Went out to the truck this morning to go to my first call today, got home spent a few hours here and when i went back out to the truck i noticed a puddle under the truck just inside and next to the passenger side front tire. I backed the truck up and smelled the puddle and it was fuel, anybody know where this could have come from?

 

Leaky fuel bowl? Grab a flashlight and start searching. I had a strong smell of fuel under the hood. I can't remember who I bought my fuel bowl rebuild kit from but it fixed it for me.

 

Possibly orings on the fuel bowl drain valve?

 

Jut looked under the hood and there is fuel in the valley in the front of the engine

 

Also, it could be the passenger side fuel line. Those are both fairly easy to tell on though. The passenger line runs through a thin clamp that holds it in place and it can rub through there as well. If I was you, I would go ahead and get the fuel bowl rebuild kit from either Clay or Bob and do the whole fuel bowl. It only takes a couple of hours. The passenger side fuel line will require you to remove the spider to have ample access to the back port. Might consider getting the fuel line sleeves as well and doing all the rubber replacements at one time.

 

Fuel bowl rebuild kit. I think I got mine from dieselorings. Not too bad of a job.

 

If it's the fuel drain valve o-rings you don't have to rebuild the bowl. You certainly can though.

 

Just had a neighbor cycle the key for me a few times and it's not coming from the fuel bowl, so more than likely the passenger side fuel line

 

That's a bummer.

 

Crank it up, get a bright flashlight and shine it under the spider toward the back part of the passenger side head. You will see the clamp, that is where I suspect it to be. But it could be the fuel line connections as well.

PS: If it is the passenger side fuel line and the hole was rubbed in it at the clamp. Take some electrical tape and wrap the clamp with the tape pretty wide and a good amount before putting it back on.

 

Instead of tape place a short length of split rubber tubing over the fuel line and the p-clamp will hold it in place.

This should be done as a preventative measure on all 7.3s with the p-clamp. Why wait for a leak?????

 

The fuel bowl drain tube is in the front of the engine, pass. side. there is a drain hole for the valley at the back of the engine, pass. side. The fuel bowl drain tube hose on the fuel bowl will allow fuel to leak into the valley. Cycling the key a few times would not really show if the drain valve is leaking that much. If there is a leak at the pass. rail fuel line it should be spraying a lot of fuel around and you should be able to find it asap. If the leak is out of the drain valve it will be fine to drive until fixed. if it is the rail line get it fixed as soon as you can. how big is this 'puddle'?

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DieselOrings

 

I took a second look about an hour ago and in the 30 seconds that the fuel pump cycles when the key is turned on i noticed 10ish drops come out of the drain. I went up to ford and went ahead and just got a new drain valve. While i was waiting for the parts guy to get it out of the back i talked to one of the diesel techs there and he looked and saw a very slight leak coming from the rail but must of the fuel was coming from the drain. Just finished tackling the drain and will hopefully be replacing the rail some time later this week.

 

1) Don't let any Ford techs look at your truck. Let alone under the hood.

2)What color were the o-rings on the valve? How much did you pay for the valve? Your valve is repairable.
Why did you go to Ford to get the valve? Very few here would suggest that. Keep an eye out for any leaks as the o-rings may fail after a couple of years.

3) If you do not need to replace the rail then do not do it, just add the protective hose around it at the clamp area.

 

Went to ford because i get a discount on parts there, ended up costing $60 with a new fuel filter, o-rings were light green