7.3 powerstroke help asap

Noticed a puddle of fuel in the valley of my 7.3 engine under the mechanical fuel pump. Im of the understanding I have to remove the fuel filter housing to get the fuel pump out.

What is the brass block with the lines on the drivers side of the fuel filter housing?

Do I have to unhook any hard lines? Can I get the O-rings down at Advance or Autozone? I have to have my truck back up and running today or tomorrow.

I am thinking the leak is either from the lift pump or the rubber hoses on top of the engine.

How do I relive the fuel system pressure?

Hey it dosnt take about 1 hour to replace fuel pump and soft fuel line. replaced mine about 2 months ago...

the housing has to come out, unhook the rubber lines that screw onto the regulator, and remove the line that comes up and meets the regulator, undo the electrical connector on the ds of the filter housing and the connector at the IPR. you also need to remove the intake Y from the turbo............stuff rags into the holes after removing lol. you'll need to remove the clapms on the hoses that go from the housing to the pump.

Once you get the housing out of the way you need to remove the big banjo bolt that holds the lines at the rear of the pump............if your hands are small you can get a 1 1/4" box end wrench to bust it loos and spin the banjo out with your fingers......the seals usually stay on the lineand i slide the banko back far enough to just clear the pump.

2 bolts the remove from the pump..............now it gets a little tricky....you need to pry evenly and carefully to get the pump up out of the hole.......you can break the base off in the block.......and once its up and loose pull it up real easy and straight..........there is a plunger than can fall out into the engine.

just repeat steps in reverse to reasemble, replace all the little blue hoses while you are there. There is also a vac sensor that leaks fuel and on the 95 models its under the housing, I just remove them and install a 1/8 npt plug..............go easy its not hard to crack the cheaply made housing.

So there are no O rings on the fittings for the FPR that I dont need to run out and buy?

Vibra-lock seals I think they are called.

Ive got it narrowd down to one of the hoses between the pump and filter housing.

Also will plain old fuel hose work?

Its still leaking. I replaced all the rubber lines around and feeding to the fuel filter housing. I checked all the clamped connections between the fuel bowl and the fuel pump and they are all dry. I used clamps like these here http://www.summitracing.com/parts/IDC-52F15/

One of the old rubber lines did have a crack in it.

After driving for ten miles there was a small puddle still under the fuel pump in the valley. Maybe enough to fill a shot glass.

Also now the warning light for the charging system is on. The day I started all this work it was flickering on and off. Then stayed off. Now its on again. I used a volt meter and checked between the post on the back of the alternator and a negative battery terminal and got 14 volts with the engine running.

Maybe I jarred something loose?

Im starting to get really frustrated working on this. Stuff is really crammed in there.

what year is it again? make sure the eyelet on the bit wire on the alt is not broken or just about to, they are weak and its easy to get on it working on top of the engine and break it loose.

Its a 1997.


I fear dropping the little tappet into the engine for the fuel pump.

the '97 I had leaked from the side of the filter housing, where the wire plugs in. Ford has a replacement kit for it. Don't know the part number, but it came with the new element and plug that goes in the side of the filter housing. When mine first started to leak I thought the pump or line waas leaking as well. I changed that element, and solved the fuel leak.

Mike

The fuel bowl itself can leak too! Mine got a hole in the bottom and shot out in a nice jet stream... Something nice to imagine. I lost half a tank of fuel on the way home before I noticed!
The sensor on the side leaks often, as noted in an earlier post.
I suggest you start the truck and climb in the engine bay with a good flashlight. You should be able to find the leak this way. Please note that falling into the fan and belt assembly will chop you to bits, so do be careful.

Are the thin washers on the banjo bolt reusable? Or just go buy new ones?

http://dieselorings.com/index.php?page=categories&group=5

There is some good info at this site. And all the parts you want and need!

The charging problem...wire on top of the alternator I had wiggled loose when I was laying on it.

Got the new fuel pump installed and put close to ten miles on the truck. No fuel in the valley thus far.
Also replaced the banjo bolt washers while I was in there. I think it was $5 well spent.

I will add tho, if I had thought about it and had the money I would have done a electric fuel pump conversion and a better fuel filtration system. Ill save that for the next time it decides to leak fuel on top of the motor.

I came real close to removing the turbo to install the banjo bolt into the back of the new fuel pump.