I have a 2002 7.3 F250 changed the fuel filter and also took out the plunger thing to get more fuel etc..re-installed the heater element looked fine was very careful not to bend anthing,,,ran fine on the plug but when i parked it at work (not plugged in) it would not start. after a awhile it did..I went and added some diesel additive ,,this am started up fine. after i had first installed the fuel filter and turn key on waited then started the truck i could smell something like burning not smoke but like wires( I thought maybe since the fuel bowl was not filled all the it was just the heater element) ...havent smelled it since ...now my question did i burn out that element somehow?? would my truck run rough all the time if it was fried? should I put back that plunger inside the fuel bowl? is there another potential problem if my truck has a hard time starting not on the plug??

 

If the fuel bowl heater element burned up, it would trip the fuse, and the truck would not start at all. You wouldn't even get a wait to start light on the dash. Might have been something else that either got bumped/moved/came loose that caused your initial problem.

Sounds like the Powerstrokehelp.com mod to the fuel bowl...... ugggg. I wish those videos would be removed from Youtube. I could tolerate him until I saw his latest video.

 

I thought some of videos were informative ,,,anyway,, you think that mod is useless?? It sounded like it made sense to me,,, I did find out that my CPS has not been replaced form Ford they ran my vin and said bring it in... could that of been it? or do they just go and thats it... thanks about the fuel element ,,,what about glow plugs and or relay?? should a 7.3 in the cold (20) or so be bale to start w/o being plugged in??

 

I don't think it's your CPS so I would not do the recall if I were in your shoes.

 

At first I thought the Powerstrokehelp guy was trying to be helpful, but he has always had a TON of misinformation in his videos. The latest video I saw was him comparing PMR's to forged rods, and this is where I finally snapped. In that video, he takes a pot shot at us forum users, and every piece of information he gives in that video is dead wrong. IMO, the guy is a complete idiot.

As for the fuel bowl mod, yes you wasted your time unfortunately. The stock fuel bowl becomes a restriction on high HP trucks (and not just for the plunger assembly either), hence the high HP guys remove it completely. Mine is only mildly modified, and at WOT on my highest chip setting I don't get any drop in fuel pressure at the heads. If the fuel bowl was really that restrictive, I would see it on the gauge.

For the CPS recall, I would skip it. The new recall CPS causes a whole new set of problems. I'm waiting for Ford to figure out a fix for it. In the mean time, I'm still running the old style black one.

And yes, your truck should be able to start at 20 degrees without being plugged in. This is assuming that your GPR and glow plugs are working properly. The coldest I've ever started my truck without being plugged in is -25 F. The engine chugged hard and smoked like a freight train at that temp, but it started. Synthetic oils make cold starts easier.

Anyway, hope this helps. And spend more time on this forum and less time at the Powerstrokehelp.com place. There's way more information here, and more accurate too.

 

I agree with you Curtis. Some of the guys info is good, but some of it I don't agree with. I also saw the vid on the rods.

 

What fuel bowl mod is the powerstrokehelp.com crack pot talking about (I never took the time to watch any of his vids) and what mods did you do Curtis?
This is timely for me because it reminded me of something- at my last oil change I removed the fuel bowl heater to clean the crud out of the bowl, and after pulling the heater element out the plastic stand pipe popped out of place on its own. I looked around for anything that should have gone under it besides that big spring and didn't see anything (nor did I hear anything bounce off the hood, engine, etc). Did I inadvertently do a fuel bowl mod and I don't know it?

 

it does help thanks alot i i will put back the plunger assembly this weekend and skip the recall i saw somewhere where there is a blue coloe better cps for this truck or do i just replace it with the old style when it goes ?

 

Here is the fuel bowl mod that he was talking about, starts at about 3 minutes into the video: YouTube - 7.3 HIGH PERFORMANCE 1 OF 2 - FUEL SYSTEM MODIFICATIONS

And here is the video of the PMR vs Forged rods. This is the video where I lost all respect for the guy: YouTube - 7.3 RODS POWDER VS FORGED

As for mods, I've done just about everything you can to get the most power out of stock injectors (turbo, tuning, HPOS, fuel system, trans, etc). I'm probably in the 350-360hp range with my truck right now, which is mild in the PSD performance world. There's a link in my sig with a list of what I've done.

If the plunger is out, might as well leave it out. It doesn't hurt anything. As for the blue CPS, even that one has been updated (it's now grey too). The blue one was controversial as it was said to slightly change timing. I'm not sure what the updated version does as no one has tested it yet. For me, if my black CPS goes, I'm hunting for another black one.

 

Can't watch youtube from work... oh well. So is there supposed to be anything under the stand pipe besides a big spring?

 

there was nothing under the spring when i took mine out it rested right inside the bowl

 

It's not what's under the spring, it's what's above it.

There should be two to three pieces up-in the stand pipe. When you have the stand pipe out, take a philips top-side, and gently push it until the plunger assembly falls right out.

The plunger mod actually worked for me, throttle response is smoother and mileage seemed like it went up. But then I made the mistake of drilling out the fuel ports....

Don't bother with drilling out the fuel ports behind the downpipe and the alternator, power steering pump bracket; it will kill your fuel economy. You'll have plenty of coal rollin' power up top, but the bottom end will suffer. $25 later, my truck will be back to normal.

 

My stand pipe jumped out of the hole when I had the heater element out... does it take a fair little dab of force to pop that plunger out? If so I won't worry about it, but now I'm wondering if it took flight somewhere and I just don't know it.

 

Can you explain??? I was going to do this when I do my RR fuel system over the next few days. I was going to do all 4 since my bowl delete will feed the front of the heads and return to the regulator from the back. Heck I've already got the downpipe out and was going to loosen the front a/c and alt. brackets tonight

I just figured I'd do it while the truck was all apart cause I'm doing new 3/8" line into and out of the heads with the reg return. And the 1/8" NPT port is much than the standard 1/8" holes in those fittings. Wondering if I should do it now?!?

By doing this what would cause your bottom end to suffer as compared to the top end? How bad did your mileage suffer?

 

To be honest with you, through some careful thought and research it's my opinion that this mod lowers the fuel pressure unless you're up there or at WOT. I didn't need a fuel pressure guage to figure that out either. It seems the fuel port plugs that our dear friend Bill suggested we drill out, plays a role in maintaining the fuel pressure at the bowl and to the injectors. If you had a regulated return, a better fpr spring, or some other way of increasing the pressure this mod probably wouldn't be a problem for you.

As far as fuel economy, that tanked even with my SCT. According to the overhead liar (which is surprisingly accurate on my truck) I normally average 19mpg+ on the freeway and about 16.5mpg-17mpg give or take around town. The overhead liar said I went to 16.4mpg on the freeway and about 13-14mpg in town.

At WOT I had all the passing power I needed and then some, but driving around town, I had to mash the pedal more for the truck to follow it's normal shift pattern. It's almost as if my truck were saying: "push the pedal further, I need more fuel".

After I put it back the way it was last night, my truck is it's normal self again. Now all I have to do is "tip' the accelerator and it goes.

The long and short of it, your regulated return system has a way of increasing or decreasing the pressure; as long as it can do that, it's worth a shot. My advice: try the regulated return first before drilling out the fuel port plugs.