I have a 1987 F250 4x4 5 speed manual with a 6.9. I have owned the truck for a couple of months now and have been fixing and replacing things that the prier owner either jury rigged or just never took care of. Nothing major just a lot of little things. When I got the truck the old owner was very proud of the switched pump he thought he had under the truck. It was actually unhooked from the tank selector switch and would click like hell when you turned it on. He said that it helped start the truck. Yeah right. I just let him go on about his upgrades. Now for my question. Someone removed the plumbing from the selector to the pump but did not remove it where it went up to the separator. The empty line goes into the separator and another line goes out and goes back to the selector as a return. My lines are color coded and in is blue and out is grey. They ran a line from the selector up by the brake booster then across the top of the engine bay and down to the lift pump. Seems like a long way to run the line but my question is can I remove the separator entirely? Mine has been changed to a spin on filter and will be a pain to change if I hook it back up. Sorry about the long post. Keith

 

you will need to keep a water separator somewhere in the system. water will cause some serious damage to your injection pump. there are all kinds of filter/separators available from racor, fleetguard, wix etc. or you could use the stock 7.3 filter assembly

 

After looking at the separator and its hoses I have decided to remove it from the firewall and put it on the frame rail near the front tank and hook it back up. I am going to reroute the lines to it and to the lift pump as well. The separator on my truck is a filter head and filter not the original one that came on the 6.9. My truck is a late 87 so that may have something to do with it as well. I do not like how the line is run across the top of the motor on the firewall near my turbo anyway. How often would you change the filter on the separator? Keith

 

If your diesel is clean, maby every 10 years? These filters aren't super fine, and the diesel is supposed to be filtered to 1 micron when pumping, so unless you get dirt or algae in the tank, it shouldn't be picking up anything.
If you've got bad crud in it, well, it could need to be replaced in a matter of hours. It all depends on when it gets clogged.

 

i drain off a good tablespoon of water monthly like clockwork.there's no way i recommend anyone runs a diesel without a water trap of some sort.to me the thought alone is ludicrous.risk to reward for not running a separator = 100%/0%.
you risk injector and or ip failure (or premature ware at least) for what gain? i don't see the sense in it.

 

I agree completely; that's why I cringe when I see the advice given in regards to the early system to 'just bypass it'.
No, do not bypass it, if you feel you do not like it; for whatever reason, replace it. There's no shortage of water separation filter options for diesel.

 

also a old truck will benefit from a screen or pre filter before you fuel pump, to protect your pump from debris, I use a 10 micron filter, I to drain my factory water sep/filter montly. and use a water block type filter on my farm tank dispenser.

 

this is interesting, maybe i should add a water seperator back to my 6.9. what is the one you guys recomend thats affordable?