well, the 6.9 seems to have gone through its old fuel/water separator. It's been leaking some diesel from it for a while now, and today it finally just dumped a big puddle on the driveway. Where can I pick up a new one, and about how much do they cost? Or is there any disadvantages to simply bypassing it? It doesnt get too cold here, and the truck doesnt sit around long enough to build up condensation in the tanks.

 

i wouldnt by pass it what about water from the fuel stations and such.try a salvage yard or maybe e bay?,for a good used one.maybe look into using one from a newer 7.3?

 

Well, it's bypassed for now but I'll look into getting a new/good used one soon. I had to use the truck and didn't want it leaking all over the place. I hope having it bypassed for a couple days doesn't hurt anything.

Along the lines of general maintenance: I've heard people talking about putting ATF in the gas tank to help lube the injector pump and injectors and was just wondering how much you should put in? I'm just about ready to fill up the tanks so how much should I put in per tankful? Thanks for all the help.

 

Dump a quart in each tank, it does not hurt anything and is an excellent cleaner for the fuel system.

Word of Caution, if you use type F ATF and get pulled over to check for off road fuel in your tanks, the red ATF fluid will probably get you an expensive ticket for running untaxed dyed diesel fuel on the road.

 

New ones are available for about $130.00 (list). I just bought a new one at Diesel Fuel Systems in Lawrenceville, Ga. (770)963-6925. It is built my Stanadyne (same folks that build your injector pump) and most of there dealers carry it, so you may find it locally. If not, call Diesel Fuel Systems and ask for Rob-he is very knowledgeable about diesels and may be able to ship you one or let you know where to get one out there. The original firewall separaters have a bad rep, both this is usually due to people not draining water regularly and the seals drying out. If you twist the ring on yours, it might just stop leaking. Worked for me for a long time. Just watch out for air in your return.

 

Racor makes a filter/separator that screws on in place of the stock fuel filter. For around $50.00. And it's much more dependable than the stock one

 

I took mine off the firewall a while back. No problems, if you get some bad fuel just change the filter.

Dont buy a used one, they're all bad by now.

 

It turns out that it had a Racor seperator on it so I'm going to just get a replacement screw on element for it, thanks for the help. The truck starts much much better now that there aren't any more fuel leaks.