Manual Valve Install with Fuel Tank Switch

I recently removed the FSV (Fuel Selector Valve) and replaced my fuel lines with Gates Barricade rubber lines, McMaster Carr ball valves and ran the wires for the fuel gauge and a toggle. There are not a lot of pics of this work and especially the wiring for the switch. The manual valve install is pretty well documented, but I would like to show pics of my install to help those like me who benefit from pictures to make descriptions more clear....

Parts List:
2 "3-way" ball valves (1) 3/8" and (1) 5/16" inside diameter
http://www.mcmaster.com/#ball-valves/=r5kgay Made in USA.

Brass Elbows (3) 3/8" and (3) 5/16"
pnevmo ebay seller

hose clamps (about 12)
Home Depot sells 10 packs cheap

Fuel Injection Hose
Gates Barricade from pageauto1 ebay seller.
25' 3/8" feed and 15' 5/16" return

"Pipe Dope" or equivalent sealer/adhesive

Wire 25' of 12-14 gauge wire (get half in 1 color and half in another)
Home Depot / Lowes sells it by the foot for $.29/ft

SPDT Toggle Switch Single Pole Double Throw
ebay

Wire Butt Connectors
Zip ties
Electrical Tape
(optional) soldering gun and solder wire
RTV liquid gasket
hex head screws and washers (4) each for ball valve mount

Just a few notes about parts....
The ball valves... Those of you who have auxiliary tank will want "4 way" ball valves. Get ball valves with metal ball valves inside. I chose McMaster because they had metal valves, were affordable, and were made in the USA. Customer service was very good.

There is a general consensus that the worm gear type clamps are not ideal for diesel fuel hose. In retrospect I should have used fuel injection hose clamps which clamp with uniform pressure but still use a screw to tighten. For me the squeeze type clamps are not ideal for this job.

The Gates Barricade Injection Line Hose is very good stuff. It has I think a 30R16 rating. It is over $4 a foot at NAPA. Ebay price was just over a buck a foot with free shipping from the seller mentioned.

I wanted to stick with a stock fuel hose size which is 3/8" feed and 5/16" return. You could use 3/8" for both and be fine. It would make assembly easy and prevent any possible mixups.

The toggle switch was a pain in the ass to find and figure out. NAPA, Advance Auto, Auto Zone, Pep Boys, Tractor Supply all had basically the same switches and not the "on-on". There is only one type of toggle that works for this job well. It is an "on-on" with a common terminal in the middle. This means that it goes from "on" to "on" only. There is no "off" in the middle or it won't work. The back of the switch must have 3 terminals. You could probably split the fuel gauge wire and connect some to both terminals if you had a toggle with the "off" in the middle.

*Edit* If you want to skip running new wire and the toggle and just use the factory selector switch, please scroll down to "laserjock"s comment and my response.*
It will eliminate the need for the toggle switch and wire. It will also save you the steps involved in tearing the guts out of the factory switch.

About Ebay... My favorite part about ebay is that in most cases you can find what you want cheaply AND with free shipping if you are willing to search for it. That's why I like it better than Amazon.



*Unscrew your fuel filter just enough to break the seal* The FSV is mounted to the frame right beside the front fuel tank. First step is to cut the fuel lines from in front of the FSV. This will allow the fuel to drain from the engine. I am suggesting you cut them because they run on top of the FSV and are difficult to access from there. If you are replacing them with new line it won't matter much if you cut them. You will want a catch can of some kind for the diesel fuel, and it is helpful to have a screw handy to plug the line. Vice grips would work very well also, but bear in mind most of your fuel lines are metal so you will have to find the rubber only pieces before disconnection or you will get a diesel bath while trying to figure it out after the fact. The ends of the lines before the quick connects are rubber for 10" or so. Unplug the wiring harness.

This is what your FSV looks like. It will be mounted just like this with the right side facing towards the front of the truck and the left towards the rear.


At each pair of male connectors, the feed is against the frame and the return is inside towards you.

Since you will not be using the quick disconnects, you can use a long flat head screw driver to stick into the plastic clips holding the connectors and twist until one of the legs break and then pull them out. In the pic below the top line has the v shaped clip head and the bottom line shows the barbed legs tips. The clip is a horseshoe shape.
http://www.rowand.net/Shop/Tech/images/FordEFIFuelLineConnectors03.jpg

There are two screws holding the FSV to the frame, and you will find the fuel lines hold it pretty firmly in place until they are disconnected as well.

Get the lines off both sending units, the FSV, the return coming off the driver side injector nearest the firewall at the little brass junction block and disconnect the line at the lift pump. You will have to open the plastic clips holding the metal lines and i would cut the tape holding the return and feed together just to make removal easier.... The clips need to be popped up from the tab on top and then they open out and down.




Next you want to decide where the best place is for your valves.... I put mine here, but if I had an auto tranny or 2wd I would have mounted them on the side of the hump on the floor. My seat gets in the way a little. I laid the valves on the floor and got into a driving position with the door closed and reached down to where I wanted to mount them to give me an idea of what it would be like. You may never have to do it, but I wanted to be able to switch tanks on the road while driving if necessary so it was important to have them in a spot that was easy to get to.

Once you have them where you want them, check underneath for obstructions, then get in there and start drilling! When complete, assemble your valves and elbows and get them mounted. I used RTV around the hole to keep it sealed, but not permanent just in case. I have the receipt filed with the thread size and length for the little bolts I used, but I haven't gotten around to diggin it out. When I do I will edit in the size to the parts list to save a headache. A hole saw really helps here. All I had was a 1/2" bit and it was difficult and a little sloppy to get the switch hole right.

Test mount...


Bolted, RTVd, and finished....


Next you will want to get your hose lengths and start cutting, connecting, and clamping. I used the middle valve on each three way as the line to the engine and the right and left as the front tank and rear tank. I chose to put the hose on the valve and then run it to its destination, check it, add a little bit of slack and then cut. FYI, once the hose is on the barbed fitting it is tough to get it back off without cutting it off. Remember to slide your clamp on before attaching your hose.... I ran the hoses between cab and frame. There is a gap there under the driver seat.... Once the hoses were run I zip tied them together and to the frame....




That's the manual valve component of the install. Test fit your elbows and decide what the best way is for them to be pointing before you put sealer on them. The hose can only bend so much before it will kink. Keep playing with the hose til you have nice gradual bends and it is running along a direct route out of the way of pinch points and anything sharp. You will notice I used a straight barb on each valve. I made it work, but it would have worked better with 90s all around.

It took me a while to get the truck started. I would crank for 10 seconds and then hop out quickly and look underneath. The clamps on the hoses needed to be a lot tighter than I thought. I would listen and watch for drips and then crank them down. After you crank, if the truck doesn't start and you have drips unscrew your fuel filter and fill it to give your truck a head start on priming. Do this after each cranking cycle until the truck is running. After the truck is running switch to the other tank and then crawl underneath and check the sending unit for leakage.

Now on to the tank switch.... So, I couldn't find any pics on this. There are a few mentions of the wire colors and the switch type and how and where to mount it... I hate the idea of drilling holes in my dash. The idiot PO did enough of that. I didn't want the toggle on the floor because its fragile and I wear a size 13 boot. And I didn't want the FSV hangin there just so I could use the harness. So I decided to pull out the stock tank selector switch and mount my toggle in there. Not to spoil the story, but here's the finished product minus the rubber boot over the toggle....



I don't do a lot of electrical work so this little kit from Home Depot came in really handy.... Good starter kit...


Use a screw driver on the metal bracket inside the notch on the headlight pull switch. squeeze it and pull the knob out to turn on the lights. The knob should come right off. Take the trim pieces out and unscrew this part of the dash. Two screws. Then unscrew the two screws holding the OEM tank switch to the dash. Unplug the harness connected to it. I didn't take pics of this, but the internals of the selector switch have two strips of metal that slide up or down on two longer strips of metal that are the conduits to the wiring harness. You access this part of the switch by prying out the back. You could use a dremel to cut the actual switch out. I used a screw driver to pry it out. The PO already had the housing broken and chipped so I didn't have to be as careful as I normally would. It has a plastic rod holding it to either side of the housing. We all understand the brittle nature of 20 year old plastic. Just be patient and careful and it will work out. Next you will need to run (3) wires. Two will go down out of the cab and to the FSV wiring harness and the third will go down to the harness connected to the firewall....

The grey harness in the pic is the wiring harness for the OEM switch. I have a red, black, and white wire in place for the wiring...


The switch housing...



Route the two long wires down through the boot in front of the accelerator pedal against the firewall...


Under the truck view of the boot...


Now, right below where these wires come out is your wiring bundle that runs to the tailgate. To keep the wires safe, I wrapped a strip of electrical tape around them every 18" and then tucked them into the conduit with the wiring bundle running through it. This way all the wires are in the same place and together. Neat and clean. Run them back to where the FSV harness is hanging...


Cut the wires off of the wiring harness and take it and the OEM FSV and throw them as far as you can into the neighbors yard....


Now, use your butt connectors to attach the two new wires. One goes to the Yellow with a Blue stripe, and the other goes to Blue with a Yellow stripe. These are the wires running to the fuel level senders in each tank. Blue w Yellow stripe is the front, Yellow w Blue stripe is rear. Cap, tape, or otherwise seal the ends of the exposed wires and tuck everything back into the wiring bundle conduit. You may want to wrap a little tape around the conduit here as it is bulging a little with the additional wire. You are done under the truck!

Now, I didn't want to tear any further into my dash to get the fuel gauge wire so I spliced it on the floor at the wiring harness.... This is how I did it. On the floor behind the clutch is a harness plugged into the firewall. There is a Yellow wire with a White stripe. This is the wire to your fuel gauge. Yep, same wire that was at the FSV harness. I left about 4" of wire running into the cab and then snipped it. You will attach your short length of wire to the end going up into the dash and cap or tape the end going into the firewall...

Now, connect your wires to your toggle... You should definitely touch the wires on the toggle and turn your key on to make sure you have things wired right before attaching. I wanted the front tank to read when the toggle was up, rear when toggle down. The short length is your common wire on the middle terminal which is the fuel gauge piggy backin on whatever tank you select. I soldered them ONLY because the connector was so small I couldn't do it any other way. This is a mini toggle. The normal sized toggles have a little screw and you can use a metal loop or prong connector. I could not tell the size of the toggle when I ordered it and this is what I got...

I already had small loop connectors on the wires so I clipped a piece out to make it like a claw and then squeezed it with a needle nose to close it on the terminal then soldered. Just a note - if the fuel gauge is not connected, the needle will flip real fast past "F". When mine was powered it climbed (or dropped) slowly to the fuel level in the tank selected..... Phew.... Okay, I think that's it......

This is merely a compilation of all the valuable info gathered from other members... MIDNIGHT RIDER, Bike Maker, homelessduck, RLDSL, LCAM have all been there before me and I know I've forgotten some and I am sorry for not giving you all proper credit. There are several threads where members have posted wiring diagrams, given advice and personal experience. Thank you all for your help!!!

Very nice write up, I am very impressed, excellent clear pics, thanks for this as it's something I'm sure many will like to do.

I've a question, how the heck do you make pointy things and words so nicely in your pics....Arrows and descriptions? What program are you using?

This should be submitted for the TECH section for sure!

Al

Nice write up good clear pics!

Question, is the stock switch not a Double pole double throw switch? The stock harness looks like it has 6 positions which would lead me to think that. I wonder if you could just tie it all together down where the FSV was and the switch behave like it always did (less switching the tanks of course). Or do like you did and just tie your wires into the stock switch harness?

riotwarrior said:

Very nice write up, I am very impressed, excellent clear pics, thanks for this as it's something I'm sure many will like to do.

I've a question, how the heck do you make pointy things and words so nicely in your pics....Arrows and descriptions? What program are you using?

This should be submitted for the TECH section for sure!


Al

Click to expand...

Hey, thank you very much. The pointy things and text come from Photobucket. I import my pics from there. When you click on a pic in PB, click the little gear icon in the top right corner of the pic and select "Edit". On the edit page along the top is a row of icons. One of those is a top hat an mustache (I have no idea either) that says "Stickers". If you click through you will see the blue arrow. Once you select it shows up on you pic and you can rotate it and resize it. When finished with all your arrows, scroll through the icons further til you see one with a "T" labeled "Text". When you click on that one it opens a little window on your pic. Add your text, move and resize. Save it. It will add it as an additional photo in your library beside the original. Hope this helps!

laserjock said:

Nice write up good clear pics!

Question, is the stock switch not a Double pole double throw switch? The stock harness looks like it has 6 positions which would lead me to think that. I wonder if you could just tie it all together down where the FSV was and the switch behave like it always did (less switching the tanks of course). Or do like you did and just tie your wires into the stock switch harness?

Click to expand...

Yeah I think that makes pretty good sense. If you matched up the colors you should be able to use the stock switch.

So looking at this from the FSV harness, you have...
#1 and #2 are running to the switch, #3 is from the front tank sender, #4 is from the fuel gauge, and #5 is from the rear tank sender.

I'm just guessing, but I believe working from the FSV harness you would tie Pin #1 wire to pin #3 wire, #2 wire to #5 and then splice #4 to both.

This thread has a wire color description by "2stroke" and further down is a link to a wiring diagram by "jim_22"
http://www.oilburners.net/forums/sh...selector-valve&highlight=manual+tank+selector

Hey, keep it simple. Nothing wrong with that. I'm not knocking it. Just trying to learn something myself. I like to see how other people approach and solve problems.

laserjock said:

Hey, keep it simple. Nothing wrong with that. I'm not knocking it. Just trying to learn something myself. I like to see how other people approach and solve problems.

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I take no offense whatsoever. I really appreciate the response because it got me thinking about it again. I edited the first post after the toggle switch rant to help anyone wanting to save those steps and use the stock switch. Your way would definitely be easier and now that I was in there diggin around it made sense exactly how to do it with more stock parts left intact. I really dislike looking at all the holes and switches and extra **** on my dashboard. Just me. Thank you!

Another nomination for the tech section.
Been running these exact same valves for about 3 years now and the setup works great.
Another point to add; having separate valves for the supply and return allows you to transfer fuel between tanks (even with the engine off if you have e-fuel). Comes in handy sometimes.

bike-maker said:

Another nomination for the tech section.
Been running these exact same valves for about 3 years now and the setup works great.
Another point to add; having separate valves for the supply and return allows you to transfer fuel between tanks (even with the engine off if you have e-fuel). Comes in handy sometimes.

Click to expand...

Hey, I was hoping you would contribute! You deserve a lot of credit for this. After you recommended the McMaster valves I searched for them and they had the best price, quality, and the "made in the USA" was a definite bonus. Thanks a lot!