Dissapearing gas?

From : jim

Q: i have a 1994 ram 1500 318 auto. in april 2002 i was a passenger in a car accident leaving confined to a wheelchair. for the three months that i was in the hospital my sister drove my truck around. she and some of my friends used it to move my belongings from my apartment over to my mothers house where i now live. the battery in the truck had been giving me problems before but i never got a chance to get a new one. the battery finally died and the truck stayed parked in the driveway at my house for several months. the driveway is on a about a 30 hill. i got some friends to go pick up and install a new battery for me but when we tried to crank it it didnt start. it turned out the gas tank was empty but there was gas in it when it was parked. they took a gas can and put a few gallons in it then drove it to a gas station and filled it up. even after filling the tank up the gas guage was still stuck on empty. i had my friend take it and have all of the fluids changed and had it washed and detailed so i could sell it. it is parked out in the parking lot at his office with a for sale sign in it. someone stoped by to look at it but when he tried to crank it for them once again the gas tank was empty. he got a gas can and put more gas in it and checked but he said he did not see a leak anywhere. after a few days the gas was gone again. i have a locking gas cap so its not being stolen. this truck has never given me any problems in the past. i always did my own regular maintenance and the only time i ever had to take it to a shop was to have a ball joint replaced. what could be the cause of the dissapearing gas isnt there a pressure relief valve on the gas tank to releive pressure if it builds up could this valve be stuck open causing the gas to evaporate also what could have caused the gas guage to stop working all of the sudden could the two problems be related .

Replies:

From : xpiratecbhvac

thanks i do not drive it much not at present but need it on occasion to haul my tools around any help appreciated walt on sun 07 sep 2003 111750 gmt ron s. rwsulli@nospamearthlink.net wrote i have the same identical truck and love it. i have none of the problems that you speak of and i have 142k on mine. i work with a guy whos father owns a transmission shop. i will print and forward your post to him and see what he says about it. ron .

From : cbhvac

i have a 1994 ram 1500 318 auto. in april 2002 i was a passenger in a car accident leaving confined to a wheelchair. for the three months that i was in the hospital my sister drove my truck around. she and some of my friends used it to move my belongings from my apartment over to my mothers house where i now live. the battery in the truck had been giving me problems before but i never got a chance to get a new one. the battery finally died and the truck stayed parked in the driveway at my house for several months. the driveway is on a about a 30 hill. i got some friends to go pick up and install a new battery for me but when we tried to crank it it didnt start. it turned out the gas tank was empty but there was gas in it when it was parked. they took a gas can and put a few gallons in it then drove it to a gas station and filled it up. even after filling the tank up the gas guage was still stuck on empty. i had my friend take it and have all of the fluids changed and had it washed and detailed so i could sell it. it is parked out in the parking lot at his office with a for sale sign in it. someone stoped by to look at it but when he tried to crank it for them once again the gas tank was empty. he got a gas can and put more gas in it and checked but he said he did not see a leak anywhere. after a few days the gas was gone again. i have a locking gas cap so its not being stolen. this truck has never given me any problems in the past. i always did my own regular maintenance and the only time i ever had to take it to a shop was to have a ball joint replaced. what could be the cause of the dissapearing gas isnt there a pressure relief valve on the gas tank to releive pressure if it builds up could this valve be stuck open causing the gas to evaporate also what could have caused the gas guage to stop working all of the sudden could the two problems be related you wont get that much gas to evaporate that quickly from even leaving the gas cap off... you have either someone driving the hell out of the truck...fill it again and write down the odometer reading...compare it in a few days...you may find that someone that you allowed to have keys to is using it...thats one possibility.. a leak. that leak could be in the tank..altho if you had one that large someone would smell fuel. that leak could also be someone that is draining it....a locking cap is not a big deal...really. its a deterant thats all....i lost a set of keys to one of our service trucks and grabbed my spares...realized that it needed gas stopped...and forgot about the locking cap. 5 minutes later with a full tank and the cap back on off we went... the stuck sending unit...that could be due to varnish building up on the sender when it was low..could be...but i would fill it halfway and have someone drivethe hell out of it for a day and see if it breaks loose. .

From : jim

you wont get that much gas to evaporate that quickly from even leaving the gas cap off... you have either someone driving the hell out of the truck...fill it again and write down the odometer reading...compare it in a few days...you may find that someone that you allowed to have keys to is using it...thats one possibility.. a leak. that leak could be in the tank..altho if you had one that large someone would smell fuel. that leak could also be someone that is draining it....a locking cap is not a big deal...really. its a deterant thats all....i lost a set of keys to one of our service trucks and grabbed my spares...realized that it needed gas stopped...and forgot about the locking cap. 5 minutes later with a full tank and the cap back on off we went... the stuck sending unit...that could be due to varnish building up on the sender when it was low..could be...but i would fill it halfway and have someone drivethe hell out of it for a day and see if it breaks loose. me and my friend have the only keys. he has the key so he can go on test drives for anybody interested. except for the first fillup when we put the battery in hes paid for the gas since. i dont think someone is driving it. theyd have to be pretty good to time it so that it runs out of gas when they pull in the parking lot and park in exactly the same spot. its not dissapearing overnight it may have sounded that way in my post. after the original fillup he drove it to the place to have the fluids changed then to the washing and detail place. he took it out on the highway and drove it for a while to sure it ran ok. he said except for the gas guage it was fine. it was about two weeks before someone came to look at it when it was empty. then he only put a couple of gallons in it to check for leaks and it was a few days later when that dissapeared. .

From : curmudgeon

given everything youve said it has to be a leak. a slow gas leak will evaporate very quickly on hot pavement/ or hot weather. leaving little or no trace. you might want to have your friend put down paper or better still a large sheet of cardboard under the truck tank; wait 24 hours and see if youre getting a stain. if not there then slide the the cardboard toward the front of the truck wait another 24 hours and check again...until youve traced from the back to the front bumper along the route the gas line takes. good luck. you wont get that much gas to evaporate that quickly from even leaving the gas cap off... you have either someone driving the hell out of the truck...fill it again and write down the odometer reading...compare it in a few days...you may find that someone that you allowed to have keys to is using it...thats one possibility.. a leak. that leak could be in the tank..altho if you had one that large someone would smell fuel. that leak could also be someone that is draining it....a locking cap is not a big deal...really. its a deterant thats all....i lost a set of keys to one of our service trucks and grabbed my spares...realized that it needed gas stopped...and forgot about the locking cap. 5 minutes later with a full tank and the cap back on off we went... the stuck sending unit...that could be due to varnish building up on the sender when it was low..could be...but i would fill it halfway and have someone drivethe hell out of it for a day and see if it breaks loose. me and my friend have the only keys. he has the key so he can go on test drives for anybody interested. except for the first fillup when we put the battery in hes paid for the gas since. i dont think someone is driving it. theyd have to be pretty good to time it so that it runs out of gas when they pull in the parking lot and park in exactly the same spot. its not dissapearing overnight it may have sounded that way in my post. after the original fillup he drove it to the place to have the fluids changed then to the washing and detail place. he took it out on the highway and drove it for a while to sure it ran ok. he said except for the gas guage it was fine. it was about two weeks before someone came to look at it when it was empty. then he only put a couple of gallons in it to check for leaks and it was a few days later when that dissapeared. .

From : budd cochranbudd cochranbudd cochran

azwiley1 wrote yup still here and from the looks of things i will be here at least = another year which i dont mind cool. then what now that i am finally getting things life included straightened out a = trip to moab is not out of the question. ill keep a cold soda and a hot rock or two handy fer ya. budd my son bryon gets his discharge in february. are you still in az budd azwiley1 wrote completely understand my friend. %^ hey id rather talk to you than about you ya know. vbg budd azwiley1 wrote thanks budd. if in doubt spend the extra and get the high rated wheels. youre too good of a friend to risk on cheap wheels even on a shovitaways. budd azwiley1 wrote i am looking at getting some new wheels finally for my truck. one thing i have noticed is that the load capacity across brands changes greatly running from 2100 to 3100. are there any pointers one should know when looking at wheels and its load capacity i dont feel like spending $130.00 plus on a wheel and not have it meet my needs. .

From : jim

my friend is mechanically challenged maybe i can get over there this weekend and supervise. ill tell him to try the cardboard thing i think he can probably handle that. i have been over there a few time though and i have not noticed a gasoline smell around the truck. or just crawl under the truck with a flashlight please no matches or cigarette lighters!!! and look for anyplace the normal road grime is washed off. with the fuel injection pump back by the tank it may not be that hard to find. budd curmudgeon wrote given everything youve said it has to be a leak. a slow gas leak will evaporate very quickly on hot pavement/ or hot weather. leaving little or no trace. you might want to have your friend put down paper or better still a large sheet of cardboard under the truck tank; wait 24 hours and see if youre getting a stain. if not there then slide the the cardboard toward the front of the truck wait another 24 hours and check again...until youve traced from the back to the front bumper along the route the gas line takes. good luck. you wont get that much gas to evaporate that quickly from even leaving the gas cap off... you have either someone driving the hell out of the truck...fill it again and write down the odometer reading...compare it in a few days...you may find that someone that you allowed to have keys to is using it...thats one possibility.. a leak. that leak could be in the tank..altho if you had one that large someone would smell fuel. that leak could also be someone that is draining it....a locking cap is not a big deal...really. its a deterant thats all....i lost a set of keys to one of our service trucks and grabbed my spares...realized that it needed gas stopped...and forgot about the locking cap. 5 minutes later with a full tank and the cap back on off we went... the stuck sending unit...that could be due to varnish building up on the sender when it was low..could be...but i would fill it halfway and have someone drivethe hell out of it for a day and see if it breaks loose. me and my friend have the only keys. he has the key so he can go on test drives for anybody interested. except for the first fillup when we put the battery in hes paid for the gas since. i dont think someone is driving it. theyd have to be pretty good to time it so that it runs out of gas when they pull in the parking lot and park in exactly the same spot. its not dissapearing overnight it may have sounded that way in my post. after the original fillup he drove it to the place to have the fluids changed then to the washing and detail place. he took it out on the highway and drove it for a while to sure it ran ok. he said except for the gas guage it was fine. it was about two weeks before someone came to look at it when it was empty. then he only put a couple of gallons in it to check for leaks and it was a few days later when that dissapeared. .

From : tbone

it really sounds like someone is stealing it. a locking gas cap is not much security. perhaps you should try parking it somewhere else for a few days and see if the problem magically goes away. while you are at it replace the cap with another one different make and give nobody the key including your friend and see what happens. -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving my friend is mechanically challenged maybe i can get over there this weekend and supervise. ill tell him to try the cardboard thing i think he can probably handle that. i have been over there a few time though and i have not noticed a gasoline smell around the truck. or just crawl under the truck with a flashlight please no matches or cigarette lighters!!! and look for anyplace the normal road grime is washed off. with the fuel injection pump back by the tank it may not be that hard to find. budd curmudgeon wrote given everything youve said it has to be a leak. a slow gas leak will evaporate very quickly on hot pavement/ or hot weather. leaving little or no trace. you might want to have your friend put down paper or better still a large sheet of cardboard under the truck tank; wait 24 hours and see if youre getting a stain. if not there then slide the the cardboard toward the front of the truck wait another 24 hours and check again...until youve traced from the back to the front bumper along the route the gas line takes. good luck. you wont get that much gas to evaporate that quickly from even leaving the gas cap off... you have either someone driving the hell out of the truck...fill it again and write down the odometer reading...compare it in a few days...you may find that someone that you allowed to have keys to is using it...thats one possibility.. a leak. that leak could be in the tank..altho if you had one that large someone would smell fuel. that leak could also be someone that is draining it....a locking cap is not a big deal...really. its a deterant thats all....i lost a set of keys to one of our service trucks and grabbed my spares...realized that it needed gas stopped...and forgot about the locking cap. 5 minutes later with a full tank and the cap back on off we went... the stuck sending unit...that could be due to varnish building up on the sender when it was low..could be...but i would fill it halfway and have someone drivethe hell out of it for a day and see if it breaks loose. me and my friend have the only keys. he has the key so he can go on test drives for anybody interested. except for the first fillup when we put the battery in hes paid for the gas since. i dont think someone is driving it. theyd have to be pretty good to time it so that it runs out of gas when they pull in the parking lot and park in exactly the same spot. its not dissapearing overnight it may have sounded that way in my post. after the original fillup he drove it to the place to have the fluids changed then to the washing and detail place. he took it out on the highway and drove it for a while to sure it ran ok. he said except for the gas guage it was fine. it was about two weeks before someone came to look at it when it was empty. then he only put a couple of gallons in it to check for leaks and it was a few days later when that dissapeared. .