Fuel leak all over the manifold

[1987k20]

Ok, my dad told me his fuel mileage in his 96 f350 has dropped drastically lately, and his truck smells like fuel anytime he parks it. Also said that if he is slowing down for a redlight, sometimes it will buck and cough like its gonna cut off.

So today I start looking around on it, there is a puddle of fuel under the turbo, then another puddle behind the filter housing towards the turbo. In front of the filter housing there is a 'residue.' Looks like it was wet with oil/fuel and then got dusty.

Anyway, friend of mine said he has heard of some of the fuel lines rubbing through on some of the relay brackets, etc near the front of the motor. However, like I said doesnt seem to be any fuel there. I had the engine running, looking all around in the intake valley and I couldnt find anything leaking at all...

Anyway, what should I start checking over first, I dont know a thing about the powerstrokes.

Thanks.

[TexasR.N.]

Fuel leak sites:
Fuel pump (under turbo), Fuel lines (several to choose from), Fuel bowl, could be cracked or have a hole in it, or one of the components on the fuel bowl could be leaking.

Dry the engine off as best you can, have him start it up and see where the fuel is coming from. Might need a flashlight and an inspection mirror. But if it is as bad as you are describing it should be fairly obvious where the leak is occurring.

Keep us posted,
Craig

[silverF250]

Definitely not a fuel line rubbed through. If it was it would be spraying fuel everywhere.

[lawman349]

i would bet vital parts of my anatomy it is the fuel bowl or some to the o-rings around it. The ULSD fuel has caused alot of probs for us 7.3 owners. (...thanks again federal government......jerks)

i try to run an addative as often as i can to prevent problems.

[1987k20]

Is the fuel bowl cracking a common occurance? Im gonna mess with it tomorrow and see whats up, the only problem is he says it does the shuddering, etc only when the truck is good and warm. He didnt tell me this little bit of info until just now, I thought it was doing it all the time, soooo, I dont think its actually leaking until the truck warms up. He says the longer he drives the worse it gets. Does that shed any new light on the problem?

[Marty]

Since this is an OBS... and you can't really see the actual leak - judging from your description I'd put money on the fuel pump. On the OBS they're in the valley.

I think SMKSTAX just replaced his... I'll PM him a link to this thread for you.

[SMKSTAX]

I would do exactly what Craig said and wipe everything down the best you can and then really search good for where the leak is occuring. Fuel bowls are susceptible to cracking and leaking so there is a possibility this is your problem. If it's cutting out like you stated though it could be your fuel pump starting to fail. Really need to find that leak though.

[1987k20]

yeh he said it just cuts out idling down, like coming up to a redlight, that sound like a fuel pump? Whats the expected life out of one of those, the truck is a 96, but it only has like 85k on it.

[SMKSTAX]

Really any part can fail whenever. Mileage doesn't really go hand in hand with wear and tear. Hours running, lack of maintanance and stress are more factors to consider. Can you scan it for codes?

[1987k20]

Dont own a scanner, there is no check engine light or anything like that, can always take it to autozone and get it scanned if needed.