How big is the plunger for the mechanical pump? If it's small enough to fit through the drain plug hole you might be able to fish it out with a magnet and some heavy wire.

 

No Cookie, I drained the oil bou there is a baffle plate over the drain hole plus the tappet end of the plunger is to wide to fit thru the oil drain hole.
Bill Farrell

 

Bummer. I guess I never thought abut the oil pan being different on the older trucks.

 

Yea, everything was going good till that tappet dropped. For anyone doing this changeout be careful pulling the old pump.
I had to really twist and turn mine to get it out. It's sealed by
an Oring. And if the plunger does fall out and land on top of the camshaft, grab it with a magnet at that point and so it won't slip away into the engine.

 

Does anyone know if when the fuel pump plunger drops into the engine while removing the old pump, is the underside of the camshaft open to the oil pan sump. I can't seem to locate that darn plunger and am concerned that it's lying on the crankshaft or something? Thank's,
Bill

97' F250 Stock....

 

Bill,

Just curious if you ever located the fuel pump plunger?

Jeff

 

Well I finally got around to changing my fuel pump (95 PSD). It was leaking oil around where it joined the engine and also leaking fuel. Was unable to determine the exact source of the fuel leak but it was apparently coming out of a little weep hole on the fuel pump (bad diaphram?). I learned several things that I hope will help those of you planning to tackle this repair. First off The price of the pump: I called the local International dealer and was quoted a price of $163. This seemed high so I called the Ford dealership. They wanted $132 (surprise, surprise!). I called the International dealer back and told him that the dealer was cheaper than him. He said "Well I'll let you have it for $124!. I'm starting to get real interested in how this pricing procedure works so I called Advance auto parts. They didn't have it in stock but could have it the next day at a cost of $79.99! I said thank you and called O'rielly auto parts. Their price:$79.99 in stock and lifetime warranty (Federal Mogol). I bought it....
Now for the installation: It was not the easiest thing I've ever done but with patience I got it done in about 3 hours. I used the procedure that Itfox was nice enough to send me and things went pretty well. There are a few things I did differently that IMHO make it a little easier. (1.) Instead of leaving the fuel filter canister connected by hoses and wires, go ahead and unplug the wiring harness on both ends (it's only about a foot long) and take the blue hose off at the bottom of the canister (you will have to replace the hose clamp as it is the crimped type). This way you can clean the cannister without trying to disassemble it in place. (2.) When reinstalling the steel washer between the banjo bolt fitting and the fuel pump, use a piece of sewing thread to hold the washer in place and keep it from dropping through the space between the pump and fitting. Just run the thread through the washer and let it hang in the slot until you get the bolt through the fitting then pull the thread out.
I have put about 200 miles on her since the repair and it is SO nice to look into the engine valley and see it nice and dry and clean!
Next project: Reseal the oil coler....

 

Fast Freddie,

I also have a diesel leak that I can't seem to pinpoint. I'm thinking I'll go ahead and replace the fuel pump also. While my truck only has 101k miles it is close to 8 years old. My only concern is the problem that Bill Farrell had above dropping the fuel pump plunger down into the engine....that'll ruin your day!!! What was your experience with the plunger and how did you make sure that didn't happen? Also, did the new pump come with all of the o-rings and seals needed to do the job? Would it be possible to get a copy of that fuel pump procedure? I have a Chiltons but have yet to find a use for it other than as a door stop.

Jeff

 

Jeff, When I checked out the new pump I found that the "tappet" was actually pretty secure in it's hole and I hoped that this was true of the old one. I think the problem may occur if the pump is not pulled straight up out of the hole that it is mounted in. The tappet is shaped like a big ole thumb tack turned upside down and if you hang the lip of the head on the edge of the hole while pulling it out I can see where it could be easily dislodged. Just in case, I kept a pencil magnet handy. The new pump does come with a new o-ring already installed. As far as the procedure, it appears that have accidentally deleted it from my computer after printing it out. See if you can catch up with Itfox and have him email you a copy. If that don't work let me know and I'll make a copy of the one I printed and mail it to you.

 

I decided to give the top of the motor one more good cleaning to try and figure out EXACTLY where the leak was coming from. I wanted to actually see a drip before spending $100 on a new fuel pump. It was leaking so slowly that it took about a month for the valley to fill enough to start leaking out the back of the motor after the last cleaning. I spent quite a while running my hand over everything while it was running before I finally found it. It turned out not to be my fuel pump but rather a sensor leaking that attaches to what I believe is the fuel pressure regulator on the side of the fuel filter housing. That was sure a lot easier and cheaper than changing the fuel pump!!!! Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that that was the ONLY leak.

Jeff

 

I hope that takes care of it too. I had a sensor on the back of the fuel cannister that kept leaking no matter what I dd (tightening, putting t-tape on it etc). I finally figured out that the fuel was leaking THROUGH the sensor. Just something to keep in mind...

 

I had figured it was leaking throught the sensor also so I bought a new one, had it out of the bag it came in and put teflon tape on it so it would be ready in case it spewed fuel when I removed the old one. Once I got the old one out I could tell that it was only leaking at the threads from the cooked fuel pattern but replaced it with the new one anyways as it was now non-returnable.

Now that I have a spotless engine I see I will have to do the turbo orings next as there is an ever so slight dribble coming off where it attaches to the ebpv base. There's always something!!

Jeff

 

Hey Jeff, sorry it's taken me so long to reply back on that fuel pump tappet plunger. I got some good advise from a International
mechanic. After trying to fish the plunger back out thru the top of the V with flex magnets with no luck the guy suggested(with all the oil drained out of the pan) to roll the engine BY HAND using a
15/16 socket and a long breaker bar on the vibration dampner bolt,rotat the engine a few turns in one direction and if the crank locks up rotate it in the opposite direction. Well I only had to rotate the crank 90 degrees and the plunger dropped into the oil pan. What sweet music that was to my ears. It should drop down on the baffle in the deep part of the oil pan. To varify that take something like a hard plastic dead blow hammer and wack the bottom of the pan and you should hear the plunger jumping around on the baffle. So it's heavy enough and with all that oil there that's where it will stay until at some point the engine is pulled and the pan removed. Man was I relived, truck's been running about a week now and no leak. Also gave me a chance to get the fuel filter housing off and give a good flushing with diesel fuel. Glad to hear you found your leak and didn't have to replace the pump, but if down the road you do when you get to the point of removing the pump and have the two bolts that hold it down out, rotate the engine by hand again until the pump ligts up on it's own. At this point the cam lobe is at it's highest point and covering a good portion of the hole enough so that the fat end of the plunger shouldn't fall in if it does come out of the pump while your twisting it out of the block.

 

That's good news! I'm sure the last thing you wanted to do was pull the pan....and the motor.

Jeff

 

Itfox: I sent you a PM for a copy of your instructions to replace the pump. I just found a fuel leak in my valley.

Thanks in advance.
Groundpounder