That last diesel brands thread brought up my water in my diesel paranoia that I didn't even know was a problem with diesels, until after I bought my truck!

I'm an FNG with diesels, I admit. This is my first diesel.

As a matter of fact, I didn't read about water problems until after my 2nd fill up! And I filled up at a little mom and pop place! As I couldn't find a station with diesel.

I read about people having problems at "shells" and other name brand stations, so I suppose "it" can happen to anyone, but someone please tell me that water in the fuel system causing catastrophic failure is rare!

 

I Have been driving diesels since 1988 and owned around 15 of them i have only had the "water in fuel Light" come on once in my 1988 f-250 and we run summer and winter blend up here even ran some colored fuel back in the day when we pulled out old oil furnaces. Never had a problem

 

I have been driving a diesel since 2003 and have never even had a drop of water come out when I drain the separator. Can it happen..yes, does it happen often, no. I do steer toward high volume stations, but I would no worry about it all that much.

 

With three diesels in the family for over 10 years, we have not had an issue with any of them. Like said previously, it can happen but not often. More importantly, you need to be aware of the possibility.

 

I wouldn't worry about it. I've owned 3 diesels since 2008 and never had an issue. Just be aware and if an accident does happen that's what you have insurance for.

Enjoy your truck!

 

Wanted a Diesel for a while and finally pulled the trigger on a 15 couple years ago. Loved and I mean loved that truck but after a water scare that let's just say went in my favor I traded and went back to gas. I want another one so bad but when your the 1 in a million I guess that gets it in my case almost got burned then I worry. I asked on another thread about water aftermarket separators. By time the ford one tells you it's to late

 

That may work on an old truck, on a new one if you get a WIF light then more than likely its too late. Kiss the HPFP and injectors bye bye. 10 grand down the drain, been there, done that, twice.

 

Well at first I was like



And then I was...

 

LOL. Im the one that got water from a Shell station here. That was in 1987. I have owned two more since that truck over the last 30 years and Ive had other issues but not that one. As others have said - it's not likely you just need to be aware. The fuel I got was so bad it started having issues within 5 miles. Just extremely bad luck.

 

Right I would never run that fuel oil in theses new ones that's for sure

 

Just a couple of things that I do.
1. Do a visual check of the nozzle at the fuel island.....if the nozzle isn't slimy, double check to see that it IS definitely the diesel nozzle.
2. I do a "sniff test" of the nozzle, if it smells "gassy" I go to a different station.
3. Monthly I drain the yellow drain valve on the frame mounted filter onto a glass jar, let it set for about 20-30 minutes and look for free water in the bottom.
4. If the fuel transport is there unloading, I move on to another station.

In my years, there have been a couple of times that I witnessed the transport driver cross contaminating fuel/gasoline; so that is my reason for the sniff test and not fueling while they are unloading. Also, when they are unloading they could be stirring up the storage tank bottom.

And one other thing is if you are using a storage or transfer tank, I have had some problems getting rain water in them. One I had for tractor fuel and could,'t keep it dry, so finally sold the damn thing and let somebody else have that headache!
But, all in all, when buying fuel at busy, high volume stations, I have never had a problem with the fuel, but still will do due diligence!

 

I have owned four diesels over 450,000 miles all Ford. Never drained or worried about it.

 

Every-5 years i get a knew F250 never had a problem with water in fuel or never had major problem except a oil leak on a 6.0 that would never stop,,,,,,,,a little tiny bit of oil ......that could never be fixed

 

And while in North Dakota, keep in mind they use green fuel hose on pumps for all types of fuel. Worse than water is gallons of unleaded in your tank, did it once on my 2008 F-350. After it had stalled I siphoned out the majority of the unleaded, topped it off with diesel and cranked her over. After a few tries, it fired and was ok. Only had one injector fail, number 7, with 388k on it before both turbos cascade failed and chunked up the motor.

 

I would pay more attention to the Cetane rating on the pumps, many stations sell 40 Cetane and these engines require 45 Cetane, having said that I have owned 6 F250's since 1984 and got one bad load of fuel over 550000 miles. I drain only at fuel filter changes.