Hello all,

I have a 4x4 96 E350 7.3, which my better half and I turned into a Sportsmobile-esque camper. We are in Ecuador now with it. Living in a van is great, but we seem to be averaging a mechanical issue per week and I am really getting tired of it! Learning a lot, though, for better or worse

We just got the transmission repaired (successfully) so I was dutifully under the van to look for leaks/anything out of the order, and found diesel on the little cover beneath the flywheel as well as on the starter motor. Took off the doghouse and the turbo heat shield and you can see a puddle of diesel beneath the fuel pump. A couple of photos are attached. I started the van and watched for a while and could see no new drops/running fuel in 5 minutes of the van running, but you cannot see in there very well with the turbo in the way and the air intake and all, and this being a van. Noteworthy is that the puddle is not _full_ -- as in, it is not actively running over the edge of the block at the moment. I believe that the fuel has been puddling there for some time and then yesterday doing some steep driving the fuel was able to run over the back of the block and drip down onto the fuel pump/flywheel cover, then in many miles of driving we didn't leak enough to refill the puddle. Which to me means it's probably been leaking for a while as well.

So I'm looking for thoughts on this - how common is it? How bad is it? What would you do to diagnose? Would you suspect a loose fitting or an old seal or would you expect to put in a new fuelpump and some lines or?

One other question. When I fired up the van with the doghouse and turbo heatshield off, I noticed a puff of sooty exhaust from the junction from one of the turbo inputs (ie, the pipe coming from the exhaust manifold and into the turbo). Are there tightness specs on those? Do those bolts freeze in place with all the heat? If I try to tighten it am I likely to risk sheering or anything?

Cheers and thank you, as always, in advance to all the knowledge folks here who continually help me out!

Josh

 

One other question... you could see a lot more without the turbo in the way. I assume it's a bad idea to run the van with the turbo out, or is there anything wrong with that other than the raw, hot exhaust entering straight into the van? My other thought is to try to run it for a few minutes then before the turbo gets tooo hot, try to take the turbo out quickly and check for fresh diesel anywhere.

 

Oh I think I remember your previous posts. Hope you're having fun.

Running the engine without the turbo would blow all the exhaust out the up-pipe collector RIGHT into the area you're inspecting; I would think that would spoil any attempt to troubleshoot. Best way to locate fuel leaks in the valley - dry it out, then sprinkle with baby powder or baking soda or the like. Down there, be careful what white powder you choose... . Run the engine briefly and look for the stain on the powder. That will help narrow down the location. Common leak points:

* Rubber lines between the fuel bowl and fuel pump. They make them pre-cut, but any 30R9 fuel line and fuel injector-type clamps will do. If you have to take anything else out in the fuel system, replacing those lines would be a good measure anyway
* Fuel filter restriction sensor. '96, it should be facing the driver's side of the fuel bowl. Single-wire connector, round terminal. All it does is drive the dash light, so a 1/8" NPT (knock wood that's the standard down there...) plug will fix it. Use paste/tube thread sealant, NOT teflon tape; with teflon tape it's too easy to overtighten and crack the bowl/regulator, and then you're not having a good day at all
* Banjo bolt washers - That's the big bolt you see in pic 2. Actually, with a van you probably have a better angle on that bolt with just an extension going straight back, pretty much where the camera is for that shot. We truck owners have to either use a bent-up box wrench to get around the turbo, or remove the turbo. Two copper washers, one on either side of the banjo fitting. Cold comfort for you, but they're available at the Ford dealer.
* Fuel pump itself - there's a weep hole, oh I forget, wanna say it's toward the front. Inspection mirror would help there, if you can get your hands on one (bribe a local dentist, maybe?).

 

Thanks for the help! I am unable to clean well enough in there and see well enough to achieve anything with baking soda or the like, it is just too cramped and hard to get at, so we are going to swing back by a mechanic where we had pretty good experience, and see how we can do getting the turbo out and trying to figure out what is going on. Or perhaps try taking out the air intake system down to the tube into the turbo and see if that gets enough access (though I doubt it). Tomorrow/Tues shall be fun at the mechanic

 

You shouldn't have to remove the turbo to diagnose or fix anything with the fuel components in the valley. But yes, remove the spider and hoses; I think that was sorta presumed.

 

I waited till we were in Quito to try to get the air intake and all out, as I'll need to be in Quito to get parts anyways. Finally found a better mechanic here, we got it all out in short order, looks like its leaking from the banjo bolt and the weep hole.

The weep hole means internal pump damage, correct? Means I'm looking for a new pump. Or is there another possibility that would make it leak out the weep hole?

Aside from the soft lines and the crush washers, anything else that I should do a precautionary replacement of while I am in there?

Thank you, as always, for the advice...

Cheers, Josh

 

As an update found a new pump from a place that supplies International parts, and it has an International part number. Getting crush washers is proving difficult, however... if I can't find decent, is there any prayer of reusing the old? Any way to smooth them or the like before reuse?