Siphon gas from F150 - canyou?

[Spade5]

With hurrican IKE we had some major power issued in the Houston area. I have a generator and was running it 4-5 hours a day to keep the frig and freezer going. I had 10 gallons of gas in cans expecting maybe three days but it went a bit past that.

I kept thining I have my F150 in the driveway with 25 gallons but cannot get it out.

Does anyone know if you can siphon gas out of modern vehicles? Years ago I had a jack rabbit pump that worked great but I seem to remember hearing that now there is some sort of safety feature where you cannot get the hose into the tank.

 

[kemo]

You have to use a small diameter hose to get past the slosh flapper. If you knew how to jump the fuel pump relay you could disconnect a fuel hose and use the f/p to transfer your fuel.

 

[glider]

Most times that flapper will stop you from withdrawing the hose unless you use a piece of coat hanger to push it in.
There's also a deterrent further down in the filler neck in most vehicles that will stop you from siphoning out fuel.

 

[SledDog]

You have to use a small diameter hose to get past the slosh flapper. If you knew how to jump the fuel pump relay you could disconnect a fuel hose and use the f/p to transfer your fuel.

If it's a newer (04 - 08) F-150, I would not recommend jumping out the fuel pump. There is a FPDM (Fuel Pump Driver Module) in the circuit. You can burn this module up real easy trying to jump out the fuel pump. And it's a HD (Hundred Dollar) item.

You could relieve the pressure on the fuel line, disconnect the fuel filter, place a hose over the line comming from the tank (be careful not to break the quick disconnect fittings), and then turn the ignition key on. Do not crank the starter.

The PCM will turn on the pump to pressure the fuel lines. I would not let the pump run for more than a few seconds at a time. I believe the PCM will set a code if the pump runs too long and does not sense any pressure on the fuel rails.

 

[glider]

If it's a newer (04 - 08) F-150, I would not recommend jumping out the fuel pump. There is a FPDM (Fuel Pump Driver Module) in the circuit. You can burn this module up real easy trying to jump out the fuel pump. And it's a HD (Hundred Dollar) item.

You could relieve the pressure on the fuel line, disconnect the fuel filter, place a hose over the line comming from the tank (be careful not to break the quick disconnect fittings), and then turn the ignition key on. Do not crank the starter.

The PCM will turn on the pump to pressure the fuel lines. I would not let the pump run for more than a few seconds at a time. I believe the PCM will set a code if the pump runs too long and does not sense any pressure on the fuel rails.

Excellent advice here. Best I can give is a jerry can and the gas station you use. Safer than playing with fuel pumps and vapors near your house.

I've often thought of the same thing as far as storing gas and IF i had to to it, I would opt for a fuel cell or fuel tank from a car/truck in the shed out back before tampering with the fuel system in a car or truck.

 

[glider]

Congrats on being long winded :lero:lolrolling

Around here they allow them to be filled with sand after emptying them and pressure testing.

 

[Spade5]

Thanks for the information. I guess the flapper valve is what I had heard about.

I thought I was pretty well prepared for the hurricane but did not anticipate over two million people without power and no way to pump gas. I thought 10 gallons would get me by.

I'll pick up another 5 gallon can or two for next time. It just frustrated me that I wasn't going anywhere and had a full tank of fuel and couldn't get to it.

 

[SledDog]

Re: Siphon gas from F150 - can you?

I had both tanks removed, (the EPA is going to be cracking down harder and harder and harder on underground fuel tanks, making it a huge issue when selling a property), and after removing the tanks we did a soil test that confirmed that neither tank had leaked at all.

Congrats on your 200! Back to the off topic tank stories...

We have 4 underground tank were I work. The EPA requirement is for all under ground tanks (for our city government) to be removed unless they are double walled with spec'ed leak sensors. We're going to above ground CONVAULT style double wall tanks with containments.

Is an expensive conversion. The monitoring wells around our in ground storage tanks are showing diesel fuel in their test samples....

And we don't want to pollute the environment around our waste water treatment plant... Besides, we don't want diesel fuel contaminating the reuse water we send down our DEP permitted 1200' deep injection well that's drilled into the Florida aquifer. :s