Author Topic: Get rid of second tank?  (Read 5763 times)

Offline Shifty

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Get rid of second tank?
« on: January 07, 2015, 05:44:57 pm »
On my 87 V-20 (5.7), the driver's side tank is out of action, probably due to the selector valve, as the truck will stall when the selector switch is thrown.  My question is, how difficult would it be to just remove the tank, selector valve, and disconnect the switch? 
87 V20 Standard Cab Longbed (current)

87 R30 3+3 Longbed (days of yore)

98 C2500 ext cab longbed

Offline VileZambonie

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Re: Get rid of second tank?
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2015, 06:08:30 pm »
Not difficult but why not fix it? It's a nice option to have
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74 GMC, 75 K5, 84 GMC, 85 K20, 86 k20, 79 K10

Offline Irish_Alley

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Re: Get rid of second tank?
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2015, 11:26:12 pm »
it could very well be the switch in the dash its a $15 fix or it could be the valve. but i would fix it just so you have it and switch tanks every fill up
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When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth ~Sherlock Holmes

Offline Shifty

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Re: Get rid of second tank?
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2015, 10:10:49 am »
Meh, I sell a ton of valves and switches, and to me it's just another thing to fail.  (my last truck, the valve stuck between tanks).  I don't need it, and would rather spend the mod bucks elsewhere. 

87 V20 Standard Cab Longbed (current)

87 R30 3+3 Longbed (days of yore)

98 C2500 ext cab longbed

Offline Irish_Alley

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If you can’t tell yourself the truth, who can you tell it to?~Irish_Alley

When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth ~Sherlock Holmes

Offline VileZambonie

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Re: Get rid of second tank?
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2015, 06:28:21 pm »
Meh, I sell a ton of valves and switches, and to me it's just another thing to fail.  (my last truck, the valve stuck between tanks).  I don't need it, and would rather spend the mod bucks elsewhere.

Conversely if one fails you have a backup. If you don't want to fix it right now just leave it
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              ⌠¯¯¯¯¯'   [☼===☼]
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74 GMC, 75 K5, 84 GMC, 85 K20, 86 k20, 79 K10

Offline gutts

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Re: Get rid of second tank?
« Reply #6 on: January 10, 2015, 04:11:16 pm »
     I have a 81 or somewhere in that vintage . It is a yard/woods truck . I might burn a tank of fuel every year . I am thinking that I want to get rid of one tank also . Gas gets old ....

Offline SkinnyG

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Re: Get rid of second tank?
« Reply #7 on: January 10, 2015, 04:45:21 pm »
I ~put~ a second tank in my '77.  I prefer it, because I live in the toolies, and it's more convenient to fill up whichever tank is empty when I am already ~in~ town.  Apparently I empty a tank more frequently than I go to town.
The Crusty Chevy: 1977 Silverado, shortboxed & dropped, potato-potato.

Offline gutts

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Re: Get rid of second tank?
« Reply #8 on: January 10, 2015, 06:20:52 pm »
^ 😄
  Yeah my truck will never see town again I'm afraid .....

Offline VTK5Mudder

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Re: Get rid of second tank?
« Reply #9 on: January 10, 2015, 09:54:48 pm »
my son disconnected my second tank as somebody had just made one and put it in the did a good job but we were having a problem with keeping gas staying in carb as there was  hole and cracks in the line so we just took the y out and use just one tank. problem solved ! have you checked to see if its the fuel line and not the switch /valve that the trouble ?

Offline Shifty

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Re: Get rid of second tank?
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2015, 10:15:41 am »
I haven't checked anything yet....

When I bought it, there were two locking gas caps, but only one key, and they were differently keyed.  I called the PO, and he told me that it's just on there to plug the hole, that the valve is dead.  Logically, when rocking the selector switch on the dash kills the truck, or prevents it from starting, it sounds more like the valve or pump to me.  Either way, I live in town, and pass 8 gas stations on my way to work, which is only 13 miles away, so one tank is plenty. 

I just don't want to go through what I did with my last 87, when the valve died halfway between tanks.  What a diagnostic nightmare for a side of the road repair.
87 V20 Standard Cab Longbed (current)

87 R30 3+3 Longbed (days of yore)

98 C2500 ext cab longbed