I think one water separator they offer is a coalescing media, but yeah most of them are swelling. Great way to **** of a CP4 or any injection pump for that matter.

 

Yeah crazy stuff to be sure.

 

Thats the key. I also would want it independently tested by someone with no money vested in it. Claim is that it will out perform the stock setup, prove it. How much does it out perform it? 1%? 5%? 50%? If I am going to replace a factory setup with aftermarket, it had better perform better, protect better, etc. other wise its just a waste of time and money.

It's like the DPK kit, it protects the fuel system if the CP4 fails, thats a known given and proven. The intake upgrades, not just for looks but functionality as well. Both of these items can be proven to actually work and do as said. The fuel filters though? Unless someone has hard stats on the OEM setup and can prove the aftermarket does better, enough so that its worth the time and money, well, what it is does less? Aside from oil the Fuel system is THE most important aspect of the truck. Maybe it's better than the 11-16 setup, but Ford redesigned the fuel system for a reason, and how does it compare?

 

I would love to see some test of the OEM fuel filters for 2017+ trucks but I just haven't come across anything I would hang my hat on. Even the info I have for the 2011-2016 set up is from marketing **** EOD. Overall OEMs in general have come a long way with factory filtration, Ford doing a better job than most and has been for a while. The fuel filter set up for the 6.0 and 6.4 were actually pretty good. That said, I can understand those that want to change the set up for various reasons and most reputable aftermarket companies (donaldon, Baldwin, fleet guard and to a lesser extent wix) are far more transparent with their specs. But it isn't a necessity by any means at all, it is totally a preference thing.

 

Has anybody watched the S&S video of the DCR on their development truck that had an aftermarket fuel system? There was no WIF sensor and they ran the DCR unknowingly with water sitting in the filters. The filters rusted and caused lots secondary issues. The S&S tech noted that a benefit of the stock system that doesn’t get mentioned is the plastic filters dont rust.

Are there any tests or data on fuel additives reducing the effectiveness of the Ford filters getting out the water as previously mentioned?

 

Yep saw it and posted about it here... sure proved the DCR could survive what the CP4 cannot.

I don't know about any data or tests on fuel additives reducing the effectiveness of Ford filters to remove water but it sounds like, IMO, you're describing an additive that would eliminate water like K100D by "emulsifing" as some would say, incorrectly, because emulsions are temporary and will separate. K100D puts water, if present, in a permanent solution, by encapsulatung it at the molecular level in a burnable compound, to be sent to the combustion chamber to burned with the fuel and prevents any damage or corrosion to the rest of the fuel system.

Using an additive like K100, will prevent the water separation filtering media from removing it because there will be molecules of encapsulated water in solution in the fuel... with my use of K100D, I've never seen any water at anytime.

Or did you mean something else?

I've been using this stuff for 136k miles now in every tank. Original CP4 still rocking...

I do have an Air Dog system to install but will more than likely wait as I have plans to purchase the 50 gallon version Titan fuel tank... will do this all at once but have to modify the Air Dog with a different spring Air Dog sent me to feed the DFCM I'm retaining, at 10 PSI.

As usual folks, YMMV...

 

Since this thread was started by a new diesel owner and is about an SPE fuel filter system, I'll post this article here, on a very deep dive into ULSD fuel. It has information on stored diesel fuel and tanks but I believe its relevant because it pertains to all of us since we buy fuel from stationary fuel tanks at stations.

https://www.bellperformance.com/fuel...-contamination

 

I would think fuel water separators have a layer of material, like my Motorcraft factory primary filter insert does... so i looked into it and it seems they do.

One article stated that diesel fuel water separators are coarse filters and are part of a filter system.

From this article:

https://www.auroragenerators.com/pos...separator-work




I'll continue to look into this.

https://rycofilters.com.au/articles/fuel-water-separators

 

thank you for the info. I really need to watch the stations I choose.

im learning a lot just by following y’all’s discussion.

 

You truly never really know the condition of the fuel you are buying, because even though you could be buying from a brand name high volume station, you truly do not know the conditions in the tank you're pumping fuel out of.

And the reason I posted those pics of my filters, is to show the good condition they came out with a good amount of mileage meaning good fuel being used and/or my additive keeping the fuel in good shape and the fuel system clean.

I'm not knocking guys who side with filtration and the mechanical means of removing water from fuel on their trucks... never as opinions are like certain orifices... we all got 'em.

But I believe using chemical means or additives, along with good filtration, works for me.

When I was researching fuel around the time I was looking into buying a diesel, I worried about water like you are. No doubt it's a legitimate concern as what I learned, that diesel is NOT what it used to be, has to be considered and people will address it in their own way in which they are comfortable.

There's a few points in that article from Bell Performance that I will address at one point.

I was going to post that link on one of mt threads I started, believe it was "My fuel related thread," which I haven't posted up in awhile, but always wanted to post to it more than i have though...

Happy reading...

 

Actually what I meant was are there additives in treatments that could ‘wash away’ the coating on the filter that are designed to block water from passing through?

but isn’t your K100 that encapsulates water specifically something we’re not supposed to use? Letting water through isn’t good I’d think, encapsulated or not.

 

Yep... with 136k miles of using what we're "not" supposed to use, I'm thinking it's not harming my fuel system because if it was bad for a CP4 or the fuel system in general, my CP4 would have blown up long ago.

I'll never say folks "should" be using what I use or what I use is the best, but with real life experience with this product, I can say it is not harming my fuel system and my fuel filters come out looking very clean with over 20k miles when I change them.

I recently posted pics of my last set changed.

Once again, YMMV...

Edit

In all honesty, I do not think our 6.7 fuel system is special or that different from other engines, whether in smaller vehicles up to the big trucks.

They sell it in 55 gallon barrels and those huge plastic containers to trucking companies. I happen to use, trust it and won't run without.

 

After examining the water separator/filter on the 17+ system, I think I see how it works. It separates both emulsified and free water. The emulsified is through the pleated media, it enters via the fitting at the rear or side opposite the drain, flows through that media and comes out the soft filter side into the tank. The screen on the return tube is fine enough to block water from entering, and the water falls down to the bottom of the tank where it can be drained. That mesh is probably 30 micron or less and hydrophobic. The filter media for Emulsified water is more than likely made up of hydrophobic fibers and high absorbent polymers to trap the water and when it coalesces and demulsifies it drains out to the bottom of the housing.

Looking at the SPE system, the water trap is on TOP, not the bottom, so how does it trap water? The after markets do not have that hydrophobic screen that blocks free water like the OEM has, the OEM is actually a dual filter system to block both free water and emulsified. The aftermarket would need a filter that can do both. Has anyone cut open one of the water seperators and look at whats in it? Curious if they contain the fine mesh hydrophobic screen.

Now, you may ask yourself, Self, how does water get past the 17+ system? If you don't drain like a good little boy should and you do get water in the tank, if there is enough water to get to the tube on the return side, it could very well get past the screen since that IS the suction side. It would take quite a bit if water though. Ford probably realized the DCFM just didn't protect against water infiltration as it should and why they redesigned it in 2017.

 

I have drained water many times from my Donaldson filter that wasn’t in the oem tank filter…about a teaspoon.a teaspoon might be overload for the stock filter. Or the chemical treatment in the oem filter that traps water is no longer there due to additives. Don’t know.

 

Coalescing filters can be easily overcome by water, that’s their biggest drawback. It’s a matter of scale I suppose. When a fleet terminal has a tanker of fuel delivered, the filters on their pumps could be overcome many times over just by a single instance of water. That’s why they buy drums of emulsifiers or similar acting encapsulating chemicals. It’s the only possible method.

On our trucks, there is no need to pass water. The coalescing filters are effective, the WIF indicator just needs to be adhered to.

The original question I was asking was, I wonder if any of the additives over time, or even fuel compromises the coalescing ‘treatment’ of the pleated filter? You could pull a clean looking filter, that possibly has lost its ability to trap water. That is the reason I’m going to choose to follow the advice of the 900,000 mile RV delivery guy who changes his fuel filters every oil change.