the filter is only a few months old, I swapped to a one piece, it also got new injectors, sending lines from the injection pump, and the soft return lines when I got it about 14 months ago. Everything from the filter forwards seems tight, which makes me think it’s somewhere between the lift pump and tanks. While finishing up the rad install today I noticed a small buildup of brownish fluid with a fuel smell on the bottom of the hard line portion of the lift pump, but the mounting surface and everything surrounding seems dry. The fuel filter light does come on when I start it
It has stalled with a full tank as well as 1/4, it never gets lower than that though. What is the best way to check the “shower heads” and “vents” in the tanks without dropping them if possible?

 

You can pull the bed to get access to the tanks, may be easier than dropping the tanks. The other possibility would be to snake a camera in through the fill hose, but may not be able to get the angle you need to see them.
Does the fuel filter light stay on when running? It is supposed to come on when starting as part of the bulb check circuit.
The fuel filter light comes on when a vacuum is sensed on the output side of the filter head, this is indicates a clogged filter, or insufficient fuel flow into the filter. Insufficient flow could be a bad lift pump, clogged fuel line, clogged fuel sender. Air leaking into the fuel lines will not cause the fuel filter light to come on as it won't cause a vacuum, but it will cause the truck to surge or stall out.

 

To check the shower heads I am pretty sure you have to drop the tanks, yeah it sucks. The vents you may be able to access but I'm not sure--they are on top of the tanks. The hard lines that enter and exit the fuel filter header have rubber "olives" that degrade and crumble over time. Perhaps the olives are in bad shape? You can delete the hard line that enters the fuel filter header and just run 3/8 fuel line from the lift pump up to a 3/8 barbed fitting screwed into the filter header. ClassicDieselDesigns sells a kit to delete the hard line from filter header to injection pump. I have done this on both my trucks. You can buy the individual components yourself but the kit is only $40 and there is an oddball ORB(O-Ring Boss) fitting that screws into the injection pump.
Any chance the electrical connection to the FSS fuel shutoff solenoid is loose? Stalling with a full tank sure sounds a fuel delivery issue but you have a new lift pump, new hard lines from injection pump, new filter, and new return lines. You might try installing a fuel pressure gauge on the exit side of the fuel filter or use one of the 1/8 npt ports on the header. You can buy Push-Lok barbed connectors with a female 1/8 npt connection for a gauge or sending unit, or tee off the filter header outlet if you delete the hard line. I think the outlet is 1/4 npt. I've never dealt with your issue so I'm kinda' out of ideas here. If the stalling happens on both tanks then I would tend to assume the problem is not in/at the tanks. Maybe a problem with the tank selector valve? There are Bundy connectors that go into the selector valve and maybe they are leaking? But again I haven't had to mess with the selector valve.

 

thank you for all the tips and advice. I got the new aluminum rad installed and running great. I went ahead and put an electric duralift 40222 pump on. I’ve taken the rig out for a couple of drives and it runs great. With the mech pump, on the top end before shifting into the next gear the truck would sputter and almost sound like it was hitting a limiter at 2,750-3000 rpm or so. Now I can hold it and runs steady until it shifts. Starts easier but seems like I might still be getting small air intrusion, possibly through my injectors and return lines. I definitely wasn’t as familiar with the engine when I installed them as I am now. All in all though for about 250$ for the pump and all misc nuts, bolts, hose, wire… definitely well worth the install and makes a noticeable improvement.
i have a pyrometer coming so then I’ll be able to turn the ip up a flat or two and hopefully give this truck all the fuel it wants.

Thank you again WCMtn1990 for all the advice, I’ll certainly check this thread again if I have any issues with my fuel. Also a trans temp sensor so I can keep an eye on that after having deleted the factor T hose, where this all started haha.

 

On a non-turbo there isn't much more fuel the engine needs over stock settings. I turned mine up about 1 flat and that was plenty. If you're non-turbo it is relatively easy to install the pyrometer in the driver side exhaust manifold. I did mine in the truck without removing anything. Grease your sharp and new drill bit to help capture some metal shavings, magnet or vacuum the rest, carefully tap threads, install pyro. If you have a turbo then I think it would be best to remove the exhaust manifold to ensure no metal shavings go through the turbo.

 

Running N/A, where on the manifold did you put it? I saw a video of a guy running his truck while he drilled to get a majority of the shavings to blow out, then grease and magnet etc with the tap, thoughts?

also with the trans temp sensor, it replaces a check plug or something alone those lines correct? Pull a threaded piece out and then thread the sensor in?

 

On the E4OD a lot of people put their temp sensor in a pressure test port but I can't recall which side of the trans it's on--should be 1/8th NPT. Some folks think putting the sensor directly in the Torque Converter "Out" line gives the most accurate because the TC out line should be the hottest fluid generated by the transmission & TC and this temp reading is much higher than the reading you'll get from the pressure test port. I think the theory is that if you know you are cooking or on the verge of cooking your ATF based on TC output then you can ease off immediately rather than waiting for all the fluid in the pan to increase in temp. There are knowledgeable people who promote both locations so I can't say which is better. Somebody did both locations and posted a pic of the TC out reading about 250F while the pan temp was about 170F.
I think the general trend would be to try and 'over-cool' your ATF since it will last longer the more time it spends at or below 200F. And I just replaced 18 quarts of ATF with Mobil 1 synthetic at ~$9/quart so I'm not in a hurry to burn that fluid. I would like to add a larger cooler with a fan to hopefully increase the life of ATF & transmission internals, plus doing a full fluid swap requires a couple hundred in ATF, and the better part of an afternoon by the time you set everything up, swap the fluid, and then clean up.


I tapped the manifold roughly between cylinders #6 & #8. Personally I don't think you need to do it with the engine running. It ought to be easier to get the drill bit started accurately without the engine vibrating. I didn't even use grease when I drilled mine--just a quick shop-vac and then blow it out with exhaust. Be careful not to bottom out the tap as I recall this can make it hard or impossible to properly tighten the threaded insert/bung. But I'm no expert on tapping threads so. . . For temp gauges I like the digital Auber Instruments mostly because they have an output that will trigger an alarm so you can set the gauge to alert you when a specific temp has been reached. For instance when my pyrometer reaches 1150F a large red light starts flashing on my dash and an alarm sounds until the EGT drops to 1100. Could be irritating, could be helpful.

 

e4od test port, drivers side


I tried that for a little while on my F250. Didn't like it. Sure it told me what my spikes were, but what could I do about it? lol I didn't know the average trans temp. The gauge going up and down drastically got old fast. All it would do is worry me for nothing. I went to the test port.

 

I’m am back working on my idi, I noticed a small fuel leak coming form my rear tank about a month ago. Very small leak and negligible at the time. Recently I got a very good deal on a utility bed for my truck and I have the bed off starting to work on cleaning up the back half. I have a new tank to replace the rear one. I’d also like to replace both sending units in both tanks. Are the different from the front and back and is there any specific brand or company you guys use for these pumps? I want to change as much as I can while I’m in there and everything’s open.

 

Maybe start a new thread for a new topic. Yes the sending units are different for each tank and different senders for different years. Buy new "showerheads" or use 3/8 fuel line with a couple "v" cuts in the bottom to replace the old rubber in the tanks. The showerhead is a rubber piece that attaches to the metal fuel sending unit but they degrade and go to bits over the years. I also need to drop my tanks but the only things to replace are the sending units and showerheads--no pumps in tank. Look at the wiring while you have access and check the filler neck for degradation. There are some little plastic clips in the Bundy connector that connects to the metal sending unit lines and they may break so having spares on hand might be a good idea--should be available at the local Oreilly or whatever. Check you tank vents and generally clean things out. My rear tank on my '92 had a layer of ultra-tough algae/gunk stuck to the bottom, so tough I couldn't get it budge so just left it and 60k later no problems. if you have a pressure washer then that might be nice for cleaning the tanks' interior. Maybe clean and paint if you have rust issues in your area?

 

I’ll try and get a new thread started after this. Are there any specific sending units you’d prefer other others? Is it worth it to change the fsv as well? The truck only has 185,000 and really isn’t as rusted as bad as I thought it would be after taking the bed off. I just want to make sure I’m not screwing myself after I put the utility bed on

 

I've never replaced my sending units but I doubt there is much of a selection. The FSV is a coin flip--it could last a long while or fail the first day after you put the utility bed on. A new one might be junk. I dunno on that one. I hear Pollak valves are quality and many WVO setups use them but no experience first hand. I have 385k on the factory FSV on my '92 so there's that. I don't know if the FSV can be relocated to make replacement easier but the factory location looks like a PITA. I have read suggestions that it's good to use both tanks so the switching mechanism gets used and lubricated/cleaned out with fresh fuel. I think keeping tiny rubber particulate and sediment out of the fuel is important and you should be good to go since you're cleaning the tanks and replacing rubber components. Maybe disconnect the fuel lines entirely and blow compressed air through?

 

i havent had any noticeable issues with the fsv or anything ever act funny. until recently when i discovers that small tank i would always run the first tank to 1/4 the use the rear tank until 1/2 or 1/4 then fill back up, so if using both tanks helps the longevity of it ill keep my same practice and be good to go. i found a link on another thread the brought me to a website with a bunch of different sending units for all different years. my biggest issue was i couldnt really find anything exactly for a rear 18 gal tank. everything was for a rear 19 gal or just said "rear aft axel tank" https://www.gastankdepot.com/ford-tr...ing-units.html

i was able to figure out how to post a new thread, so ill post this reply there as well if it would be better to discuss there.

 

use the sending unit for the 19 gallon tank, you will be fine.