Alrighty, Ive got a 97 f250 with the 7.3. It started leaking after I bought it. (go figure) I traced it down to the block on the side of the fuel bowl, I took it off, and replaced all the O-rings.

Then I smelled diesel again and I popped the hood to find fuel spraying out of the cap of the fuel bowl. So I bought a napa filter with a new cap and O-ring and slapped it on there.

Then it started leaking again. I couldn't figure it out, so I assumed it was the drain valve. (common leak) So, I replaced all three O-rings. (I would have replaced the whole thing, but It was a sunday.. blah blah blah..

You guessed it.. Its leaking again, but not as bad! Really irritating. I work on it more than I drive it. So I open the hood and start it, put a light in there and I can see that there is some diesel around the top lip where the lid screws on. There's nothing squirting out and does not appear to be leaking out anywhere, but there is fuel there, so whats the deal?

The last thing I know of that can leak on the bowl itself is the fuel heater and the temp sensor. Do the bowls "warp" on top where they don't seal correctly?

 

I'm going to move this one down to the 7.3L forum since this is an engine-specific question.

 

looks like you need to clean off diesel with some brake clean get everything dried out then pinpoint your leak.

 

some aftermarket cap's may leak. most of use the OEM cap and OEM filter. the o ring only go's on one way..

 

That would be bevel up

 

Many find the caps to be temperamental. Too loose, they leak; too tight, they leak. Just make sure the big beveled O ring under the cap has the bevel facing up toward the hood.
If you're still leaking from the fuel bowl area, you might consider taking the whole bowl out and resealing the entire thing per these instructions:
http://www.dieselorings.com/docs/OBSFuelBowlRebuild.pdf
It's easy, and the reseal kit only runs about $21 + shipping and can be had from DieselORings.
But before jumping to conclusions, you should do as crop harvester said and pinpoint the leak to a definite.

EDIT: sorry, I see you have a '97... I'm editing the link I posted, as I learned earlier this week an OBS fuel bowl can be a whole different animal...

 

E-fuel will solve your problem.

So yeah, I jumped on that bandwagon. But honestly, it would. Aside from chasing leaks with a well-known temperamental system, or getting a different fuel bowl from another truck that doesn't leak, there aren't many other choices.

Also, another very common leak area is all the rubber hoses going into the bowl. If you pull the bowl out to re-seal it, spend the extra $10 on the high pressure rubber lines.

 

Thank you all for the great replies and links! So I did the brake clean trick, let it dry and started it. It dripped from the heater sensor twice, but never any more. So I am going to go ahead and replace those o-rings. I would just buy one off of the diesel o-ring site, but I need the truck Sunday to go back to college. Does anyone know what size of O-rings they take (the sensor and that plug...if that's the correct terminology) I have a grainger store in the next town away that I can stop in at if I have the right number.

 

The bottom of my fuel bowl looks like Swiss cheese... Thats the problem! another question... I noticed that the wire on one of the tabs of the fuel heater has broke loose. doesnt look melted, but could cause problems can i solder that back on there?? I know they can short out and pop the pcm fuse, but i really need to get it back together.

 

Sounds like you could use a replacement bowl then.

The heater can be left unplugged. Just cap off the wires going back to the computer and you won't have anything to worry about. If you absolutely want to repair it, make sure it is mounted securely inside the bowl (not able to touch the sides and ground out) and you can fix wires with solder. Just remember not to solder any wires with the batteries connected.

 

You're welcome, glad you might've pinpointed it. The heater and WIF (water in fuel) sensor are actually two separate parts, if you didn't know. And they MIGHT be a doozie to take out with the bowl in position. You can reference the link I posted if you do indeed need help.
I just pulled my first OBS bowl last weekend, and after 400,000 miles, a block of ice in the bottom, and broken parts/sensors I just decided to order the complete new bowl from DieselORings. It worked out great, a VERY high quality part from Motorcraft. But very spendy.
Unfortunately I'm not sure on the O-ring size.

 

I had it welded. I will skim it with JB weld. (Ill add pics later) Fastenal had orings. $1.86 for a pack of 25. So if I can just unplug the fuel heater, whats the point of having it? It gets pretty cold here. Does it make it run or flow better?

 

I believe it would just eliminate the threat of blowing the fuse that powers the PCM given a short could occur.
I like to keep mine plugged in especially after I saw that chunk of ice in my brothers fuel bowl this weekend. The coil had completely come off his heater.

 

If you had a chunk of ice in the bottom of that fuel bowl, you have waaaay more problems with bad fuel than you do with the fuel heater.

Point of having it, was that 20 years ago when these trucks were new, the diesel blends had more of a problem gelling up. With newer blends, that's much more rare. So the fuel heater isn't as necessary as it was when the trucks were rolling off the 'line.

 

Did some research. It is supposed to make the filter micron rating go down. So the warmer the filter, the better the micron rating. It is also supposed to prevent fuel gelling in the bowl, but I always keep additive in it. And if it is cold enough to gel, I probably wont get it to start anyways. There is a cheaper version made by dorman.


there is a link for those who want to see it.

My heater thermostat is bad as well. So I think I will just leave it out!