Replaced fuel filters in 2006 F350 6.0 liter diesel as truck sat over winter months and fuel gelled. Fuel drained from filter underneath drivers side of truck came out thick. Cycled ignition dozens of times. Can hear the fuel pump working for about 60 seconds on each cycle of ignition. Took fuel filters back off, inspected O ring and made sure filters was properly seated. Re oiled threads on fuel filter caps and reinstalled. Made sure bowel on upper fuel filter was overfilled before putting new fuel filter and cap back on.

Before the truck froze over the winter, when the ignition key was turned on, I could hear and would wait for glow plugs to finish warming up before start. Never heard fuel pump until I replaced fuel filters.

I am assuming there is air in the fuel line but after turning it over and cycling the ignition dozens of times to the extent I have to recharge the brand new batteries.

How do I bleed the fuel line if that is what it is? When I removed the fuel filter under the drivers side for the second time the filter housing was full of fuel and if the top fuel filter cap if not on tight diesel will shoot out when cycling the key which tells me the fuel pump itself is working. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Zack

 

Similar thread - not sure if it helps


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1268484-air-in-fuel.html

 

Sorry, misread and deleted post.

 

(Bold text)This is normal operation of the fuel pump.

The FPR on the side of the secondary fuel filter housing has an air bleed valve in it. Takes about 7 full fuel pump/key on cycles to completely bleed out air when both filter housings have been opened.

As for the fuel gelling, if the parrafin wax has separated from the fuel & is visible on the filter media, the filters are toast. You could try to take a heat gun to the parrafin wax on the filter to try to melt it but from my experience its just not worth it.

I have seen many members on here say that antigel additives are a waste of money & can't help laughing that they are so confident in their fuel suppliers. Diesel fuel nowadays isn't like it used to be, thank the tree huggers. Me personally, I won't ever run a diesel engine without an additive. It's cheap insurance and added lubricity for the injectors.

With that said, I run howes at the normal recommendation on the bottle until temps get below 0. Below 0 I double the dose. In my 1 million miles on my cummins n14+ I've never gelled with this practice. My dad has the same truck identical to mine, he's gelled 2-3x before & it's a nightmare getting back up & running. Since he's followed my advice he hasn't gelled since.

Have you done the fpr blue spring update yet? If not, I would ASAP, your injectors will thank you. Dieseltechron(RIP) on YouTube has an excellent tutorial on the updated spring.
Have you tested fuel pressure at the secondary filter test port after changing the filters? 45 psi is the minimum spec although anything lower than 50 is considered a bad hfcm. Also if you don't have a live data monitor like TorquePro or Forscan, I highly recommend getting one. It's the most used tool any powerstroke owner has.

Good luck!

Edit: welcome to FTE btw!
The 6.0 section of the forum has a wealth of information about your truck, especially the tech folder.

 

Thanks for all the info,

I will be back at it, working on that truck first thing tomorrow morning. I will do everything on this thread (from easiest to the most difficult) except for the hose tool you have to make or buy. I will post exactly what worked and who's post it came from. Ford definitely needs to fix this in the future as Ford trucks are a good tough truck for the oil fields when they work, but when the do not work even the certified Ford diesel mechanic at the dealership is stumped.

 

Don't use a diesel truck, but in my diesel tractor and diesel skidsteer, I always add some of the red bottle Power Service (I think) to my tank in the winter. Tractor filter used to gell on me all the time and now it doesn't