7.3L Power Stroke Engine and DrivetrainDiscussion of the 7.3L Power Stroke diesel engine and drivetrain in the 1999-Up Super Duty trucks and Excursions. No gas engine discussion allowed except on transmissions and drivetrain that pertain to all models. Please confine discussion of topics in this forum to those items that are specific to the 7.3L Power Stroke engine.
I have an issue that is probably pretty common, but I'd like to make sure I'm heading down the right road with fixing it.
I have just moved to Eielson AFB, Alaska from Mountain Home, Idaho. My truck (2000 F-250 PSD) was shipped from Tacoma, Washington. Shortly after it arrived here it started to drip fuel out of the drain valve tube. I followed the line back to the valve and it looked like it might be slightly opened. I ensured that it was closed all of the way and went ahead and changed the filter in case it may have been fouled. The next day I had the same issue. The AFB kind of frowns on having fuel leaked all over their driveways so I decided to put a rubber vacuum line plug over the end of the line since I figured (wrong) that it wasn't pressurized. Today when I drove it to work and parked it I had fuel streaming out of the tube and on to the ground. When I turned the key to the "ON" position it started gushing fuel, and now does it everytime I turn the key.
I'm hoping all I have to do is replace the valve and that will fix my problems.
I did a search on the forum and found the thread to replace the o-rings, but I don't currently have the time or the place to rebuild the valve.
Hopefully I'm heading in the right direction with the quick fix. Does anyone know of any other options?
The time it takes to remove the valve and replace it is all it takes to "rebuild" it with new o-rings. They form the gasket between the valve body and filter cannister. So once you have the valve off, just swap the o-rings and button it back up. Everyone says use Viton o-rings, but I have plain ol' buna-N (hardware store variety) in mine for at least 2 years now and no problems. The valve will cost you about $50 vs $1 for o-rings. Your choice.
When you closed the valve with it dripping, you probably trapped some grit between the o-ring and the seat, making your leak worse. You MAY be able to cure it temporarily by opening the valve and closing it again with the fuel pump running. That might flush the grit out and get it to seal again.
Don't forget to open and close the valve a bunch of times first, just to make sure the valve isn't hanging up.
klhansen, are you running ULSD up there? Just wondering which fuel you're using that doesn't affect the Buna-N. I've got an O-ring distributor 5 min. from my office, so I've never had to worry about finding the right O-ring, but I'm all for learning new tricks.
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Chris
2002 F350 6 spd 3.73LS XLT Heated Seats 270,000 & counting.
ahh, from Mountain Home to AK? What do you do on the F-15? A good friend, (New guy in the shop here in St. Louis. MO. just left MH)
Ah wait, thats Elmendorf that has 15s, You work 16s I bet don't you?
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Jim T.*48* SLAPS Co-Founder, 30.8 yrs RETIRED UAW 6/01/06, Now a full time Technician in the MOANG 12/10/07 My pics! and my New'03 Dually pics!, Charcoal Grey, Black and Grey interior, Black leather seats, Van Turbo/ATS ported housing/WW, Quad "A" pillar pod with Carbon Fiber series AUTO METER Gauges, FUMOTO Valve. BTS BUBBA" /TS 4pos chip, 4" Turbo back straight pipe/stainless 5" tip 131st F/W St.Louis MoAirNatlGuard We're losing the F-15s. BUT BEING HANDED THE KEYS TO THE B-2 BOMBERS at WHITMAN AFB, Near Kansas City, MO.!! We are Lindburghs OWN! Suffering from *PMS,, "Powerstroke mod syndrome"
klhansen, are you running ULSD up there? Just wondering which fuel you're using that doesn't affect the Buna-N.
Yes, we have ULSD here.
Now that I've said the o-rings are OK, I'll probably walk out and find a puddle under my truck.
Jim, Eielson used to have Warthogs (A-10's) but I've seen a bit of everything up there lately since they got BRAC'd last year. They have a training mission now, with lots of funny colored fighters from various nations. The 18th FS has F16's
Yes I do work on F-16's. I have a lot more experience on the F-15 aircraft, but I can work on any airframe that has a weapons system. My specialty is aircraft weapons, but at my rank I don't actually get to get dirty on the aircraft anymore. I've been doing this for 22 years and I'm pretty sure that I won't miss that aspect of the job when it hits-40. Eielson did have both the A-10 and F-16 until they fell under the changes of BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure), now they have a single squadron of F-16's that fly an Aggressor Role. Other units come to Eielson to fly against our jets. Our jets fly using tactics common to Russian and Chinese fighters.
Anyway, thanks for the advice on the o-rings. I think I'll try that and still buy the valve (just in case).
I'm sure I'll probably be back on the site to figure out the best way to thaw out my truck when I forget to plug it in.
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