....Cool , good luck & don't forget to let us know how it turns out , im curious of what you find with the balencer...Lew

 

Firing order. Same thing haha.

These inline V6s can be real tricky. It's gonna suck when I gotta change the air filter, gotta yank the motor for that.

 

You think that's hard? Try getting the #7 & #8 spark plugs back in! Go ahead, I wait!

 

Aight guys. The truck starts EVERYTIME. I cannot keep the truck running. It runs longest after it's sat for a while, but of course starts to die as soon as it idles down.

It's also idling down too early, which suggest to me spark is becoming weak all of a sudden.

There's something I'm missing here. Distributor's new, ignition coil is good, ignition module is good, plugs are new, cap, rotor, and wires are good. Fuel is good.

Is there a way I can actually test the cylinder in the steering column? One thing about my ignition cylinder, are our trucks are supposed to have the Accessory position? I've never had that. I can get the radio to come on only, but it's a sweat spot I found. I gotta hit the road sometime tomorrow, and can't keep the truck running to save my life haha.

Someone point me in the right direction. I'm gonna disconnect the battery overnight and see what that does. I don't know what else to do at this point really.

 

Have you actually taken a fuel pressure reading(s) while running & throttling up?
Junior's got a couple day's left on his bus pass! He said I could send it to you if you really need it. He's a good kid!

 

If your still unsure about the timing adjust it with the spout in for highest vacuum, might ping a little when you drive but at least you'll be driving. Continue to adjust it for highest vacuum as the idle slows down, you want to set it at hot idle.

If your unsure about the ignition getting weak just leave the timming light on, if it has a button tape it down and let it flash at ya, if the spark gets weak or misses it will start to miss flashes. You may want to do this on the coil wire to get every flash if the light and your eyes can handle it.

Gotta ask at this point, how is the FI working, the dying when it idles down and plug fouling are suggestive of a FI problem. Like maybe too much fuel pressure building up from a clogged or kinked return line, maybe you should pull the return line and see if you can blow through it.

 

Good points "O". Also fuel pressure bleed down check will tell you if the injectors are behaving themselves. The pressure test, will also tell you if the F/Press. regulator is functioning properly! You may be getting more fuel than it knows what to do with!

 

Aight let me bare all. Just now I took off the steering wheel and just watched the lock cylinder in action. It's really dirty in there so I tried to spray a lil WD-40 to loosen things up. Also greased one contact with dielectric. Battery is disconnected till tomorrow so I'll see what happens then.

Earlier this year I had a locksmith make me new keys so I wondered if he could have messed something up that's just now showing it's head.

Before him, my dual-tank selector valve was leaking. I got one from a junkyard and put it on, it turned out to be clogged. I sprayed it out with compressed air for like 10 minutes, and it was good since. I've driven more than enough tanks down to 1/4 tank with this selector valve as is, so if I have a clog I don't know where it came from.

I plan to buy a fuel pressure gauge tomorrow. I WILL figure this truck out tomorrow. The regulator's brand new, so who knows, but if it is fuel I'll find out tomorrow haha. This can't be this difficult haha.

As it sits now it is starting every time, but will not stay running long enough to do anything. When it was high idling and starting to die, I turned the dizzy slightly to try and keep it alive, it helped until it just completely dies. Advancing or retarding it doesn't help at that point.

 

When it dies check the spark at the plugs & fuel pressure at the rail...Lew

 

Aight guys. Bought a fuel pressure gauge. Checked pressure at the rail. Regulator is good, it holds pressure nicely. BUT I'm only holding about 30psi.

Crank the truck up and you can watch the pressure drop, and rise back up to about 30 but that's it. Not nearly enough pressure to keep the truck running.

So my problem is not excessive pressure, it's not enough! I'm on the way to get a fuel filter now. Other than that I got a clog in the line, and I pray that's not it. PEACE!!!

 

Yea that's a tad low for the 4.9L, pull the vac line off the regulator and see if it will run then. Should bump the pressure about 10lbs, should at least idle for ya.

All these pages now, 5 of em, was the fuel filter replaced recently?

Anyway low pressure test, use c clamp or vise grips to pinch closed rubber section of return line down stream of regulator, activate pump using the diagnostic link connector, if pressure rises substantially replace the regulator.

If the pressure is still low the problem is a bad pump or supply line restriction IE; clogged filter or pinched/kinked line.

You have low pressure pump in the tank/s, high pressure on the frame rail.

The in tank pump should supply 6 oz min in 5 seconds, if it does and the filter lines and regulator are good and then you likely have a high pressure pump problem/failure.

 

I think you're gonna be disappointed but lets hope I'm wrong! Only one tank right?

Usually a clogged filter will allow reasonable pressure initially, but falls flat under load when volume as well as pressure is required. 30 psi initial for an I-6 is a rather....... low calorie diet.

 

Well, I wasn't disappointed. The fuel filter was replaced when I got the truck running in March.

As such, I replaced the high pressure pump last Sunday, but DID NOT replace the filter.

Upon replacing the filter, I relieved pressure at the rail, but was doused with fuel when removing the high pressure pump from the filter.

So with the new filter on it still wouldn't run, and the damn fuel pressure psi was EVEN worse.

So I went to my dual-tank selector valve. Truck has dual tanks. I replaced this valve earlier this year cause mine was leaking. Upon removing the high pressure pump from the valve, there was a burst of air. No fuel at all. The valve had plenty of fuel in it, but none was getting to the engine.

Can someone explain how the mechanical (No connectors whatsoever) dual-tank selector valves work? Mine was on the wrong setting! It has a diaphragm on top and a reservoir at the bottom. The diaphragm wasn't allow the front tank inlet to function. I pushed on the diaphragm and voila now I have flow from the front tank into the reservoir. But how does that diaphragm operate? Fuel pressure?

I gotta stop and eat but I'll be right back.

 

Yea that's how it works, pressure from the pump moves the diagram via small ports depending on the tank selected.

IIRC someone posted a thread on how that switch works, had one all apart with some great pictures of it too.

 

I gotta grab a phillips screwdriver and see what spots the diaphragm uses. I'm guessing it should have a spot for the front tank, rear tank, and possibly a lock? Well it wouldn't need a lock since it's a reservoir it should stay full. Regardless.

So I need to see what happened to my diaphragm. I have a spare selector, but that one was leaking, not sure from where though.

I won't be putting it back on till tomorrow, I'll be leaving here late and getting to work late, but that's life with a Ford haha.