1995 7.3 in an E-350. I was driving my van, and it began to lose a little power. Drove into a restaurant parking lot, ate lunch, and came out to find it wouldn't start at all. After checking lots of things, finally realized there wasn't enough fuel pressure. Pulled the fuel pump (mechanical on this one) and found it broken. The plunger (or whatever it's called) that is pushed by the camshaft had broken off.

Anyone heard of such a thing?
Thanks,
John

 

You probably already did this but check the hole that the pump was in maybe with one of those telescoping magnets. see if its sitting in there on top the cam still. i know being a van it might not be easy to see it in there... usually when i need to pull a mechanical pump i remove the 2 bolts then rotate the engine by hand untill the pump pops up partly so the cam lobe that bumps it is at its highest point this keeps the tappet from falling in the engine. the plunger is called a tappet and it is not attached to the pump

 

did it break off or did the plunger just fall out the bottom when you pulled it?

Very Very odd if it did break off, hope it didnt scare the cam lobe to much.

Diesel Rod

 

The tappet on your new one stays in place thanks to a blob of grease if I remember correctly.

 

Oh, it's broken. Got the tappet (thanks) out with no trouble. When trying to crank it before pulling the pump, I could hear something banging. So far, I can't see anything else damaged.
j

 

so if im reading this correctly then the bottom of the tappet has broken off? just hand rotate your motor untill you atleast hear that thing hit the bottom of the pan if it hasnt already. similar thing happend to me, when removing my old fuel pump the stem snapped in place with the part of the pump so it was flush with the block. i just punched down the cast of the pump enough to break the seal it had and then pulled up on the stem with some plyers. then in my cocky manor i managed to drop my new vlave stem into the pan LOL been in there for almost 2 years now!

 

Broken like this?

 

Yep. Got the tappet out with no trouble, so I guess I was lucky. Any guesses as to cause? Just a worn out pump?

 

Glad you got it out with no major damage! I'd hate to see anyone have to tear an engine down for something like that. Just one more reason for e-fuel !

 

Yeap maybe a worn out pump. Most of the cases I have read of broken pumps are occurred during the pull of the pump, this is the first case I read that has no apparent cause Any previous work in the valley no related to fuel pump?

 

That I don't know - I've only had the truck a few months. When it was running, it ran just fine. However, the engine did make a good bit of noise for a few seconds after cranking. I'm not familiar enough with this engine to know if it was just normal diesel racket, or if it was a warning of a problem.

 

I just pulled mine cause of bad pressure, and it was broken. It didn't brake when I pulled it, you could tell it had been like this for a while with one little edge still shiny. Now comes the time where I pray I get it out without it going down.

 

If you cant get it out buy a strong magnet and rub the oil pan until you grab the tappot and then leave the magnet there

 

As long as the rapper makes it to the lower part of the pan,it is not a prob to leave it in.

 

I got it out. I got my wife to bump the motor until the plunger pushed up, then i grabbed it with vise grips and pulled it all out. Thanks for y'alls advice.