been having to turn the key 2-3 times lately to get the truck to fire off. decided to put a fuel pressure gage on it to see whats up w/ it since new plugs and a fuel filter didnt help it. i get 58psi when the key is turned on then it just starts dropping like a rock after that. it does this each time the key is turned to the on position. that tells me the check valve is bad.
then i start it and its only getting 48psi at idle. so is the pump bad, or is the check valve stuck or what?
is this common?
is this a bitch to replace?

 

I see a lot of pumps going bad on these type of trucks. My safe bet is the pump.

 

what it the correct spec for the pressure while idling?

 

fuel pressure should be close as possible to 58psi at idle. When you shut it off it should hold 40-45 psi for awhile. If your pressure is dropping fast then the check valve in the pump is not holding, and you should replace the pump. The easiest method is to take the bed off, but it has to be empty, Or you can drop the tank. Good luck

 

pull the bed it doesnt take near as long as dropping the tank.im doing a fuel pump swap now

 

checked it again, but this time w/ and w/out the vacuum line. 48w/ and 58 w/out. so its a checkvalve issue so it seems. anyone fixed one w/out having to replace the whole thing?

 

The fuel pressure regulator is also known to go bad on these trucks. After you have driven the truck around at full temp, let it set for a few minutes. Then pull the vacuum line off the reg. and see if it has any gas in it. If it is wet or gas falls out it is bad. Sounds like you have traced it down, but its just something else to check that causes hard starts.