Guys I believe I found the problem. Ranger7ltr posted the following when I asked about this same problem in another thread
"Since our vehicles have metal fuel tanks and a lot of these vehicles have sat for extended periods with fuel in them rust is one of the many problems that comes to mind...
My truck sat for 2.5 years with a half tank of something you could call fuel in it but it would start to restrict the fuel filter within days of changing it...
If the fuel filter has rusty/dirty looking fuel in the inlet side when you change it, the tank is the problem here... When I started driving my Explorer, I thought the truck had gotten a watered load of fuel... The engine would not accelerate briskly, if I feathered the throttle I could get to 60- 70 mph but I couldn't speed up quickly; even the cruise control would put too much demand on the engine to keep up with a set speed...If I tried to spped up moderately quickly and didn't back off the throttle, the engine would sputter and eventually die if I held the throttle...I installed my fuel pressure gauge to monitor the fuel pressure and, to my amazement, watched as the pressure would decrease and then increase if I backed off the throttle...Oh and I would get the P30xx codes intermittently, letting me know that I was dropping fuel volume to the engine...
Of course I changed fuel filters; hell, I should have bought stock in the company...I couldn't go more than 2-3 months without changing a filter if I wanted to drive the truck at all and keep up with traffic...
This is what my filter would drain out the inlet side...And this is right before my 2nd fuel pump died...The "filter" on the pump is not there to actually filter small particulate but to keep out the big chunks...All of the rusty crap came through the fuel pump strainer, the fuel pump, and the fuel line supplying the inlet side of the filter... Fortunately the filter kept the lions' share of this mess inside the filter but it did cause a restriction that led to lousy driveability...And changing plugs and stuff helped to improve the performance some but it would drop off quickly...
My final solution was to buy a new tank and replace the pump since the new tanks arrival just happened when the pump decided to not run anymore; And this pump was 4 months old and brand new...BTW I am still using the same fuel pressure regulator I replaced from another sending unit last year... The original one would eventually leak fuel back into the tank at any pressure above 20 psi..."
After I replaced the fuel filter, she ran fine again. No lack of power, cruised fine. My concern is the inlet part of the filter was leaking a rust color fuel. I am afraid I might be running into what ranger7ltr did, rust in the tank. Even though it's been my DD, I guess after 11 years of having fuel in it, rust is coming up from this metal tank. Take a look at the filter. I cut her open with a hack saw. Does this look normal or is it dark from being stained from rusted fuel?
Ranger7ltr: To replace the tank, should I replace the fuel filter as well? I have a feeling it might have stuff in it as well. Also, you mentioned you replaced the FPR when you did. Where'd you find it?
