How long till it dies?

[Pit Bull]

My brother-in-law knows a lot about everything :-laf You might have one of them yourself. Well about a year ago he bought a Ford power stroke crewcab, (nice truck) I told him to read the owners manual because diesels were different than gas and also to make sure he changed the oil and filter and the fuel filter. At around 15K I asked him if he had changed the fuel filter and he said he didn't need to because it was running just fine. Well he now has 30K on it and still has not changed it. Now long do you think it will keep running? When it quits how much $$$ damage will he be stuck with since the dealer will tell him he did not do the required maintance for warranty coverage?

 

[dusthomps]

Well, I can't really put an estimate on how long he will be able to go without changing the fuel filter. But I can tell you this much. I work with a guy who bought a 91 W250 brand new and didn't change the fuel filter until the "Water in Fuel" light came on in the dash. Keep in mind, this was 9 years and 80,000 miles later!!!

 

[Steve Roseman]

Depends how good his fuel is. I don't know for sure, but I think on the HUEI injectors the oil is more important than fuel. If he doesn't keep his oil changed it could ruin the injectors, I think they're around $300 each.

I'm a Dodge man but I did look at the Fords because of the crew cab. The Powerstroke scared me because of the injector costs and the cavitation problems. After plenty of research, I found the best used diesel to buy is the Cummins.

 

[illflem]

Longest I've heard of anyone going without changing the fuel filter is 125k. After it plugged and the truck lost power changing the filter brought it right back up to new performance. All depends on how clean the fuel is and how fast you use it. I worry about the media ripping and letting all the crud though if you let one go too long so I change fuel filters once a year whether they need it or not.

 

[98rammer]

my dad put 54,000 miles on his dodge diesel until he traded it in on a gasser without changing the fuel filter- no problems. if he ever gets a diesel again- he knows to change them often. i change mine around every 12,000-15,000 miles and they don't look bad when i do.



Tom

 

[Pit Bull]

Well based on the posts maybe this lack fo maintance is not going to be a big problem for him??

 

[kaffine krazed]

I've seen a filter with 30,000 miles on it so plug the truck couldn't get out of it's own way. The engine had a miss the truck wouldn't go over 55mph with the pedal to the floor for over a mile. The filter had a 9 psi drop across it at idle 11psi fuel pressure before filter and would pull into a strong vacuum after the filter under a load. Changed the filter and haven't seen the truck again. Unless the filter media lets dirt through or comes apart from excessive pressure drop I don't think there will be any seriuos damage to the fuel system espcailly one that doesn't rely on the fuel for lube. I would recommend checking the pressure drop across the filter I would think Ford would have a spec for pressure drop across the filter. What kind of fuel pressure does the powerstroke use at the filter?