Drat...maybe that wasn't gas after all.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Can you jack it to tilt more towards the pump inlet?

[theholycow]

I jacked around for 30-40 minutes, it didn't help. I'm not sure where the inlet is, though.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Would removing the fuel sender give you access to the tank? My car's is well positioned for this but my old truck sure wasn't.

[GasSavers_Erik]

How about diluting whats left with 3-4 gallons of fresh gas, rock teh truck back and forth and then pump as much out as possible with the fuel pump. Then put a can of heet in, refill and hope for the best.

Or do you think that the pump pickup is clogged? 3-4 gallons is a lot to be left that the pump can't suck up.

[Jay2TheRescue]

The only way to access the sending unit on a late model GM truck is to either drop the tank, or remove the bed.

[theholycow]

The sending unit is attached to the fuel pump, I'm pretty sure.

I'm not confident in diluting it, plus that would cost me $60-70 and I'd use up all my gas cans, making myself unable to fill the tank again after pumping it out. I'm not confident in diluting it since I tried that already and I think it didn't mix, I think the bad stuff stayed at the bottom.

After all that, I may still have to drop the tank/take off the bed.

[theholycow]

It's alive!!!!!!

Took bed off, removed the fuel pump (big struggle with the retaining ring), emptied more gallons from the tank (total of over 24 gallons removed now from my 24 gallon tank), replaced fuel filter, struggled with retaining ring reinstalling fuel pump, bought new retaining ring for a whopping $26 (for a stamped out piece of steel!), failed to connect fuel pump ground strap, nearly committed suicide when I found out a fuel pump costs $300, moped around for a few hours, spent a half hour tracing wiring diagrams, went back out and re-tested fuel pump connector, reconnected ground strap, started truck.

[GasSavers_Erik]

Wow- how did you hoist the bed off? I bet the bed was unwieldy and awkward to move around.

[theholycow]

It's far easier than I thought. I could have completely removed it with one helper. Alone, I lifted one side, put some lumber under it, then lifted the other side and put lumber under it...repeatedly until it was high enough to slide backwards far enough to reach the fuel pump. I did have the tailgate off and the bedliner removed to make it lighter. The tailgate is pretty heavy.

Some damn fine structural engineers designed that thing. It's been tough as nails when I've thrown cinderblocks and rocks in it and loaded it with well over a ton of various types of stuff; it's very lightweight (gotta be under 200 pounds, I'm more fat than muscle); it's mostly self supporting; and it's designed to aesthetically match the rest of the truck.

After so thoroughly emptying the tank (I even sopped up the puddles with rags), dumping in the cans of gas I bought, and then idling it for 15-30 minutes, I drove it 7 miles and then topped off the gas. The total amount of gas it took from dry to full (including the idling and 7 miles) was 27.9 gallons. The gas tank is not shaped in a reasonable way, and I'm not sure what the point is; much of it is not accessible to the fuel pump.

They had some great engineers on most of the truck but they missed a spot with the fuel tank and fuel pump.

There's also a few gallons missing from my accounting; I guess when I was struggling to get it home with bad gas in it I must have used 2 or more gallons for a 7.7mi drive.