7.3 (97) PowerStroke Problem

On my way to work this morning, my fuel filter light came on. About 1/2 mile before I got there it was spitting & sputtering so bad that it practically died when I pulled in.

I figured no big deal, just get the wife to run by the parts store & pick me up a filter, drop it off and I'd be good to go. WELL,...... on my lunch break I wanted to see if would start before I changed the filter and to my suprise it fired right up, but didn't quite sound up to par. In my attempt to make the 3mile drive home, it died in the middle of the highway. I got it on to the edge of the road and changed the filter & started back up. I only got 1/4 mile or so before it started spitting & sputtering & lost power,..... once again.

I thought maybe there wasn't enough fuel in the bowl, so I filled it up, shot a little starting fluid to it and once again it fired up. Set my chip on high idle and it seemed to be doing just fine, but as soon as I closed the hood, it started to die AGAIN.

I have a fuel pressure gauge attached to the fuel bowl and noticed that the pressure was reading 0.

Anyone have any idea what my problem might be? Fabio (aka richer69)

FWIW,...
My engine mods are as follows,.........
DIY Stage 1 injectors (done by Jim Rosewood, not me)
TW chip
Adrenaline HPOP

I've put about 5000 miles on the truck since I did these mods and this is the very first issue I've ever had with the truck.

I still have the stock fuel system w/ mechanical pump. I installed a new pump less than 6000 miles ago.

The truck has 297k on it.


I'm at a loss.

have you tried switching tanks?


They symptoms you describe the pump is putting a vacuum on the filter housing....either the low side of the pump is shot or there is a restriction some place.............switching valve can go bad.

richter69 wrote:have you tried switching tanks?


They symptoms you describe the pump is putting a vacuum on the filter housing....either the low side of the pump is shot or there is a restriction some place.............switching valve can go bad.

Thanks,

I'm going to do some investigating tomorrow before I start dumping random parts at it.

The last time my truck did this (the only time) it got worse and worse and then died. Would not restart. After a tow home and a disgusting fuel filter change, I also charged the battery. Even if it sounds like it has enough, seems like a fully charged battery (or a 100AMP jump) really gets it going! Anyway, on to the info, mine ran like s@#t for an hour after I got it running. It slowly got better. Don't know what caused this, but thats how it happened.
Change diesel filters often!