Re: 1990 F150 302 weakling....Update. (See reference post following post)
After 1 year and 8 months, I decided to have the fuel pumps replaced in both tanks. Firestone in Seattle (Westlake Av. N. near Lake Union) performed the work in a day + overtime for just under $1k. (Firestone included additional fuel filter R&R) The difference is amazing! The truck performs like new, running on either tank.
The final straw that made me take it in was when the front tank could not start the truck on an uncommonly warm spring day after 30 minutes of freeway drive then 30 minutes parked. Starting up with the rear tank was no problem but running at freeway speeds on the rear tank seemed to be a chore, limiting travel speed to below legal limits of 60 mph.
The front tank fuel gauge had become unreliable, usually staying at the pegged limit after the FULL mark. Seemed to occur at random, starting out ok, then when putting on brakes after a few minutes of drive could cause the needle to swing past FULL and into stops. Rear tank gauge worked fine. Made me suspect a wiring issue with the gauge switch or connections through firewall.
After the fuel pumps were replaced, the fuel gauge is also functioning properly again.
And the pump swap is not for the weak of heart! I saw the techs wrestling with the tanks trying to get them back into position. The truck was up on the rack while 3 guys wrestled with the rear tank to get the alignment for the bracket connection. It was not an easy task. They also had to create a replacement for one of the short in-tank lines when the line called for in the parts book did not fit.
Hope this helps others!
- Bill snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net
================= REF POST 08-15-2002 ===================== From: Bill Hodgson ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) Subject: 1990 F150 302 weakling Newsgroups: alt.trucks.ford Date: 2002-08-15 03:50:31 PST
1990 F150 4x4 with 302 V8 and dual tanks. It is very weak under load and using the front tank. Switching to rear tank helps noticeably. Also when using the rear tank, gas is delivered to the engine and the front tank, about 50% to each. Doesn't pump gas into rear tank when on front tank. Asked dealer about recall for this issue and was told my truck is not part of the recall.Anyway, it doesn't make sense for the rear tank pump to be better if it's output is partially diverted to the front tank.
Does a new fuel pump in one or both tanks make sense? (quoted ~$700 for each pump and ~$500 to install).
Is there a modification available to add in another small fuel holding tank with a third pump, in the engine compartment, that I can insert between the fuel rail and the output from the 2-tank switched output port? I'm thinking that weak pump pressure from the in-tank pumps, is endemic to this design, and by adding a lower-pressure tank and boosting it's output with an external pump, would solve this issue.
-- Bill Hodgson snipped-for-privacy@attbi.com