Like the title says- I found some free time this afternoon to replace the fuel filter in the truck. I popped the two retaining ams for the 'bread tin' fuel filter and pulled the damn thing out and up too fast, breaking off the male sensor tip.

I can't tell if the sensor is replaceable by itself, or the whole damn assembly has to be replaced (without disconnecting the fuel lines and wires- and all the clamps are situated such that a contortionist would have issues getting to them :mad: )

Any ideas on this? Can the sensor be bypassed or the filter hole be plugged?

(oh- and it's a 1990 Cheyenne 2500 if that matters)

Time to replace just the sensor.

It bolts in from the back of the fuel filter holder.

It's probably best to go ahead and remove the whole assembly from the firewall so you can work on it. I don't know if you can still get just the WIF sensor or not. Let us know?

I just did a google search for stanadyne products and I'm not getting a whole lot back..

Since I have a new filter, can I simply find a suitable bolt as a plug, grind down the head a little (to make it seat) for a temp fix? I guess the 'check fuel filter' dummy light might stay on, but knowing the thing is new should be o-k for a while...

I have a whole fuel filter assembly if interested, what sensor did you break as there is inly a water sensor that is screwed on and that is replaceable , however if you broke a male stud that goes into the fuel filter I may have what you need , FREE just pay shipping pm me with your #

It's the male stud that seats into the fuel filer that broke off. Sent you a PM.

For the time being, I inserted a bolt (with a ground head) into the fuel filter port to get me going.

One other 'newbie' question:
To install and bleed out the fuel system properly I'm assuming I add fresh fuel to the filter, open the bleed valve on the filter housing and crank the motor until fuel is flowing out, then tighten up.

Is that right, or am I missing something?

To install and bleed out the fuel system properly I'm assuming I add fresh fuel to the filter, open the bleed valve on the filter housing and crank the motor until fuel is flowing out, then tighten up.

Is that right, or am I missing something?


Just make sure you don't crank for too long at a time. You will burn out the starter in no time. Say 10-15 seconds at a time, then rest the starter for 3-4 minutes.

having no diesel fuel around, I have just put the new filter in before.(spin on type) crank for about 5-8 seconds. rest for about 10. doesnt take long for it to start usually. once it starts elevate throttle slightly to get everything worked out, good to go. never have damaged anything.

I recently added a shutoff valve before the primary filter. I started the truck and it quickly died, i quickly realized I had forgotten to turn it back on. so it drained 2 filters, the lines from the vavle to the IP and the IP itself. I did the above procedure and it started back within 3 cranking cycles.

before I added the valve, I had changed the primary spin on filter. by the time I cleaned everything up, cleaned the water in fuel see through bowl and put it back together, it took about 5 minutes to get her back running. the fuel mustve ran back to the tank. so thats why I added the shutoff valve, plus anti theft device:cool_shad shhh!

You guys keep talking about 2 filters? I went to NAPA and checked the filter listing and they said only 1 (the bread pan looking one) was listed.

Is there another filter I'm missing?

Early 6.2's had two filters. Primary on the firewall and secondary behind the intake manifold. Later version was the Stanadyne Model 80, with "Water in Fuel" sensor.

Mine's the model 80 behind the intake manifold.

The dummy light that went off intermittently says 'Service Fuel Filter'.

Like Fred said, the early 6.2 had 2 spin on filters. 1982-1983 I believe. 1984 till the end had the box type.

mines a 85 but I say 2 filters since ive adpated mine. previous owner pulled the box filter out for some reason and replaced it with a racor spin on with a see through bowl at the bottom for water. thats all well and good but he never added a secondary, and since the box filter was gone so was the fuel heater and water in fuel sensor. so i added a secondary plus a fuel pressure gauge, fuel heater and shutoff valve.

the secondary im using isnt quite what I wanted but is better then just a primary.

Ahh. I see.

Is the standard 80 model fuel filter adequate on its own? (and I'm not really thrilled about the silly plastic sensor they used. Seems it should've been metal in my book, especially due to the on-off nature of the filter itself).

I just hope the bugger starts up w/out much problems tomorrow. I need to get her running to get to hunting camp on Saturday :D

yeah as far as I know its just dandy. used from 1984 until 1993 I think. ive heard people putting them into jeeps as well. the box filter contains the sensor(dual purpose, water in fuel and clogged filter) large and small micron filters, water seperator, and fuel heater.

just about everything is plastic nowadays.

Well good. Let's hope my 'farmer fix' with the shaved bolt will tide me over until I can get either a replacement sensor for the filter housing or another housing all-together.

For posterity's sake I'll post my progress tomorrow.

(I did read in some other posts to shoot some WD-40 in the intake mani to assist in kicking over the motor. I may try that if the first two cranks are unsuccessful)

Thanks,
Tom

Be careful with the WD-40. You won't get fuel in th first two cranks, this is normal.

You can actually bleed the system using compressed air. That's how I usually do mine. Just open the air bleed, put pressure (4-5 p.s.i.) through the return line on the I.P., and wait for the fuel to come out. Be careful that you don't use too much pressure. If your not exactly certain about how this works, stick with the traditional method.

Got her on this a.m. and 4 good cranks later, she was up and running. The bolt plugged the sensor quite nicely (and I removed the whole sensor relay from the back of the filter assembly).

But- the smoke is still fairly thick after warm-up.

I loosened the three 15MM nuts and tried to turn the pump clockwise a hair. The pump really did not want to move at all. I managed to move it 1/16" after a lot of effort.

Still no difference in the amount of battleship smoke.. Looks like I'll fog out Hard Rock Candy Mountain next week! :D