2004 Ram 1500 gas tank


twobjshelbys

GT Owner
Jul 26, 2010
6,053
Las Vegas, NV
OK, this is a plea for a part, but also relevant to the current GT parts availability.

I need a 34 gallon gas tank for a 2004 Ram 1500 pickup.

Why?

Because Dodge / Ram discontinued it in 2020!!!

Sound familiar?

So if anyone knows of a place that buys new old stock and might have one please send me contact info.

Backstory:

First, I don't drive this much except in the fall/winter/spring. It sits outside because the garage is too short and unless I need it because the Honda is out it sits til cooler weather.

About two years ago I noticed a fuel smell around the truck after I'd drive it. And especially in hot Vegas days. After a while it got to be enough that I'd get a whiff in the hottest summer days even if it hadn't been out. So I did the searches for mere mortal work and eventually took it to the dealer. His claim was fuel pump tubing connectors so they replaced it and indeed things improved. That was in Oct 2020.

Time moves forward... During the summer during one of the few times when I had it out because the boss was somewhere else, sitting in the parking lot of the doctors office waiting because I didn't want to go in to maskville I hear a chime and see the check engine light come on and at the same time the gas gauge take a dive from a little over half to pegged empty. This wasn't a free fall. It was "driven" (gauge people understand the difference). Then I turned off the engine, started it up again and the gauge was normal (but the CEL stayed on). Code said something about fuel level sensor out of range. Cleared the code and everything was OK, ran the drive cycle to get all the readiness things done [Which by the way is 10x easier than Ford, esp. the GT, got everything except evap in about 10 miles].

Still on the same tank, down to about 3/8 and it triggers again but without the and the gauge pegged dealer says to wait. Eventually it happened with little time between, there were two codes. But before I took it in the codes cleared but I took it in anyway because the second code gave them a better clue. Lo and behold, on the way to the dealer it failed again so I had not only the CEL on but the gauge pegged down. They brought out their scanner and said - what everyone though but couldn't previous prove - that the sweeper for the fuel level float was bad.

Replaced the fuel pump again (which includes the gas gauge assembly).

Not too many miles but a few months pass (remember, don't drive it in the summer) and a week ago throws a CEL again. P0456 and P0440 - both evap system "small leak" failures. Cleared them and ran a cycle. This time it added P0442 - another small leak. Did the standard small leak fix - gas cap... Failed again before evap self test completes. P0440. This all happens over about a week. By the way, they replaced the fuel pump under warranty. Oh, also relevant, is that when they were looking for the fuel pump from Mopar it was on backorder so they got me one from Autozone. Autozone covered the dealer labor and part under their warranty. If I had bought the part from Autozone they would have covered the part but not the labor, but since the dealer bought it they covered both. Kudos to both for doing that.

OK, so there is something broken for real. The next item in the diagnosis tree is the evap purge solenoid. But the common thing in the tree for all of them is "did you replace the fuel pump".... Yes.

So decided to take it to dealer. If it is the purge valve it's on me - it's about a $70 part plus labor and it's a wash. But if it isn't the purge valve, it's still to the dealer and I'm just throwing parts. So off I go this morning...

This place has been backed up for several days in the past, so I just dropped it off this morning.. They smoke tested it and concluded there is a crack in the tank near one of the "ports" - didn't say but probably the fuel pump area. Tank is about $1000... But, none available. Lots of google search places show them and I finally got one who was chatty. (And for some reason the top google search places for this part number show Canadian web sites which all end up at a dealer. And they can't ship to the us. But that doesn't matter since Mopar discontinued it in 2020. Which by the way was also the answer when I had the fuel pump replaced. First time it was on backorder, second time the Mopar part was discontinued but at least the aftermarket was still there.)

Back to the tank... I tried maybe 10 parts places and those that ended up at dealers and contrary to their web sites claiming availability, all said discontinued and "No, we don't have one in a secret stash". Even Tasca said the same thing.

So at the first contact, it started off that the tank was cracked before. I told them that they would have to prove that it was there when I took it in and said they would get back to me. This afternoon I talked to them and they said they will do their best to do all of this as another "warranty". The bad news is that they still can't find one...

It's kind of scary that literally, there is not a single 34 gallon gas tank anywhere on the planet.

In my searching I've found that several folks with this truck have taken the 26 gallon tank and upgraded to the 34. I suggested they look to see if it can be downgraded. He was receptive to the idea.

So, anyway, I tell this story knowing that those with Ford GTs are going through some of the same concerns. I guess it's comforting to know we're not alone, but disconcerting that a car/truck from 2004-2006 has parts that are discontinued by the manufacturer...

Seriously guys, and anyone with connections to the dealer higher ups, cars just by their nature simply last longer. Forget about years. These cars are good "forever". We have 100K Ford GTs. Trucks like mine are not rare at 500K+ miles. You build 'em to last, and then tell us that it's junk yard scrap because I can't get a simple emissions related part!!! Give us parts for more than 20 years!


Sigh...
 

nota4re

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Feb 15, 2006
4,176