Water in fuel, won't start

[Adventuren1]

Ok, how bad is it? My truck sputtered and died while warming it up. It won't start and the WIF light is on. I have a full tank purchased about a week ago, but not driven since. 2007 2500 with 5.9l. I called the dealer and of course they refused to let me talk to a service rep unless I bring it and pay. Any advice is helpful, I'm on my way to buy a new filter now....

 

[Tuesdak]

Full stop. Do not run the engine again till you have removed the water!

You have confirmed water in fuel is assumed. You drained some in a glass jar and see it? Or is the WIF light on? The fuel in the tank is garbage and will do nothing but waste fuel filters while you attempt to use it and "hope" the water doesn't reach the injectors. $100 of wet fuel isn't worth $5K in injectors!

Call the state agency for fuel, weights and measures, etc. They may be able to check the station for water contamination.

Call around to local diesel shops and find out if they can drain and dispose of the fuel. This includes fuel polishing services that may be able to clean up the fuel: call fuel distributors. Again cheaper than a dozen fuel filters and less risk to injectors.

Consider an insurance claim and help going after the fuel station that sold the water contaminated fuel.

At the minimum I would drop the tank and get all the water out of it, yeah, you need to tow it if going to a shop.

 

[bcbender]

As has been said, drain the tank. I had an employee fill our 12' up with unleaded a few months ago... I drained all 32 gallons into a bunch of gas cans, wiped it out with rags, put 10ga of fresh diesel in, drained the filter housing and changed the filter. Ran the key on / key off and let the return line run into a spare can for about 5 cycles. then truck started... ran rough for about a second and has been fine ever since. I took the bed off as it was easier to pull 6 bolts, the electrical connectors (taillights) and the filler neck, and could run it like that w/o the bed. But I had a lift. Dropping the tanks serves the same purpose, all things that can be done at home.. As has been said, maybe you can file a claim, or get the station involved but my luck it usually doesn't pan out for the effort. Good luck.. it sounds worst than it is, its really not that hard. Also I pulled the FCA and checked for metal shavings or debris and it was clean so more than likely just a good cleaning is all you need.

 

[Adventuren1]

Thanks for the heads up on all that. I have an appointment to get it fixed. I just checked the codes and found a long list.
P0134 Cam position sensors
P0237 Short to ground?
P0652 B circuit voltage
P2127Throttle pedal sensor
P0193 Fuel pressure

Nothing about water in the fuel....?

 

[Tuesdak]

So what made you say you have water in fuel? Drain some fuel from the fuel filter housing into a glass jar. The water (if any) will be on the bottom. Smell it to see if it has a gasoline odor.

From the codes it looks like something is shorted to ground and could be causing all the trouble including a WIF light. Offhand the engine cooling fan eating it's wires or shorting out comes to mind. I would inspect the fan wiring. After verifying your fuel condition maybe disconnect the fan wiring harness and see if the codes clear up.

 

[Adventuren1]

Full stop. Do not run the engine again till you have removed the water!

You have confirmed water in fuel is assumed. You drained some in a glass jar and see it? Or is the WIF light on? The fuel in the tank is garbage and will do nothing but waste fuel filters while you attempt to use it and "hope" the water doesn't reach the injectors. $100 of wet fuel isn't worth $5K in injectors!

Call the state agency for fuel, weights and measures, etc. They may be able to check the station for water contamination.

Call around to local diesel shops and find out if they can drain and dispose of the fuel. This includes fuel polishing services that may be able to clean up the fuel: call fuel distributors. Again cheaper than a dozen fuel filters and less risk to injectors.

Consider an insurance claim and help going after the fuel station that sold the water contaminated fuel.

At the minimum I would drop the tank and get all the water out of it, yeah, you need to tow it if going to a shop.

I should clarify. I just have the light on.

 

[Adventuren1]

So what made you say you have water in fuel? Drain some fuel from the fuel filter housing into a glass jar. The water (if any) will be on the bottom. Smell it to see if it has a gasoline odor.

From the codes it looks like something is shorted to ground and could be causing all the trouble including a WIF light. Offhand the engine cooling fan eating it's wires or shorting out comes to mind. I would inspect the fan wiring. After verifying your fuel condition maybe disconnect the fan wiring harness and see if the codes clear up.

Now that I look into it, I think it is an unrelated issue. And I would much rather pay for a wiring short than a fuel system overhaul.

 

[Adventuren1]

This is why I appreciate this forum. Talking it through helps me not assume the worse. But circumstances can lead you down the wrong path. I filled both of my rigs at the same station within a week. One gas, one diesel. Then left them for a week unused. When I got back to them, neither would start this morning. The other is a 1981 jeep cj5. It just decided to be fussy for an unknown reason and also not start today. With the WIF light, I assumed the worse....