Drain the H2O Separator..how often?

[rbattelle]

How often do you guys open the drain on the water separator and drain out some fuel (or fuel/water)? How much do you drain? Is there any special procedure to follow after doing so, or can you just start the engine right up?



Owner's manual and service manual are a bit vague on the whole process.

 

[DPKetchum]

I drain almost t every fill up. Kinda drain a qtr cup or less engine off. Try to do it at the station so I dont get it on MY driveway. I open it and give it a count to 10 or so. Did my 93 the same way.

 

[Dean Upson]

I drain it when I change the fuel filter. I never have any water to speak of in there. I used to drain it every time I changed the oil. I personally see little benefit from draining it at every fill-up, but see no harm in it either. There are a lot of differences of opinion here as shown in other threads.



Dean

 

[David Muench]

I'm with Dean. .

 

[DPKetchum]

On my 93 I found water dropplets almost every time. We will see on the 2003

 

[Prairie Dog]

It must depend on where you live. I've never found any water in either of my CTD's.

 

[Dean Upson]

Gotta be the hum-did-it-y in GA .



Dean

 

[DPKetchum]

Dean your everywhere. No kidding guys always found water droplets in mine. Left it alone for a long time several years ago and when I changed the filter it had lots of h20 in it. My lube tech said DARN DON'T YOU EVER DRAIN THIS THING! I said no'oo and he said they are all full of junk and water and lot it said some where to drain at least every few tanks of fuel. I started doing that and never found lots of water and trash in it from then on. Last trip out west had NEW fuel filter and somewhere in Nebraska the water in fuel light came on and saw LOTS of water droplets when I pulled the plunger. Was told diesel inherited had lots of h20 in it.

 

[Big MAK]

IMO most water in fuel is from condensation in the tank -- so there will always be some water -- unless you get bad fuel then there's a-lot. About 400,000 miles on my Cummins diesels and only had a water in fuel light come on once -- dead of winter 10 below zero on the interstate (of course!). Pulled over to the shoulder; drained a couple cups; kept on truckin.



... . now the bad news ... . I never drain (!!!!) but I always add an additive; which is probably why this has never 'bit me'. I think I'm going to start draining a couple cups at oil changes.

 

[navyramman]

can't get anything out of mine. The little black lever moves VERY easy and will stay where I put it. but nothing happens. Maybe it is broken. I changed the fuel filter last week, it was black.

 

[DPKetchum]

On my 93 I encountered that sitiation once. It had crud in the bottom of it stopping it up.

 

[navyramman]

Should I leave the key on to pump fuel into the filter housing and out the drain?

 

[BV]

water/fuel seperator

My . 02 is to drain it into a clear container (plastic pop bottles work good) and check it out for the first 6, 12, 24 or 10,000 tanks and if it shows your collecting water or crud then you might pick a scheduled time like every fill up or ever other.....



I did this for both my 92 and the 99 and found it was a waste of time and spilt fuel so I started draining it only before the filter change every 10,000 miles.

 

[rbattelle]

navyramman,



On early 2003s there was an issue with inability to drain from the separator. Read this thread and follow it's link for the answer:



No-drain fix



The fix is to open the valve and cycle the lift pump. Somehow that cures it.



Ryan

 

[Pit Bull]

I use DFA and drain some every 3-4 fill ups never notice any water. Change my fuel filter at 10K miles and it was not very dirty. I think I will go to the recommended 15K mile fuel filter change interval from now on.

 

[navyramman]

I took the 4 screws off (tork screws) of the drain lever and then the fuel came out of the bottom hole. There are two holes. the black valve and lever came off and they had O rings. In the O rings were very small valves that turn with the lever and they were full of ?? looks a lot like silicone grease. I removed the grease and installed the black valve/handle and the clear hose and it works great now. There is two ports that run into the clear hose from both holes. They do not connects until the clear hose. Maybe one is from pre filter and the other is after filter?? just guessing. But it works now. Some one packed it from the plant with grease.

Greg

 

[wild4stangs]

Greetings guys, the owners manual says to drain the water from the fuel filter at every fill up...



The owners manual says nothing about the procedure to empty the water... Can you folks give me some pointers ?

 

[Dean Upson]

There is a yellow lever on the bottom of the fuel filter, turn it away from the engine and the filter will drain through a plastic tube. I just drained mine for the first time (out of curiosity) and there was nothing except fuel after 7000 miles.



Dean

 

[vonbonds]

Am I the only one who has trouble getting a cup next to the drain tube? I can't seem to get a little bottle close enough to the tube. Has anyone put an extension on the stock tube so it is a bit lower than the axle? My friend has an 02 CTD and he can rest a gatorade bottle on his axle and let it drain. When he helped me with mine we had to use a funnel and it was very annoying to do.



Any help would be appreciated!



Tom

 

[ImagesThatSing]

Just drained mine because of this thread. Just #2 after 5K.