Fuel Pressure Regulator

Brando B

Registered User
Does anyone have instructions on how to change the fuel pressure regulator on a 1990SC. Mine is beginning to go bad and I need to change it. Also, what are the advantages of installing an adjustable fuel pressure regulator.

Thanks,
Brando
 
They don't usually start to go bad. They either are or they aren't.

You'll have to, at the very least, pull the plastic cowel off the base of the windhsield so you can get at it. Personally I'd pull the entire SC off to get at it.

Only advantage to an aftermarket adjustable is if you have injectors that want a higher than stock pressure to flow properly. Thus far that's only been seen in 50lb injectors and bigger. Otherwise the stock factory fuel pressure regulator is extremely reliable normally.

You can also use an adjustable regulator to increase fuel pressure if you want to squeeze a little more fuel in than couldn't otherwise be there with the size injectors you have. That's not an ideal solution though.
 
Fuel pressure regulator

What does happen when a fuel pressure regulator goes bad?

The reason I think I have a bad fuel pressure regulator is, after I changed to a 255LPH fuel pump my car will begin to hesitate/stumble like it was running out of fuel. This will happen when the car is moving and during idle. I've already swapped out Idle Air Control, Mass Airflow Sensor, and DIS module and it would still hesitate off and on. I even installed a fuel pump from a 1997 V8 T-Bird to make sure It wasn't the fuel pump, but I still got the same stumble/hesitation that comes and goes.

Thanks,
Brando
 
A bad fuel pressure regulator usually shows up as high fuel consumption and rough idle, very rich running condition.

Did you replace your fuel filter? Why did you put in a new fuel pump to start with?

Before you decide the FPR is bad, why not pickup a inexpensive fuel pressure gauge and test what the fuel pressure is? See if you can get one you can stick out the cowl while you're driving to watch the pressure during the stumbling.

Are you sure the harmonic balancer is doing o.k.?
 
Brando B said:
Does anyone have instructions on how to change the fuel pressure regulator on a 1990SC. Mine is beginning to go bad and I need to change it. Also, what are the advantages of installing an adjustable fuel pressure regulator.

Thanks,
Brando
I took my SC off to get to mine and if I remember correctly, there's some bolts in back of the motor that are hard to get at. Good luck.
 
Fpr

I changed the fuel pump, because the original pump from 1990 finally died. I haven't noticed any high fuel consuption. I replaced both the filter sock in the tank and the inline fuel filter located along the passenger side. As far as the harmonic balancer, it is a new piece that came with the reman Ford longblock that was installed in the car in January of 2003.

Also, one more thing to note.... Sometimes when it begins to stumble while idling, the engine will sometimes die, but not all the time. However, the engine does not die when it begins to stumble when driving.

Thanks for all the help.....
Brando
 
Before you consider pulling the fpr, make sure you check the pressures to validate your assumption. I'd check the crank pulley and make sure it's spinning true when the engine is running. Unless it was an aftermarket balancer from BHJ, the chances of that newer balancer failing are same as an older one.

The intermittant nature of the problem might point to a intermittant crank sensor issue that would point to a balancer. But could really be anything at this point.
 
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