Fuel Drain O-Ring Lessons Learned
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Senior User
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 160
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From: King George, Virginia
Fuel Drain O-Ring Lessons Learned
11 months and 20k miles ago I had the usual Fuel Bowl Drain Valve O-Ring failure. I replaced the o-rings with Danco #90 o-rings I bought at the hardware store. These o-rings looked identical to the ones on the truck and actually fixed the problem for 11 months. I started noticing fuel build up in my drain tube. I have a clear plastic tube attached to the metal drain tube and I keep this clear tube caped. I started collecting about 2 or 3 tablespoons of diesel fuel every hundred miles. I just changed out the o-rings with the diesel resistant o-rings from blackclouddiesel.com and I’m hoping this fixes the problem. So far no leaks but time will tell. The hardware store o-rings are about 2 bucks and the Blackcloud o-rings were 15 bucks shipped but if they last it’s worth it.
So the lesson here is don’t buy the hardware store #90 o-ring unless it says it’s ok to use in a fuel system. By saving a few dollars, I just gave myself more problems.
So the lesson here is don’t buy the hardware store #90 o-ring unless it says it’s ok to use in a fuel system. By saving a few dollars, I just gave myself more problems.
Last edited by WMRiceman; Nov 18, 2006 at 04:10 PM.
Thread Starter
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Senior User
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 160
Likes: 0
From: King George, Virginia
They did seem a little soft but not really swelled any. There was this yellow looking crust in the lip where the o-rings go. I cleaned up the valve with some brake cleaner and q-tips and then put some lithium grease on the valve. If I didn’t have the clear tube capped off, I don’t think I’d have even noticed the leak. I just don’t like to have any leaks at all and leaks never seem to get better.
Lead Driver
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 5,250
Likes: 42
Hey, Pop had a great idea finding the Danco #90s for a quick fix. That was just the thing, a quick fix. I looked and looked and couldnt find them anywhere locally otherwise I would have put them in while waiting for the right ones from blackcloud.
Cargo Master
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,332
Likes: 442
From: Eastern Washington
The orings I got weren't quite thick enough, but I wound up just flipping the originals over. Seems to have stopped the leaking (for a few weeks anyways) and I'll order the right ones for when it starts making a mess again.
