Well, while crawling around the truck today to install the headlight harness I received from LMC...I discovered another gremlin that I thought I had fixed for good.

Upon inspection, I noticed a larger drip pattern on my valve cover underneath the fuel filter. I had noticed this before when I tightened up the filter this summer...but it is growing again.

The issue became especially apparent after the headlight fix. I had one HELL of a time getting the truck to start. Ended up having to pull both batteries to give them a charge... This issue astounds me as I've started off just glowplugs in much colder weather before. After two hours of block heater, she FINALLY fired...but those batteries were having a hell of a time turning her.

Anyway, back to the filter. I inspected the top and bottom seals and they are leak free! I have come to the conclusion that the culprit is the base with the fuel heater/drain valve. Are these known to leak excessively? I've got it closed as tight as it will go and I still get a leak pattern on the valve cover. Is there a possible replacement part? Really don't want to crank it any tighter and break the threads...but it is very tempting...

-Dave

 

if the batteries were having a hard time to just turn it over they are bad or all the connections need inspected and cleaned even the starter connections.have you tried jumping from one battery to the other with a set of cables?i would bet it spins way better.check for cable corrosion as well.and with the filter leaking that will cause hard starts as well,but not how fast the motor spins.

 

I did take the time to check all the connections while I was installing the new headlight harness, they all seemed to check out. No corrosion or excessive wear that I could see. Good old starting trouble 101 there lol.

The issue with the batteries was my running them almost into the ground trying to get it to start. I suspect I may have to visually inspect the glow plugs as they all passed the continuity test. The WTS light stays on for about 6 seconds, so there must be a burned out one somewhere...

At this time I'm hoping to track down the fuel filter leak while a set of glow plugs are on order. Is it possible that the valve on the bottom of the filter base has just gone bad? Never had to replace one, always had an easy on and off with these...

 

Could you not put the single piece filter of a later model on it. Mine just looks like an oil filter with a drain on the bottom and it has never leaked.

 

napa/wix and probably others make a solid filter that eliminates the bottom bowl and you can still have the drain and water in fuel sensor.

i had this problem and if you take the bottom bowl off, the drain will come apart and there is an o ring inside that goes bad. it is a flat one i replaced it with a regular one i had and it has been working fine.

there is also an oring in the top of the filter head that leaks so you might want to do that as a precautionary measure while youve got it apart. international sells the orings.

 

Any time you have a fuel leak it will not start and keep running you have to turn the motor over until it has reprimed itself. this is very hard on the starter. NEVER crank on the starter over about 20 seconds without letting it cool for a couple minutes.
I have a feeling if your batteries and cables are in good shape and it still turned over slow after charging your batteries that your wallet is fixing to lighten up some in the form of a new starter. (hope not)
The fuel leak has to be fixed All mine has the 6.9 filter without the bottom piece even my 7.3, I changed it because of the cost of the filters,And I like to use the KISS principlebut you can just buy a replacement filter that has it's own drain valve and eliminate the bottom piece.

 

Keep your 7.3 filter head and replace the filter with one of these. It eliminates the leaky bottoms.
http://www.nfhconnect.com/resources/...apapne99-8.pdf

I recommend the 3617 with the sensor port.

 

I hear ya, diesel cold starting 101 there lol. I don't even crank it for that long at a time myself. I only go about 15 seconds at the maximum before letting it rest. The starter is actually the very first part I replaced when I first bought this truck about 5 years ago. I have learned many practices from this good forum through these past years.

My batteries were a little low on water when I inspected them. Upon filling them up, I tried to charge them but they appeared to be full before my cranking experience. I'm thinking the new water hasn't quite worked through the cores yet or my charger is on the fritz.

About the filter...THANK YOU! I was told at the ford dealer where I got the filter that the single piece filters would not fit my year. Gonna have a new one on order as soon as I can...Now the other question. Wix/Napa or Motorcraft? I've been using Motorcraft filters due to better filtration (from what I understood from my oil filter debates on this forum) but is that true for fuel as well? For $30 a pop, I am starting to wonder....

-Dave

 

The only filters I stay away from is fram but they may have improved over the years.

 

Ive had no problems with BALDWIN filters.

 

This is an old old thread but since I had the camera out, I thought I would show you guys the amount of leakage from the filter drain on the base. Note that this was a very very small leak that did this over time with trial and error tightening it.



Left a fine mess all over my valve cover, will have to do some scrubbing this spring.

-Dave