All right I'm new to deisels. I'm 18. I inherited a 1989 F250 xlt with the 6.9L V8. It has 13000 actual miles on it. So obviously its been stored a bit. The tanks rusted out once about 5 years ago from the inside out, due to condensation in the tanks, they were stored almost empty. They were replaced with new ones. The new ones may be rusted too. But they arnt leaking through yet. Again stored less than full for the last 5 years.

But heres the problem that I'm having. I was driving, I too let the tank get low after about 300 miles, and a tank or two. Then my water in fuel light and Fuel filter light came on simultaniously. Truck didn't make it a block to get it off the busy street. I replaced filter and after bleeding all the airout of the system got the thing started again. 50 miles later it has done the same thing again except it happened after I got it parked in a lot this time.

I think it's probably some kind of bio sludge thats kicking my butt right now. But if you have any kind of hints, insight, or you think it could be something else. please let me know. I have very little experience but I can rip most things apart and fix em once I know how they work or what they do. Again any kind of response would be happily taken.

[Edit]
apparently the engine is a 7.3 and all the times I've talked about it and the times I bought parts for it no-one ever bothered correcting me.

 

Get yourself a couple of bottle of additives to take care of anything growing in your tanks,put 1/2 bottle in each tank.If that clears it up add a shot of it EVERY time you fuel up.This will also help lube your injection pump.Sounds like a really nice truck,so if you want to treat it right start reading up on this site.I would suggest to any newbie to search for cavatation 1st.then glo plugs,then return line kits.Good luck with your ride,feel free to ask lots of questions as there is a lot of expert opinions here.

 

I always get a clean pan and drain the filter in it to see what comes out after I change the fuel filter. That may give you a clue if it has a bunch of water in it
or rust or something else.
A good fuel conditioner may fix you right up.

Do be careful with cranking the engine for more than 20 seconds without letting it cool off for a couple of minutes. Starters are easy to kill that way and cost a lot.

 

I would advise syphon all the old fuel out into containers. Once you kill bio it does not just die and go away it becomes a filter plugging problem until totally removed. You may be wise to remove the tanks when empty and completely check them and the fuel pickups for condition.

You will need additives as the injector pump may have the bio growth also, be prepared for the governor flex ring to start disintegrating and cause problems if it that old.

 

I did drain the fuel filter into a pan and I found that ton of little gooy chunks of junk came out of it, It reminds me of sterno. enough that I'm supprised it ran at all. I think I just need to get the old fuel out of the truck at this point and check all of the fuel lines components for the same things.

This time I made it 4 blocks before my filter light came on and the engine surged and died.

 

Sounds like you have a water and bio problem. Just note. You have to get bio specific additive to kill the algea. Regular fuel additive wont kill it.

Where are you located? I'm in Duluth.

 

"You have to get bio specific additive to kill the algea. Regular fuel additive wont kill it."

Be very careful if you use the BIO killer, it can harm you as much as the algea so take proper precautions.

 

Yes that's true. Read the directions and precautions carefully, and by all means, follow them.

 

I'm located in Grand Rapids. And I havn't found a single person locally who seems to have heard of fuel problems with diesel or even heard of a problem with a living organism taking a liking to diesel fuel. I also have yet to find a locally available Bio-killer additive. But thanks for warning me about it's dangers even before I find it. Also anyone have the name of one. Maybe I can buy it online or in Duluth or order it through a store.

 

If you are in G.R. call crystall flash fuel they might be able to help or suggest something. They supply all my fuel on the farm.

 

Or call Turbo Diesel Injection In Duluth. This guy is very helpfull. If you were a tad closer I'd come and help ya out.

 

First of all I want to take a moment to tahnk all of you for your input it has been very helpful. Also as I was changing my fuel filter often I noticed it was really hard to start again even if I got all the air out of the system. A friend of mine told me to spray use WD-40 as if it were either to get it to start easily. However I'm not so sure that this is a great idea. And if it is I'm not sure exactly what the procedure is for going about this. My friend was vauge about it at best saying he does it on his tractors, But I gather that to do this you would take the air filter off and spray the WD-40 down the air intake. But again I don't know if this is a great idea or not.

 

You probably have a LOT of sluge in the bottom of the tank. You might have to completely drain the tank to cure the problem. Plus use a algicide for fuel that you might be able to get from a truck dealership or truck stop. But in your last post it was still hard starting so MAYBE with all the sluge you was getting, the tank fuel pump might be partically plugged so starving the engine