Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 1996 f250 dual fuel tanks???

i recently bought a 1996 f250, 2wd pickup. it has dual fuel tanks, and i got it without an owners manual...

was there a standard size for these fuel tanks???

is it poor practice to allow one tank to empty and then switch tanks, or is this acceptable???

the fuel pump in the rear tank was recently replaced by the previous owner, and the gauge does not go to the full mark even when newly filled.
i've had the gauge on this tank a bit below 1/4 and it has only taken 10.5 gals to fill it... however the gauge may be as faulty on the lower end as it is on the full end...

the front gauge appears to be accurate on the top end, at least... just today took it below the 1/4 mark and almost to empty... we'll see where it's at when i fill it tomorrow...

I don't know about this one, but some fuel injected engines can be very hard to restart after they run out of fuel. I'm told that some need to be reprimed before they'll start.

i'm more concerned with burning out fuel pumps and clogging fuel filters...

NEVER "allow one tank to empty",.......if you can avoid it.

In the absence of a "Fluid Cushion" the float on the sending unit will bounce around and knock the sending unit (which advises the fuel gauge) out of calibration.

Frequent use of the "Tank Switch" will actually EXTEND it's life, so keeping one tank full "Just in case" goes away in terms of planning.

I don't like "In Tank" fuel pumps,...and like Solenoid Fuel shuttle valves less....so may not be the best advisor.

GTC

My 94 f150 holds 15-16 gallons in the front and 14 in the rear. I always ran the rear low and switched while driving and it never gave me any trouble.

good points... thanks...

sounds about like what i might have here... we'll see how much that front tank holds in the morning... i switched to the rear on my drive home this afternoon... it's the first time that i've had the front tank below 1/4...

thanks...

I was thinking my earlier truck of that vintage was around 17 and 19 gallons?

I believe they are 17 and 18.

I had a ford with dual tanks,the rear one was 30 gallon.

I had the 95 version of your truck, and it always amazed me that they would install two tanks, but make them small! After all, as I'm sure you'll find, that truck will DRINK!

Mine had the fuel pump in the "bigger" tank go out on a hunting trip to CO. Had to finish the trip on the "little" tank alone. Talk about a PITA stopping every 120-140 miles for fuel!

Like th others said, switch over before going empty, not good on the pumps or filters!

is it poor practice to allow one tank to empty and then switch tanks, or is this acceptable???

The fuel in the tank keeps the pump cool. Shorter life if you run them dry

In-tank pumps are a PITA for sure, but they do keep the pump cooler and it's always pumping cool gas. I've never had a vapor lock on a vehicle with the pump in the tank but I've sure had them with the pumps mounted elsewhere. The best thing they did was get the pump away from the engine entirely.

johnw;
We had two different 4x4 '87 F150's which I believe would be the identical set up to your '96 as the change to the new style was 96� if memory serves.

While we owned them, I had the dubious pleasure of becoming quite familiar with the three fuel pumps in them.

As noted, there is a combination fuel pump/fuel level sending unit in each tank, then an electric high pressure pump on the frame which is on the driver's side, just behind the fuel filter. You need to remove the front drive shaft to replace it....

The in tank units, like all in tank units I've encountered anyway, like to be kept cool and lubricated by fuel, so one should avoid running them dry if at all possible.

We made it a practice to refuel at � tank - especially after paying for replacing them.

Hopefully that was some use to you. I hope you and yours have a good weekend.

Regards,
Dwayne

I had an '88 F250 with the 7.3L diesel. The front tank was 20 and the rear tank was 18. I never let the tanks go dry before a switch, because with the older diesels you would be forever trying to get them started again if you let air in the system. At 1/8 tank or 300 miles I would switch tanks, then refuel when the second reached a half. I was getting +/- 20 mpg depending upon the type of driving, so the average run was 400 miles between fillups. Less if towing.

I wouldn't make a practice of running it completely dry. Run it low and switch it...that's why there is a switch. I had an F-150 with two tanks and never had a problem with it. I'm not really sure why the f-150's had dual tanks. Mine was a 300 I-6 cyl.

G'morning Dwyane.

Dwyane gives good advise here. Every Ford I've had didn't like to be below 1/4 of fuel. For some reason the guages didn't work that good below 1/4 tank. You could have 1/4 tank or E, you were never quite sure with them.

I'm pretty sure my old '92 F250 had 18 and 17 gal tanks.

I used to run one out before switching thinking that would not let any unwanted stuff build up in the tank. Never had a fuel pump problem but did hear later that wasn't a real good thing to do. Wouldn't do it on purpose.

yeah, i had a suburban with a single 42 gallon tank... it got 18 mpg and was easily the greatest highway cruiser i've driven...
no more than one gas stop to most places i go...

the f250 gets between 13-15 mpg depending on me.... it's greatest deficiency is that it lacks a cruise control... and it seems to like 80 or so as a "natural" speed...

everything i've owned seems to have a "natural" speed that it seems to settle in on... this one could give me trouble....

thanks to all for the good advice...

i just got up a few minutes ago and can't believe that i slept til 8:30... felt real good... only worked 40 this week, but we were doing mock-ups for new equipment... i came home bushed yesterday...