Fuel leak on injector nut

[Stu Bailey]

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So I know it’s something simple but I’m posting anyways. I am getting a small fuel leak where the injector line threads in above the plastic return line piece. I just put a new return line in with those plastic pieces. What I’m wondering is why it seems like the metal injection line on the aft passenger side injector is not sitting flush with the flare fitting on the injector. I opened it up and I tried to press the injection line flare fitting into the injector then slip the nut down and tighten it but it wouldn’t seat well. It kept going cockeyed and then the nut wouldn't thread on. I believe my leak is coming from the injection line not sitting flush with the injector when the nut gets tightened down and that’s where the fuel is seeping out. Anyone else have a stubborn injection line that wouldn’t sit well when tightening the nut? And anyone have a torque spec for those injection line nuts? Thanks in advance amigos!

 

[Thewespaul]

Either the injector threads are cross threaded or the nut/line is cracked, pull the nut off and get some pictures of the inside flare and threads on the top of the injector

 

[gandalf]

You just installed new return lines? Did you have a regular return line kit? Where did you buy it? Did the kit include new O rings?

The O rings would be my first guess, other than the apparent crooked seating of that line nut. Is it possible that the line nut is cross-threaded on the injector? If it is you're going to have to deal with that. You might be able to correct it, carefully, or you may have to replace the injector.

 

[Stu Bailey]

I’ll snap those photos here in a bit and take a look. I’m on baby duty for the next couple hours. I bought the kit for accurate diesel I believe, it came with the braided fuel line so it was better than the kit I bought a few years back. I don’t believe the line nut is cross threaded only because I was able to thread it on by hand all the way down to the plastic just about. Worst case scenario and there is some serious cross threading I would have to replace the injectors and metal lines? Truck has 165,000 miles and I’m thinking those injectors are stock. It’s an 86 F250 with the 6.9

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Usually you'll damage the injector before the nut on the line get damaged. Those are quite a bit harder than the injectors. It's also possible that you didn't get the return cap fully seated over the o-rings and that's why it's leaking. Not a large chance, but it can happen.

 

[chillman88]

If you just did those caps I'd pull that one off and put new o-rings on, grease them well, then check the cap closely for burrs and make sure the nipples aren't plugged. I've had new caps with partially closed off nipples and sharp ridges on the underside that cleaned up with a little work from a drill bit and utility knife. Burrs could cut new o rings.

The top of that nut looks dry so my first thought goes to o-rings.

 

[Stu Bailey]

So I went out there to snap those photos and started the truck this morning and let it idle for about 15 minutes. When I shut it down I heard a bunch of fluid coming out from underneath. Low and behold there was a bunch of coolant? coming out of the main pulley on the engine. My guess is a faulty water pump? I started this post because of the leak around the injector, and I replaced those return lines because I was having rough starts after sitting for a couple of hours. Engine would start right up then stall and then I would have to purge the air out before she ran again. If this leak around the pulley is from the water pump, that couldn't be the culprit for the air intrusion too could it?

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[IDIBRONCO]

No. Those are two completely separate systems.

 

[Stu Bailey]

That's what I figured... Anyone have any advice on water pump suppliers or things to look for when installing I'd appreciate it. Going to try and tackle this before the weather gets too cold.

 

[Philip1]

for a basic coolant system the parts store water pumps are good. however if you want to get an upgraded pump, flowcooler has a higher flow pump available for these engines. for install, there are 4 bolts that thread into the timing cover that needs sealed or oil will leak around them.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

for install, there are 4 bolts that thread into the timing cover that needs sealed or oil will leak around them.

To add to this, I haven't seen a new water pump that didn't come with two new bolts. Those are two that need to have sealer on the threads and they go into the top two holes. Some parts store water pumps suffer from the same lack of quality that a lot of other parts do these days (from what I've seen on here). There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to which ones will be good and which ones won't. If you can find a NOS Motorcraft water pump, it's would be a good thing to buy. There's not many left these days. When I build my Ex Wife truck, I'm DEFINITELY going with a Flow Kooler brand water pump. As for my Blue truck, the water pump on it is an older one that I've run on a couple of different engines. It may start leaking the next time that I drive the truck or it may last for another 10 years. As long as I have the money at the time that it goes bad, I'm going to put a Flow Kooler on it too. The biggest thing about them is that (again, as far as I know) they're still made in the U.S.A.

 

[Stu Bailey]

@IDIBRONCO I just typed it in to google, and I like what I see. I'll grab the permatex sealer along with this pump: https://flowkoolerwaterpumps.com/products/1664-1983-1994-ford-420-445-water-pump

Luckily for me right now, I do have some extra money and I want to set myself up nice. I was going to buy new hoses as well since I'm sure they are probably stock or close to. You know anything about installing this pump other than taking extra care to make sure the bolts have sealer on them? I've noticed that is a common talking point around here when looking at the water pump threads.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I don't know anything about the Flow Koolers in particular. As a precaution, I always deburr the mating surface of a new/rebuilt water pump before installing it. I take a metal file and lay it flat across the mating surface. Then, with spread fingers (to spread the force out) I'll lightly run it back and forth across the entire mating surface. I push just hard enough to keep the file from sliding out from underneath my fingers. On all of the ones that I've done this to, the metal that you remove is darker in color than the metal underneath. I'll go until there's lighter metal showing across the whole thing. You're not really trying to remove much metal, just what's probably a rust preventative coating. If there's a burr on there, it shows up very well by doing this. The reason that I do this is because I had one leak back in the late 90's due to there being a burr. It was on a 6.2 Chevy and I think that those are harder to remove than one on our engines. Was it a once in a lifetime thing? Maybe, but that one didn't leak after doing this and I've never had another one leak since then so I keep doing it.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I'll grab the permatex sealer along with this pump:

It doesn't have to be anything special. Regular RTV works just fine on these bolts. If you don't seal the threads, oil can and probably will leak out from behind the plate. There is no oil pressure here, just oil splash from the spinning gears behind the front engine cover.

 

[Stu Bailey]

Hell yeah. I’m excited, I just hope I can get the parts and do the install all before the snows hit!