whats goin on here?

[sprenkle]

i got a 86 f250 with a 6.9 automatic. the past few mornings its been idling really rough, but i figured it was just a little chilly and itd be fine. once i started down the road, it would just run like normal, and it would act the same way on the way home, when i started it up after work. today, on the way home, the "water in fuel" light came on. i told my pap, he said no biggie, that i could add some "dry gas" to it and it would disperse the fuel. i went to the local auto parts place and got something for diesel engines that disperses water in the fuel, and added that and changed the fuel filter. while i was working on that, i noticed that the line at the top of the filter looked to have a small leak. i was wondering if the water in the fuel could be causin the truck to idle rough, and if there are any ways other than the additive that i could fix the water in fuel problem. any input is appreciated. thanks

[dakotajeep]

I am inclined to think that you have an air intrusion problem. I would recommend replacing that fuel line immediately. It runs fine once the engine mounted fuel filter is full of fuel because once the engine warms up and creates enough suction it overcomes the leak. But when you shut if off the fuel isnt being pulled into the filter anymore and will drain back to the tank so you have minimal fuel to start the rig on and it spends the first minute or so getting fuel back into the engine mounted filter.

The water in fuel light will come on if there is a restriction in the flow of fuel.....or in your case sucking too much air in.

I had a similiar situation and came to find out the the WIF light doesnt always mean that you have water.

Fix that line and let us know what your results are!

Thad

[sprenkle]

thanks, ill see what i can do, man u guys are awesome

[zpd307]

yep, that leak is causing is causing the wierd starting problems... the return line caps and orings are notorious for leaking also....

[dakotajeep]

Yeah, what he said. I got fixated on the WIF light and forgot about the other common air intrusion possibilities.

Thad

[sprenkle]

im not sure if its the black line that comes out of the top of the filter,(kinda has like a ropey look to it) or if its the steel line which the black ropey line runs into. the steel line runs into the thing that the filter screws on. i havnt taken off the air filter to see where the steel line runs to, but the black ropey line runs to the first injector on the left side, and the to all the other ones, continuing back around to the right

[sprenkle]

fuel line leaks have been dtected and fixed, light stayed on. drained water seperator, now she starts good, shuts off, and takes forever to crank back over. gotta love em tho.

[dakotajeep]

What do you mean "takes forever to crank back over"? Everytime or are you refering to after draining the water seperator?

Just curious.

Thad

[sprenkle]

it was doin this everytime i went to start the truck up, after sitting for a couple hours. now it dont do it anymore, but the %$@#!@# light is back on. im gonna have see what the price of scrap is.

[dakotajeep]

With these old rigs usually its a pretty simple fix once you track it down. Don't give up!

Thad