air in the fuel filter housing
 

i got a 04 ford with a 6.0 that i am working on. the truck will start but run ruff, and will die after bout 3 minutes of idling. crack the fuel filter housing on top the motor, and it is full of air bubbles. tighten it back up, and it will start back up and run, but ruff. when u try to drive it, it will barely move itself. any ideas?

have you cycled the ignition while not turning over the truck? From what I know when you put in a new fuel filter you need to cycle the ignition but not start it up. turn off and cycle a few more times to get all the air out. And sometimes not all the air will be out and it will run rough for abit but should clear up. Check O rings on fuel filter cap if you suspect it leaking or sucking air in.

The way I bleed my fuel filter every time I change my filters is at the top canister filter. I use a wrench to loosen the hard line going into the canister. Keep the wrench on that line. Crack it loose and have somebody cycle the key to the accessory position (priming the fuel system) Before the fuel pump cycles off, tighten that nut. You will see bubbles come out. I do that about five times until its straight diesel coming out. Then start the truck and let it idle for about 2 minutes minimum. Its a two person procedure generally but it always works for me!

the guy who brought it to us said thats the only way they could get it to start after it died is to cycle the key. i cracked the top of the fuel filter and let oll the compressed air out and it starts right back up.

when i worked at ranger, the fords we had for company trucks, i never had a problem like this and all i ever did was turn the key on let the pump cycle, and then start it

Are these motorcraft filters or aftermarket? Have you check the under rail filter and pump?

Just finished rebuilding the top end on my 6.0L. Was a little hard to start initially, but once it started no problems thereafter. If yours starts then quits after awhile, I don't think it's in your fuel filter. Sounds more like a fuel feed issue to the fuel filter. Fuel pump dead or fuel full of crud in the line. Did this happen after changing a fuel filter or did it mysteriously begin doing this before the filter change?

Sounds like you're getting air into the system. They usually bleed out of air pretty easily. Doing a fuel filter change shouldn't make it this hard. I change mine, cycle the key three times (letting the fuel pump run til it shuts off) and it starts right up. Sounds like you have a bigger issue. Have you replaced both o-rings on the filter caps?

i dont know what kind of filters they put in, because i didnt do them. both were changed. the way it sounded it just started doin it out of the blue. were working on getting an adapter that way we can check the fuel pressure. but the way it seems to me, is the bleeder valve for air isnt working. ive changed hundreds of fuel filters on 6.0 and never had any problem at all.

I've heard more cases of the cap on the frame mounted HFCM filter giving issues if it matters. Try removing it, oiling up the o-ring and reseating it. Worth a shot...

Air in fuel filter housing
 

biged681985, did you ever find the solution for this? My F-250 developed the same exact problem. The problem got worse and worse until the fuel pump died. I tried everything mentioned here (and more). I installed a new pump and filters and same problem. I bypassed my fuel tank with an external tank, but the same problem. I was just wondering, did you ever find a solution to your original question to this post?