tank and external fuel pump.
Man… I don’t even know where to start. This was absolutely the best video on UA-cam on these old bullnoses. He explains everything throughly and makes sure to go slow enough to catch. I’ve been building a 1983 ford f150 5.0 that we got as a “basket case” and everything was taking apart I’ve been battling this thing since day one trying to get it back together and this helped me figure 99% of what I needed
Hi. Wow! Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment and the positive feedback. Glad my video helped you out. I do put a lot of effort into making my videos and presenting them in a teaching manner so techniques you see any video can be applied to other situations.
Sounds like we have similar trucks. I've had mine since 1991. I temporarily sold it about 10 years ago, but as I like to tell people "I loved this truck so much that I bought it twice". :-) It actually was partially crushed by an oak tree in 2017 that fell on it during Hurricane Irma partially collapsing the roof and blowing out the windshield. It then sat for 5 years till I could fix that.
Hopefully I've earned your subscription. I've got quite a few videos about repairs on the truck. I've got engine building, numerous gas tank and sender videos, transmission rebuild, weak coil, carburetor and fuel pump videos, Brakes, shocks, installing a modern stereo, upgrading the AC to a Sanden Compressor and converting to 134a and many more with more videos on the way.
Thanks again. Peace.
God bless you sir! You outlined everything perfectly & answered all my questions I had going into this same exact job.
Hi. Thanks for watching and takin the time to comment. Sorry for the delayed response. Was traveling Route 66 in my 74 Oldsmobile Cutlass. Glad the video provided the info you needed. Hope your repair is successful.
I have several very detailed videos on the F-150 gas tanks, fuel senders, and roll over/vent valve if you need any additional info. Thanks again for watching.
thank you! This was the only video I could find explaining how that particular fuel valve selector works.
Hi. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. I was a bit surprised as to how it's configured when I traced it out, but it makes sense. Rear tank is standard and front tank is an option, so no signal in the rear, and front is 12V to the solenoid valve when selected. Fuel gauge has one lead that switches on the other half of the switch between sending units. Simple straight forward design.
Glad it helped. I've got a few other videos on the tanks and senders you might want to watch. Glad this one helped you out.
One thing to watch out for big-time on these dual tanks - know what size tank you have and get the right sending unit. I ordered a sending unit through LMC, but they don't specify if it's an 18 gallon or 19 gallon sending unit. So I ordered the sending unit. I put the fuel pump on it. Everything looked exactly like my old one. But when I went to put it in the new 18 gallon gas tank, the fuel pump was hitting the bottom of the gas tank and I could not get to sending unit to seat against the O-ring all the way. It was literally an eighth of an inch to a quarter an inch too high. I was confused as it looked exactly the same. But finally I decided to measure it with some calipers. There is a a little more than eighth of an inch difference in the height of the sending units. Turns out, I have a 19 gallon sending unit. So I had to go buy the correct one at an auto parts store for more money. But, once I put it all back together it fit perfectly.
Hi. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. That's a bummer on the tank size/pump fit. Mine is old school carbureted external mechanical pump as God intended lol, so no worries on that, but that's good advice for the Pump In Tank Folks.
LMC usually does a good job specifying years/options/sizes for various categories, but they might have not been clear on whatever year you have which is probably an 88 or later.
I did initially get my tanks/Senders/roll over vent valves from LMC, but the senders and vent valves are Chinese junk. Had to change the senders for both tanks after a very short time and got the replacements from Rock Auto. Ended up putting the original 40 year old vent valve back in as the one from LMC was stuck closed suck a vacuum on the read tank. I have several other UA-cam videos on all that. Thanks again for watching and the good advice on the pump in tank size.
Thank you sir! Very informative and helpful. Thank you for taking the time to put this video together, I was real close to just sticking to my one working tank until I found this
Hi. That's AWESOME!!! Glad my video helped you out so you can get back to dual tanks. I just took the 83 on a 630 mile round trip and it's so comforting to flip that switch from the rear 19 gallon (16 usable) and see the gauge go from Empty to Full and have another 13 usable gallons on the front 16 gallon tank.
Thanks for watching the channel and takin the time to comment. Knowing I helped someone makes it all worth the time it takes to make these videos. Stay tuned. I'll have some new videos for the truck soon for various upgrades and mods. Hope to be building a 351 for it soon. In the mean time I'll be doing the vintage electronics and other topics. A little something for everyone.
Great thorough video that not only shows how fo do the job, but is also educational with many tips and tricks and things to be mindful of. I think at 14:06 when isolating and troubleshooting to check a gauge and sender you meant to say "put the resistor between the wires heading back to the gauge" to simulate the sending unit resistance to see if the gauge reads accordingly to the resistance. Looking forward to more videos from you.
Thank you for your video I have a 1983 also he was very informative and I think you’d only one with that information on the UA-cam
Hi Eddie. Thanks. Glad you found the information and useful. Also cool you have an 83. I've had this since 91. It's been through a lot and taken my family on some interesting adventures back in the day. A tree came down slowly on it during Hurricane Irma back in 2017 and did some damage including busting out the windshield, but I'm slowly gathering body panels to get it looking good again. It's a daily driver and as rough as it looks I get offers every day for it. It's a cool body style. Check out my other videos. I'll be loading one soon on troubleshooting the and isolating the fuel sender.
Parts finally came in for the Kia engine, so I'll be able to get back on that soon.
Great Video. So much good information.
Hi. Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment. I did have one little oops in it where I misspoke @14:06 regarding placement of resistors to test that I didn't catch and meant to say "put the resistor between the wires heading back to the gauge." I have a companion video for troubleshooting Fuel Tank Sending Units that goes into more detail. I made it on this same Ford F-150, but it applies to any/all old school vehicles. Here's the link: ua-cam.com/video/Pc3gtvZeF54/v-deo.html
Very helpful video! Is it possible for fuel from the rear tank to end up in the front tank? If so, could this be from a bad selector valve?
Hi. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment. No. Think of a letter "Y" with one tank feeding into one of the top "arms" of the Y, and the other into the other arm being pulled by the suction from the fuel pump out of the bottom "leg" of the Y to the front. It's a solenoid valve that open for one tank and closed for the other with pump suction pulling it to the pump and pushing it to the carburetor. Thanks again for watching.
Question. I can't seem to find my answer in my research. I have a 1986 Ford 150 Lariat XLT with dual tanks. 1. I recently replaced my Fuel selector valve. It works great. However when I switch to my rear tank my gas gauge will not register a full rear tank. What could be the problem? 2. When I do switch to rear tank I hear a pumping/ humming noise in rear tank. Im assuming this the rear tank fuel pump. Is that normal? I don't hear the fuel pump on front tank when in use. 3. I think you answered my question in video. Front tank is 16 gallons and rear tank is 19 gallons. Thank you for any insight.
Hi. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment. 1986 was the first year of EFI and therefore pumps in the tanks which were also integrated with a sending unit. The noise and inaccurate reading from the rear tank is an issue with the pump/sender. The rear is the main tank and the tank selector valve if it fails pulls from the rear. It needs power and the solenoid working to switch to the front.
Go on Rock Auto or Parts Geek (both great online heavily discounted name brand parts) or LMC which is a Truck Restoration supplier, but they do have a markup. I got my tanks from them. Honestly as old is the truck is and the pump/sender are having issues, that tank is probably full of rust. You'll have to drop the tank to change the sender, so might as well change out the tank.
Hope this helps. Let me know if I can help with anything else. I have lots of videos on engine building, various things on my 83, vintage electronics, home repair, all kinds of content.
I have a 1984 f150 with the dual tanks. My rear tank needs to be replaced due to rust and contaminates in the rear tank itself. So at the moment I am only running on the front tank. I soon plan on replacing the rear tank so that I have both tanks functioning again. I am thinking about replacing the tank selector valve at the same time I replace the rear tank, simply to go ahead and put newer parts in the system. My question is - Since that new replacement valve has only the one wire connection instead of the OE multi-wire harness, How will the fuel gauge in the cab work when the valve selector is switched to the rear? Or will the gauge only work when the tank selector is on "front"? Just wondering if there is a way to wire it so that the fuel gauge can read each tank respectively with the new valve, no matter what position it is in. I've been trying to wrap my head around it, and it just seems like the gauge can only work one way since there is only one wire going to the new valve, and its either hot/on when on the front, or not/off when on the rear.
Hi. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment/ask a question. If your 84 is the same as an 83 with a mechanical fuel pump switch, the fuel tank selector switch is a Double Pole Double Throw (DPDT) with two sets of three terminals. One side of the switch is to select the tank valve, and the other side is to select the matching sending unit for that tank.
On the selector valve side of the switch, 12V Pos comes into the center of the set of three, and one goes out to the valve. When the front tank is selected the switch sends 12V pos to the valve and energizes the solenoid to move the valve and pull from the from tank. The valve will have 2 hoses in (one from each tank) and one hose out to the fuel pump on the engine. The other side of the switch will have the center wire going to the gauge, and each of the other two will go to the appropriate sending unit for each tank. When the rear tank is selected, it drops the 12V going to the valve and the spring loaded solenoid closes the input from the front and opens the input from the rear tank. Since the Rear Tank is the main tank fail over if the valve dies is to pull only from the rear. If it was a single tank truck there would be no valve or switch and it would just pull from the rear tank.
I have another video on troubleshooting the sending unit which will be helpful: ua-cam.com/video/Pc3gtvZeF54/v-deo.htmlsi=Z3QUqC_rQu5HAeKW
Thanks again for watching. Any more questions, just ask.
I'm looking into converting my 1984 f150 XLT 5.8L single tank to dual tank. I can't find anything online about anyone documenting a conversion like this. Can you think of any reason this would be particularly difficult of prohibitively expensive? I'm already going to be replacing the bed with a salvage bed and can get one with a dual tank door, possible even some of the required parts from the same truck. It all seems pretty straight forward. Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Hi. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment. It will be simple and straightforward. The wiring from the gauge to the selector switch may or may not be there and just unused, or you'll have to run it. Same for switch to tank senders and the selector solenoid.
If that donor truck doesn't have the combo fuel selector switch heat/AC controls, you'll need a double sided (6 post) ganged two position (no center click) SPDT switch to switch the tanks and matching sender. The single wire from the gauge to the rear tank will get cut and go to the center of one half of the SPDT switch. The other end going to the rear tank sender will now go to one end of the same half of the SPDT switch the gauge goes to. The sender for the new front tank will now go to the other end throw for that half.
For the selector solenoid valve wire 12V Pos to the center of the other half of the SPDT. Then run a wire from the end throw of that half that will correspond/sync to your front tank sender switch position (so the gauge is reading the front tank) and run this wire to the selector solenoid valve. When the valve gets 12V it pulls from the front. Flip the switch the opposite end which has no wire out and 12V drops to the solenoid and the spring sends the valve to allow flow from the other intake port.
On a SPDT switch, the center contact is being connected to the post on the opposite end of which way the lever is flipped. With and Ohmmeter you'll see and understand what I mean.
You'll need tank straps, some tarp paper to put in between the tank and straps, and the appropriate filler hoses tank hoses which have a vent hose inside, and the rollover valve/vents for the top. Watch all my other gas tank videos for more info. Not sure if I have them in a playlist, but just go to my channel home and you'll find the others. Hope this info helps.
@@mkdhdinfiniteendlessconten3873 You sir, are an incredibly helpful wealth of knowledge and I can't thank you enough.
Awe shucks. Well thank you. You're quite welcome.
I enjoy teaching/training/educating/helping. Solve a problem once and fix it many times with accurate well-presented information is how I roll.
Chances are, an obstacle a person encounters or question that arises with whatever, it's not the first time, so I like to make it easier for "future me's". If I help just one person, it was worth it.
I check comments several times a day, so should you have any questions, pop them. I'll see it, and respond. I make videos on all the things I have that I fix including major structural repairs on my house, vintage electronics, whatever.
I just did a 2 week 5,137 mile trip on Route 66 and beyond in my 1974 Olds Cutlass Supreme and just posted my first highlights video from that trip, of which there'll be many more. I'm filming the rebuild of an AOD Transmission for the 83 F-150 right now that will be posted "soon-ish".
Take a look at my channel. Chances are there's other info on it that might be of some help to something else you might be fixing. Thanks again for watching.
Hi, I’m now replacing my fuel selector valve on my 1985 f150. It’s slightly different looking from yours. There is a black wire and burgundy w/white stripe wire that clips into the selector valve. Is one hot and one a ground. If so, do you know which is which
Hi Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment/ask. I don't know for sure on the 85, but you can figure it out with a multi meter. My 83 is a Single Pole Solenoid with only one Hot Lead, using Chassis Ground for the Neg. When De-energized it selects the Rear tank. When the switch is set to front it energizes the solenoid and switches the solenoid valve to the Front.
Use your multi meter and measure between the leads with the switch in both positions and make note of what the meter reads, then read from each lead to Ground with the switch in either position and make note of what happens. Also with the key off measure from each lead in the harness plug to ground. If one lead has continuity then it's a ground lead. You can also ohm out the leads in the solenoid valve and figure it out. If reading across both leads has a low resistance, then both of those leads are the coil for the solenoid. You can also read each lead to the valve body and see if one is common the valve body. They might have just added a ground lead to ensure a good negative connection.
Hope that is helpful.
@@mkdhdinfiniteendlessconten3873 thanks for the help!
Hi. You're welcome. Hope that helps and it all goes well. Let me know how it goes if you get a chance.
What’s the part number for the select valve? I can’t seem to find the one you installed
Hi. Thanks for watching and commenting/asking a question. I got that solenoid selector valve from LMC Truck. Been working in a daily driver for 2 years now, so seems to be good quality. Go on their site and find the on line catalog for your truck year. I would also check Rockauto and Partsgeek. Let me know either way if you've found it or not. If you can't find it I'll look tomorrow and put the PN here in another response and also in the description.
Hello sir. I have an 87 f150 and decided to remove the front (smaller) tank due to rust and damage. The car was running great before I removed it (just had a large leak). I did not replace it and instead want to only run of the rear tank (I dont need both cause it is a ranch truck). What I did was I closed off the two fuel lines that went to that front tank with some extra fuel line hose, a screw, and a how clamp. When I started to just try running off the rear tank I had bad performance issues and the car would start acting weird and then shut off after 20 minutes of driving. Im thinking that maybe I need to change the fuel tank selector valve to something else. Do you know what could be causing my problems?
Hi. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment and ask a question. You pretty much did the right workaround. From your symptoms and tank/vehicle age and history with the front tank, that rear tank you're running from its highly likely the rear tank is full of rust and the fuel strainer on the pickup in the tank on the sender is rotted away. I'd put a glass fuel filter in line at the point of the selector valve and just eliminate the selector solenoid valve. That valve defaults to the rear tank with no power. To use the front tank it is energized with 12V from the switch set to front. The glass filter will let you know immediately if there's trash coming through and can be cleaned out in seconds if it is. The filter on the carb is probably plugged, so remove and replace it. When you take that filter off bang the inlet side straight down a few times on a flat hard surface and I'm sure lots of tiny trash particles will come out. I always filter before the pump on any vehicle with a clear filter so I can no in a glance if there's trash or water in the fuel and also know what's going on with fuel flow monitoring the filter. At idle, the filter should have very little fuel in it and a trickle for the flow. If there's rust in the tank you'll have to replace it and the sender. I got mine from LMC Truck. I think RockAuto and or Parts Geek also has them. I had to get one of my senders from Parts Geek as LMC was out when I needed mine.
Hope that helps. Let me know.
@@mkdhdinfiniteendlessconten3873 Thanks for all the info? I removed the rear tank and it was surprisingly not the bad (little rust and not much debree at all). I am going to replace it anyway due to a leak. I will try the glass filter it seems like a great idea. The truck is actually a fuel injection system and not a carb so I guess there would be no filter to change …
all the info.* didn’t mean to put a question mark
ca you tell me the part number of the sending unit and tank.
Hi. To the best of my knowledge and records, for the 83 F-150 Super Cab XLT twin tank short bed, the Rear 19 Gallon Tank from LMC Truck is PN 43-5050. The 19 Gallon Rear Tank Sending Unit from LMC Truck is PN is: 43-4040. The Side/Front 16 Gal tank from LMC is PN 43-5040. They are also available from several other sources. The side 16 Gal Front Tank Sender I had to get from Parts Geek back in Feb as LMC was out of stock. Confirm all part numbers.
Your other choice was to buy an original tank for only about $900
A bargain at any price lol. Ya, we all know where this aftermarket stuff comes from. I ran a restoration shop for a number of years and reproduction aftermarket parts, especially body panels lack of QC/QA makes restoration difficult. The hardest part was trying to explain and demonstrate why the brand new made in China fender cost so much to install and paint because it had to be cut up, welded back together, and bodywork done to it before it would properly fit. A smashed fender from a 58 Studebaker fit a 69 Camaro better than a brand new reproduction fender from China. lol
As for the gas tanks, the mounting area and the sender locking ring are always very sketchy, and especially the quality of the sending units. I have another video on this tank: ua-cam.com/video/Pc3gtvZeF54/v-deo.html
as the float on this sender had a pin hole and immediately filled with fuel and sunk and I had to go back in. When I had my shop, the 66 Corvette tank's hole was actually bigger than the sender and would fall in. Ridiculous.
Anyhow, thanks for watching and takin the time to comment.
you talk a lot
Yup
@@mkdhdinfiniteendlessconten3873 you know the part number of the Vent valve gasket please?