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I have a 1990 F-350 7.3 with 94,000 and I noticed that a couple of my rubber injector lines are starting to leak. They look like they are the original rubber lines. I do not know the first thing about working on a Diesel. Should I try Installing a Injector Line kit, or have a shop do it? The kits I have looked at online have "O" rings in the kit. I have no idea what these are used for. Would it be best to just buy the rubber tubing?
The o rings are used to replace the old ones on the injectors. If you pull off the cap you'd see two o rings per injector. It's pretty straight forward replacing. When I did mine I pulled off the old caps and hoses and then placed them on a table how they were hooked up on the motor. I could then match up the new ones and cut the hose lengths and see side by side on how they went on. Just make sure then snap on and are seated properly on the injector.
its pretty e z to do ... remove the steel fuel lines from on top of each injector and carefully (carefully) move the steel line aside (do not kink the steel lines, just enuf to remove the caps) so you can remove the plastic cap and fuel jumper lines in one assembly and make a duplicate system from the kit. Remove the 2 o rings on each injector and replace them from the kit ... using oil additive (stp or the like) lube the o rings and replace the return system you just made. The plastic caps should snap down. Reinstall the steel lines to the injectors without tightening them, just start them on the injectors. Crank the engine for short time to get fuel flowing to the injectors. (DONT WORK THE STARTER TOO LONG AT ONE TIME) Snug the steel lines and start the engine. Tighten each steel line to stop fuel from leaking. wipe up the mess and run the engine , checking for fuel leaks.
You can buy a kit from Ford fully assembled if you are willing to spend the money; comes with new plastic fittings and all fully assembled.
Because of cost I bought six ft of good fuel hose from my autopart store and did the job myself. Bought 16 orings (2 per injector) from Ford for about $10US. I took the old right and left bank return header off and built them with replacement hose to the dimensions that came off, then re-installed in two pieces once I had the O-rings changed out.
Note, getting the new O-rings onto the injectors can be a bit tricky. The old O-rings will be hard and need to be cut off with a utility knife. To get the new Orings on use a copper or tube that just fits over the injector, slide the O-ring on the copper pipe and then roll it into the groove on the injector.
Plan on about 2 to 4 hours if you are going to do the job from scratch. It takes a bit of patience. Careful not to force any of the plastic fittings, they are pretty tough but could be damaged if forced to much.
Good luck.
PS is you had hard cold starting new orings and hoses may do wonders for that.
You do not spill much fuel, the line does not hold that much. The O rings need to be replaced about every hundred thousand miles or right after you move the lines.
If you move the lines around after they have been installed for a couple of weeks they will start leaking.
When you do this job, replace them all at once. That way you are not disturbing the ones beside it.