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How to siphon gas from our tanks

41K views 36 replies 12 participants last post by  aemiller61@gmai 
#1 ·
Does anybody know how to get the gas out of the tanks on these trucks?
A siphoning kit doesn't work cause of the rollover thing in tanks now-a-days i think?

I have an 01 4.7 4x4 club cab

Thanks
 
#4 ·
A brake line behind the gas tank burst, need it out of the way.

just liek you siphon anything.. stick a hose in.. such the air outta the hose.. empty into a container lower then the origional source.. let gravity take over.. enjoy the taste of gas!
Can't do that, I've tried with a siphoning kit and a hose, it gets stuck where apparently new tanks have some rollover thing in them so if a truck rolls gas doesn't spill out.
 
#7 ·
OK Cool.:mullet:
I'm unfamiliar with the setup on these.
My preference would be to support tank and move it over a bit to access that area rather than laying under it on stands, disconnecting everything and pulling tank out only to have to fight it back in place.
A good time to do a clean up , maybe spray some rustoleum and check shocks,flex lines etc..
2 different approaches with the same result ...lol
 
#10 ·
Sorry I don't know where in the forum it is, but one day I came across a post with a link to the Factory Service Manual in .pdf form and downloaded it. I'm doing the tank removal on a Quad Cab tomorrow to replace a fuel pump and it looks like I'll need to remove a cross member that's riveted in, gonna be fun removing those...reg cab looks easy. Anyway, search for the FSM, download it and good luck.

Hold on! Found it. :banana2:

http://www.dakota-durango.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39972

This is the one I'm using. Thanks to viperkota.
 
#12 ·
Do you have a Quad cab? I don't know if the reg cabs or club cabs have the crossmember... I plan on drilling or cutting out the rivets.
As for getting the gas out...the FSM mentions (I'm paraphrasing here) to use the port on the fuel rail with a hose attached going into an approved container and then letting the fuel pump do the work. So far I just waited until the 'low gas' dash light came on and I have a motorcycle lift I plan on using to lower the tank.
I'll post what happens. :goodnight
 
#14 ·
Yeah i have the quad cab and i think a 2 piece drive shaft too (is it considered two pieces if theres a really short one from the tcase to the big drive shaft?) but when i was down there all day yesterday I didn't see any reason why the FSM says to remove the crossmember or the drive shaft.

How do you let the fuel pump work though is my second question because my haynes said to remove the fuel pump relay before this, i know i can put it back in, but i also read that you need a DRB scan tool otherwise operating the pump like this could be really bad.
 
#15 ·
My 95 Dakota 'had' the ball....is it an anti siphon device or roll over anti spill device? I use my 95 as a 'reserve' tank whenever we have a storm in the Gulf. Last hurricane my electricity was off for several days and instead of keeping several cans of gas stored in my garage for my generator, I just use the truck for that and then whatever I don't need gets used up when I drive it.
 
#19 ·
Haha man i spent all day saturday trying to get it down and accomplished nothinggggggg. However i got it down pretty quickly today, if its not empty and youre unbolting the straps then take a jack and your knees and some stacks of bricks and push up on it, helps get the pressure off the bolts to get them loose, pain in my ass.

Why did you say change the brake fluid?

The whole reason my tank is coming down though is because a brake line burst right behind it, so I replaced the entire line from front axle to back, just to where they bolt in, about 12 feet of tube. Putting the new lines in is easy too so if it looks bad when you get it down 2 6 feet brake lines fit perfectly with just bending and you wont have to cut or flare lines, maybe its worth it while youre down there and the tank is off.
 
#18 ·
scdakota the easiest way to siphon the tank is to remove the bed then pull out the fuel pump cause there is an antisiphon ball in the tank or the fuel rail is a good way also
DocZ Isn't it pretty easy to take the box off?
I'd rather than than pull the tank.
I was enticed to do the bed removal, but not enough help to make it happen... I asked the kids if I could use their swingset but they convinced me that it wouldn't work. lol
 
#21 ·
So you're saying the gas tank was more of a pain to remove than replacing the brake lines? I'm waiting on a complete set of SS brake lines to come in. Because I figured it I was going through the trouble of replacing one, might as well do them all (BTW all the lines are pre-bent as well with fittings and all). Yeah, I'll have completely new fluid in mine and have to bleed the system out.

Hey scotty, did you drop it with fuel still in it? Or did you get the fuel out and how did you end up doing that? About how long did it take to drop the tank? Because if it doesn't take long I might wake up early one morning before it gets super hot and drop the tank. Since the trucks not going anywhere anyway.
 
#24 ·
Fuck yes my gas tank was a bitch and i did my whole brake lines without even completely removing the tank, the fuel line and electrical connector are still in it, just shoved it out of the way.

And I'm not sure if you have seen your brake lines recently but if i were to do my brake lines again and had the option of buying factory prebent lines or 2 6 foot straight lines from advance i would buy the two 6 foot lines all over again. Looking at the factory bends, they're fucked up. They are nearly impossible to re-navigate if it was in a full 10 or 11 foot line. Buy two lines bend them nicely, i used almost all of the factory clips along the original line used too.

And yes full tank of gas too just my fuck, but wasn't too heavy and my dad helped with a jack and i had stacks of bricks, just took a brick out at a time and moved the jack around, real easy.

Only took a few hours maybe to get it down, but looking back it shouldnt have taken over 1 really.

There should be 2 hoses coming out of the gas tank. The larger hose has the anti-syphon setup, the smaller one doesn't. Disconnect the hose from the tank and shove some tubing in there. I was able to get about 10 gallons out of my tank that way.

It's not necessary to drain the tank to drop it, though, I didn't drain mine till 6 months after I dropped it. Get a transmission jack from Harbor Freight, position it between the straps, crank it to the bottom of the tank and loosen the bolts. Get them out of the way, disconnect the hoses, and slowly crank the jack down. When you can get a hand in there, disconnect the evap and fuel lines, and a little bit farther, get a screw driver in there to disconnect the electrical connector.

You'll have a bit of an issue with the heat shield getting in the way, and a bit of an issue with the drive shaft.. I pulled the tank toward the back, rotated it so it was on top of the drive shaft, then slowly moved it down till it could clear the frame. Honestly, it's worth it to remove the bed as well. There's 6 bolts holding it on, it'll take 2 guys to lift it. So much easier to do everything.
Shit maybe i should have removed the bed I've never done it and wasn't really sure how easy it was.

But yeah the vent tube doesn't have a anti siphon thing then youre saying? I wish i knew that...
 
#22 ·
There should be 2 hoses coming out of the gas tank. The larger hose has the anti-syphon setup, the smaller one doesn't. Disconnect the hose from the tank and shove some tubing in there. I was able to get about 10 gallons out of my tank that way.

It's not necessary to drain the tank to drop it, though, I didn't drain mine till 6 months after I dropped it. Get a transmission jack from Harbor Freight, position it between the straps, crank it to the bottom of the tank and loosen the bolts. Get them out of the way, disconnect the hoses, and slowly crank the jack down. When you can get a hand in there, disconnect the evap and fuel lines, and a little bit farther, get a screw driver in there to disconnect the electrical connector.

You'll have a bit of an issue with the heat shield getting in the way, and a bit of an issue with the drive shaft.. I pulled the tank toward the back, rotated it so it was on top of the drive shaft, then slowly moved it down till it could clear the frame. Honestly, it's worth it to remove the bed as well. There's 6 bolts holding it on, it'll take 2 guys to lift it. So much easier to do everything.
 
#33 ·
:woot:

So I pulled the connection apart for the fuel pump on the truck. I couldn't get to it by going on the truck. Actually, I got to it by sitting in front of the driver's side rear wheel. Its connected right to the frame there. Disconnection was a snap and I connected the Ram's harness and wha-la. It connected right to it. Looks like I'll be draining the tank in the next couple of days. I'll get pictures up so you guys know where and what I'm talking about, as well as, the harness I'm using.
 
#34 ·
Sweet man let me know more about this!

Im gonna pull my tank next summer and do a bunch under my truck... Ive got big plans.

But on a happier note i got my tank back in despite it being full with at least 15 gallons of gas but my trucks driveable with brakes too!
 
#37 ·
roll-over ball

Yes it's a roll-overball that stops spillage when upside down, the Germans were the only ones smart enough to install a special drain plug that requires a special socket to remove. No easy way other than removing the fuel line @ throttle body and run direct constant power to pump until tanks empty, keep watching and shut off soon as empty so u don't damage pump.
 
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