93 f-250 non turbo idi with about 214,000 on the truck and just over 100,000 on a reman engine from dieler diesel.

a few weeks ago i was driving down the highway and developed a major coolant leak. i nursed it to my parents house which was the nearest place i could stop, by the time i was about a mile or so from my parents house the fuel filter light came on and the engine started stalling. the engine would run like **** and surge when driving, as soon as i pushed the clutch and let off the gas it would die. it would take 10-15 seconds of cranking to start back up.

at the time i thought the fuel filter light, stalling and the coolant leak were related but u couldn't figure out how.

fast forward a few weeks, i had the radiator fixed, got it running and went for a test drive. right away the fuel filter light came on and it started stalling. i opened the bleeder valve on the fuel/water separator, nothing came out for about 3-5 seconds then it started spitting fuel. i drove it for a mile or so and all the symptoms went away.

i drove about 10 miles to the gas station and filled the tank, as it was less than 1/4 tank. one odd thing i noticed when i filled the tank was that the fuel gauge went past full and the needle hit the stopper. its never done that before.

i've driven the truck 150 or so miles and towed a 3,000lb boat with no problem. i got to 1/4 tank last week and the fuel filter light came back on and the engine started stalling then died. i started it back up and continued my journey. every so often the engine would sputter and loose power. i switched to the rear tank which had a little over 1/4 tank and the symptoms cleared up.

i typed in f250 idi fuel filter light in a google search and found a ton of info. its either the mechanical fuel lift pump or there is something jacked up with the fuel pick up line inside the front tank. i'm leaning towards something in the front tank because the symptoms cleared up with a full tank or switching to the rear tank.

i'm thinking about buying a fuel injection pump tester from harbor freight and testing the mechanical fuel pump. if that checks okay i'm thinking about dropping the front tank and checking the lines.

what am i getting myself into? what does the fuel pickup line look like inside the tank? is it simply a rubber hose resting on the bottom of the tank or is it some sort of steel tube with a mesh filter on the end? the answer to that question will determine my course of action. if its a rubber hose i can buy at the hardware store for 90 cents a foot i'll fix it. if its a steel or brass tube that has to be replaced i'll remove the tank and just use the rear tank. at some point i want to buy a 40 gallon plastic tank from lmctruck.com anyway.

 

I'm no expert but i know these trucks can lose the end of their fuel pick up line. From what your saying it sounds alot like that. my guess is when you get to around 1/4 tank the pick up is broken up and is sucking in air , causing the sputtering. and then then dying. Wait for my info from others but thats my guess

 

i just talk to a mechanic friend. he suggested that the fuel sender could be bad. maybe the tank was out of fuel even tho it said i had 1/4 tank. that would explain why the gauge went up way past full. i forget how many miles i had on the trip odometer when it startet stalling. 160-175 miles. that truck never did get that great-a-milage. but that would be about 9mpg, its never been that bad. when it was my daily driver i was getting 11-13 city. i got 15-16 on one tank pulling a 4,000lb trailer across south dakota. the first few weeks i had it back in '08 i was geting 18-20 highway but i've never been able to replicate that since.

the schrader valve in the fuel/water separator has always leaked a little but i wouldn't think that would make tha t much difference. i need to replace it but i don't know where to get one.

 

x2 broken fuel pickup in the front tank man. Both my tanks have done it. Some guys remove the tank and replace the broken plastic section with a piece of rubber fuel hose as a cheap fix. Will do mine eventually as well I supose.

 

had a similer problem with '89 250. would run good for abou 10-15 min,fuel filter lite would come on truck would sputer the turn off. as it turned out the fuel screen at the bottom of the pickup tube in the tank desintgrated and fell apart. ended up sucking a piece up in the pickup tube cloging the fuel line. had to take off the rubber line that goes the the lift pump and and blow the line back with an air compressor. hope this helps, did not have to drop the tank to do this, but i have taken both tanks out, it is not a hard job the front tank is easier the the rear.

 

also if the screen on the pickup tube comes off in the tank you will run out of fuel with the gauge reading at 1/4 tank. the pickup screen makes up the last 2 1/2 inch of the pickup tube

 

i pulled the front tank. i was disapointed to find that the plastic pickup thingy looks fine. i'm not sure what to think now. hopefully my fuel pump isn't bad.

the only thing i noticed was in the second picture that little round diaphragm thing might be bad, allowing air to be sucked in. i can blow on it and air comes out thru the screen, if i suck on it i get a seal. if that thing allows air to go in, then it can suck air when the fuel level gets below that point.

 

Did you drop that sender on the ground? It looks like its covered in grit. I would clean it off and clean out the tank really good. Then flush the lines out and replace the filter.

Definitely replace the filter though! Its probably clogged up. I had a similar issue with a Dodge Caravan I had. Someone dumped some sand in the tank and it caused intermittent stalls when the sand clogged up the tank inlet. After a few moments the sand would fall off and it would run fine again for a while, then clog up. Around town was ok, but on the highway the higher fuel demand would suck up more sand quicker.

 

alright, i finally got around to buying a fuel pressure gauge. item 93547 from horrible freight. i didn't think it was going to work because it didn't include a fitting for a schrader valve. after some checking i found that one of the included universal type rubber fittings would slide over the schrader valve and give a fairly snug fit. i unscrewed the core of the schrader valve, stuck the rubber fitting over the valve, started the engeine and checked for leaks, no leaks!

i was reading about 5 1/2 psi. i figured that was a good reading. i secured the fitting over the schrader valve with a hose clamp, zip tied the gauge to the windshield wiper, closed the hood and went for a test drive. i noticed when i accelerated the fuel pressure would fluctuate. i witnessed it drop down to about 4 1/2 a few times. i swear i felt the engine surge durring an acceleration at the same time i watched the pressure drop near or below 4 1/2.

i tried both front and rear tanks, altho i used the front tank 75% of the test drive. i didn't notice any fluctuation on the rear tank, but by the time i switched to the rear tank all symptoms went away.

anyway, the results are inconclusive as to wether or not there is a problem with a specific tank or the fuel tank selector solenoid. it does however indicate a weak fuel pump. i think i'm going to throw one on there just because its cheap and it probably needs one at 100k, anyway.

 

okay, i installed a new fuel lift pump this afternoon. the new style pump is a breeze to install. i guess someone along the line revised the arm that rides on the cam shaft so its easier to install.

anyhoo, i checked the fuel pressure after installing a new pump and its the same. 5psi at idle. if i rev the engine pressure goes down to 4-4.5psi. if i really step into the throttle it will go down to about 3.5psi untill i let off.

engine seems to be running fine. no fuel filter light, no stalling, but i haven't driven it enough. the last time it acually stalled then died i had been on the highway for about 45 minutes. i'm not going to drive it that long just to test it. fuel isn't cheap.

could a clogged fuel filter cause low pressure? i replaced it last summer, it has less than 3k miles on it.

i guess i'll drive it, if it acts up i'll take it straight to my mechanic and say "fix it".

 

Always change the fuel filter first, they will pjug up in 100 miles if you get a bad load of fuel, the only tine the switch comes on is when it sees a vacuum on the filter.