250dedicated- shorted tank valve

[airportac]

I have a tank solenoid valve thats shorted closed, how do I get the gas out to repair/ replace it. Anyone have a good solenoid.

[jblue]

Re: 250dedicated- shorted tank valve

I have a tank solenoid valve thats shorted closed,

That does not sound correct. Ford's tank valves are normally closed valves and you energize the solenoid to open them. If you have a short you should be popping fuses.

how do I get the gas out to repair/ replace it. Anyone have a good solenoid.

Something else might be afoot here, how have you troubleshot this so far?

[jblue]

Re: 250dedicated- shorted tank valve

Not knowing the model year of your truck, typically there is only one fuse for the tank valves located in the Power Distribution Box. 20A or 30A.

From there it goes to the Inertia Fuel Shut-off switch located in the cabin, behind the passenger side kick panel. From there .. it goes directly to the tanks.

By the way .. I thought both of your trucks sold, is this a different one?

[airportac]

Re: 250dedicated- shorted tank valve

Not knowing the model year of your truck, typically there is only one fuse for the tank valves located in the Power Distribution Box. 20A or 30A.

From there it goes to the Inertia Fuel Shut-off switch located in the cabin, behind the passenger side kick panel. From there .. it goes directly to the tanks.

By the way .. I thought both of your trucks sold, is this a different one?

That was the problem it was popping the fuse. I did sell them and this weekend we towed them to his house. They are 1999 trucks. We trouble shot from the fuse all the way to the tank solenoids, the 2 bed tanks are fine the tank underneath has a dead short. Since they are normally closed how does one get get the gas out to repair the tank. I should mention that it drove me crazy since it would not stay shorted so I could find the problem.

[jblue]

Re: 250dedicated- shorted tank valve

There is a manual over-ride tool that Ford designed that screws into valve and opens the valve. The problem is that Ford wants you to vent a tank through the filler nozzle. Which is not really possible unless you have the correct tools.

I have never done this before, but it would seem that you would need to first vent the high and low pressure sides of the fuel lines. Next, disconnect the line to the input side of the High Pressure Regulator and then open the manual valve to the affected tank.

The repair options are to find a working OEM valve as a replacement or get a manual one with same thread pitch. I am sure that cnghal will have better expert advice.



Good luck.

[larrycng]

Re: 250dedicated- shorted tank valve

I would recommend taking the vehicle to a qualified individual to do the venting. You should not vent through a "loose" line, they can wip and be damaged and do damage. Venting should be through an approved to do it safely to reduce the possibility of static build up and fire.

Ford uses an "O-ring face" fitting, not the usual double furrell compression fitting, and may be a little hard to find.

Please be careful and good luck.

Larrycng

[jblue]

Re: 250dedicated- shorted tank valve

You should not vent through a "loose" line, they can wip and be damaged and do damage.

Valid point. I was assuming that the vent tool allows for a partial opening of the tank valve as opposed to either all open or all closed.

Either way, it's going to be a lot of work and perhaps, for now, disconnecting the electrical connections and water proofing them might be the quickest thing to do to get the truck on the road.

[airportac]

Re: 250dedicated- shorted tank valve

Thanks for everyones response. We don't know If the valve is open or closed. I filled the truck completely full with gas before I discovered the short. I down loaded fords test procedure for venting from the filler neck, I missed the little tool for venting the valve. Any way the valve is unplugged and he can run on the 2 bed tanks. If the valve is stuck open it will empty the tank. As a side note you need to use a DVOM to locate a short like this, the difference between short and good was about 3 ohms, hard to see that small of needle swing on a vom and you really should'nt be probing around anything with computer chip in it without using a digital volt meter. The trucks are in that hotbed of ngv useage, OKLAHOMA so he can get it fixed if need be. Plus he has a station 200 yards from his house, the lucky dog.

[larrycng]

Re: 250dedicated- shorted tank valve

Just as a point of information, the plunger on the solenoid valve moves only about 1/8". I have a couple of cutaway GFI/Ford valves. I've also made my own manual over-ride tools -- because I had an "official" over-ride tool and I had the cutaway to check tool operation.

Larrycng

[choproxy1]

Re: 250dedicated- shorted tank valve

I purchased the f250 in question. The solenoid has failed (dead short). The question is can the coil be removed with out disturbing the rest of the valve assembly? Then I can attempt to repair the coil or simply replace with another coil. With out the mess of purging the tank. It is simply the coil that has failed not the internal valve assembly.

I also read amother post where a permanent magnet was used to open the valve on a failer coil. Can that be done with the coil in place. Sounds like it would be a large and powerful magnet

[cnghal]

Re: 250dedicated- shorted tank valve

choproxy1,
Sorry, valve and solenoid/coil are internal. Only solution is to manually purge and remove the valve for repair/replacement.
I don't know how that magnet thing would work, unless it's pushing the plunger into the tank.
Have you figured out if it's stuck open of closed?

[airportac]

Re: 250dedicated- shorted tank valve

Just as a point of information, the plunger on the solenoid valve moves only about 1/8". I have a couple of cutaway GFI/Ford valves. I've also made my own manual over-ride tools -- because I had an "official" over-ride tool and I had the cutaway to check tool operation.

Larrycng

Could you post picture of your cutaway. AFvman posted jpegs on 05/14/2008 of the valves, but for some odd reason they come up so small I cant read them Or maybe you have a link to the valves some where that can be blown up. Magnets are available for 5 bucks that have 165 pounds of pull force. Does the solenoid pull the valve open or push the valve open.

[airportac]

Re: 250dedicated- shorted tank valve

I see CNGHAL posted 1 answer while I was Typing. My suggestion was to drive it until he reaches the range the 2 bed tanks give him, if it still running after that then we know the valve is stuck open. The truck ran just fine until I drove it up onto the trailer then short appeared, this happened 3 times. I wonder if the pass thru wiring is shorting.