leaking fuel heater..... help!!!!

[smokin150]

heres the scoop, was driving down the hwy, smelled diesel, pulled over and poped the hood thinking one of the injector caps started leaking.... nope, fuel heater. now i have replaced both o-rings with viton seals and its still leaking from what appears to be inside the connection, two questions, is it possible to leak from there, and/or have a pinched oring, or is it fubard and needs replaced competely? i need to know fast if i can fix it or what, as im broke down in fishersville, va and need to get home to wv. any help is appriciated.

 

[icanfixall]

If you can remove the heater and plug the hole with something your better off. These fuel heaters have never been proven to be usefull or needed but we continue to try to find a reason for keeping them. Not really sure what you can find in a auto parts store to fix this. Maybe a nut bolt washer and some gasket of some kind might get you home.

 

[theguruat12]

Fast curing epoxy might do the trick. I had this happen before I changed the o-rings and all I had was ultragrey RTV so I squirted some in under the plug. It kind of worked, kept the leak minimal. I'd think that the epoxy would cure enough to seal it off within maybe 10 minutes, that ought to keep you on the road until you can permanently seal it off.

 

[smokin150]

thanks for the help, got it apart and the heater part itself (the piece with the elecrtical connection on it) had cracked and was leaking out, bought some 5min epoxy gonna let it set up and see if that helps... long as i can get it home ill be ok... again thanks for the help

 

[icanfixall]

Good thing you had the tools to get it apart and partially repaired. If you want to replace the heater look on ebay. They usually have several listed there.

 

[mblaney]

I replaced mine using ebay, $100. I have no idea if it actually does anything / much. If it fails again (took 19 years to fail the first time) I will plug the hole with JB Weld (epoxy). Mine failed through the center of the connector, not the o-ring.

 

[icanfixall]

I have made up my mind the next time my heater leaks I'm drilling it out and plugging it off. For us out here on the west coast and not seeing any coldness like 32 or below tells me we don't need it. But if we do need it I sure would like to know conclusively and why its needed..

 

[cpdenton]

1/2 in npt tap and a brass plug has worked great for me. Truck has run exceptionally well down to about 15 degrees so far. That and some new olives up there fixed my leaking down filter problems.

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

LINK with pics: i chose to tap and plug the hole with jb welded threads for a nice permanent leak free fix.