Does it surge on both tanks?

 

Thread Jack!!!!


I think it's a testament to the toughness of these 20-30 year old engines that pro'lly 90% of all issues brought before FTE Pre Powerstroke to diag are fuel related.

I'm gonna change my sig to "It's probably fuel related!"

 

That was a popular saying when I was growing up around Diesels in the 70's and 80's

 

Scratcher, I only use the Mid-ship tank. The rear tank has a bad pickup tube and I was waiting for some extra money so that I could send the sending unit in for a rebuild. I had somebody say that they think that my tank selector switch was allowing air into the system. So, as soon as the ice melts off the roads ( currently have 1/4" of black Ice on the road) I am going to go get the some fuel line when I get into town and bypass the selector switch.

 

I AM NOT getting rid of my Baby! I had someone of Facebook recommend the junk heap! NO WAY! and I told them that. ( although this was also the same idiot who asked me if I had "checked the spark plugs") I have been studying the fuel delivery system and have been blown away by the mechanical beauty of this system. It is a tad frustrating when it comes to diagnosis, but IMO it is still an engineering marvel. I have also yet to get the fuel filter off due to the idiots at the shop over tightening
it to the point that I cant budge it ( and yes, I checked, I am turning it the correct direction) so now that my fiance is home, I am going to use his strength to loosen it for me.

 

OMG! I just got done crawling around under the truck, tracing the fuel lines, and found a 1/8" nick in my fuel line. between the crossmember of the engine and the water seperator! WHY, did the shop not notice THAT! I'll take a pic in the morning for you guys, going to town to get the supplies I need to fix it so I can make the repair in the morning!

 

If you still have the original water separator on that it need to be bypassed as that is a major cause of air intrusion. Looks like you might be getting to the heart of the problem. Hopefully your experience will convince you to stay away from shops unless you can verify that they are familiar with working on older diesels. The fact that you were willing to get on the ground and look for the problem is halfway to actually fixing it yourself or with low cost help

 

Lol, I almost always do all of the repairs on this truck myself. I was really trying to save some time and money and pain. I have arthritis and it is painful laying and crawling through the snow on my back and handling the small parts when it is as cold as it has been. But, lesson learned. Just do it myself. I could have found this and had it fixed three weeks ago if not for the weather and my desire to just have someone else mess with it.

Now, as for the water separator. I was not aware that they had so many issues! I was really trying to keep as much as possible factory. But it there is an issue, I would love to know about it. Also, would I be better off bypassing it, or replacing it? I understand that the separator pulls the water out of the fuel, is this something we don't have probelms with these days? Because honestly, I have never had water in the fuel in the four years I have owned the truck, and I check it regularly.

How do I bypass it? Just cut the hoses off of it and connect them?

 

pony you could also try putting dye in your fuel run it down and check with a uv light that would pin point areas of leaking fuel in or around filter housing.... i have a one peice fuel filter on my truck... no bowl like the old 2 peice filter less potenial for sucking air and surging