I have a 97 250HD PSD and it ran (note the past tense) great for the last two years. About two weeks ago I started it early in the morning, it was cold and I had not plugged it in, and when I turned on the ignition the volts only registered about 10 or so. I had not noticed this before, but it started right up. The volts remained low and since I was just going down the hill about 300 ft to pick up my father-in-law as I always do I just let it idle.

Well, when I got to his house, I put on the brakes and the check engine light came on and it started sputtering. We were headed elk hunting, so we took his truck instead. I figured it may have just gotten too cold and when I came back that night it started right up no problems. Since then, especially when I start it up cold, sometimes it loses power and the check engine light would come on for about a second then go off.

It was time for a tune up/oil change anyhow, so yesterday I was going to take it in. When I went to start it, it started chugging and the check engine light came on. I tried to give it gas, but that didn't work. I turned it off, then tried to turn it on again but nothing.

When I start the truck the wts light does not come on. After searching your forum for a while, I replaced the CPS (holy cow I had to get it from Ford), replaced Fuse #22 in the power dist box (which popped right away), checked the HPOP (it was good) and now am in the fuel filter housing. I figured what the heck while I am there I'll change the fuel filter.

I removed the old filter (which looked like it had seen better days) and noticed there was gunk floating around inside. I drained the diesel and got about a cup and a half of sludge from the bottom. I also noticed there is a wire inside that is attached to a circular bracket that the filter sits on. This wire leads out to the side of the filter housing and I am assuming (not a good idea in most cases, however it seemed I had nothing else to lose) that this leads to the fuel heater that I am supposed to unplug. The bracket is held on by a hex head nut (maybe) but I can't get down there with any of my tools.

NOW TO THE QUESTIONS:
Is the wire supposed to be connected at both ends of the bracket or is one end supposed to be loose?
How do I get the bracket off to really clean out the filter housing or will by putting in the new filter with clean dielsel with that take care of the problem?

By the way, if you purchase the Chilton "Ford pickups '97-00" ($17.95) it doesn't tell you about the fuel filter under the hood, only the one underneath the truck. It also doesn't mention anything about the fuel heater. Sorry this is taking so long, but I figured I'd put as much as I could so I can move foreward.

 

I found the same problem when my fuel filter housing sprung a leak in the side of it I fixed that but could not get the nut loose way down in the canister looks like it would take a 6in. deep socket. My wires looked loose and two round ceramic looking things are broken up in the bottom of the housing ,I figured were fuel heaters. Now that the weather has turned cold she dosnt want to stay running and misses bad going down the road, can any one give me hint on if it is the fuel heater or is something else wrong. As an experiment I put a heat lamp over top of the fuel filter housing and warmed it up 20 min.then the truck sarted and run fine .Also ford dealer said two kinds of heater inside or outside heater. How do you know which I have? Just trying to save money by working on my own truck, Diesel is new to me ! Thanks everyone and good luck SlyDoug.

 

I don't know about the wire hooking to both ends for sure but I would think it would be to just one end. That thing will short out and blow the #22 fuse. Just unhook the plug and see if that fixes it. You can replace the element if it is blown. As far as cleaning out the housing you should be able to flush it out with some fresh diesel. Pour some in, stir it around some and open the drain. Do this a few times until clean.

 

Have you checked your glowplugs and relay out? I'm not sure about the inside or outside heater. Outside heater is a new one on me.

 

Thanks guys. I was able to get my truck up and running with the help of this site. I have recommended it to all the guys I know who have Fords and even some that don't. :-)

 

Slydoug, what type of sludge did you see, the only thing I can come up with is the fuel gelling up on you plugging the filter. You might also think of getting some Diesel Kleen additive to put in you tank to help clean the rest of whatever is in there out hopefully.