Okay, maybe not that much, but it looks tragic when white smoke is pouring out from under the hood and your motor starts wheezing instead of idling as fuel pours out into the dirt. From what I've seen in my search on this forum, it looks like the issue with my 97 F250HD is not uncommon. I found that what I had is a steady stream coming out past the wire connector on what is apparently my fuel heater connector (the FPR is on top, and the water sensor is on the bottom, I think, and this is in the middle). I haven't found anything that shows how to remove the connector. How do I get the wire off the outside, and how do I remove the connector from the fuel bowl itself? Does the whole assembly need to be removed, and if so what do I need to do it? Is there a kit with seals for the whole filter cannister?

Thanks for any help. I need to get my DD back on the road, but mostly I need to erase from my mind the image of it coming home on a trailer behind a non-Ford product.

 

http://www.dieselorings.com/docs/OBSFuelBowlRebuild.pdf


Complete Fuel Bowl Reseal Kit for the 1994.5 - 1997 Ford 7.3L Diesel filter canister.

 

Thanks for the info, fordpride. BTW if the wire is disconnected from the plate on the fuel heater, I'm assuming it's junk. If this is the case, do I really need it (at $60 replacement cost)?

 

You do not need it at all

 

Lots of guys run with that disconnected. Even in real cold weather

 

It usually doesn't that cold here, and when it does I plug it in at night. But who knows how long it's been disconnected, and obviously I never noticed strarting difficulty or anything. Does the connector for the wire just snap on the outside of the housing, or how do I disconnect it?

 

It's not a "fuel heater" it's a fuel filter warmer. Ever notice the the bottom if your filter is made of tin?
That's so the heater can warm the filter to expand the gunk that's on the filter so fuel can pass. Keep up with your filter and you won't have to worry about that.

 

Proper batteries and GP system and you shouldn't need to plug it in unless it gets real cold. It gets below zero here in Ohio and I don't plug my truck in.

 

Agreed, below 0 and blocking in the wifes car. With new glow plugs, no issue. I'm near Chicago and leave at 530 am

 

Okay, so I'll not worry about the filter warmer then. Ordered a kit for the fuel bowl, and also replacements for the little blue hoses. The tutorial from dieselorings.com seems pretty comprehensive. Anything else I should be thinking about while it's apart?

 

Yes, you could consider plugging the water in fuel sensor with a 1/8" NPT plug. After rebuilding and installing mine, it developed a leak there.

 

If you have fuel in the engine valley (in the middle at the top of engine) then your fuel bowl needs a rebuild. on my truck it was coming down off the back and dripping right off the bottom of the engine/transmission where they join together. Get a light and look. If it runs fine then I wouldn't say its injection pump going bad but I hear they will pour out the weep hole if that is the case which is gonna lead to a lot of fuel leak in the same area. Apparently the big nut in the back on top of the engine also is commonly loose which causes fuel to leak out. I rebuilt my fuel bowl the other day because my truck was leaking a little fuel out of it and it seemed to fix the leaks. I bought the best O-rings, and the PDF manual guide on the website is very helpful.

 

Yeah, the leak was pretty obvious when the engine was running. Squirting right out of the heater connection. The new seal kit should be here by Thursday, and the tutorial from dieselorings.com seems pretty comprehensive. I'm also going to replace the little blue fuel lines to the pump, and check the banjo nut while I'm in there. Thanks for all the help guys, I'll let you know how it turns out, hopefully I'll get to it on Sunday.

 

Got off work a little early today, and decided to tackle the first step in dieselorings tutorial on the fuel bowl rebuild. "Remove fuel bowl from engine". Got everything loose except the wire on the filter heater element. Does it just plug in? I've pulled, pried (that just chewed up the plastic), went ahead and removed the connector from the bowl, and still can't get the little bugger loose. I'd like to save it and reconnect it. I can't get the wire loom out through the bottom of the canister unless I disconnect the little bugger, so what do I need to know about it that I don't? Should I use the usual Ford mechanic's addage: If it won't go force it; if you can't force it break it; if it breaks it needed replacing anyway?

 

Yep, use that addage, I did. Except absolutely no reaason to replace if it breaks.