Just a couple of quick questions on my 1990 E150 5.8L

1) How many fuel filters are there with this dual tank system. and where are their locations?

2) is the coffee canister really necessary or is it something that can be bypassed? Mine has holes in it and the van has started missing under load, has a hard time reaching 55mph, so I'm thinking either fuel filters, or this coffee can or possibly both.
No codes are being thrown.

Thanks for any info.

 

Just happen to have the fuel filter info handy! Look under the drivers seat on the frame rail and you will find the high pressure pump, fuel filter, and a
fuel reservoir/tank selector valve. The reservoir may look like the bottom unscrews but DON'T. There isn't a filter in there and many people report it leaking after you mess with it. To relieve the fuel pressure from the lines you can remove the fuel pump relay and try to start the engine. It may try to run for a second but quickly run out of pressure.
Be careful taking the lines loose on the filter as they are easy to break. They have little clips that have to be removed and there are small o-rings up inside the line fittings so watch that one doesn't come out.



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Common fuel fittings


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fuel selector valve/reservoir

 

Oh as to the vacuum canister... Yes you need it. At idle the engine has full vacuum but at wide open throttle, the vacuum can drop to 0.. So the vacuum reservoir canister makes sure you have a little vacuum at WOT for some of the vacuum controls.

 

Mine has 2 fuel filters, don't quite understand why, especially the electric fuel pump on the frame rail, its by the second filter, I don't think the fuel line connections are factory on it, may have gotten damaged during replacement, afraid to mess with it, tho likely needs changed. I've had trouble in the past changing Ford filters, you need a good adapter to release it, the metal universal one wont work, rarely ever does, you need the set, sometimes it requires force to get them in under the retainer spring.

 

There is a low pressure pump in the fuel tank/tanks. The low pressure pump supplies fuel up to the reservoir where the high pressure pump takes it from there. Why the reservoir? On old carbed cars you had a float bowl which held a little extra fuel for when you stomped on the gas or kicked it down into passing gear. That extra gas in the bowl kept the engine from stalling or stumbling until the pump could catch up. The reservoir on the EFI engines do much the same job as the float bowl does on carbed cars.

Maples01, You should only have 1 filter. You have a single tank and so your reservoir looks like this being it is not a selector valve combo..

 

Nope, I have a filter at the tank, and another on the frame rail aside the electric fuel pump, the one at the pump has yet to be changed, the connections are sketchy, I have a miss thats worried dad, hes been driving it, previous owner told him the filter at the tank had been changed but the other hadn't. I have to go by what others have said, I've yet to get under it, the 2 filter thing has really bothered me tho.

 

@annaleigh thanks for the information....I'm hoping it's just the filter, it runs fine at idle and in park you can rev the engine without a problem, just in drive gears it misses very bad and struggles to get to 50mph, even worse when at a stop then trying to gain speed, have to keep pumping the gas pedal like it's carbed.

Looks like I'll be looking for a new vacuum canister....Thanks

 

Maples, Someone must have added that second filter... One of the fuel lines at my filter looks really bad but after checking it a bit better, there is a rubber sleeve over one of the fuel lines and it is the rubber sleeve that looks about ready to fall apart.

Mike1, Have you checked the fuel pressure and checked for any codes? Another test is to use a vacuum gauge and see if it shows anything. Some of the parts stores have a fuel pressure tester in their loaner tools I am not sure about a vacuum gauge but HF has them fairly cheap.

 

I have not checked the FP as of yet, I will need to rent one from the parts store, I'm still just running on the front tank as I still need to drop the rear tank and change the pump, but I also need to remove the switching valve and tear into it, I'm told they can be rebuilt that it's generally just the valves inside that start sticking because of crud build up....IDK, I figure it can't hurt to open it up and find out, it can either be fixed or I'll have to buy a new one. I did check for codes because there isn't a check engine light on, but no codes are coming up. I do not know how long the van sat or how old the gas was, The guy told me he filled the tank before I got there but the gas gauge doesn't work. The PO only lived 40 miles from me and the van ran out of gas when I pulled into the driveway, But it smelled like heavy gas too...That was before I changed the TPS also.
so I'm kind of thinking it has a bunch of crap in the tank and the filter is clogged, but if I have to pull the front tank then I'll just pull both and fix it all together....I only paid $2100.00 with the plates and title included. I've put about $650.00 into the front end and about another $25 into window motor gears another $40 into the TPS, $25 for valve cover gaskets and about 20hrs of labor. I'm still under a total of $3000.00 invested. If I have to I'll sell this and start over with something else....The wife wants a van with working AC....LOLOL

 

I wish I had dual tanks, my front tank is small, I wounder how hard it would be to add a second tank, return line needed due to it being fuel injected. I have looked at the selector switches, there are many listed, often you can get a good deal on a non running van because the selector failed and the owner just gives up, I don't know if I would take it apart, I see springs flying out of it.

 

A friend had cracks in his fuel line, was sucking air, had it acting like vapor lock, the plastic vacuum lines also crack, check the lines at your evap canister too.

 

Thanks, the PO had the rear tank disconnected and bypassed, To me it looks like he did it because it looks like the valve was leaking from the top gasket, also the rear tank may have a hole in it, I'm not sure. The PO told me the rear tank was the one that worked, he said he filled it up before I came and got the van but when I hit my drive way after driving it back home 40 miles it ran out of gas, I put 5 gallons in the rear tank and it still wouldn't start, so I put 5 gallons in the front tank and it fired right up...I went to siphon the gas out of the rear tank, I could hear the hose hitting the bottom of the tank and I couldn't get any gas out of it like it's bone dry, so It may have a hole I can't see. I'll get it figured out eventually, I just need time. Right now I'm dealing with my 03 F350 having a missing problem and the right rear caliper is hanging and then I took my wife's 2015 Kia Soul to the dealer for an oil change and tire rotation, they screwed it up and cross threaded three lug nuts causing the studs to snap off, but they are denying it was one of their guys that did it, so I pulled the hub assembly yesterday but it has to be pressed apart with an arbor press. I'm waiting for the shop to call me and tell me whether or not they were successful or if they fubared the bearing.....Such is life.

 

annaleigh, mike & maples. annaleigh, i remember your name from a year ago when i signed up & you really helped me with some suggestions on my 1990 e350 5.8 van transmission dipstick. dang you're so nice. i did get that fixed finally since i couldn't find one. i have dual tanks as well and am having trouble getting over about 45 going uphill, it's weird, it doesn't feel like overwhelming 'bogging down' per say, just lack of power, so i am trying to tackle fuel system. if it's not too much trouble would you know which filter to get from say napa or oreillys? there's a few listed and i'm a little confused. i also notice that when my gas gauge reads empty there's still a 1/4ish left in the tanks, i don't know if they use a float system or maybe there's a fuel sender module that's out of whack? after new fuel filter do you recommend that i do a regulator vacuum test on the fuel pump itself? thank you so much annaleigh, you've always been so nice to me, especially since i'm always stressed about asking questions))

and mike & maples, did you guys get your problems resolved? i would really be interested in what was the final problem/fix if you don't mind.

thanks you guys/gals, i already feel guilty for wasting your time))-barbie

 

Barbie, I still have not managed to get my fuel problem fixed, just no time, working a lot of hours, I did change the fuel filter though, here's the link to the one I installed.
https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...097/11447932-P

 

hey mike, thanks so much for the link, i'm going to as soon as i write this. can i thank you for taking the time to reply to me, i really really appreciate it. i know what you mean by being so busy, i've had this lack of power on hills issue with my van for 10 years but i don't drive it on the road very much...but it's always bothered me and i'm finally trying to figure it out. if you ever do get if figured out will you post in this thread for me just so i can learn some more stuff? i'm set to get notified, i understand i could be a month or a year, but i'll read whatever you end up posting. thanks again for responding, this forum is amazing. -barbie