My 03 surprised me today. 23K miles and zero problems thus far. Filters changed at least every 8K thus far. Have used the pre-OEM Racor since new as well as additive (Primrose 405). Just changed both filters about 1500 miles ago. Got fuel today. Went to start after fillup and the truck started for about 1-2 seconds and died. Did it a second time. I thought "here we go ...injector time". Then I got out and made sure fuel cap was tight ...it was. Then it started and ran fine. My first thought was entrapped air ? I know the filters are on good and it's been 1500 miles since they were changed. Thoughts?

On edit: Truck is stock ...no programmer, tuner, box, etc.

Hmmmmmmm.


):h

My father-in-law came up from Alabama in his 02 after he had taken it to the dealer for service....oil, oil filter, fuel filter, etc. We tooled around in it all weekend with no problems. On Monday morning he got up early to go home and went to start the truck it ran for about a minute and quit. Couldn't start it to save a life. I told him it was probably the fuel filter because we couldn't prime the system...no fuel out of the screw. I had 8 or 10 filters at the house so I said he could have one and we'll just change it out. He was way pi$$ed by this time and said he was calling a tow truck and GM was gonna pay for it. So the truck came, took him to the dealer, and they replaced the fuel filter. Tech told him that the filter was on correctly, but it must have developed an air leak.....talk about Hmmmmm. Anyways, maybe your filter as developed an air leak either the O ring is tweaked or the sensor is not seated. Is it running now or just intermittently? Post what you find out.
JP

It has not acted up since yesterday. Both filters are tight, did the prime gig on the OEM filter and just got pure fuel. I have changed the OEM and pre-Racor 4 times so far on the truck since new.

I did install the "new, improved" OEM filter with the black stripe this last time ...and like I said I've had zero problems since the change (approx. 1500 miles) ..until yesterday. I don't really see how a filter can "develop" an air leak ...doesn't make any sense to me as it would seem it would have a leak from day one. Not to say it's impossible though ...

Got to say ...it had me thinking bad thoughts for a few minutes ... :)

I'll post more if it acts up again.

Mine will do that to me if i drive from a warmer climate, like Phoenix (it was 75 today):h) , up to a cooler one, like Flagstaff where it might only be 30, and let it sit all day. When I go back out to it it might start and run for a minute or so and then die. Give the prime pump a couple of love taps and away we go! The rapid cooling of the fuel must cause some sort of vacuum in the fuel system and I get a couple of air bubbles. A lift pump is on the wish list and will be installed when(if ;) ) the Kennedy unit is finished.

i had a friends '03 do the samething, he was told all of that but it would still die every now and then. dealer then said that maybe it the crank sensor, didnt help, so this last time they thought it might be the cam sensor. last i checked the problem was fixed!

have you checked your oil level? on fords they have a oil level sensor..which prevents the engine to stay idle..just a thought.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!:D

I have had two OEM type filters cause problems with air. One was a Fram and one was a OEM. Both had been stamped off center. When you looked down at theese both looked more like a triangle than round. The OEM was the worst of the two. I was Waaaaaay out in the woods (of course!) and the truck just quit. I had to purge the system of air and it has been ok since. The Fram just would not seat the O ring seal properly. All I can say is.........HMMMMM %^&*#@ !! :eek:

Mine will do that to me if i drive from a warmer climate, like Phoenix (it was 75 today):h) , up to a cooler one, like Flagstaff where it might only be 30, and let it sit all day. When I go back out to it it might start and run for a minute or so and then die. Give the prime pump a couple of love taps and away we go! The rapid cooling of the fuel must cause some sort of vacuum in the fuel system and I get a couple of air bubbles. A lift pump is on the wish list and will be installed when(if ;) ) the Kennedy unit is finished.
turbo, bet you a nickle (cuz I'm the last of the big time spenders) that if you install an o-ring on the threaded pin that your CAT filter screws on to, your problem will be solved. Too many examples of your issue with this solution to ignore it.

turbo, bet you a nickle (cuz I'm the last of the big time spenders) that if you install an o-ring on the threaded pin that your CAT filter screws on to, your problem will be solved. Too many examples of your issue with this solution to ignore it.I'll have to give it a try with the next change. It's warming up and my trips to Flag will stop when the mountain closes. Not that big of a deal to change it right now, it's only about 4k old.

Did you prime the filter? that can cause that to happen

Yes, filters were primed when changed ...never have had a problem priming filters ....usually change the pre-Racor first and OEM last and truck always starts on first crank after prime and has never died afterwards.

The mysterious part is I had around 1500 miles on the beast when this happened ...and after a long trip towing. Would figure if I had any air in the system it would have revlealed itself earlier. At the same time I changed filters I did install a stainless steel bleeder screw and went with the bigger R90 secondary filter ...so those two things are different then previous changes. Hmmmmm.

Hasn't done it since so I'm not sweating it.