[SEL] O.T. 7.3L Ford Diesel

Arthur Southwell asouth42 at embarqmail.com
Wed Jan 6 05:22:13 PST 2010


Hello list(s)

Several folks on the list have Ford 7.3L Diesels and from time to time have
little problems and ask for opinions or help. Here's a money saving tip for
you who can do your known repairs.

Monday we had a little cold snap here in mid-Florida. Thirty-one degrees F.
I waited until things warmed up a bit, 36F, then drove three miles to the
Court House to turn in a lic. tag. When I returned to the parking lot, I
noticed a rather large puddle under my truck. I knew I hadn't been running
the A/C, so it couldn't be good news. And it wasn't; it was diesel fuel. I
sped back to the shop and popped the hood. Investigation lead to a leaking
drain valve on the fuel filter.

I called Ford Parts Dept. and was informed that it is common for the valve
to leak during a cold snap an the fix was a complete new valve assembly. I
asked the price and almost spit out my teeth. My cost was $51.75 with a list
of $75 and change. They told me they had sold 4 valves that morning and were
out of stock for a few days.

 That turned out to be good luck for me.

I had looked in the shop manual at an Illustration of the fuel filter body
assembly and knew there were two "O" rings tom seal the valve body to the
filter can. Of course F-O-R-D doesn't sell the "O" rings.

I removed the valve for a look-see. I noticed the "O" ring was thick and
almost a "square cut" outside and the inside hole was beveled on both sides.
I cleaned off the flaking yellow dye coating, turned the "O" rings over.
This made the "O" ring "stand" off a few thousandths and I knew it would
seal against the "ball" on the spool valve. I removed the "spool" valve,
removed the "O" ring and replaces it with a common xxx108 "O" ring and
reassembled the valve and re-installed the valve on the filter can. Walla,
no leaking fuel and I'm $51.00 better off.

I hope this little bit of information will help one of you some day if your
valve goes to leaking.

C'ya,

Arthur Southwell
Arthur Southwell Repair
Arthur Southwell Rebuilding
Arcadia, FL 34266 USA

Asouth42 at embarqmail.com




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