Hey Guys -
Folks here have been great in the past providing help on little problems cropping up.-, and some not so little. I appreciate it.

Here's the deal - have a 2003 SD PSD 6.0 and overall have had pretty good service from the truck.
Lately started smelling diesel while driving, but was it was not all that strong, until today.
Got home at dark and using a flashlight, saw evidence of diesel fuel on the outside of the left front shock boot, and also soaking the edges of the composite wheel well liner very close to that. evidently coming from somewhere above that (of course ) Drippage of fuel continued on down onto the left/driver's side front axle area.

I looked, but had on good clothes and couldn't crawl under and see what the cause was. Looks like I'm gonna have to deal with this and my LAST read that LAST desire is to go to the local dealer. I've learned the hard way not to do that.

ANY help ya'll can send my way would be appreciated......

 

Cover for the fuel pressure regulator on the driver side of the upper fuel filter housing is a common spot.

 

Rusty - thanks for that - I'll get out and check tomorrow. Hope it's something simple.
I'm no wrench genius.

 

Rusty - looked in that spot and nothing but dry dirt and small shiny spot. No real chafe. Still can't find it. Gonna keep checking.
Thanks....

 

You might try wiping around the housing and fittings with a paper towel (and check the towel for fuel), diesel can be kinda hard to see if it's a small leak. Don't forget the black plastic filter cap also, a crack there can be hard to see.

 

Bingo!!
You're so right. Did take to a nearby garage, even though they don't do 'diesel work' and explained the problem.
At home, I had cranked it, and while running could not spot any obvious leak.
Me and another mechanic were standing in front of the engine, hood open when another mechanic turned on the ignition for a second before starting.
The top fuel filter housing was squirting diesel out the top at the 11 and 2 o'clock positions during the 'switch on' cycle.
They tried to find just a new cap and 'O' ring, but no luck without buying the whole filter assembly. Cap looked fine. 'O' ring was not broken or split - just a little rough in a couple of places.
Put in new set of both filters (bottom one's ALWAYS a PITA) and 'O' rings and it seems fine now.
Wish I had found it myself - could have saved some money - but at least it's fixed.

There's a reason I work on guns and not automobiles.

Thanks very much for the help.

 

You can get the cap anywhere... Even Dorman makes a replacement at any auto parts store

Josh