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When you dropped the tank did you replace the factory hose feeding the pump w/ a standard fuel hose and fuel injection clamps? Those factory "quick connect" fittings can develop leaks and cause major aeration issues.
When you dropped the tank did you replace the factory hose feeding the pump w/ a standard fuel hose and fuel injection clamps? Those factory "quick connect" fittings can develop leaks and cause major aeration issues.
I did not. I went right back together with all the factory fittings. If end up having aeration issues is there a recommended procedure for pin pointing it? I/E pressurizing the fuel bowl inlet line with compressed air and spraying all fittings pre pump with soapy water? Or possibly lightly pressurizing the fuel tank at the filler neck and look for diesel fuel seeping out any of the "suction" lines or fittings?
There's really only 3 places it can be. At the pump intake, at the connection on top of the tank, or inside the tank. Unless you have a flatbed you'll likely have to drop the tank or pull the bed any way you go so you'll have access to all of them then. I'd change the hose for sure, your call on the Hutch and Harpoon mods.
I wouldn’t necessarily call the blue spring an upgrade. I tried a different spring kit but found it to have too high pressure. If it turns out to be FPR related I would consider just doing the rebuild with new poppet and factory spring.
Got some good news and got some less than ideal but almost expected news. Good news is I've got my fuel pressure fixed. Had multiple issues going on. Udsuth78 hit the nail on the head with aeration issues. Also FPR was shot and fuel pump sluggish. Here's how I came to this conclusion.
I started out by removing the fuel return line and capping the FPR outlet as a means to dead head the fuel pump. A simple 3/8" compression cap threaded on perfect. To make sure it sealed tight i stacked 3 rubber washers inside of it. The reason for stacking them was because the cap is slightly deeper than the FPR "nipple" and it wouldnt make contact with the washers when tightened down. With 3 of them I basically threaded it on until i felt the washers start to compress and then just gave it a slight snug....1/4 turn or so. The cap and rubber washers i used Rubber washers in the cap Cap installed to the fuel return port
Once the port was capped, i checked my fuel pressure. It was still a bit slow building pressure but went well over 100psi before i hauled a** and turned the key off. Click the link to view a clip I shot of it.
Next i followed Udsuth78's recommendation of checking for aeration. Sure enough when i ran enough hose from the test port into a 5 gal. bucket not only was the flow from the pump very slow but it was putting out a bunch of fizzy bubbles. Click the link if your interested in seeing it.
I went ahead and bought a new pump and FPR and while replacing the pump, I found the source of the air infiltration. The quick connect fitting on the suction side of the pump was broken and somebody had ziptied it to hold it in place since it wouldn't stay clicked on.
I cut it off from the metal line on the truck it was connected to and replaced it with rubber fuel hose and fuel injection clamps. After replacing the pump and line I checked for aeration, flow, and pressure. Flow was greatly increased, no more aeration that I could see, and also is building pressure much quicker....increased flow may be from fixing the aeration issue and not necessarily the new pump...or maybe a bit of both but I figured while I'm at it and in the mood, just replace the pump so it's fresh and for the piece of mind that comes with it.
Next it was on to the FPR. I purchased a Dorman from Oreillys that had the blue spring in it.....yes I know it's a Dorman haha, talk all the smack you want. I won't be offended.
After installing it, I rechecked my fuel pressure and it was a little to high for my comfort levels....up around 100 psi! I thought maybe the spring wasn't centered or might be possibly bound up so I removed and reinstalled it 3 different times with the same results. I ended up putting my original spring back in and now pressure stays at a much more comfortable level.....close to 70. When compared to the original spring it felt much stiffer and harder to compress with my fingers. Click the following link to see it running with the blue spring from dorman.
So how does the truck run after this....well I can tell you that it idles considerably smoother and quieter. Not as much "cackle" to it when its idling anymore. In fact i don't think it's ever idled this smooth and quiet. It definitely pulls better in the low and mid range but the bad news yall been waiting to hear is that it still falls flat on its face under moderate to heavy load!!! DOGGONIT!!!! HPO still dropping like a stone down to the 800s when I try to feed her the onions! I kinda had my hopes high that this would resolve my loss of power issue but im not surprised it didn't. Did the work need to get done I just did tonight?.....absolutely and im glad i did it. I'm sure all that air in the fuel and low pressure wasn't doing the injectors any favors. Now I guess I gotta keep chipping away at my low ICP debacle. I already ordered a new IPR a few days ago and that should be in hopefully tomorrow or the next day. It's the cheapest and easiest thing to do next so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
You might try taking her out for a flogging w/ ICP unplugged. The PCM should approximate the pressure from the other data it has available and still run well enough. May be for nothing or may confirm or discount the pump or ICP.
I find it unusual that a stock tune would command up to 4.76ms fuel PW under load
Jeff, as you know, but others reading this in the future may not. PW is dependent on the RPM and a PW reading near 5ms may be normal based on engine load and RPM. Cleatus12r has told us that the PW is capable of going up near 15ms in some situations.
PW is an indicator that something is wrong (or right) too, but only when correlated to other PID's. I glanced back up at the charts, but did not see RPM. So, the PW reading of 4.76ms may or may not be an indicator of something going on in that area.
You might try taking her out for a flogging w/ ICP unplugged. The PCM should approximate the pressure from the other data it has available and still run well enough. May be for nothing or may confirm or discount the pump or ICP.
I had tried that before fixing my fuel pressure and aeration issues with no noticeable improvement/difference. Per your recommendation i tried it again this morning on my 40 mile commute to work now that my fuel delivery system is functioning correctly....again no noticeable difference. I will say the truck is much more "streetable" after fixing my fuel problems but the passing power just isn't there like it used to be before all this started. Not even close. Probably going to end up being the hpop if I had to bet money on it at this point but we'll see what happens when I change the IPR. So far I appreciate the great suggestions and advice. I would have never thought to check for aeration or dead head the fuel pump if it weren't for your suggestions and in doing so I found other problems the truck had that needed corrected even if they weren't causing the main issue that got me started with all this.
Jeff, as you know, but others reading this in the future may not. PW is dependent on the RPM and a PW reading near 5ms may be normal based on engine load and RPM. Cleatus12r has told us that the PW is capable of going up near 15ms in some situations.
PW is an indicator that something is wrong (or right) too, but only when correlated to other PID's. I glanced back up at the charts, but did not see RPM. So, the PW reading of 4.76ms may or may not be an indicator of something going on in that area.
It will jump up to 4.7X as low as 1800 rpm +/- and hold it all the way to 3000 through the shift and into and through the next gear until I let off the pedal.
That aeration test is a big fail. Need to eliminate those sources of air intrusion before moving on to anything else.
Aeration issues are fixed. I know my posts can be long but I try to be as detailed and thorough as possible so that everyone can get the big picture of whats going on to come up with the best "plan of attack" and also for anyone in the future who may be having similar issues so that they might be able to learn from my experience that im having. If you go back read through my entire post from last night you'll see that the quick connect fitting on the suction side of the fuel pump was broken and was ziptied in place since it wouldn't "click" on. Replaced that little section of line with rubber fuel hose and installed a new pump + a new regulator and aeration issues are gone and fuel pressure is right on the money.
I wouldn’t necessarily call the blue spring an upgrade. I tried a different spring kit but found it to have too high pressure. If it turns out to be FPR related I would consider just doing the rebuild with new poppet and factory spring.
Well your right about the blue spring haha. I installed the kit with the new spring last night and my fuel pressure was way to high. Put my factory spring back in and now fuel pressure is just right. You can read my post from last night where I go into more detail if interested.
Already assuming the worst (HPOP) I decided to give a local diesel injection shop a call that rebuilds injectors and injection pumps and asked if they rebuild HPOPs. They said they did and have plenty of them on the shelf right now and would give me an overhauled one for $350 if I brought my old one in as a core. They are a very reputable shop that I've used before for injector work. In fact some of you may have heard of them if you ever watch Bill Hewitts videos from powerstrokehelp.com. He mentions them from time to time and they are actually who he uses despite being in a totally different state so they must be pretty solid. The shop is called Mississippi Diesel Products and they just so happen to be about 40min from where I live.
Tracking number for the IPR valve shows its out for delivery today so we'll see what happens with that when I install it this evening....if that doesn't do it, I don't know what else to do other than the HPOP. I'm certain the system is sealed and has no leaks internally and externally.
If your pump looks good you might consider having them go through yours rather than taking a chance on an unknown housing. Here's a link showing my reasoning. Post #126 is where the fun stuff starts, or enjoy the whole saga up to you.
05-31-2023, 12:01 PM
