Need help have an air problem I think

[94turboidi]

Okay the truck has been running great. I have only been running on the rear tank as there is no front tank just the lines at the selector valve. I just pulled a tractor 100 miles home and no problem. Well I have an aluminum tank that holds 11 gallons that I wanted to hook up to switch between diesel and wvo.

I built a treated plywood hotbox with a heat exchanger under the tank and ran coolant lines to that and back to the engine. I was very careful to not allow them to get too close to exhaust and also put rubber insulation inbetween the hoses and anything that might cut them and its all ziptied. I even made a little heat shield in one spot to protect it from heat. I hooked up everything and ran the 3/8" line from the selector valve for supply and the 5/16" for return. I let it warm up yesterday in the drive and tried to switch over and it died. I figured it was whatever air was in the new hose which was only about 6' plus 1' of a suction tube in the tank. I got it switched back to diesel and started again and tried again and the same thing. Today I decided I would take it on a longer drive.

I got it all warmed up was headed down a hill and switched over, as I started heading back uphill I could tell I was sucking air and then I switched back but couldn't keep it going and had to get it started on the side of the road. I left it on diesel only and drove the rest of the trip about 30 mile round trip. Whenever I get the engine close to an idle it is jerking and acts like its about to die. Like its still sucking air even though I am driving. Going down the highway its not too bad but you can still feel it. It jerks like crazy unless you downshift or clutch it in through town. To top it off coolant is coming out of the overflow on the radiator even though the engine isn't running hot (brand new coolant sensors).

I can't understand why I can't run normal on diesel only now? I am going to mess with it today but I am at a loss unless something is wrong with the selector valve now? I haven't used the valve before now. I can hear it sound like its switching when the truck is off if I flip the switch.

I know everyone hears this when people are working on their truck but I am getting frustrated lately with this truck! I was planning on heading to South Dakota at 5am but I can't pull out with it running like this. I can't even run on diesel reliably now.

 

[Agnem]

If it doesn't idle properly, that actually works to your advantage because it will be easy to troubleshoot. Replace the regular fuel line between the filter head and your return lines with a piece of clear vinyl tubing so you can see how many air bubbles you may be getting. The coolant coming out of the radiator is a more serious concern however, one that you should check immediately. Run the engine with the radiator cap off and see if you have smokey bubbles coming out of there. If so, you have either caviation, a bad head gasket, or cracked head. None of which are good. Excessive water in the cylinder could also be what your rough running is about. Also, yes you could be having problems with your FSV sticking or not sealing properly since it has gone unusused for so long.

 

[94turboidi]

Well actually that line isn't hooked up there is a plug in the filter head. I was wondering if that could cause the air to not bleed but thought that much driving would help. I keep getting fuel seeping out the heating element and I have tried 2 new orings. The coolant just started doing that after installing those hoses but there is 34 feet of hose and I keep getting air out of it. It has all new gaskets, I don't think its cavitation.

 

[Agnem]

OK good, but yes you absolutely need to solve both the leaking O-ring problem, AND the air vent return, or you will be fighting this issue for a long time. Sounds to me like your best option is to junkyard source a new filter head.

 

[94turboidi]

I should still have the air vent fitting, I just put a brass plug there when I did a new return kit. Could this cause any air to sorta build pressure and push fuel out the oring? The oring on the heater fits tightly. When I removed the fuel lines at the filter today there was a burst of air and fuel.

Does anyone know the size of hose for the air vent? I am in town and thought I would pick up a tee for the return lines so I could hook that up. I keep thinking of an epump but don't have time to order one, is there one off the shelf somewhere good enough to put on the frame in front of the selector valve? I think parts stores sell a inline one and usually stock it. I also keep wondering about a completely different filter setup and just have a air bleeder valve at the engine.

Thanks mel for helping

 

[94turboidi]

Anyone take their fsv apart? I know I read about someone on here doing it. I can see where it unclips to come apart but there is 4 rivets holding it together.

 

[94turboidi]

Okay home now, really couldn't decide what I wanted to do in town. I bought a 1/4" barb tee for the return line kit, some 1/4" clear line and I found the fitting at home for the air vent but haven't checked yet but it might be smaller than 1/4" I picked up some new fuel line clips and some carb cleaner and was planning on just cleaning out the fsv and reinstalling it. I drilled out the rivets and took the clips off that hold the screw thing down but couldn't see how to get each valve out. I priced a new valve at advance tonight and it was 140! Also it doesn't even look the same as mine. Unless I can find a good working used ford one I am thinking about finding a 3/8" and 5/16" 3 way manual valve and just manually switching tanks. I would much rather be able to switch on the go though especially if I start getting low and pulling a trailer with possibly no spot to pull over and switch valves or add more wvo.

I know I will get this crap sorted out but I am really stressed out right now with this truck. Between trying to organize this 600 mile move, repairing vehicles left and right, keeping family life peaceful, money, blah, blah its starting to wear on me. Weather wise now I am shooting for making my first trip Sunday morning if I get truck up and going. It was running so good though, I could probably bypass the fsv and run one tank it would probably be fine but I would like to save some money and burn all this oil I have filtered.

 

[94turboidi]

Well I really scratched my head last night and this morning. I ended up putting a tee in the return line and put the original air vent fitting back in the filter head so it can vent air there. I had my fsv all apart last night and I was thinking it was bad because I could screw it down and could blow air through the port for the rear tank to the pump side but if I unscrewed it nothing worked on the front tank side unless I pushed down to open it up and then air would go through it. I really couldn't tell I changed anything. I put it all back together, I had drilled out the rivets to take it apart and just put electric fencing wire through each of the 4 holes and twisted them all tight. I hooked it back up to the truck and could hear it switching which I did before also.

But with it hooked up to the truck I could switch and blow air through either side so I got excited. I hooked it all up and got it started up. After running for a little while to get all the air out it was idling normal and I drove it around a little bit. I had to go get diesel because I lost a bunch by leaving the fuel lines hanging down too low last night and it siphoned off onto the ground! Good thing I didn't have much fuel in the tank. Well I can now switch between diesel and oil and all seems well in that department.

I am still getting occasional bursts of air out of the radiator cap but its not bubbling out like was yesterday I am able to just open the cap just a bit and bleed off the air. The truck isn't running hot at all. I don't think thats going to be a big deal but I am a little worried about how the coolant lines are so high at the truck bed potentially keeping a pocket of air there but I am thinking its constantly flowing through the hoses so it should just keep bringing it back to the radiator where I can bleed it off right? I don't think there is really much air at all left in the system.

Another deal I got fixed was the transmission squeeling sound that I have been dealing with since the middle of winter which I thought was the new throwout bearing. I removed the front driveshaft, slave, boot which the intentions of trying to grease the TOB. I don't know what the deal is but I got the fork all loose and almost out but it was too tight to come out? I tried but it just wouldn't fit unless I was to move the transmission back a bit to get more room away from the pressure plate. I removed the shield on the bottom of the trans because I was really worried that the noise was possibly the flywheel getting loose or something but it all appears nice and tight. Well the only thing that I could get to that looked like it needed attention was the pivot ball that the fork rides against looked like bare metal. I know I greased it when I put it together but I greased it really good this time and even put a bunch around it. I put it all back together and voila! no more squeeling noise. Now I didn't run it very long and haven't drove it yet but that seems to of helped it for right now and the pedal is a lot easier to press down on now. I am thinking my old flywheel on there might be out of balance a bit which kind of pulsates the fork a lot while driving. I don't feel it all when shifting but under the truck you can see it kind of rattle around.

About the only thing I am noticing now is a noise coming from the belt which I think is coming from the vacuum pump. If I spray the belt while its running right by the vacuum pump pulley enough to make the pump slip on the belt the noise stops completely. I might mess with that tomorrow but for right now I might be on track to headed on the highway Saturday morning very early.