I have a 2013 F350, which is a great truck, now with a few major flaws. So this is a heads up for us that own the 6.7!

At around 10K I experienced my first "water in fuel" light, promptly grabbed my owners manual and discovered the fuel/water drain valve under the truck, no big deal, drained out a few ounces, was back on the road! (Shell Diesel BTW)

A few weeks later, same issue, different station, Valero this time. And as inconvenient as it is to crawl under the truck, again drained the trap. Now this goes on for another two weeks, water in the tank, stop drain it out, keep on going, then one time the truck died and wouldn't start!

Thankfully was not on vacation, so had it towed to the dealer. (20K now on the truck, 4 months old.) Ah Hah! Fuel filter plugged with goop, I try not to run ANY bio diesel, but I believe many stations mix it in to "help with the bottom line". Running good again, dealer charged me $500+ to replace filter, new fuel etc. Understandably.

So here we are 6 weeks later, truck dies, dead, won't start, water in fuel light on again, found less than 2 ounces in the trap, so I change the filter myself this time, still won't start, water in fuel light stays on, curious? But no water to be found this time, still won't start.

Next step, I pulled the fuel tank, no water found! (Titan 50 gallon Poly Tank)
still no luck getting it started, so towed to the dealer!

NOW FOR THE BAD NEWS. Dealer claims fuel contamination, complete fuel system has to be rebuilt, 14 to 18K! And Ford says sorry, no warranty on Fuel Contamination. Yet I was religious on draining the water from the system, changing the filter, I love my truck, but WTF? All these special filters? Something doesn't seem quite right.

I travel alot, I buy fuel at name brand stations, BTW Arizona Diesel seems to be far better than California Diesel, got around 18 MPG on the road, while only 16 here in California. But I digress, After paying almost 60K for this truck 6 months ago, and now faced with a huge repair bill, I'm beginning to think the 6.7 diesel may not have been a good choice.

Could it be that FORD may have a fuel system issue, pump, rails, injectors? I stay on top of my service, and I don't buy cheap fuel, other than Pilot, anybody else experience this? Tom

 

Do a search and you will find plenty of talk on this subject. The Bosch 4.2 is not tolerant to any amount of water in the fuel at all. Unfortunately, water bonds with bio-diesel and can bypass the water separator. As you stated, nobody can guarantee that you aren't getting some form of bio at any given station.

Interestingly enough, of the relatively low number of fuel system failures, there seems to be a high percentage of them that have Titan tanks. It seems that it can be difficult to get a good seal on the fuel module lid and water can enter the tank. I gotta say that after seeing these incidents, if I ever experience a WIF light, I'm draining the tank and starting over. If you got enough water to set the light, there is still water in that tank and you will pick it up eventually.

Ford has taken a hard stand on this issue and even if they can't prove contamination, that is their first line of defense. Previous victims have had some success in getting their insurance to foot most of the bill.

 

Every single time I get tempted to put a larger tank on my truck, I read one of these. And you are right, of the few failures, many have had Titan tanks. Seems like they are so finicky to get right that Titan ought to think about redesigning that part of their tank to make it more fool proof.

 

You said you had a Titan tank correct?

 

Yes he stated a 50 Gln titan poly tank.

 

I would say the 1st line of defense would be to contact Crystal on this site in hopes that she can mediate the result with your dealer. I need to look up her contact but you will need more posts to do so as you are new to this site. Welcome to the site by the way, I hope we can all help you resolve the issue in a positive manner!!

 

You can try this, but I dont see any success with this for a couple reasons. 1) Ford has never covered contaminated fuel issues, and 2) you replaced the fuel tank and are having a fuel related issue.

Best bet is to contact your auto insurance company. This should be covered on your comprehensive coverage.

 

Having to drain a few ounces out of the DFCM every time you checked it tells me that you took on a lot of water somehow. No water is the norm. A half of a teaspoon maybe. But a few ounces every time? I'd have been crappin' bricks after the first find of a few ounces of water. Something was very wrong!

The damage done by water contamination is not limited to the Ford 6.7. All modern common rail Diesel engines can be severely damaged by water contamination.

 

Hi Tom,

Since you're new to the forum and don't have PM privileges yet, I recommend calling our Customer Relationship Center to see if they can assist. They can be reached at 1-800-392-3673. Keep us posted.

Crystal

 

Seems the correlation with Titan tanks and fuel system failures is getting bigger....?

 

That and someone not drain dfcm bowl in 10,000 miles surely isn't wise.

 

I don't think the op did proper maint till necessary. That is one mistake. Should have know to drain without looking in the book. that means we did not take correct PM measures.

Changing a filter at 20K was obviously another issue. If you keep getting water I would have pulled them far sooner.

Buy your fuel at truck stops when on the road.

This is an insurance claim.

Seems the titan tank is the common issue with the failures.

 

It would be worthwhile to check that ring seal on the tank. It could have slipped during installation or, more likely, not torqued properly. Any water sitting up on top of the tank will work it's way into the fuel if that seal is not done right.

If you compare the seal design between the OEM tank and the Titan tank, you'll quickly discover that the Titan seal is actually more robust. The seal is slightly larger in diameter and ring that clamps it down is thicker and more rigid. The OEM seal is stamped steel and can flex a little with hand pressure. You can't flex the Titan ring.

After installing one myself, I can see how mistakes can be made. Titan is very clear in it's instructions that the seal must be installed in a two-step process. First to torque it down in a crossing pattern and second, to wait 20 minutes for the seal to compress and then carefully torque it again. Ford obviously does not have this problem with their uniform installation procedure in their controlled assembly environment.

I'm not saying this happened to the OP. We don't have enough information to determine that but we have heard stories of shoddy installations that have caused problems.

 

Wow! THANKS TO ALL FOR THE HEADS UP! I put a call in to the insurance company yesterday "after" the service rep suggested it might have been vandalism, His suggestion thinly to help me out I believe. Cypress Ford in Monterey, been doing business with them for a long time and they will do all that they can. FYI Fuel filter was changed at normal service by the dealer as to date they have performed all services. Well, at least that is what the service records say.... Hmmmm Tom.

 

Well, and who is to say it wasn't vandalism? Bottom line is you dont know how the water got in there. While it seems counter-intuitive, thats why I won't be putting a locking fuel cap/door on my truck. Because then you, and the insurance company would know it wasnt vandalism, and then where would you be? I'm not suggesting lying or insurance fraud, however sometimes ample imbeguity for events to happen can be in your favor.