Fuel Heater question

[strokin' fool]

Hello all. Just had a question about the fuel heater in the fuel filter housing. I had a bunch of problems with my truck last week and ended up replacing the fuel pump, cleaning out the tank and replacing 2 fuel filters. I noticed the wire was attached to the fuel filter when I removed it from the housing. I just put it back down in there and went on. I had to take the truck to the shop and get it scanned since it was not running right. The water in fuel light came on and stayed on even after i drained it. I figured since it was 4 degrees here that night that the fuel heater was broken. Well the shop said the fuel heater was bad and the #7 injector was bad also causing the white smoke and rough run at start up. They want 600.00 for the fuel filter housing. The service advisor told me that I could not get just the fuel heater. Is this true?? I was told by a buddy that I should be able to just replace the heater?? Is this possible and if so is it hard to do?? Thanks

[bigdawgchallenger]

I priced this part at ford, $155.00 is what I was told

[alabamafrog]

Year, make, model, mods??

First off, I really don’t believe the fuel filter heater does anything to help. After all if it is cold enough for the fuel to gel then wouldn’t it gel in the tank, pickup foot, lines, pump, heads, etc? I don’t see how just heating the filter is going to help. I guess it “might” help thin the fuel to get it through the restriction of the filter media but I have heard of many folks unplugging that heater and never having any other troubles. I do live in the south where very low temps are on the plus side of zero.

Next, I believe you could buy just the element for a lot less if you just gotta have it working.
How did they determine an injector is bad?
I really don’t know how much I would trust a shop that wants $600 for a bad fuel filter heater. But then again I don’t trust any shop anywhere.

Did you get a bad load of fuel? That happened to me last year, ruined a lot of stuff. I did some tank and filter mods to try and prevent it happening again plus it got the air out and made my truck run much better, all for $30. There are pics of the fuel system mods in my sig link if your interested.

[bigdawgchallenger]

I'm not a Tech, but I read that the fuel heater stops the fuel from "waxing" up during colder weather. This wax can form even if the fuel doesn't jell. Over time it can cause the filter to become clogged and cause hard starts.

As for the injectors, I'm not sure.

[Mark Hall]

You can get just the heater. I bought one last week for 80.00 at Ford for a 95 F-350. I found that I didn't need it though as my old one was being shorted out by a metal foreign object in the seperator bowl lying right on the plug connector. It runs fine if you unplug it but the wax build up in the bowl will haunt you if you do. You can change the heater yourself if ya have the right tools. Return part for cash!