My water in fuel light has been going on and off for about a week now. I poured a half bottle of Howes into each tank and still the light comes on. Should I put more additive in or do I have to siphon it out of there. Will or have I damaged anything from not taking care of this sooner?


Thanks,
Steve

 

i am not sure about your 95 PSD but my 02 has a little lever on the side of the fuel filter bowl that i just have to turn and watch the drain hose until no more water comes pouring out and then i am good to go.

 

Even after I drain the seperator the light still comes on. Should I keep draining it until the light goes off? Does the seperator stop all water from entering the engine?

 

What bigredford said. Your owner's manual shows how to do it, it's no big deal. You might as well get used to making it a regular maintenance chore.

 

Try opening the valve while the engine is running, but only for a few seconds, after that check the fuel that was pumped out, you might find a sediment or even algae in the bottom. I had a similar problem recently, light came on drained the bowl, no water, changed the filter and noticed algae in the bottom of the bowl. I'm running a biocide in the tanks as we speak.

 

water can be a killer for the fuel system, when i get it i drain the seperator, run howes through it then change the fuel filter. try to keep your tanks as full as possible that leaves less room for water to condensate in the tanks

 

Ditto on keeping the tanks full - winter is the worst for it because more temp. changed - above and below freezing. Also it matters where you get your fuel. A place that moves a lot of fuel means a lot less chance of getting a little 'sumthing out of the pump. During the winter I fuel up at a place that caters to truckers, and it might be overkill but I hit the drain on the fuel bowl every 1000 miles or so just to be safe.

 

I have owned a 1999 F350 since March 2004. It is my first diesel. I drain the water filter every 3000-4000 miles when I change the oil. The fuel has always been clear with no evidence of water. I also had been using the maximum recomended dose of Diesel Kleen with every fill up.

Then!!! I had the same problem with the water in fuel light going on every 40 miles or so. Everytime I drained the water separator, there was a small amount of water in the bottom of the container. The fuel was also very clowdy, and was the color of coffee milk.

It turns out I picked up a large amount of water and sediment at a fill up recently. To make matters worse I have two tanks which were both contaminated.

I had the tanks drained. My aux tank sits in the bed of the truck, so I was able to look inside and see what was going on. I discovered a thick gell in the bottom of my aux tank. I was informed by sources in the fuel industry, that it was probably microbe contamination in the fuel. Apparently microbes live in the water and feed off the fuel.

The fuel pick up sits about 1/2 inch off the bottom of the tank in my truck. If you get as much water as I did, everytime the feed line gets a gulp of water off the bottom of the tank, it ends up in the water separator, and the light goes on.

I was able to clean my aux tank using a hudson sprayer and a fluid extractor. I had to take the main tank down to do the same thing.

Then:

1. Flush the lines with fresh fuel prior to installing the tank. This will clean the feed line.
2. Change the filter.
3. Flush the lines again. The contaminated filter was actually clouding the fuel comming out of the return line. This second flush takes care of the return lines.
4. Mixing with a biocide (shock doseage), fill the tank. I used a product called Bio Bore. Make sure what ever you use you measure carefully.

I found 2 trains of thought on additives regarding water. Some manufacturers advocate dispersing the water into the fuel so it will burn. While others say separate water out (sighting that it can damage fuel system components), and let the water separator handle it.

I chose Howes Lubricator because I agreed with the water displacement theory, and the manufacturer said it was compatable with the BioBore. Like I said I'm new to diesel, and there are a lot of different products that claim to be better than the next guy. I have to say, in one tank full the truck seems to be quiter than when I was using Diesel Kleen. I'm no expert, but the truck is running great!

I hope my problem is not the case for you, but if you still have a problem, you might want to drop the tank and take a look.

Bye,
DaveJ

 

I recently got three tanks of fuel at a Apex NC gas station...after the third tankful was pumped, i got a WIF light and noticed that the smoke seemed to be more prevalent. Long story short, took it to the dealer after draining it myself and the light still comes on. Then I parked it Thursday night and it was running fine, got in it Friday a.m. and it was only running on 5 cylinders. Got a bunch of codes so I cleared them all out and started the vehicle again. Got four codes then.. Cylinders # 3,5, and 8 are coming back as Injector Circuit High. Stomp it to the floor and it will barely get out of its own way!! Can anybody help me out?? I am considering taking it to the Dealer but I ain't got 5K to spend. HELP!

 

have you changed the fuel filter yet?

 

does your truck have the new gray CPS, or the original black one?

 

Thanks for responding guys...
I originally drained the fuel separator and when that did not work I took it to the dealer and they drained it again and replaced the filters. Went about 5 days with no problem then it wouldn't half run. I currently have it at a diesel mechanic's shop so he can check it out. My thought is there was massive water in the tank and the pickup tube kept gulping it when I turned a corner or went over a bump. I believe this has turned me against diesels. Hope not I love this truck!!

 

Don't know about the CPS??

 

welcome to FTE....just watch where you buy diesel fuel..dont let the cheap price sighns suck you in.(usually a reason the price is much cheaper).buy fuel where they sell a lot of it...always add some DK or a good additive... keep the tanks full in the winter and always switch tanks often so they both get used..i been running diesel for many years and yet to have water problems..mostly tractor trailers..even gasers have water problem when not taken care of...just harder to find bad gas...

 

I agree 100% with what Ron said. I have had many diesels over the years and have yet to have had a water problem. Even with my company trucks and employees who "refuse" to listen to me when I tell them to keep the tank as full as possible at all times.
You may have just gotten a bad batch of fuel. Don't give up!!!