Hello,

Have any of you come across either a source for new fuel line assemblies for the early (85-86) EFI trucks, or seen any handy adapters that allow you to replace it all with standard rubber fuel line? My truck is stuck right now, and I want to have a plan in place for what I'm going to do if any part of it breaks while removing or replacing the fuel lines. Also, am I correct in understanding that all of the switching action takes place within the fuel filter housing, based on the differential pressures created by the in-tank pumps across a diaphragm? I found a good write-up on this part here: Ford E

It would look as if I do not have the familiar multi-port switching valve that the carbureted trucks do.

My truck is stuck on the side of the road right now because of either a blockage in the fuel system, or that mechanism in the filter canister assembly has gotten messed up...

Thank you all for your suggestions.

Rick

 

Your truck should have 3 pumps if you have dual tanks, one low pressure pump inside each tank, and one high pressure pump mounted on the frame.

The plastic fuel lines in my experience are pretty tough. Only of a rodent chews through them do you have problems. They do have repair kits at the store for these lines.

 

Thank you for posting the assembly drawings. I've had the two in-tank pumps sitting at the ready for months now, and last night I ordered a Delphi high-pressure pump at work. Based on all the reading I've done today it looks like I would have good reason to be suspicious of the selector/filter reservoir assembly. Or it could just be the switch in the dash...it's very difficult to diagnose problems when the vehicle in question is 50 miles away When I do get the time to look at it, I have to be prepared...I'll have a day at best to diagnose the problem and get it operational.

Does anyone know if you can plug in a later style fuel filter (Fram G3802A) in place of the selector valve assembly on one of the tank supply lines to quickly and easily bypass it? The fittings on that filter look the same as the fittings on the selector valve, and the length is about right as well...

 

These are the parts I'm referring to...

 

Is this a 4x4? If it is, do you have another pickup truck available from someone? You can put the transfer case in neutral and flat tow it with a tow bar. It's not ideal, you have to be careful and go slow, but it can be done, 50 miles is not that far.

My old 80 went down while I was moving. Talk about bad timing. I rented the smallest u-haul I could, which turned out to be a box truck with a 460 in it. I went up and put the tow bar on the front of the 80, hooked it up to the u-haul, and towed it to the new house and left it. I then made the 2 or 3 more trips with the u-haul pulling the trailer and all my junk to the new house. Back then I think it cost me about $130 for using it 3 days. That was in addition to the big u-haul I had rented at the same time to haul all the house stuff.

 

Mine is a 2WD, but that's ok...I think I may not have communicated clearly. I work 50 miles away from where I live...The truck is stuck not far from my home, but because of what amounts to a 15 hour day with commute, I can't really do much with it on the days I have to work at my full time job. I did however stop by and crawl under it to put my eyes on exactly what I have, and I'm a bit confused. I have the filter reservoir, but with just two lines in and two lines out, and what I believe is a six-port switching valve (equipped with disconnects and all) some distance behind it, partially sandwiched between the frame and the midship tank. And all day today I thought I had the dual-function reservoir as pictured in an earlier post. I would now ask, why are there two lines in and...I think I saw two lines out? It was dark and all I had was my cell phone for light. I can't imagine what Ford was thinking when they designed this system.

 

They were thinking how they can adapt EFI to a carbureted fuel system...

What have you done to diagnose the fuel system? Do you have any fuel pressure? Are the pumps running? Did you check the relay's/electrical system?

Do you have dual tanks? If not, you'll have a reservoir still, but only two it, two out. One line is supply, one is return. Dual tanks are four in, two out. If you only have a single tank there's no valve. There is a filter in there that usually isn't changed.

 

Yes, it has dual tanks and EFI. The fuel pump will run, and the engine will start and fine for a short while, but will begin starving for fuel after a few minutes. All things considered, I think the best thing to do in the name of long term reliability of a nearly 30 year old truck is to just replace the whole mess. More poking around has yielded what I think is the right valve, although the OP had a carbureted 460, not an EFI 5.0-but it's a dead ringer for what I saw on mine. I'll try and call Ford tomorrow to see if they can confirm the part number (E5TZ-9189-B).

 

Yet more information; an E-Bay seller posted a schematic showing the exact layout I have on my truck.

 

Autozone sells that valve for $60-$75. But it's not a direct bolt-in, the lines and the wiring connections may need some modification to make it fit. The One from Ford is very expensive if you can even get it anymore.

If you had access to another truck, you could get a tow-dolly and bring it home if you put the back wheels up on the dolly. Or you could disconnect the driveshaft, leave it in the tranny and wire the back of it up to the truck and flat tow it home.

I hope you see a theme to my posts. I think you should get it home and troubleshoot it, instead of wasting a lot of time and money underneath it somewhere. To replace the fuel pumps in the tanks requires dropping the tank, and that's a lot of fun no matter where you are.

 

Yes, the PO did that on my 89 F250, He used 2 filters to by pass the tank selector and hooked up to the front tank. I found out the rear tank was 4" of crud inside....

Sounds like a fuel filter plugging up, if the pumps are working(make sure BOTH are) I'd change it out. Now when the engine stalls, listen to hear of the pumps are running. Sometimes(happened to me) the fuel pump relay was going intermittant contact.

Best thing to do is get it home or somewhere you can work on it. On the side of the road is not a good place to work on a vehicle.

 

I hear you loud and clear. I will do that to some extent of course, just to get it to move. I have a new set of relays (the EEC and fuel pump), some very good trouble shooting information I found here: Part 1 -Ford Fuel Pump Relay Test. and Part 1 -Ford EEC Power Relay Test. , and some other stuff like adapters to make up a couple lines to temporarily bypass the selector valve and the filter. I'm thinking and hoping that all those fittings down there are a common size (5/16") so I can plug my bypass lines into either tank. These bypass lines shouldn't take more than 15 minutes to plug in, which should let me get my truck moving again.

Thank you very much for your replies so far. Lately it seems like everything around me is breaking down! My Ford truck, my old Jeep Cherokee, and my little commuter car, a '00 Audi. All of these have issues of one kind or another. When it rains, it pours!

 

I got rid of the troublesome non electric switching valve, (Ford calls it a Dual Function Reservoir), and replaced it with an electric switching valve.
Writeup link in my sig below.

 

I simply removed the entire rear tank setup on my truck. Threw that switching valve reservoir thingy in the trash where it belongs. I run just the front tank now. No problems now!

 

You didn't mention the part about your system pulling fuel from one tank and returning it to the other. That valve can do very weird things.