Okay I just replaced the fuel pump and fuel bowl, (Got a new bowl from RiffRaff, not a rebuild kit), got new hoses and clamps for everything except the water drain hose. It seemed like it was working pretty well but I suspected a little leak still around somewhere, just random whiffs of diesel fuel when stopped.

I just got back from a 600 mile trip towing a boat and the leak seems to be worse now. I can see fuel pooling under the fuel bowl, so I don't think it's the pump again, is there some gotcha where I may have caused a non-tight connection? It does feel a little wet below the water drain "assembly" but doesn't seem like much. However I can't seem to find any other area on the bowl itself where it's wet.

Again new fuel bowl, not a rebuild, this is driving me crazy, It seems pretty dry in the back other than what looks like little trails from the front of the engine draining down the back, if that makes any sense.

 

With a new bowl only thing that comes to mind is maybe one or both fuel return lines from the front heads, where they thread into the bowl. They're under pressure and could leak. Don't know if those threads required a sealant or not, been a few years since I've had one apart. Did the new bowl come with new sensors? Never purchased a new one, almost did but just went with e-fuel instead.

 

yea it was pretty much the entire unit. The biggest reason why I got a new one is that a leak from the vacuum switch (replace fuel filter sensor) must have been leaking a long time to the point it ate through some wires.

I just realized that I checked the lines where they go into the bowl but not the other side, I do remember seeing that the HPOP was wet on top, doesn't look like it was oil on it either. Are the lines that go into the heads easy to get to?

 

Not really, IIRC the passenger side is easy but alternator needs to be removed. It's kind of in a "V" crack in the front portion of the block and hard to access with wrenches, but doable, I did it on e-fuel. Should be able to feel down there though with fingers for wet marks. The drivers side is a pain to access. If required I can give you instructions. Both return lines on my heads were not leaking but had to replace them for the e-fuel kit.

 

Grrr, okay looks like the rubber fuel line that goes to the driver side is to the fuel bowl is leaking right in the middle of the hose, I don't think it's leaking from the head but of course it connects to the head under the the AC compressor, can someone confirm it's part F4TZ9D308A?

How is the best and easiest way to get to this, should I just replace the passenger at the same time, the passenger side hose is dry.

Maybe I should just have a shop do this one, it should be easy and cheap right?

 

Yes, that's the correct part number for the drivers side. Riffraff diesel sell them .. Driver Side Fuel Line 94-97 - Riffraff Diesel Performance

Passenger side and drivers side are really two separate jobs. Kinda up to you. On the drivers side removing the compressor is pretty easy, just unplug the electrical, remove the bolts securing it to the bracket (3) I think, pickup and rotate the compressor towards the drivers side fender and bungee tie it to the drivers side hood spring. No need to remove any of the compressor hoses.

What I cant remember is if that connection to the head is accessible by just removing the compressor. If so then it's an easy job.

 

Okay I got the lines replaced last night, so far not seeing any drips under the truck. I hope after replacing the fuel pump, fuel bowl, supply hoses, and now the return hoses I finally nailed down that leak. I'll check under the hood when I get home. Once I've confirmed that I'll write out my steps taken to replace.

At least the truck didn't smell like diesel after I parked, or at stoplights. Sounds promising!

 

Alright, everything was dry last night so I'll post what I did for posterity. I wasn't able to take pictures since I kinda have to hide what I'm doing due to the HOA.
Driver Side

1. Disconnect the negative terminals on both batteries
2. Remove, or more like unhooked the serpentine belt
3. Disconnected the two wiring harnesses from the AC compressor unit and removed the 4 bolts (10mm) easy access they are right on top
4. I just kinda let the compressor sit on the accessory bracket, I felt like trying to move it out of the way was putting pressure on the hoses.
5. remove the three bolts for the vacuum pump (10mm) once it was off the bracket, used wide mouthed pliers to squeeze the compression ring and move it out of the way, disconnect the vacuum line
6. I loosened all the bolts holding the accessory bracket to the engine (13mm). I removed the upper bolts but left the bottom one in as the bracket was able to pivot out of the way towards the driver side fender. It was a little stiff but I think that was just because the power steering pump was pushing on something
7. This exposed the driver side hose from the fuel bowl to the head. I used a 13mm wrench to hold the head fitting in place while I used a 15mm wrench to unfasten the hose, After removing the hose connection points on both the fuel bowl and head it could be removed by snaking it out from under the HPOP lines.
8. I replace the hose with a new one, it was pretty much the reversal of the old hoses removal, but strangely the host fittings were now 14mm. I didn't replace the loom since it broke anyway and honestly I didn't know the hose was in bad shape until I peeled it back a couple of weeks ago.
9. After tightening the lines back into the head, I left it off the fuel bowl since the bottom line was going to the passenger side I wanted to replace that hose too, but if you are just doing the driver side you can snug it up now.
10. I put the bolts back to secure the accessory bracket back into place
11. Put the vacuum line back on the vacuum pump, then attached it to the bracket and tightened it down
12. Put the AC compressor back on the top of the bracket and tighted it up with the 4 bolts
13. replaced the wires to the AC unit.

Passenger side

1. If you haven't done the first side yet, then disconnect the batteries and unhook the wires to the alternator, (I left the positive line connected, and just moved it out of the way)
2. remove the three bolts holding the alternator to the mount (13mm)
3. with the alternator out of the way, you have a pretty straight shot to the hose, however it's an elbow and space down there is pretty tight
4. I removed the plenum bolt sitting in the way so I could get a wrench to surround the 6 point fastener, I found that if you took the wrench open end and actually surrounded the hose and then moved up to the fastener it worked better, since there is a metal tube for something that makes it hard to go straight onto the fastener.
5. remove the hose from both the bowl and head and replace with the new hose (Same thing old hose used 15mm fastener and the new one was 14mm)
6. replaced the alternator wiring and replaced the three 13mm bolts to hold the alternator in place.
7. Replaced the serpentine belt and connect the battery.

I test started it next day since it was already pretty late and I didn't want to wake neighbors. I don't know if it's a good idea to leave the loom off of the hoses. In my opinion all it did was hide where the leak was coming from, and fall apart when I tried to remove it.

 

Jeffrey, thanks for the write up. Hope the leaks are finnanly gone now. I knew the drivers side was a bit harder but its been a few years when I did my e-fuel and couldn't remember if the bracket had to be moved to access the drivers side port. When doing e-fuel I had to replace the supply and return lines behind that bracket with the kit I purchased so moving the bracket was a requirement. The loom is there to protect the hoses and make them look pretty. As long as they aren't rubbing on anything or each other all should be good. As you found out it's not a really hard job, once you do it for the first time, usually the case, LOL. Good JOB ...

 

Yes thanks for the write up. Reps sent.