Can someone please post a picture of the fuel/water separator location for a pre-87 model F250.

There is something installed between the brake booster and the fender, but it is behind the vacuum actuator for the cruise control and there is so much stuff in there I can't tell if that's what it is or not.....

 

If it has two tubes/hoses coming from it that is the baby......has a pull ring on the top and a drain hose below.

 

AH-HA! A pull ring. That's it. So, it looks like I must still have one after all. I found a cannister mounted between the brake booster and the fender. It sits in a rather heavy-duty looking rack-like holder that appears to be made out of two pieces of what looks like 5/16" rod with about a 1" wide steel strap between the rods and across the cannister holding it in place. It has the pull-ring you described on the top.

I was actually looking for something more like a glass-bowl with a perforated steel shell around it - more like the water-trap for a compressor airline. OK, so I guess that may be at least one of the sources of air in my fuel filter. From what I'v read the fix for one leaking air is to just shove a bolt of the correct diameter into the end of the drain hose, right?

There are so many hoses and electrical wire bundles in there it is pretty hard to see which (if any) go into or out of it. Why the heck did they tuck it so far back in there and then mount the cruise control vacuum actuator in front of it?!? I think I'll be moving that vacuum actuator to a better location so I can access the fuel/water separator more easily.

Thanks for the info, man......

 

I would also check to see if it is even still hooked up, as most of them have failed by now, and let air in, causing lots of not so fun problems. If it is still hooked up, you may want to consider replacing it though.

 

Good point.....

Anybody ever tried relocating the cruise control vacuum actuator?

 

Naw, just take the separator out and connect the two hoses together (or leave it there). Unless you get a lot of water in your fuel, you can just change the regular filter more often. I've also seen people add a second filter on the engine where you can get to it.

 

Yeah, I also read here somewhere that someone makes a filter with a water catcher in the bottom that you can drain easily....

 

Go to a salvage yard and get the filter off an 88 or later 7.3 engine.
The later model water seperator is built into the bottom of the regular fuel filter mounted on the passenger side of the engine. It has a drain valve and water sensor in a bottom piece that screws onto the filter cartridge.
But if you go that route, the filter cost goes from 6 bucks to 19.99 each.

Also if air is leaking in the top around the pull ring, the bolt in the drain hose does nothing to stop the air. I noticed a big improvement in my truck when I removed the water seperator completely.

 

So what, I just join the two hose ends with a double-barbed fitting and a couple of hose clamps?

D'ya happen to know offhand what ID the hose is at the fuel/water separator inlet/outlet?