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I got a new water drain valve, as my old one had been leaking, and was now getting worse, and worse. I set out to swap them, and I'm not quite sure where to start, I'm only seeing one of the screws that I need to pull to remove it. Is there a trick to this swap, or should I just suck it up, and pull my GPR, and everything in that area to get access?
Other questions-
I just did an oil change, filled the filter 2/3 full, finished the change and fired the engine up. It ran fine a moment, then sputtered a bit, then went right back to idling perfectly. I was just wondering if that would be due to a momentary lapse in oil to the HPOP interfering with injection?
The pickup has been smoking badly when I've had it running with the leak (I haven't been driving with the leak, that seemed like a bad idea to me). Could the smoke be due to an air leak where the diesel is coming from?
Here is a picture of the fuel bowl so you can see the screws for the drain valve.
So you filled the fuel filter 2/3 full with fuel and then started the truck after changing the fuel filter, correct? That should have nothing to do with the HPOP losing pressure, and I doubt it would cause the engine to stumble unless the FPR screen is badly clogged and it isn't able to remove the excess air in the filter housing efficiently. Pull the filter again, and on the driver side of the housing just down from the top, there is a hole that leads the return fuel to the Fuel Pressure Regulator. There is a screen in there that "strains" the big junk from getting into the FPR and return lines. That screen gets gunked up over time and it may make it difficult for the fuel system to separate air from the bowl. Use the stick from a q-tip and gently scrape the gunk out of that hole if it is gunked up. Don't use a screwdriver or anything as you can damage the screen with something sharp and hard (thus the recommendation to use a q-tip with the fuzz cut off).
I doubt the smoke you're seeing could be in any way associated with the leak you're seeing either as the fuel system is under pressure so it shouldn't suck air from anywhere up front. I guess if you have a leak in a supply line, and the FPR screen is clogged it could be doing a shoddy job of separating air from the fuel, but that seems like a long shot.
You could always check the fuel pressure if you're in doubt. On the side of the FPR there is a Shrader valve (like a tire valve stem) that you can check it with a stick style tire gauge. You're looking for 60-70 PSI at idle. Use a rag down there too, as it can spray fuel while you're messing with it.
Hopefully this all makes sense and helps. Good luck.
The second question was actually related to an oil change I did, and it was more of a curiosity thing. I was just wondering if the moment of no oil could have caused it.
No problem! My second question was more or less whether you were talking about having refilled the fuel filter housing or the HPOP reservoir. If you drained and filled the HPOP res (some people still think that is necessary), then I could see that causing a stumble. If you didn't bother the HPOP res, and we are just talking about the fuel system, then I don't see that having made much difference.
Neither of those. I was wondering if a stumble was normal after an oil change, due to the moment where there is less oil to the HPOP from the empty space in the filter. I probably phrased that poorly when I asked.
Ahah! Sometimes I'm a little slow, but I usually catch up eventually.
I don't think I've ever seen a stumble as a result of an oil change regardless of whether I prefilled the filter or not. Because the filter on these engines holds so much oil, a lot of guys will recommend that you pour oil into the filter before you install it, effectively eliminating this as a concern. The oil pump flows a lot of oil, but without filling the filter, there is a momentary lapse in oil flow until the air is out of the filter. It's probably a good practice to fill the filter, but I don't always do that and I've never had a stumble as a result. If it just did it once and hasn't occurred since, I wouldn't be too concerned about it.
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