Fuel pressure man

 

oh hell. I thought he was talking about the torque on the plugs.lol


thanks. I am having one hell of a day. I am not even gonna be able to work on my truck tonight

 

I know that feeling very very well. I hope its an easy fix man. Fuel pumps can be a bit aggravating but honestly they arent all that bad.

 

When my fuel pump went it happened just like that. No start, wait a little, it started and was fine for awhile and then would happen again. Over time it took longer to start and would only run OK for a shorter and shorter amount of time.

After about the 6th or 7th time it was completely dead and wouldn't start at all.

 

I am not worried about doing the work. It's the blind diagnosis that pisses me off. I have no pending codes, and the miss fire is getting worse. I can feel it misfiring now at idle.

The reason today sucked (besides my truck) is because I got chewed out by 1stSgt today and had to put all my plans to work on my truck on the back burner. I had to get a class done for him by NLT tomorrow morning. Been working on it since 1300 and just finished. Tomorrow is another no work day because I have to do a final for my college class. 4 essays in 4 hours... yay!

So, I am going to check the following starting tomorrow at lunch:
-Fuel Pressure
-Pull the plugs and cops and look for signs of poor fuel burn/arcing.

That's all I got.

I am praying that I either find loose plugs, or a cracked plug so it's obvious.

I don't have the proper tools to diagnose a bad COP. I might just have to take it to the mechanic and have them run a live feed on it to narrow down the cylinder for me.

 

All the advice you have received is very good and like what has been said, sounds like a fuel system problem. changing the plugs is also good and I would recommend using Motorcraft plugs. I have found that other brands of plugs will often come loose and develop a miss on our trucks that are all over 10 years old. If you are not throwing a code, it is doubtful that you have a COP issue. If, after changing you fuel filter, your fuel pressure is less than 30 PSI, (or even near 30), you most likely have a fuel pump issue. If you can keep your truck running to burn off all the fuel in the tank, it will be a whole lot easier to remove the tank and change the fuel pump. Otherwise you need to pump out the gas in the tank and store it somewhere which is a PITA.

In the unlikely event that it is not the fuel pump, I would check the crank sensor located behind the A/C compressor. If this is not sending a good signal to the PCM, you will not get spark and your truck will not start. These will often get covered in grease and oil and start giving an intermittent signal or no signal and your truck will crank and crank with no start. To change, remove the fan belt, take out the 4 bolts holding the A/C compressor and move the compressor to the side. Then take out the one bolt holding in the sensor, unplug the sensor from the wire harness, and remove. sometime you can just clean up the sensor and the wire connection and all will be well. A new sensor will cost you about $25. You can test it for proper voltage if you have the right tools

 

fuel pressure was 30# at idle, and 42# with the FPR un-plugged. Engine off key on the fuel pressure was only 10#'s


I pulled the passenger bank spark plugs and I think I found my problem/problems.


Spark plug 3 looked to have a small crack as I started to see carbon deposit forming on the porcelain


Cylinder 4 is where I think the main problem is. My valve cover gaskets are starting to leak into that cylinder and the COP was covered in oil and oil went past the threads. The plug was also pretty gummed up.


I put new spark plugs in both cylinders and when I get it put back together I will see if that was the problem. I am also ordering a valve cover gasket kit.

 

I want to order the FelPro gasket set for the valve covers. Should they come with the spark plug tube gaskets as well or is that sold separately? Are the stock gaskets rubber?


One last thing, all of the plugs were still tight. The cylinder 3 COP boot was VERY tight, and that was the cylinder with the cracked plug.

 

spark plugs 1-4

More pictures to follow.

These plugs seem pretty messed up for the year they have been in.

 

4th cylinder boot.

There was a shiny substance that wasn't liquid. It resembles some sort of burnt substance. I don't know if it's oil or not, I have never seen anything like that.

Another thought I had was that when I removed the fuel rail it poured all the fuel into the last plug hole and that it's not actually leaking oil. None of the other cylinders were leaking oil.