Yeah replace all of the soft lines. The line from your lift pump and the line at the rear of the engine included, you should do the olives as well. The idea is replace everything rubber in the fuel system if you are feeling ambitious you can do your fuel heater o rings too (it is in your fuel filter head).

 

The Parker Vibra Loc (Olives) are on the:

• Lift Pump to Fuel Filter at Filter (3/8" one required)
• Fuel Filter to IP both ends (5/16" two required)
• On the 6.9 there is also one on the return tube from the IP to the return tee at the tee (3/8" one required)

5/16" Vibra-Loc - McMaster-Carr Item 50385K83
3/8" Vibra-Loc - McMaster-Carr Item 50385K84

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

Does anyone know if typefour typically includes these in his kit?

Mike

 

Not speaking for him and I Personally I do not know, though I doubt he includes the Parker Vibra-Loc's.

Most kits do not.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

OK, I'll order up a couple to do the line going from the filter to the IP. I wasn't planning on touching the line from the lift pump since it's not giving me any problems.

Now, for the hose clamps on the return lines, should I just reuse the ones on there, or get new ones? If I get new ones, are worm drive clamps a good or bad idea?

Mike

PS - The amount of information you guys have and your willingness to share is just unreal. Thanks again!

 

So, it looks like the line that goes from the IP to the driver's side return line is leaking pretty bad. It has a hairline crack in it. It's actually been causing the pooling I've been noticing around the front glow plug on the driver's side (pics in this thread, Post #7: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...idewinder.html) The fuel travels down the outside of the line and drips down. It's actually not a HUGE leak, but a little wiggling of the hose showed me the crack, so now I'm worried it may burst soon.

Can I just replace this line without messing with the others for now? If so, can I use generic bulk hose from the parts store, or do I need something made for diesel? Anyone know the ID I need?

Mike

 

Do the entire return kit at once. If you don't, it'll get you back in a few months time.

Typefour's kit DOES include the olives, as well as all the hose.

Bulk hose would probably work just fine.

-Matt

 

It does come with the olives and it comes with the viton o rings ... and it comes with the good german fuel hose. You can use the fuel hose from napa but oit will fail sooner than that german stuff. Also his kits are quite a bit cheeper than the local napa quoted me. It is the only way to go in the future for me!

 

Ah, it's a good day!

So just about the time I was realizing that the 5/16" ID line and the 3/8" ID line I picked up at the parts store this morning were too big (it's 1/4" btw), up pulls the postman with my typefour kit! Perfect timing. I guess still having USPS Saturday deliveries is a good thing. Better enjoy it while it lasts. Saved me a 30 minute round trip to the parts store.

And yes, the kit came with olives. Damn my impatience, I had ordered them just last night from McMaster. And damn their impatience, McMaster shipped them this morning. Oh well. Never hurts to have spares, I guess.

I cut off a piece of the hose in the kit (don't tell my wife, but the heavy duty Cutco scissors we have in the kitchen do a REAL nice job on this), and threw it on along with some new clamps. After a few seconds of cranking, it fired right up no problem.

I'm telling ya. A man could learn to love this diesel thing. The more I stare at that engine, the more I realize how much simpler of a system it is. I'm actually really looking forward to doing the return kit and the glow plugs now, but it'll have to wait for another weekend.

And just for those that may search this thread in the future, typefour's kit gives you:

Caps
O-rings (actually, you get extra because he includes Viton o-rings ON TOP of the ones that come in the kit, which I'm guessing are Buna-N)
Olives
Clamps
Hose (really nice German stuff. Super flexible with Cloth braided exterior liner)
Copper washer for the injectors

Perhaps I'll do a pictorial step-by-step when I do all this, but now that I have the kit, it's all starting to make a lot of sense.

Mike

 

and I have been sending 5 of each olive thaat way hopefully someone close with a problem can be covered by someone with extras.
And if any one needs , 6.00 bag of 10, ends up being 18.00 for both sizes with priority mail shipping, to lumpy to go in a cheap envelope.

 

Fooled you HA HA. just kidding, now you know.

 

Finished! Glow plugs replaced, return lines and o-rings replaced, a new CDR valve installed, and the air filter cleaned just for good measure. I have lots of tips, but also lots of questions. Brace yourself. This is going to be long......

Let's start with the questions because I'd really like to get some input here:

1. How do you safely discharge and detach the glow plug relay? I left mine attached (well, the wires) but detached the bracket and moved it all out of the way. I accidentally arced and nearly crapped myself. I undid the battery (passenger side positive terminal) thinking that would take care of it, but 5 minutes later I did it again.

2. When I got the whole thing back together and turned the key for the first time, the glow plug relay smoked. Additionally, prior to doing this work, the relay used to click a BUNCH of times (like 12+) when I first turned the key. Now it doesn't. BUT, the 'Wait to Start' light now stays on for a few seconds and the truck fired right up with no hesitation. I cycled the whole system a few times and the relay doesn't smoke now. Am I OK, or should I replace the relay?

3. I was expecting the truck to give me a tough time starting once I got done based on all the other 'how-to' threads I read. Mine started right up. (OK this isn't REALLY a question, I guess. Just bragging).

4. I replaced the following lines: all lines between caps, the line on the driver's side that goes from the rear cylinder to the nipple under the turbo, the one on the other end that goes to the IP, and the line on the passenger side that goes to the fuel filter. There was maybe a foot of hose left. For doing the rest of the lines I didn't get to, should/can I use bulk hose from the parts store, or is there another kit I need?

OK, the tips:

FOR THE RETURN KIT:

I basically followed the instructions listed here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ml#post7390771

1. Use a dental pick to get the old o-rings off. I used the pick to get the o-ring out a bit from the body of the injector, then sliced it with a razor blade. Worked pretty well.

2. For the o-ring install, I have two big tips. First, use the Zycam bottle cap trick! Read here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...turn-line.html. Secondly, use Vaseline to lube the o-ring, and go ahead and get ridiculous with it. I lubed the Zycam cap, the body of the injector, the o-rings, and the inside of the return line cap. There is no thing as 'too much' IMO. Oh, and install the top o-ring first, then the bottom one. With enough Vaseline, the lower one will roll over the upper with minimal effort.

3. When re-attaching the injector hard lines, you should be able to thread the nut down snug almost entirely by hand. The end of the injector line is tapered to sit nicely in the end of the injector, so make sure they align and push down on the hose a bit while threading the nut. Also, some have suggested using a method where you snug the fitting 3 times, backing it off slightly after each 'snugging' and gradually stepping up the torque each time. I did this and it seemed to work well.

4. FWIW, I had a really hard time hearing/feeling the ‘click’ on the return line caps that everyone says to look for. It’s probably a downside to using so much Vaseline. All I could do was push hard and hope it was OK. Just make sure you push straight down. And remember, they weren’t that hard to get off so they don’t need He-Man strength to get on and seat. You don’t want to break ‘em.

5. Definitely remove the whole return line as a unit where possible. It’ll make it easier to cut the hose to the proper length. I also noticed that cutting the hose to the same length didn’t always get me the right distance between caps. This is likely because the new caps are slightly different from the OEMs (or I just suck at measuring). Either way, the better method is to connect one end of the length of hose, then mock the new cap into place sitting next to the old lines/caps and go from there. This made mine a lot more accurate. Oh, and if you’re going to guess wrong, obviously it’s best to guess too long and trim accordingly.

6. Remove the brackets tethering the injector lines together to get a bit more play on the injector end.

FOR THE GLOW PLUGS:

1. A u-joint for your socket wrench will be your best friend. If you don't have one, now is the perfect excuse to buy one.

2. Should your glow plug connectors crumble apart like mine, head down to the parts store and get a set of female bullet connectors. The ones I used are blue (14-16 gage) and also came with shrink wrap pre-installed. Take a glow plug with you to ensure that the fit is tight on the end of the plug, but I'm pretty sure they're all the same.

3. Use a 3/8" 6pt deep socket for the glow plugs, and make sure it's COMPLETELY seated on the glow plug before cranking on it. I had one plug that I thought I had rounded for sure, but it turns out once I got the socket all the way down on it I was good to go. When installing the new ones, use a 1/4" drive socket setup to keep you from going overboard on the torque. It also doesn't hurt to choke up on the wrench when giving it that last 'oomph'. It'll keep you from going too far.

4. Getting the glow plug relay out of the way would make this a lot easier. Once someone (hopefully) explains how to safely remove it, I definitely recommend doing that.

5. Vacuum out the valley around the glow plug after you disconnect it but before you remove it. Better safe than sorry.

Keep in mind, I have the Banks kit, so if some of my descriptions don’t match your truck, that’s probably why.

Mike

 

As a follow-up, I started her this morning (about 45 degrees out) and she fired right up after the WTS light went out. There's no more clicks from the relay like there used to be. Instead, I got a light buzzing noise. More importantly, though, no smoke from the relay. I'm guessing the smoke just came from my oily hands touching some areas I shouldn't have. Does this all sound normal?

I guess I now know why the previous owner didn't let me start it cold. I specifically asked him to leave it cold, but he claimed it needed gas and he didn't realize it until right before I showed up (convenient). Oh well. All is well now.

Mike

 

You did ... I do.

And now I won't forget!

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

If you remove the big nut on the battery side and pull that cable loop off, then there's no power to the relay. I usually just wrap that cable end in a paper towel with a rubber band on it.

Remember, two batteries. So to kill power to that cable, you'd have to remove BOTH positive terminals.