This weekend I went to the fuel station that I get probably 90% of my fuel from only to find they had the pumps marked "out of service". Out of curiosity, I went in and asked what the problem was, they told me they had to have the tanks cleaned because they had too much of "something" in them. So I decided to drain the water separator tonight and this is what I found.

 

One of the first things I was told when I was thinking about buying a diesel was to watch where I bought diesel fuel. Was it an older station? Where the underground tank access points flat or raised above the ground to allow the water to run off?

 

The station isn't all that old, I would say 7-8 yrs or so. it is a high volume station which is why I have used them for several yrs. I do believe that the access points are slightly raised. I can't guarantee that the water came from there but that is where I get most of my fuel. It ended up being a around 4oz of water.

 

There is a gas station in my home town that had to replace several diesel engines because of water. They have replaced the underground tanks since then but I still won't buy from them. How many miles did you go since you last checked it?

 

This was actually the first time I checked it on this truck, it has 10,700 miles on it. I have never noticed any water in my other trucks before so I really haven't been that concerned about it, plus I figure the chance of me actually checking it after getting a bad tank of fuel is probably not very good unless I checked it very frequently. I also understand that I could be getting a little bit of water every now and then which eventually adds up. I will be definitely be checking it more often now at least for a while anyways.

 

just an fyi, supposed to drain it monthly per Ford unless they just recently changed it

 

In the manual for my 17 it says to drain it if the warning light comes on and says you need to drain the separator. I believe I read on here somewhere that the previous yrs stated to drain it at a certain interval.

 

Newbee question... For how long do you let it drain and how much? and do you normally end up with diesel all over everything including yourself?

 

 

I would imagine the majority of contamination happens at the station but I wonder if sometimes the fuel that is actually delivered to the station could be contaminated.

 

I drain mine every 5K miles (that's about every 6 weeks), typically draining about a quart into a clean, clear glass jar. This way, you can easily see the water.

The very first drain, I had a significant amount of water. I had fueled at a 3 different stations, so there was no real way to pinpoint one as the culprit. Or perhaps from the initial fill by the dealership.

After that first drain, I began fueling at a Pilot/FlyingJ truckstop where I KNEW they turn the fuel over quickly. It was out of the way and about 20 cents a gallon more expensive, but I needed a reliable source.

A few weeks later and the second drain was clean. So I stopped going to the truckstop and switched to only one of the two that I wanted to use regularly moving forward. It was near the house and the second one was near my cabin up north.

Suffice it to say, the next 5K drain was clean. I then added the second station back to the mix (up @ the cabin 200 miles north).

At the next drain, still good.

I've stuck with just those two stations where I know things have been good. But no matter what I'll always drain the separator at least every 5K. No way am I waiting until the idiot light comes on.

 

I'm doing it every 2 tanks and I drain the entire thing - it a fair amount, id say .25-.5 gallon. Let the diesel sit overnight to let water settle.

I was surprised how much water was in mine when I did it at its first 1,000 miles - makes me think the dealer uses a crappy station to fill you up after you buy.

Yeah your tossing a couple bucks of diesel away every month, but cheaper than a new fuel system...

 

Same as a 2015.

 

The truck suppose to tell you when you got water in the fuel,right?