yup good old air intrusion. time for o-rings, caps, and return lines.
the wet bottom could be from the brass plug in the water in fuel sensor leaking, or the drain may be loose a hair loose.
i get filters without the sensor tap.

 

I got a new filter today. WIX33417
I'll have to get that intrusion fixed! Although I'm truly hoping that the sensor plug on the old filter is leaking. And that's the intrusion!

That would be an easy fix.

 

yea, rite..............you really think it will be that easy??? if you do, i have some ocean front property for sale in death valley i will let go cheap.

 

Still trying to start this beast. I think changing the fuel filter is adding to the delay.
I've noticed that after cranking, I'm getting some seeping from the fuel filter housing. Especially this item. RED ARROW.

I've also just noticed that my heater plug (at the block) was disconnected!!
That will make a difference these cold mornings!

 

fuel heater. pull it out, plug it up. that there may very well be where your leak is, both air getting in overnight, and seepage running down to wet the bottom of the filter.

 

Don't I need this fuel heater?

 

where are you? your profile shows CAD as location.
mine has been disconnected for over 20 years and i never had any problems even in sub zero temps.

 

Canada. In the past two weeks we've had some -4 Fahrenheit nights.
By the way, Mike says the truck fired right up this morning. The only thing I did yesterday was change the fuel filter... which was how old????
And plugged in the block heater. I found out yesterday that the block heater was unplugged right at the block. The connector was just sitting on top of the starter. Must have fell off? I'll admit, it wasn't that snug going back on.

The truck fired right up. Cranked for maybe 3 seconds he says. Vroooom!!

 

keep an eye on it. i use a remote switch for my block heater, others use a timer to turn block heater power on 3 hours before starting instead of leaving it plugged in all night.
saves on the power bill.
the leak in the filter may have been the problem and you may not have to do a return line kit.
the fuel heater really only works on a cold engine, once the engine warms up a bit it don't really do anything.
if you always get good fuel, i would not worry too much about it.
mine has been disconnected since around 1990 or so, and i never once had gelled fuel in the filter even down to 10 below.
i buy good fuel and if i know it is going to be sub zero, i just add some diesel kleen or a gallon of kerosene to a full tank of fuel.

 

OK thanks.
Block heater is normally hooked up all the time. we have no schedule for the truck. Very random use.
I'm going to hook something up to the block heater that senses it's drawing current. Measuring voltage does tell you if the heater is working. It only confirms 120V is there.

I'll take a look at the fuel heater. I saw a few posts where people have just replaced the O-Rings. If I can do that easily good. If not... I'll plug it up.
Thanks,

 

In the OP he mentions "batteries" reading 12.35, volts this at best 50% charged, not good at all. Since they are in parallel connection this can be a misleading figure, if they are measured this way. One may be nearly dead, the other nearly fully charged.

He mentions needing a jump start, this is not surprising there. Dual batteries will become mismatched over time as either "cell" starts to hog charge current. This is one reason why they are always replaced as a pair.

In any case they need to be fully charged or will sulfate and suffer permanent loss of capacity. The vehicle alternator can not and should not be tasked to do this. Modern maintenance free batteries measure 12.84 volts fully charged, this is the OCV "open circuit" voltage, that is after the surface charge is removed. This chart is for standard or "low" maintenance battery where a full charge is a little lower, 12.65.

A couple tenths doesn't sound like much but it is huge when it comes to battery state of charge. It's also temperature dependent. One way to remove surface charge (engine not running) turn the headlights on high beam for five minutes, then turn them off and wait ten minutes. The battery will "bounce back" to the true OCV and state-of-charge. Notice the difference between 100% and 50% charge is only half a volt, 100% and Dead is less than a single volt! Tenths of a volt matter bigtime when it comes to a battery.

 

block heater is usually 1000 to 1100 watts. so if working you should see a 10 to 13 amp draw.

 

Here's a link to a fuel heater fix thread:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ns-w-pics.html

 

I have noticed in the past that the area under my alternator looked wet. This weekend, I fired up the truck and found the fuel spitting out. Apparently this is my Fuel Lift Pump?
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...t-is-this.html

But today... it's not spitting anything out. Do these just fail as they get older?
Or did this thing go because of the air intrusion issue I fixed?

 

that is the lift pump. what happens is the diaphragm starts leaking.
they either leak out the weep hole, or into the crank case.
either way, you need to replace it rite away. and check the engine oil level and smell it so see if it smells like diesel fuel. you may need to change the oil too after swapping the pump.