I purchased my truck from an indvidual about a year ago. Since then ford has put 6 injectors in it. I just figured out why. When I bought it I replaced the fuel filters, they looked nasty. The lowers plastic was even stained with rust that wouldn't scrape off. But being this was my first diesel I thought maybe this is just how they look. I just changed my 2nd set today @ 9K. They looked about 10x better, used but overall clean w/light gray staining on the pleats. So after this I have confirmed that the previous owner NEVER changed the filters. I also noticed the screw heads that hold the upper f/f housing to the bracket have rusted heads, which tells me water had gotten through. So apparently 46K on the same set will kill an entire set of injectors. (I'm sure the other two are on their way out also, cold weather will take care of them.)
Anyway to my question
Is this something that the old girl can recover from own her own or are we looking at a fuel system rebuild? Should I just throw in the towel on this one and go find something else to ride aka is this gonna haunt me after next June (warranty expire date)? I really like my truck but if this is gonna be a major issue for a long time I'd rather try to find something else.

 

Were the injectors replaced after you replaced fuel filters? If so, then those are probably going to be fine as long as you have good fuel pressure and stay on top of filter maintenance.

Not wishing bad luck on you, but hopefully the other two injectors go out before your warranty is gone. It's probably not a matter of if but when those two go. Once those two are replaced and you maintain the filters, you should be good to go.

Just to add, make sure you're draining your water separator on a regular basis. The manual specifies monthly. Make sure you only use Racor made fuel fuel filters with the aqua block membrane on the primary filter. The ones I recommend are Racor, Motorcraft, or IH. If you have an International dealer close by, you can get the IH filters there at a good price. You can also get Racor or Motorcraft from Diesel Filters Online. I'd go with the Racor filters as they're the OEM and have a much better price than the Motorcraft filters (which are rebranded Racors anyway).

I'd also recommend you get a fuel pressure gauge to keep an eye on your system pressure and make sure you don't have a pump issue.

 

I went back this time with IHs. Last change was racor from dieselfilters. I've already been hearing a little coughing from the other two. I'm sure they'll let go as soon as we get some good cool weather. The coughing just hasn't been regular enough to take to the dealer yet. When I drained the HFCM it didn't have any water, just a fair amount of trash...rust scale, dirt, etc. I started dropping injectors after I changed the filters the first time. I was just wondering if there is anything in the fuel system to give up besides the injectors that gonna cost me a bundle.

 

FICM 450.00 or so from swamps diesel or around 1000.00 from dealer

 

would also recomend fuel pressure spring upgrade, and fuel psi gauge.

 

I don't really see how a dirty fuel system could affect my FICM. Being that it's a mechanical problem and not a electronic one. And if you'll read my signature you'll see that I've already installed a updated fuel pressure spring. ie Blue FP spring

 

you just asked if there was anything in the fuel system that was going to cost a bundle. though contaminated system should not affect tha ficm. But it does sound like the fuel tank may be rusting and this is probably not cheap either. You shouldnt have any rust in the fuel system

 

I haven't seen too terribly much, I think that may be from the HFCM drain plug. I thought these trucks had plastic tanks. That may be something to consider if they are indeed steel.

 

My 05 38 gal. tank is plastic. If yours is plastic you or the previous owner probably picked up a load of trash at a fueling station.

 

The 250/350 have plastic tanks. I believe the 450 up have steel tanks.

It's possible the lack of proper filter maintenance could affect your fuel pump. That's why I recommended finding out what your fuel pressure is doing. Other than that, there's nothing else in your fuel system that could go wrong other that this and what you already know.

 

That was mainly what I was wondering, is there anything other than the fuel pump that could go out. I was just making sure I wasn't forgetting or was unaware of some expensive piece of the fuel system. I was pretty sure that the 250s had plastic fuel tanks. So that scale pretty much has to be coming from the fuel or the HFCM drain plug. And as I said it's not really that bad. I think I could probably handle a fuel pump if need be, it's the "need to take it to the dealer out of warranty" repairs that bother me.