I got a 90 F250 5.8 Windsor, 5 speed ZF manual. I have changed the fuel pump 3 times in the past 2 years. Replaced the relays, found diagnosed and repaired wiring issues that would make Stephen Hawkings get up out of his wheelchair just to kick the cr*p out of this POS. Been a frustrating situation. Tired of it. Don't want to fix it correctly at this point because I truly believe the original design was a piece of garbage. Just spent 5 G rebuilding the 5.8 and replacing under hood parts (truck had well over 300 K on it), would LOVE to spend some time working on the body and other issues but can't keep the SOB running correctly long enough. What I want to know (I searched the forums found nothing helpful before I posted) is if any of you have ever gotten a little innovative and crazy maybe with the addition of a Electric "helper" pump on the frame or something along these lines? Does anyone make an aftermarket setup to add a frame style Holley pump and adjustable regulator? Or should I just scrap the SOB and put the engine in something fun. I know alot of you cats do some cool mods and I figure someone else has to have felt this way about this fuel system before... If I gotta pull that tank again in the driveway by myself, she ain't gonna make it.

 

well this aint related to the fuel tank but I rigged up my dual airhorn set up and didnt feel like cutting the spare horn lead just to use them so i took the lead off the bad horn (its still there but the horn is non functional anyways so its gonna come out soon) and ran one single wire down the loom as best as i could under the body into the splitter (for both horns) that came with my horns and fabed up another wire lead (red) for the driver side horn then grounded both horns where they rested so i wouldnt have to run another second wire (wasnt about to do that after spending an hour in the gruleing heat with the first) then hooked up the pos and bam they worked. quicker then trying to splice and run all new lines to the horns (uuug) and saved me tons of work. then moved onto other things like painting the frame LOL

 

What pump are you trying to refab? Mine has 3...

 

My truck originally had dual tanks. The front tank was damaged in an accident and removed. So its basically just a rear tank truck now, Having the front tank out of the way gave plenty of clearance for a custom PTO lift I designed for lifting heavy materials in and out of the bed. The rear tank has a pump inside and sending unit. This is the pump I have zero interest in getting to. Only because I have had it out and replaced it three times. Just tired of dropping the tank. I want to put an electric holley or similar on the frame just as a helper pump for the weak sister in the tank. I was hoping someone had tried this before and could sling me a part number on an adjustable fuel pressure regulator thats an easy mod to the fuel rail. My fuel lines are in terrible shape thanks to YEARS of terrible terrible shadetree rigging work by previous owner. So I was hoping to ditch the old lines as well in the process.

 

I dont see what adding a second helper pump could hurt. It only feeds the hi pressure pump. I dont see you needing a regulator before the 2nd pump. Now if your going after this one too you may need a few more things.

 

Well mine only has one pump in the tank. I want to add a second pump in between the tank pump and the fuel rail. That's why I thought I might need an adjustable pressure regulator.

 

I have an 88 F250 5.8 ZF trans Dual tanks Regular cab Long bed 4x4. So it sounds like our trucks for the most are the same. I have a fuel pump in each tank and another "booster" pump on the frame by the fire wall. All factory! Anyways the PO replaced the front tank and disconnected the rear some how. The front tank from what I can tell no longer has a fuel pump in it. My lines are all plastic. I have a regulator on the fuel rail. My truck is Speed density wich I believe yours is too. I see no problem with running another pump on the frame rail like mine is. It cost me $94 to replace it for the pump. I would try finding an older truck that has this setup in a junk yard and snag it. That way you have better lines and the mounting hardware.

 

Is the fuel filter still in the truck? Maybe it is plugged.

 

Thanks 83capril! I am going to run over to the local pick a part and see if I can find one with that set up.

@Kosmo, nah its not a fuel filter problem. Rest assured I would change a 6 dollar filter or check it before I pulled this nightmare of a tank out lol Its an intermittent loss of fuel pressure issue, tried a couple different brands of pump... Tested the regulator, comes out ok. Think its just one of Ford's numerous "better ideas" that didn't pan out. I noticed they changed the fuel system up on the 92 a tad.

 

I'm going to have to disagree with you about the overall design of the fuel system being garbage. There are a few common failure modes (weak fuel pump, torn diaphragm in the fuel pressure regulator, stuck check valves on the pump, and stuck diverter valve - all of which are easily fixed) but there are many millions of trucks with these fuel systems that are still on the road and I'd bet there are a good number of those that have never been touched since they were installed at the factory, some more than twenty years ago. I give Ford a hard time about a lot of things, but the EFI fuel delivery system used on these trucks is a really good piece of engineering. Whatever problems you're having really need to be fixed the right way. There is a slim chance of anything you can rig up being better engineering and more reliable than the factory system. If it were me, I would put the effort into fixing what's wrong with it. You'll have less headaches in the long run IMO.

 

By all means disagree away. That's what Forums are for(differing opinions and such, not fighting lol). However, this is the 5th 88- 91 model Ford I have owned in my lifetime and thought I often complain about em, they are usually fairly bulletproof trucks(hence, I keep buying them Ha!) As far as a workhorse goes, NOTHING else I have ever owned stood up next to one of the brute beasts. Everyone of those 5 have had fuel delivery issues, back in the late 90's when I was a dealership wrench I spent LOTS of time replacing fuel pumps for customers on these pickups. Just about everyone I find in a junkyard has the sending unit stripped as well as the rear fuel lines. I don't really want to get into an argument with anyone on the merit of Fuel Delivery systems in the late 80's by Ford because realistically we're probably not going to ever see this issue the same way or with the same mindset. Its also kind of pointless and will not get me any closer to dealing with my issue. If you think its great, God bless you and I am happy yours operates perfectly with no issue.

Now I have zero interest in pulling the tank on this truck again. Ever. However over the years hot rodding and such I have met TONS of guys on these forums who more often then not probably SHOULD have been an engineer. Guys who have developed and come up with ideas to get around factory cr*p either with dune buggies, rods, mudders and so forth that have been fairly brilliant. I WILL design a helper pump system that's going to work great and save me some heartache, I was just hoping to run across someone who has already been down the road and could sling a part number or idea that didn't involve buying a bunch of vacuum wrapped overpriced parts from Motorcraft and maybe save myself the normal head beating against a wall that comes with this sort of endeavor.

 

i honestly want to say autozone or advanced and maybe O'reiliys (sp?) may have similar fuel pumps, I had one 89 F250 that encountered an issue (well it was my moms before it got fugged up by some dumb kid with his cr*p...or she woulda given it to me for my bday ) but i droped both tanks (this was the long bed i believe its been at least 8 years since we had it so i cant remember completely every thing i did to it) but i took two fuel pumps (i think either mid or high pressure) put them in the tanks then took an inline and made that medium/high so that way a constant supply of pressure would be given, I also had an inline fuel pressure gauge on the main rail from the inline pump (just between it and the cab spliced in a "T" connector) so that way i could make sure pressure was where it should have been, and yes I had one per tank also cant remember what they read on average but it did the job...

I agree the engineers did great on the 95 trucks but there were things (even on the 89+ trucks) that coulda been thought out better...i think....


please keep in mind we nolonger have the 89 (i think, or it may have been a 90) anymore because some kid was dumb enough to mess with it and even threw concreet mix in the tanks so that made the truck useless....(its in pieces by now lol) so im going off memory here so i may be off in some things, but my 95 does have dual tanks and so far they seem to work fine but i may need to work on them soon...

 

I don't know about pick-ups, but several Bronco's beds have been modded to have a top hatch that allows easy access to the top of the tank and to the pumps, so i would point that way. You seem like you have tried to done it right, but i still have to ask: Did you replace the fuel filters when replacing the pump? what about cleaning the fuel tank?. Apparently you corrected any probable wiring issues, so i will ignore those, but also, another improbable yet possible cause could be a collapsed/punctured fuel line, i could see any of those creating the conditions for a fuel pump failure.

 

I have actually thought about modding the bed in that nature. Still kicking it around a bit. The first time I pulled the tank, I put an Autozone pump/strainer in. The wiring on the top of the sending unit was damaged and turned out to be culprit so I repaired that. That pump took a dive. Second pump was an Oreilly pump, changed filters, changed regulator. Pump took a dive 8 months later. Last pump I put in was the 477 dollar Motorcraft monster, replaced filter, strainer, sending unit.... Now. Fuel pressure problems again lol. I really just want to get rid of these TERRIBLE plastic fuel lines when I do this though. I know they have their place and Ford designed em for a reason... Unless you spend 100 bucks the repair kits are CR*P, they crimp if a ladybug climbs on the frame and farts... Hate em.

 

well one thing i did on that 89/90 truck I remember was take the plastic ***** lines out and replace them with a noncorrosive/rustless metal design, granted it took near percice measurements and bending but it seemed to work for the most part...not sure if that would be much of an option or not but may be worth looking into, as for the modding of the bed i did that also on the older pick up, worked wonders for me...