I am new to this forum and am not real up to speed on all of the Deisel quirks. I have a 96 Powerstoke that has 135,000 miles on it. It has performed flawlessly and has been maintained religiously. I am getting a fuel smell in the cab that I don't remember before. It is very cold and icy/snowy here in Illinois and I thought maybe that had somthing to do with it. Any ideas? Thanks.

When you get these smells what is the blower fan set at? Is it only when the heat is on?

You have a fuel leak in the dreaded valley of the engine.


Very common for the mechanical fuel pump to leak. I had a sensor on the filter housing leak. the housing itself can leak if the filter is not seated properly. The housing itself can develope pin holes for unknown reasons, and of course the hoses running between everything.


To find mine, I took the cover off, sprayed it down with degreaser, rinsed withlow pressure, then started it. while running I layed up over the center of the engine with a flashlight and mirror and just kept watching.


Usually they will drip off the bottom of the bellhousing when it gets bad enough.

Is this somthing I can fix myself or do I need to take it to the Ford dealer? Thanks for the info.

All of those jobs are simple, but time consuming, if you have to change the mechanical fuel pump you will need like an 1 1/4" scoket or wrench. That is about the only odd ball tool.


Everything else is standard stuff, just difficult access.