fuel bowl cover

[commanderjjones]

A while back, my truck laid down (wound up being a bad valve cover gasket) and I had to have it towed. I was a long way from home, so I had it towed to my brother's house who was much closer to make the tow bill more manageable. To make a long story shorter, either he or the towing company broke the plastic cover that goes over top of the fuel filter. Not sure what you'd call that piece, but i'm sure that you guys know what I'm talking about. It was just completely missing......gone.....nowhere to be found. I don't let other people wrench on my stuff, so I KNOW it wasn't like that before it was towed because I had just been under the dang hood trying to figure out what the problem was. Both of them emphatically deny doing anything with it, although both admit they had been under the hood..........why they felt the need to molest my truck, I have no earthly idea. Needless to say, I was NOT happy.

I hate going to the dealer for ANYthing, so I bought a new cover off eBay. It came in yesterday and I went to put it on last night but it's not fitting. The bolt holes aren't spaced properly and it would be sitting on top of the HPOP sensor even if they lined up. Now that's it's no longer a daily driver, it had been a while since I had changed the fuel filter, so I'm struggling to remember exactly how the cover attached, but I'm obviously missing another piece. There were only 2 broken plastic tabs that were attached to the mounting bolts, but those tabs don't even match the plastic on the cover (made/shaped differently), so I'm guessing there has to be another piece missing.

Question # 1: Do any of you have a pic' somewhere showing that missing bracket/piece that I'm talking about?

Question # 2: Is there anywhere that I can get it other than through a dealer?

Question # 3: Does anyone know of an aftermarket cover that looks better than the crappy plastic one?

I'm pretty irritated by the whole thing, but what can ya do ? I know it's an absolutely useless piece and serves no purpose other than looks, but I just can't live with knowing my truck is "incomplete".

 

[BIG JOE]

1. No pics here.

2. Your local salvage yard(s) ?

3. Do a little searching through our vendor/sponsor sites ? Seems I'v seen some aftermarket "Engine Appearance Covers" made of aluminum ?

Joe

 

[commanderjjones]

Thanks, Joe. I'll continue my search.

 

[Frankenstien]

So to understand... your talking about teh "PowerStroke" plastic cover... not the fuel filter housing cover ... If so I'll try to tag and bag a pic later today...

 

[RSG]

There was a thread here a while back and some genius informed us that there are (iirc) 3 different mounts for the 7.3L plastic PSD cover. I removed mine a long time ago and prefer the "naked" look anyhow. Just my opinion!

 

[BIG JOE]

There was a thread here a while back and some genius informed us that there are (iirc) 3 different mounts for the 7.3L plastic PSD cover. I removed mine a long time ago and prefer the "naked" look anyhow. Just my opinion!

X2 on naked..

Broke mine, replaced it ($$ iirc), broke it again.. ran naked down the highwayz for the next 10+ years.

 

[Y2KW57]

The original cover that came with your 1999 was discontinued in 2001, and was no longer even orderable in 2002. If you tried to order one in 2002, you would receive the revised version that came out in 2001. I am reporting this from experience.

In otherwords, the engine cover (that's what it is called) from early 1999 (first sold in 1998) through early 2001 is fully interchangeable with the engine cover from late 2001 through early 2003 (before the switch to the 6.0L).

The mounting bolt holes in both covers are 116mm apart on center, which is about 4 and 9/16 ths inches. The suspected "missing" hardware on your engine should be two vertical studs pointed upward that are the same distance apart... 4 and 9/16ths inches.

The "third" style of engine cover is for the 94-97 model year. I believe there is a slight variation in those as well, that happened in 1995, but I don't have specifics on that. I also do not know how interchangeable the 94-97 cover, which is much, much, much larger than the 99-01 cover, is with the newer design covers. By contrast, the newer 99-01 cover is only slightly larger than the newest and last 01-03 cover. These engine covers all got smaller and smaller on each redesign.

Here is a linked pic of the period correct style engine cover for your 1999 model year, that is shown below fitting interchangeably on a 2003:

Photo Credit: djh @ Powerstroke.org

 

[Y2KW57]

Ha, I was scrolling through my old posts on this site, and found where I posted about these engine cover differences back in April of last year:

Quote:

There are 4 different engine covers for the 7.3L, depending on year.

3 of them look similar, but are different. 1 of them (the last) is radically different.

2 of them were for the 94-97 7.3L, 2 of them were for 99-03 7.3L.

The earlier 2 will not fit a 2000 model year without creativity.

The latter 2 will both fit a 2000 model year with no modifications required.

The first of the latter two is styled more similarly to the earlier 2.

The last cover made is very different, and began being installed around 2001.

Each cover is smaller than the cover that preceded it.

Ordering a cover new from Ford will most likely get you the last style made, even if you provide the VIN for you 2000 model year as reference. (Been there, done that, with my 2000).

 

[RSG]

Ha, I was scrolling through my old posts on this site, and found where I posted about these engine cover differences back in April of last year:

Quote:

There are 4 different engine covers for the 7.3L, depending on year.

3 of them look similar, but are different. 1 of them (the last) is radically different.
2 of them were for the 94-97 7.3L, 2 of them were for 99-03 7.3L.
The earlier 2 will not fit a 2000 model year without creativity.
The latter 2 will both fit a 2000 model year with no modifications required.
The first of the latter two is styled more similarly to the earlier 2.
The last cover made is very different, and began being installed around 2001.
Each cover is smaller than the cover that preceded it.

Ordering a cover new from Ford will most likely get you the last style made, even if you provide the VIN for you 2000 model year as reference. (Been there, done that, with my 2000).

Like I said, you're a genius!

 

[Dieselpwrdredneck]

there are some really cool aftermarket ones laser cut stainless or aluminum? either "Powerstroke" or "T444E" or somethin like that cant remember where i seen them tho