Recently, Just after starting my truck I noticed that my fuel gauge stopped working and my check engine light illuminated. Reading the code from the ECU revealed that the fuel temperature sensor had malfunctioned. Since these two events happened at the same time it became obvious to me that the problem must be in the fuel pump/sending unit assembly. The easiest way to get to that would be to lift the bed.
I had always heard that lifting the bed was easy, but I had no idea just how easy it was. Essentially 6 bolts and some electrical connectors were all that needed to be removed to lift the bed.
After lifting the bed I found that several wires to the fuel pump assembly had been severed! There was no evidence indicating how the wires were severed although years ago a body shop had the bed off for a repair; maybe they pinched some wires and it took a while for them to eventually break.
Given the short lengths of wire I decided to strip and solder instead of using crimp connections. Weatherproof heat shrink tubing was used to protect the wires from the elements.
I also used this opportunity to install new bed spacers as that body shop I mentioned earlier didn't do a very good job leveling the bed. I verified after reinstalling the bed that nothing was near the fuel pump wires so hopefully this repair will last the lifetime of the truck.
