I have an '06 F-350 TD and noticed the manual describes a lever to drain the water from the fuel. As I've read before from '05 & '06 owners, the manual doesn't necessarily represent reality. Mine has the old hex plug . The rig has only 4500 miles on it and is four months old, so, per some posts I've read, thought it would be prudent to drain it. Damn, what a mess I made. Talk about a dumb design...diesel got all over me and the driveshaft etc. There was no water in my fuel at all, so it was in vain. I've noticed there is a better plug design avail aftermarket.

My question is...NORMALLY, is this procedure even necessary? Since I plan to change the filter at the recommended 15K interval, am I wasting my time to drain this once a month (as some folks have said)?

Sorry...I just noticed I posted this under the 6.4 New Powerstroke forum - should have just been General Diesel.

 

you should get a warning light in your instrument cluster if you have enough water in your HFCM. Read your owner's manual for more info..
I seriously doubt you need to mess with this once a month..that's what the indicator/ sensor light is for..

 

Thread moved to 6.0l Powerstroke forum

 

Can somebody tell fumoto to make a valve to fit our HFCM, sure would be nice!

 

Thanks for the info. I agree...I was talking to a guy with an '05 and the local Tucson Ford dealer told him to drain the unit at each oil change. I think I'll just wait for the light. I talked to a friend of mine who has an '04 used in his business and he beats the thing to death. He's got 80K and has never seen the light go on.

 

I have a 03 6.0. I agree the drain design is STUPID!

On the contrary to you guys, my sensor light went on ALL THE TIME my first year I owned it. I would drain it once a week cause it scared me. Most times, draining it wouldn't get the light to go off, stupid sensor must not have been working right, only saw a little bit of H20 the very first time I did it, pure diesel all the other times. Sensor light would come on, especially during hard fast left turns, go figure.....

I didn't want dealer to have it for a day or two to fix it, so I let it go. It fixed itself now, it hasn't come on in a year.

My 2000 F550 is older but has a great design. Lever up on top the engine near the fuel filter, twist the ****, let it drain for a bit, twist the lever shut again. Wonderful. Why do auto makers change things that work???

Removing the stupid plug on the 2003 gets diesel running all down my arm, pisses me off.

I think you should drain it at least once a year. I find in my trucks and equipment, you do get water built up over time.

Changing the filter on the engine won't help the water problem. They picked a low point in the system since water will be on the bottom, diesel floats on it. Some filters are water separtators, thats when you see the drain and the filter together.

 

I haven't seen a light yet but then again I'm in an arizona truck and has low miles. I am not looking forward to doing it. Are both fuel filters scheduled for 15K or just the inline?

 

Both filters

 

I only takes a few drop of waer to set off the light. But it really depends on how well the fuel station has kept the fuel while in storage. If you go to a place which has above ground tanks then you will be more likely to get moisture in the fuel (from condensation)

 

So the first time I changed the fuel filter, I used a big 2 liter soda bottle with the top cut of and a long hex wrench from Sears. WHen fuel started dripping I jamed the sod bottle under the drain. That coupled with paper towels waded up in strategic places, and latex cloves, and I don't think I got much if any diesel fuel on me. I follwed the instructions in the tech section, and made sure the fuel level was low in the tank. While not the futmoto valve, (which I have on both cars btw thanks to this forum) I decided to order one of these for next time:

http://www.forddoctorsdts.com/articl...icle-05-19.php

Picked it up at my dealer yesterday, 20 bucks.

My .02.

BTW on this forum I heard all the complaints about the drain, and was concerend when changing the filters for the first time. Pretty easy, and it only took me 45 minutes all in all.

Dealer wanted 175 to do the job. If I just got the filters, 112. I bought Racor filters for 58 shipped......

 

ive had my pad for about 8 weeks / 2500 miles no light and from previous exp. with the 7.3 never had to worry until 15,000 mile intervals my .02 cents say change as directed unless you get a warning light....

 

buy yourself some fuel line disconnect tools, then remove the lines from the hfcm. there is 3 connectors, remove them. then remove the 4 screws holding the front of the manifold on. you will see there is different compartments in the hfcm. take some brake clean and thoroughly clean out all of them(especially the two lower ones). on the cover there is a set of points on the second area--clean it too. that should turn off your light. If it doesnt---replace the manifold assembly

 

vloney,
will anything fall out of the hfcm (springs or little pieces that can't be put back in easily) if I remove the 4 screws on the front?

 

nope--only diesel and dirt

 

Everyone talks about what a pain the drain is...how about where they put the thing. Im looking down the frame rail where there is about 6 feet of virgin fuel line. You would think they would put it in that wide open area, but nnnoooo, they got it jammed up between a driveshaft a transmission support, and a wide spot in the frame rail. I can never get the filter out with the cap intact. I want to know what the engineer was thinking that located the hfcm where they did!