Ok, I did a lot of searching but didn't quite get to a full answer. My fuel heater appears to be leaking out of the wire going to the black cap on top of it (kind of bubbles out). Sooooo, I am assuming that the heater terminal is leaking as well as maybe the heater to header O ring. How does that wire come off? I tried prying up on the cap and the plastic starts to bend up instead of the cap coming off the top of the heater. I saw that someone mentioned the wire and cap going down through the top of the header once you take it apart from the inside. But, doesn't the cap and wire have to come off to be able to put on new O rings? Also, where do you get the O rings for the heater?

 

fuel heater?

 

Fuel warmer/heater... Wire plugs into the top of the fuel filter header, passenger side, front top of the engine......

 

You have a PM......lemme know.

 

Thanks the zip file in that thread helps alot... I plan on pulling it apart today so I will see if the plug on the top breaks... I have to go get a new filter and a larger filter wrench first.. I started to take this one off with a strap wrench and it wants to collapse..

 

NAPA has these filters on sale right now for around 16 bucks....

 

I got it all disassembled and even managed to get the fuel heater apart without breaking anything. The wire cap just wanted to stick to the top of the heater housing so it got a little dinged up. The real trick was bending the tabs out on the metal cap and the metal tab at the base of the spade lug where the wire attaches without breaking it. I cleaned the inside area where the spade lug goes through the housing with acetone and then put some blue rtv on it before reassembling. I found some o rings at NAPA for both the small and large o rings. I put in the little o ring last night and let it set so the rtv would cure. Have to run to a different NAPA store to get the large o ring. I will finish putting it all back together this morning and find out if it seals up correctly. Just for fun I checked with the local Ford dealer, $165.00 for the heater that has two 75 cent o rings that fail.

 

I did manage to rebuild the fuel heater and it is now nice and clean with no leaks at all. Got the o rings for the heater at NAPA. In addition to the inner o ring, when I put the heater back into the filter header, I added a little blue RTV around the top of the hole where the heater pushes into the header. Put on a new o ring and reassembled. I let the RTV cure for 24 hours after assembly and before applying fuel pressure. So, about $2.00 worth of parts and a couple hours of labor saved me $165.00 for a new heater at Ford.

 

Good, glad to hear it!

 

gents i have the same issue aswell on my 90 f250 7.3 idi 4x4 5 speed ... can you pass along the breakdown? thank you gents

 

check this one out felix.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ht=fuel+heater

alternative much lower cost (and likely works much better than stock) fuel filter heater:
http://www.padheaters.com/cold_fuel.html

should you have an inop fuel heater,and don't plan on replacing with that expensive stock one,i suppose a guy could just jbeld the sucker shut once and for all and never have it leak again lol.though,it likely never would for another 15-20 years anyway with new washers lol.

supposedly,if the heater works,you can feel the heat by touching the top of the filter housing.mine remains cold.
i had one break down because of it this winter.a real nasty bad batch of fuel with water.the water froze and caused a breakdown.
i now keep a bottle of diesel service 911 (its in a red bottle) in the toolbox. that stuff works great! i was right back on the road in no time.the titan #THF100-12 is likely the way to go.

 

I had a guy that came through work last winter that had installed an older style tranny cooler from a semi on his truck. Fuel went through one set of passages and coolant went through the other. Kind of the same idea as the tranny coolers inside the radiator on our trucks.

 

Gents what size are the O-rings that go on the tops of the fuel injectors? I have a 90 F250 7.3l idi 5 speed 4x4.... Thanks

 

ok the orings are #111 get viton ones from mcmaster carr they are cheap and worth it

 

Ok thanks what size I'd is the fuel return line?