dipschnit

Mine didnt look broke until i unbolted it. I was having the same issues then it just died going down the road. Heres what it looked like after i got it off, completely fell apart.

pcastal

Then I would say it's a good sign it's bad fuel. You can unplug a fuel line somewhere, at the filter, schrader valve, or anywhere else you see a junction and fill up a clean bottle... see if it settles like there may be water in it. A gas station will often reimburse you for your repairs if the repair shop says it's bad gas. You can't be the only person it happened to if it's their gas causing the problem. But it's always a good idea to keep a receipt so you can prove what gas you bought and when... and that you didn't buy diesel

06FX$

Changed the fuel filter and drained some out of the filter and out of the line to the fuel rail. The "fuel" was dark gray in color and did not have a strong gasoline smell. No Diesel smell. Installed the new filer and it runs a little bit better now. Got it up to 50 mph but it still is not right. Checked the fuel at the filter afterwards and it now looks a lot more like gasoline. I am thinking a complete fuel system cleaning is needed. How hard is it to drop the fuel tank?

Especial86

iTrader: (1)

Maybe its the front 02 sensor malfunctioning on that bank... ?

pcastal

I'd probably see if you can drain the tank as much as possible without dropping it. If you can drain out as much as you can, and fill it up with some fresh gas, it will probably be diluted enough that it will run well.

Even if you are gonna drop the tank, the less fuel that's in there, the easier it will be

06FX$

I have a plan to disconnect the fuel filter and let the fuel pump do the work without running it dry. How much injector cleaner do you think should be added with the fresh gas. Almost seems to me that one or more of them may be plugged. Can hear a ticking noise under acceleration at times.

pcastal

The ticking is probably spark knock or predetonation. You can let it run dry, let it run until the fuel starts sputtering out, it won't hurt anything. I would add 1 bottle of techron additive, that is the best stuff out there. We had some trucks at my Toyota dealership with pinging/spark knock from carbon build up. We would use all of our chemicals to clean out the carbon and nothing would help, until you put techron in it and it would be quiet as new.

I have fixed many vehicles in my days as a technician with water, diesel, and God knows what in the fuel tank. Water the tank should be drained, removed, and cleaned out. Diesel and bad fuel just needs to be drained as much as possible and filled with fresh gas. Diesel can foul out the plugs as well. The fuel injector cleaner is always a good idea as well

06FX$

I've been talking to a few people and some say that I should replace the fuel pump while I am draining the tank. They say that the filter being clogged could have weakened the pump. Any thoughts on this?

pcastal

Do what you want and spend your money how you like but I have never seen that happen. Me personally, no way would I bother replacing it. From my experience, pumps typically don't get weak or slow, they either work or don't. I have replaced many fuel pumps, never once did I replace one because it was "weak". I also wouldn't be dropping the tank, but that's me. It's rare to see a fuel filter get that clogged that it causes an issue. Not super familiar with the operation of F150 fuel pumps, and someone correct me if I am wrong, but they have a set pressure that they "pump" the fuel to, and there is a pressure relief valve to stop excessive pressure somewhere, either on the rail or somewhere else. Now, if the filter is clogged, the pump will have the correct amount of pressure from the pump to the filter, and from the filter forward it will have low pressure. So the pump will be maintaining that pressure consistently, just like when you turn your key on and the pump initially pressurizes. So in theory, if the filter is clogged, the pump may actually work less because it is easier to maintain that pressure because of the restriction. It doesn't just keep pushing and pushing, fighting to push through the restriction, upping the pressure to fight it. That's not really how it works

Not to criticize anyone's knowledge, but the fact that it happened right after you got gas is a HUUUUUGE clue to bad fuel, it had just enough time to get the good fuel already in the lines and fuel rails out of the system and let the bad fuel get to the motor. The chances of that being a coincidence are extremely slim, that made me say with almost 100% certainty it was bad fuel. People have ideas as far as sensors, FPDM's and other stuff... those are guesses with no real evidence leading them to believe that. You gotta look at the pieces of the puzzle here. So if there is a reason to believe that the pump is currently weak other than "it may be" sure replace it. Other than that, it's just a guess, and based on my understanding, unless I'm wrong, it just doesn't make sense

06FX$

Thank you. I agree with you and think that getting rid of the fuel is going to be a good first step in trying to get it working right again.