87 chevy won't start

[rick222]

Pickup has two fuel tanks but have only used
the passenger side tank the whole time I have owned it
(the other tank doesn't work)

Today, truck turns over, lots of juice, but no go.
Seems like its not getting fuel.

Flipped the fuel tank switch on the dash several times,
thinking it might have got bumped to the wrong tank.
This has happened before.

Still won't start.

Is there any manual way to force the gas feed from the passenger side tank?

I figure there must be a manual valve to switch the tanks somewhere.

Looked all over the place but can't find it.
Is there a way to change tanks manually from the valve
under the truck by the tank?

Any suggestions would be most welcome.

[Oldtruckfanatic]

Hello....There is no manual switch under the truck anywhere but you can go underneath to the "tee" and trace the passenger side fuel line to it and from there to the fuel pump. Once you isolate which line it is you can just disconnect the one from the passenger side tank to the tee and from the tee to the fuel pump and put them together with a barb union or a short piece of steel tubing. I used an inline fuel filter on my 73 and it worked out nicely. Hope this helps. Also just to make sure it's the fuel you can spray a little carb cleaner in the carb (not too much just enough to get it to fire to check) and if it fires it's fuel if not then may be ignition

[rick222]

Thanks fanatic.

Good advice, I'll spray some carb cleaner in the morning, and go the bypass route if I have to, but I'm really hoping it's something simple.

It's fuel injection, maybe it's a scensor?..hoping it's not the fuel pump.
The fuses all seem fine,

Kind of a drag as the thing is in an apartment underground, and if I keep cranking it and kill the battery,
we're going to have to haul it out with a chain.

I've had the truck 2 years and its been a love affair up till now.

305 Custom Deluxe.
Its only got 60,000 kilometers on it.
I bought it off an old guy, who didn't drive it much, its mint.

[Oldtruckfanatic]

I didn't think of it being fuel injected. I'm not sure about your fuel pump setup now but if it has in tank pumps there should be a seperate pump for each tank and if it has a frame mounted pump it will be after the tee. I have worked on tons of these trucks but unfortunately I have also worked on a ton of fords toyotas dodges and a bunch of other vehicles in varying years so I can't always remember the details of one model although I should have asked about the throttle body thing. either way the place to start is to check to see if it fires if you add a fuel source and if it doesn't then check for spark. The ignition modules in all my trucks always worked until I shut the truck off and wouldn't start when it was time to go again. Hope you can get it going. One last thing...if it has in tank pumps you really won't be able to just splice the lines together because of the fuel pressure the fuel injection pumps put out. In this case it will be better to see if you can isolate the problem and repair it to keep yourself safe. It is still possible to take the tee out of the equasion but whatever you use to connect the hoses together has to be able to withstand the fuel pressure from a fuel injection type fuel pump and absolutlely avoid the inline fuel filter unless it's the high pressure type. again all this because of the higher pressure. Again I apologize for not asking about the fuel injection that makes it a different ball game.

[Russell]

You can simply bypass the tank switching valve under the box / cab. Just get a peice of steel 3/8 and steel 5/16 tubing from Napa, then slip it inbetween the pass side fuel tank and the lines up front. That will connect your throttle body straight to the fuel tank. You can then find the fuel pump wire that comes from the front of the truck (typically tan / white) and hook it straight up to the fuel pump in the pass side tank. You should be good to go at that point.

Other possiblity, which I personally would look into doing would be to drop the driver's side tank, replace the fuel pump in it, then replace the switching valve / dash switch so your dual tanks work again

[rick222]

It was the fuel pump.
The (tank exchange) valve was also cracked.
The tank switch on the dash was also burnt out.

Guess I was living on borrowed time?

Hopefully, tomorrow this truck will run.

[nevada70chev]

i got a 87 silverado with factory dual tanks, i can get the motor to run if i prime it with gas down the carb, it is a efi or tbi 350. oldtruckfanatic, what part of reno are you in? i'm in sparks. how many switches, valve, pumps are in this system? i want to eliminate one of the tanks and use which ever one is the primary or default. thanks for all you help.