I am converting my 2002 ford e350 powerstroke 7.3L ambulance to veggie oil, and the fuel lines coming out from the stock filter basket are "color coded' (paint on the bolts). One is a turquoise and the other is red. I don't know which is the return line or feeding line for the injectors. I am trying to bypass the stock fuel filter for shorter purge times. Thanks!

 

Welcome to FTE.. I would recomend you repost this though in the Alternative fuel section. I dont have it as one of my forums, optherwise I would give you the attachment. But I will see if I can get a mod to move it over for you..

 

Welcome to FTE. Never seen color coded lines....but it shouldn't matter. The steel hard line on the drivers side of the filter bowl is the fuel in line. The two braided lines coming off the passenger side of the bowl are the outlet lines. One to each head.

 

Cookie- I think you have had PMS and hot rod parts too long to qualify on the topic of stock parts And nothing at all wrong with that. To my knowledge, no 1999 or newer 7.3 ever came with braided fuel lines from the factory. And of course I have never been wrong before. The 7.3 Van we have in the shop at the moment has that same fuel system as the rest of them.

B1- Unless you have some oddity, what you should have is the Fuel bowl in the middle of the valley at the front of the engine right behind the HPOP reservoir. On the Drivers side top of the fuel bowl will be the 5/16 return line and pressure regulator. At the bottom on the drivers side is the 3/8 supply line. Then on the passenger side should be two 1/4 steel lines coming out of the fuel bowl feeding the Drivers side front head and the other goes to the passenger side rear fuel port on the head. On these engines there is no injector return like you would see on a traditional diesel injection system. THis is also known as "deadhead". The markings on the fuel lines are more likely alignment marks more than color coding. Ford does that a lot with fittings. They will put a small stripe of paint across the fitting to make sure that one can easily see if the fitting is coming loose.

 

thank you for your detailed answer, know i need to figure out how to bypass the stock filter if the veggie oil switch is on.
thanks

 

Not a problem! Of course for about 2950, I could help you out with how to bypass your fuel bowl on your van....

 

Please don't 'bypass' the stock filter when 'on veggie'. There are so much better/more reliable ways to do what yer trying to do! I know the 2950 sounds like alot of $$ at first, but if you plan to drive it much at all - it doesn't take long to get your money back.

I just returned from a 4,800 mile/14 state trip with my kids and we spent about 3x as much on the engine oil change as we did on fuel! Not only that, but this awesome trip and lifelong memory for the boys was ONLY possible because of VO - since I've only been employed about 2 mths this year...

Oh yeah, since my right foot is no longer connected to my wallet - my fuel economy has likely diminished! (they never clock ya going UP the mountain passes, right! I give them dodges a run every chance I get! )

My VO system components are also OE and better quality from end to end and will easily outlast the rest of the engine!

Good luck!

 

True enough, but braided or steel they attach to the bowl in the same place.

 

I guess its worth noting there is at least one more place to get filtered diesel out of the factory filter - directly behind the 2 outlets that go to the heads is an ORB fitting that would work.

Here's a pic of my initial DIY conversion plumbing: (no longer use rubber fuel line anywhere - its all PTFE-lined, SS braided line or aircraft-style alum tubing now...)


The 'other' fitting is the allen head plug behind the 2 hoses. fwiw, the other (higher and left in pic) allen plug is where most people install fuel press gauge. What ya cannot see here is the supply and return/FPR on the opposite side from green hoses. As mentioned above, the supply is lower fitting and steel line and return is the higher one. Btw, this is how the filter 'self-purges' the air after filter change!

I abandoned the 2 hoses and tee and used just the 'other' plug and a single hose early on. That Weatherhead diesel fuel hose was not up to the task underhood...

All flexible hose is now this stuff - rated at 1400psi and 600*F w/JIC swivel ends:

 

thanks ,today i removed the turbo and turbo pedestal. I like your idea with the green hose, but i will use the goodyear fuel injection hose instead. I hope it will handle the 45-60 psi and hot veggie oil.
How do you managed the return from the veggie supply line. I think poppet valve should be fine with the spring set to 40 psi. So when the fass pump pushes more the valve opens and releases the pressure into return line. This would happen before the 3-way solenoid.
If running on diesel the pressure coming out from the stock filter is already set by the pressure regulator in the stock filter
and if on veggie the pressure will be set by the poppet valve.
then the 3-way solenoid with output to the heads

 

I did mention that green (250psi) diesel fuel hose didn't work out - all rubber hose is temporary in that environment, I no longer have any on either of my PSD conversions. I posted the pic so you could see the back and side of filter bowl.

IMHO, 3 way valves, etc is a dumb way to convert a PSD... ( did I say that!) I have redundant fuel systems isolated from one another with check valves - very simple. Almost no changes to the stock fuel system! A dedicated 12v soleniod valve provides me with a 10sec purge.

It's true, there is more than one way to getrdone - Be sure to post pics of whatever ya do, mmmkay?

Oh yeah, please don't tell me you're using a copper heat exchanger to heat your VO tank and heating your VO to 'over 212*' or trying to use 'water-block' filters to dewater... BTW, I could have ended up doing what you're proposing if I hadn't learned what I know now!

 

hi
today i removed the fuel bowl and the fuel line on passenger side. i am having trouble getting to the bolt on the fuel line on the drivers side (it's impossible without removing the power steering assy).
skyskijason> Where did you by the hose adapters for the filter bowl ,and what size are they?
so i am not going to use 3-way solenoids. i will use 3 check valves on T , 2 inputs and one output. How did you connect the return line to veggie tank ?

 

Yes, you'll have to take the bracket thats in the way off to get to the drivers-side fuel line at the head. (maybe you recognize how EASY the pass-side was for you in the van?? trucks are MUCH harder...)

The adapters in the picture I posted are just 90deg 1/8" NPT to 3/8" hose barb. I ended up putting plugs in those holes and using an ORB to 3/8" hose barb - putting it where the allen-head plug is directly behind where the green hoses attach in picture. Even that seems barbaric and unnecessarily invasive now that I have a V3 system!

I have no return to tank on the veggie side... No reason to waste all the heat you've added up to that point!

BTW, nice cover on Diesel World magazine FN74!!! Wanna trade trucks??

 

this is what i came up with:


http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99...emofvalves.jpg

 

Much better! The VO cv needs to be on the other side of that tee. The purge solenoid won't really 'purge' the heads where you have it, either leave it off or use the 'test ports' on fuel rails for purge system - allowing D2 to 'flush' the heads out. Ya really only need one 3/8" line from the D2 filter to the tee.

Many have had bad experiences with the vegtherm. It can 'burn' the VO and the little carbonized particles do unhealthy things to injectors. I recommend using coolant heat to get your VO temps. My preference is HIH/TIH fuel lines and a 16 plate FPHE.