Coincidence?

[Capt. Lowtide]

Excuse my ignorance, but this happening seems strange to me: After cleaning the FPR screen the head gasket or wiring harnesses burned up while truck was idling in the driveway.

Events leading up to this:
I changed my fuel filter two weeks ago and the Fuel Filter light on the dash started to come on intermittently when accelerating, this definately got my attention because I never knew the light existed. Pulled the handy dandy Ford supplemental owners booklet for Powerstroke engines and it said to replace filter to fix problem, good answer to my problem.

I finally had a chance to replace it yesterday and while paying for the new filter, I mentioned in passing to the clerk about the light coming on. The clerk said maybe the filter was clogged internally and he would warranty the old one if I purchased some fuel system cleaner, I figured that to be a good deal since the cleaner probably wouldn't hurt anything, correct?

I swapped the filters in the parking lot and then purchased some Power Service Diesel Kleen. I drove the truck around the city yesterday performing errands for about 50 miles and got it running 60mph on the way home. No Fuel Filter light after changing the filter, so I figure the problem is fixed.

Left town this morning for a sixty mile run to the coast for some big trout catching. Decided to top off the tank for the highway cruise, put 8-ounces of fuel treatment in the tank along with 8 gallons of diesel at the local truck stop. Ten minutes down the highway running at 75mph, the Fuel Filter light comes on and the truck starts to lose some power. Decided to turn around and postpone the fishing trip until tomorrow.

The light stayed on all the way back home and there is a noticable loss of power so I figure that some crud floated up and clogged the FPR screen. Got back to the house pulled the filter and cleaned the screen, kinda dirty but nothing too bad. The filter housing had some sediment inside and was not draining very good, I removed as much as possible (some tan colored crystalized particles) put some diesel in the bowl along with a few ounces of cleaner and let it soak for an hour. Went back to drain the housing and it flushed out great. Installed filter and cranked it up, note it was running good/idling smooth. When I got out to check for leaks the housing drain was not shut completely and was dripping so I closed it.

Satisfied with what I hoped to be a solved problem I reached up to close the hood and the truck dropped some cylinders and sounded like it was going to come apart. Turned it off, checked the valve cover wiring harnesses and found diesel in the passenger side terminal closest to the firewall.

Had almost the same thing happen one year ago, got fuel and after leaving the pumps the water in fuel light came on almost immediately. I pulled over to the side of the road and relieved the filter of any water. I took off and before I got to fourth gear the same head gasket fried.

Is draining the filter housing related in any way to burning up the head gasket, coincidence?

Once I get the gasket/harness changed should I look at some other area of the fuel system because of the fuel filter light coming on?

By the way, a big THANKS goes out to everyone here, I've learned allot and you guys have saved me mucho time and money in the past- Curtiss

 

[95_stroker]

Is your drain tube connected on the filter housing? Even if it isnt, the fuel should just end up in the valley which will drain off the back of the block under the turbo. I cant see fuel in the valley shorting out a UVCH. Are you consistently burning the same gasket? Check the glow plugs on that side if so.

 

[Capt. Lowtide]

I didn't know there was a drain tube, when I open the valve the fuel spills out all down the block, does that mean it has one? I'm very familiar with the fuel in the valley, the original fuel bowl (I JB welded holes twice) has been replaced with all hoses and the fuel pump in the last 18-months. I did not replace the fuel canister, it was done professionally.
I replaced both gaskets, glow plug harnesses and all glow plugs on the last meltdown. The gasket on the other side burned up last time and I changed them all just to be safe since everything was very hard and brittle.
Thanks for the advice on what to look for.

 

[Patrick Feeley]

How do your external connectors look? It sounds like the gaskets and undervalvecover harnesses were changed. Any burned pins on the connectors (external or internal) or gaskets results in a high resistance point that will burn. There's a reason the Superduties went to the heavier, single connector for the connections and they don't burn up like ours do. Cheers!

 

[Capt. Lowtide]

On the last go 'round I replaced one of the external connectors due to burned pins, they all look good this time. I didn't get to finish the valve cover removal this evening, I'll check the internal connectors tomorrow. I plan to go back down the external harness to check other wires to make sure there is no insulation missing, found that in the past.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[95_stroker]

I didn't know there was a drain tube, when I open the valve the fuel spills out all down the block, does that mean it has one?

Sounds like yours is missing or unhooked, which is fairly common. I think the tube ran out the right front of the block and down near the front axle so fuel could be caught in a drain pan. I'm still struggling to make the relationship between a little fuel in the valley and a burnt harness. I dont want to pass your problem off as nothing but it does seem coincidental. We need to figure out why your truck is eating harnesses for lunch.

 

[BJS]

for the WIF light check to make sure that the wiring harness under the fuel bowl is good and intact there have been problems with diesel softening the insulation on the wires under the fuel bowl (IPR here also) so you'll get odd errors.

On the how can these two be related, if you managed to get diesel in the VC connection and the female connectors on the engine side of the harness are slightly loose then you would have contact but with slight arcing each time which could ignite the diesel fuel which would fry the connection.

 

[Capt. Lowtide]

I've been busy the last couple of days and finally got to the final tear down today. Pulled both VCs and inspected harnesses and VC gasket, all look like new still.

Kinda confused, the symptoms leading up to the tear down were exactly the same as last time I replaced the gaskets/harnesses. Both of the external rear connectors on the VCs were drenched in oil, all connectors inside and out look to be good.

Well, what should I look for next?

 

[Capt. Lowtide]

CPS harness

What a kick in the BUTT!!!!!!!!!

I traced all wires in the engine harness for burns, checked the whole fuel system for obstructions, pulled both valve covers to check J-harnesses, had a mechanic hook a code reader up to it (no codes) and nothing seemed to make a differance.

I cranked and cranked the engine, blowing black smoke and it almost started several times. Noticed that the tach was only showing 200 rpms (checked the first time I tried to crank and it was showing pver 1000 rpms.) Rolled under the truck and the CPS wiring harness was barely touching the CPS.

I'm thinking that I had a combo problem with the IPR screen being dirty (fuel filter light) and the fuel running down the front of the block (from draining the filter housing) and making the CPS wiring harness shimmy off the sensor.

What are the odds?

 

[95_stroker]

What are the odds?

Murphy says................