97 f250 7.3 turbo diesel. Starts fine but once I start moving and before it gets warm the truck runs as if it is not getting enough fuel. Bogs down and if I come to a stop idles poorly. It seems until the truck is very warm, any time my speed or rpms reach a new high and I let off the accelerator and then try to accelerate again, the truck then starts to struggle to get enough fuel. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

How old is your fuel filter? Have you cleaned the fuel pressure regulator screen? The FPR screen is pretty easy to clean by removing the fuel filter and sticking the stick of a cotton swab inside (the fuzz removed) and scraping the crud off the screen. You will be able to see the hole that leads to the screen a little ways down from the top of the fuel bowl on the driver side.

Here is a picture that shows the location of the screen.




Another easy thing to check is to use a cheap stick style tire gauge and check the fuel pressure. In the picture above you can see that there is a black plastic cap right below the hex head cap that houses the FPR. Unscrew that cap and there is a standard Schrader valve in there. Use the tire gauge to check the pressure there. You want to see somewhere around 65 - 70 PSI at idle. Do this after you clean the screen, but if you see less than that, you probably need to shim the FPR. Watch your face when you pull that gauge as it will probably spray some diesel (I usually use a rag to cover the gauge head). Don't use an expensive gauge to do this because you'll get diesel inside it.

 

I know I'm digging this up from the grave but this is super helpful as I'm about to clean my bowl and FPR screen; thanks Nate. One question: how likely is it that the ball behind the screen will fall into the abyss of the valley when I take the screen out?