return lines left me stranded

[Ryan Cowper]

I have seen a lot of negative posts regarding the fuel return line kits sold at the box stores. I'm in a pinch here. I drove out of town to buy some tires from a Craigslist guy. When I got there my truck wouldn't start. Lucky for me, I am parked at a buddies place. I knew I needed to replace the return lines but thought I could push it. Well, that backfired. Now I am in a town 50 miles from home and the return lines are leaking so bad that they're starting to pool up in the glow plug valley. It also looks like there's some bubbling around one of the injectors where it seats, which is also where the worst of the return line leak is.

I see that OReilly sells a kit for return lines and for injector seals. Have folks had any luck using these? My truck is 1989 f250 7.3 N\A.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...7501/2583618/1989/ford/f-250?q=Injector&pos=5

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...4952/2582650/1989/ford/f-250?q=Injector&pos=4

I just bought this truck and this will be only my second fix, so bare with me because I am new.

I need to buy all of the tools to do the job as well. A tool list and link to a good write up or video would help tremendously. I have extremely limited access to the internet otherwise I would have done more foot work looking through old posts.

If anyone knows a better solution than the Oreilly parts, there's also a Napa, AutoZone and a dealership (on lunch break and the young guy didn't know anything about the 7.3's). Also, after a quick search for Viton o rings I found this Viton kit at harbor freight:

https://www.harborfreight.com/180-piece-viton-o-ring-kit-67525.html

It says it has part #A111. Long shot... will these rings work?

 

[nostrokes]

The box store ones will get you home at least.

I haven't had any experience with them, I got my kit from accurate diesel 4 years ago and haven't had a leak since (yes everyone I know the feeling about accurate diesel)

 

[Oledirtypearl86]

I got min a Napa it's a Delphi kit and thewespaul carrys this same kit if I remember right but it's held up so far

 

[Tristan]

I second the Delphi kit from NAPA over the ORielly's.
You will need a 5/8 inch wrench for the injector lines, pliers for the little green hose clamps, something to cut the hose with and it is good to put some grease on the o'rings before you put them over the injectors. Run a finger around in the caps too to be sure there are no sharp edges.


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[chillman88]

Tristan got it right.

Honestly everyone buys a kit but I just bought some viton o-rings off amazon and some hose at the parts store and reused my old caps. Greased everything with wheel bearing grease before I put the o-rings on and mine has been fine for a couple years now.

Not a hard job, just a pain in the butt.

BEFORE you lose your mind, make sure the one that's leaking badly didn't just somehow pop up a little. There should be a little clearance between the nut and the cap, if not try pushing the cap down and see if it "snaps" into place. Might slow down the leak if that's what happened.

It also looks like there's some bubbling around one of the injectors where it seats, which is also where the worst of the return line leak is.

This worries me a little bit, only because return lines shouldn't make it NOT RUN. They will make it hard to start though. Return lines are not part of the pressure circuit. It should run after you get the air purged from the system, it'll just make a mess is all.

EDIT: Might want to pinch off the rubber line from the filter head to the passenger side injector cap to slow the leak down.

 

[Cubey]

The O'Reilly return kit has worked fine for me. I needed the hose too though. Still pretty expensive though.

 

[austin92]

Pretty sure the injectors are 7/8, you’ll need a deep well. Could be the copper washer leaking combustion gases causing the bubbling. Oh and being a 7.3 your little hose clamps should be red, not green.


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[DrCharles]

I just put a factory turbo on, and while doing so I tore a hole in the return hose from the IP via the right bank. It peed a LOT of diesel. Almost all of which had to be coming from the IP return, not the injectors (I've read on here somewhere that the volume of fuel returning from all eight injectors will barely dampen a paper towel).

Would it be worth rearranging the routing of your return hoses so the big flow from the IP doesn't have to run through a set of four injector caps before getting to the tee on the back of the engine?

 

[nelstomlinson]

My front right injector has a little pool of diesel around it right now, but I don't plan to do anything about it until the weather warms a little, since it's running fine and starting OK. I have noticed that it will run a little ragged for the first few seconds. I suppose that might be fuel starvation from the leak and the air intrusion, until the pump delivers more fuel drawn from the tank?

All that to say there is probably more to your no-start than just the leaking return lines.

 

[Thewespaul]

The oriellys kit is good too, the only difference between the Delphi kit from Napa and what I sell are the o rings. I use a viton spec with a durometer that I have found to work best for our application. You can use grease with viton but I would avoid to use it with the regular o rings that come in the kit. Vasoline works great on the out of the box o rings.

The injector’s hex is 1”, the lines are 5/8” CDI machines their injectors to 15/16 to get rid of the injector code stamp, so it is possible to have the 1” be too loose if you have their injectors.

If you ever get stranded because of a torn return line, take the vacuum line off the vacuum switch on the inner fender well and plug it back at the distribution block. Theres enough length in that run to replace all of the return lines, and it’s the right size and will hold up to the fuel/heat long enough to get you home, ask how I know.

The injectors will return a good amount of fuel on their own, typically every injection cycle each injector will return enough fuel to fill the palm of your hand. When the coolant temp is below 135* the injection pump will return more fuel than usual because the cold advance solenoid is open.

 

[Oledirtypearl86]

ask how I know.

How do you know? and thats a good cya to keep on hand just in case

 

[The_Josh_Bear]

Ok boys
Those are a lot of great replies to fix the diesel leak/pooling, but the correct answer for the not-start is:

If your engine wont start due to air intrusion, just eliminate the problem. Kink(I use zip ties) or plug the return line off the filter head and it literally doesnt matter what the rest of the entire return system is doing, the fuel cannot drain back with that hose plugged. (This hose was eliminated by a Ford TSB at some point because of all the air intrusion issues. Early 90's I think?)

Now if you want to buy a cheap kit and then reinstall better stuff later, go for it! My thought is to be able to get home safely then order a good kit. So no matter what way ya do it, getting home is the priority.

Would the engine not start when hot? If so you may have a hot start issue(IP), AND fuel drain back issue(return system) at the same time. It takes a while for the fuel drain back to happen.
If you have a hot NO-start, pour a half liter+ of room temp water all over the IP, start away!

When cold pull the fuel filter and if its ~half full that's fuel drain back/air intrusion.

Hope that helps,
Joshua

Edit: haha apparently I didn't read the edit by @chillman88

 

[Ryan Cowper]

Well, I got the Napa kit. Then got back and read this thread. You guys are awesome. @chillman88 and @The_Josh_Bear got it! Zipped the return line... A few cranks and presto. Thanks all! Once turned over, it didn't run or drive noticably different at all. When I got back to Redding I let it sit for 20 min and tried to restart. I was thinking about what @The_Josh_Bear said about hot start. It turned over just fine. Waited 4 hours went back out - turned over just fine. We'll see tomorrow. I am ordering the Viton's right now. And I'll wait for them to come so I don't have to do this job twice. Am I to understand correctly that Viton rings with the Napa kit will be a solid fix long term solution?

 

[The_Josh_Bear]

Sweet!
The hot start issue would likely show itself at 20 mins, but 30-45 mins for sure. I dealt with it a long time before having the coin to get my IP properly rebuilt.

I haven't used the NAPA kit but from what I understand, it's really the orings that make the biggest difference. And when the guys said use grease for the orings, they weren't kidding. Use wheel-bearing grease! Doesn't hurt the fuel system but is the best lube for this system. Big thanks to @Macrobb for encouraging so many of us to go that route, saved a lot of headaches!

 

[DrCharles]

Someone here has also recommended checking the plastic caps for molding flash, and deburring as necessary.