Hi all!

I have a new to me 1986 f250 4x4 4spd 351 carb reg cab camper special, mechanical fuel pump.
. I only have put about 125 miles on it over the last month since this is a second vehicle. Yesterday, I went to the gas station to fill up to confirm gas gauges were working etc. I was running on the rear tank (according to the in cab tank selector switch) but when I went to put gas in, the tank was full! So I put the fuel in the front tank and it took the appropriate amount. It would appear that moving the in cab switch is doing nothing,... Is this the selector valve? I've heard/read these are suspect... Is there a reliable replacement or should I just bite the bullet and get the Oem replacement?

Thanks!

 

The valve is located midway on the frame on the driver's side. You should have the simple valve that only has about 3 hoses, and shouldn't be too hard to find. You should also only have one wire going to it. See if you have power going down there when someone flips the dash switch.

 

When I had that problem it turned out to be just the dash switch.
If I were you, I would check there first before spending the time & $ crawling around under the truck.

 

Thanks, I'll check the dash switch, it is the 6 port switch with the return lines.

 

I had this problem on my 1981. It turns out it was the 10 amp fuse. When the fuse is blown it would just pull fuel from 1 tank regardless of where the switch was.

 

Thanks, checked the fuse, it's good. At the five wire plug on the valve there is power at the red wire and brown wire.

 

Checked the switch on the dash, it's good, the power at the valve is good and changes/works when the dash switch position is changed so its gotta be the selector valve.

Should I go with the Oem ford part or is there a better alternative ,,?

it is the 6 port..

Thanks!

 

Pollak make a 3 port and 6 port selector.

Here:

Fuel Selector Valves on Pollak

Details on an 1986 here:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...uggestion.html

Cheers

 

I had that valve fail on me, except I was reading off of the front tank and sucking off the back tank. I ran out of gas about a mile from home, it was not fun. I could not find mine, so I had to install a generic one like it that you get at Oreilly's. I cut off the Ford connectors for the inlets and worked the plastic lines on the valve and used a hose clamp to secure them. (silicone spray works great for helping them get pushed on) and the line on the other side of the valve is a different size, so I took either 5/16 or 3/8 rubber fuel line and silicone sprayed it up and pushed it on the plastic line as far as I could and double clamped that, then clamped it to the valve. The electrical connector, I grounded it to the frame and used a wire for double assurance it was grounded. Then I took the positive wire and hooked it to the factory connector with a small flat electrical connector, did the same for the ground. I just pushed them in and used electrical tape to tape it up good. It's been working great for months now.

 

This is a interesting truck. Is it all original? Most of the time we run across the 6 port valve on the 460 trucks with electric fuel pumps in the tanks.

If it's all original, what makes it a camper special? I know the earlier camper specials had a 8 1/2 bed didn't they?

How do the fuel return lines run? Does the return line start up at the carb like the 460's or is it down near the mechanical pump?

Does this truck have anything else different about it? Do you have a spot for another aux battery or a charge relay for the camper?

 

My 460 with the mechanical pump has three fittings.
The return line comes right from it back to the valve.

 

This is on the 87 truck? I find it hard to believe that would be original. By that time, they had the electric fuel pumps. Did someone retro-fit this pump? I am learning as I go about this.

 

No, it's not aftermarket (though the pump has been replaced)
Everything is as it was when it drove off the dealers lot.

Obviously some trucks of this era came with 'Hot Fuel Handling"... and some did not.
This was the last vestige of carburetors in HD (over 8500gvw) vehicles before EFI in 1988.

 

A lot of them did have the hot fuel handling system, but they used in tank electric fuel pumps. But sure enough, rockauto list a mechanical fuel pump for a 87 460, and it has extra ports on it. Leave it to Ford to do some crazy things.

 

Hi Franklin,

I haven't actually ran the vin/decode to con firm it is camper special, but it is 100% stock, it does have the dual batteries with relays. 8600 gvwr 4 sp manual. 84k miles, 98% rust free which rare here in md.

It is 6 port fuel selector, appears to be the original one by the patina