Hello,

Does anyone know of a way to test this light in the dash to make sure the bulb is not burnt out? Without of course putting water in the fuel .

thx

 

Two issues with your question:

1. The instrument panel uses LEDs, not incandescent lamps so burn out is near impossible.

2. The WIF alert is a message displayed in the info center, not a standalone LED.

Now the WIF sensor can occasionally be clogged up with parafin precipitation and therefore not be functional. Generally if this is the case you will also have little or no flow on the HFCM drain as the parafin will clog the drain as well.

You may be able to see if there is parafin accumulation in the sump by removing the HFCM filter and looking in the end with a camera or inspection mirror, the sump is partialy visible at the bottom of the filter area. You can also remove the drain valve assembly and try to look in the two port holes the valve covers.

If it's gunked up you will need to remove the entire HFCM cover to clean it and that also requires gasket replacement. If 4x4 you will want to disconnect and end of the front driveshaft and tie it up out of the way for better access.

 

Ok thanks for the info. I was curious to see if there was a way to test the light to make sure it works, as I've had to replace the fuel pump due to water damage, yet the light has never come on. So I'm suspicious of it.

 

I'm afraid there actually is a light in addition to the message center display, but in any case it's LED so unlikely to be an issue.

The service manual doesn't have much to say about the WIF sensor really, there is a section on removal and installation:

http://wpnet.us/Water_in_fuel_sensor.pdf

And in the PC/ED section a very minimal section on testing that seems to indicate that if the light blinks on key on it's ok:

O7 CHECK THE WATER IN FUEL INDICATOR FOR CORRECT OPERATION
Note: The PCM must detect water in fuel during engine idle at least 6 consecutive times to set DTC P2269 and to light the WIF indicator. The PCM monitors the WIF sensor for 30 seconds at idle. Each time the PCM checks for water in fuel it must detect a change in the vehicle speed before it will check for water in fuel again.

Note: In this step the vehicle needs to be driven enough so the PCM can detect a change to the vehicle speed.

PCM-E connector connected.
WIF Sensor connector connected.
Clear the DTCs.
Key in OFF position.
Key ON, engine running.
Idle the engine for 30 seconds and then drive the vehicle. Repeat this 8 times.

Does the Water In Fuel indicator illuminate briefly at key ON and then remain off?

Yes
The system is operating correctly at this time.

No
REFER to the Workshop Manual Section 413-01, Instrument Cluster and CARRY OUT the Instrument Cluster Self-Diagnostic Mode test to diagnose the Water In Fuel indicator.

Since it indicates it needs to detect water multiple times with the vehicle moving at different speeds to set the indicator, this would seem to preclude removing the sensor and putting in in a container of water as a quick test.

I suppose you could buy an extra sensor, put it in a small container of water like a film can, plug the vehicle cable into that sensor instead of the one in the HFCM, zip tie it in place and drive a bit to see if the WIF indication comes on. A bit involved, but I bet the WIF sensor is <$20 though I can't seem to find a price for it online.

The key things around the fuel system are:

- Replace the fuel filter set every 10K miles. Filter is FD4617 which is a change from the original where they added an O-ring to help prevent water from bypassing the filter.

- Always use a quality fuel conditioner additive like Ford PM22a/23a, Stanadyne, Power Service or similar. These add lubricity to the fuel that was lost in the change to ULSD, and since the fuel is the only thing that lubricates the HPFP which runs up to 26,000 PSI lubrication is important. Fuel conditioner also helps reduce the frequency of DPF regens, another benefit.