Drain Your Fuel/Water Separator Often

[Wiredawg]

After reading posts about contaminated fuel, I decided to check the trucks:



- My 09 w/ about 4,800 miles had a couple of table spoons of water and no WIF light. Don't know how much it takes to set it off, but don't think I want to find out.



- My 02 w/ FASS had about a half pint of water at about 12K miles. Interesting the water was pure... no smell of diesel or oily residue. The water/fuel separator on the FASS is amazing



- need to check my wife's 03 and the 93 yet



Bottom line, problably not a bad idea to drain the water/fuel separator once a month.



doesn't hurt to be cautious.



Wiredawg

 

[DBentley]

Good idea.
I forget to drain mine.
Whats up with the WIF lights?
Has anyone ever seen a 3rd gen wif light on?
My 96 had it off and on once in a while.

 

[EGroeneveld]

60,000 miles on my 2005 and I have never seen the light come on.

 

[PFranzese]

After reading the owners manual I interpreted what is said as, the light will turn on when I go to start the truck and if it doesn't turn off I need to drain the filter. I assume that the light won't come on when the truck is running but only when you go to start it.



Not sure if this is correct, anybody else read the manual and get the same idea or something different?

 

[DHuffman]

Mine had no water in it @ my 10,000 mile filter change...

 

[Regcabguy]

I dropped in a Baldwin 5 mic. filter to replace the Fleetguard today. No water after 3,950 miles. I will drain it monthly anyway from now on. Lucky so far.

 

[Mishkaya]

Haven't checked mine in a while, but used to check it weekly, then monthly. But after four years of not finding any water at all, I kind of got lazy. I will check it first thing in the morning though...

 

[jelag]

We have installed a 10 micron filter and water trap with a 2 micron secondary filter on the frame of all our trucks... the filters hold a qt or so of fuel...

We try and look at the water trap ever 6 months or so and have never had more than a couple of tablespoons of water in the trap... we change these filters ever year or so... one truck sees 50 K miles between changes with no ill effects and we fuel over 4 states and in Canada...

We put these on all our trucks when the ULSD came out... and the threats from the dealers on warranty claims from bad fuel... .

 

[Jefff929]

Haven't checked mine in a while, but used to check it weekly, then monthly. But after four years of not finding any water at all, I kind of got lazy. I will check it first thing in the morning though...

2x

 

[Wygate]

After reading the owners manual I interpreted what is said as, the light will turn on when I go to start the truck and if it doesn't turn off I need to drain the filter. I assume that the light won't come on when the truck is running but only when you go to start it.



Not sure if this is correct, anybody else read the manual and get the same idea or something different?

This is what is online at Dodge.com in the owners manual for the 2009 Cummins (page 92, under Maintaining your vehicle):



"If water is detected in the water separator while the

engine is running or while the key is in the ON position,

the “Water In Fuel Indicator Light” will illuminate and an

audible chime will be heard five times. At this point you

should stop the engine and drain the water from the

separator. "



So, I would interpret that as meaning the light should come on if you are either starting the vehicle - or going down the road. I can tell you that it DID NOT come on - nor did we hear any 'chiming sounds' before our 26 day debacle! Maybe the other 'stuff' that was in the fuel we got made the WIF indicator unable to work



Melissa

 

[mules4me]

JELAG=which double filter system do you use on your trucks

Looking at Glacier Diesel Power system or one from NAPA. what are you using in your trucks



Thanks Dave

 

[PFranzese]

Melissa,



After what you and your husband just went thru I don't know if I wish to ever see the light come on but then I really hope that it does come on before any damage is done. Your experience has me wondering if the OEM filter is really up to the task or if I should spend the money on an aftermarket filter.

 

[jelag]

Dave... .

Since I have access to a CNC machine we just had a bunch built, we patterned it off an aluminum billet one we saw for sale in the $200 range... I've posted photos in the past and have been asked to build it... maybe I should...

If you'd like I'd find the photos and post them again...

 

[mules4me]

thanks for the reply Jelag. the napa one is machined out of alum block but uses napa filters. Looking at glacier diesel there at liberty lake and theirs uses fleetguard filters probably go with it.



Thanks again Dave

 

[SNGLESHOT]

Fuel filter Drain sticking open

ALL: My friend has a 6. 7 like mine but a 2007, went to drain his fuel filter, turned the valve ... drained the water out... went to close the valve and it would not re seat properly... continued to leak. He had to replace the whole filter and this is not the new cannister type. This happened twice to him now. :{
Not sure if this thread is the right place to ask but is this a common problem and if so, what is the fix on this???

I personally myself have not drained the filter yet and to tell the truth, I am a little hesitant to do so because of what has happened with my buddys truck and filter. Thanks for any replys in advance.

 

[Wiredawg]

I drained mine and no problems. Mine is a 2009 and may have the new canister.

 

[Jim W]

I tried to drain mine once around 5K miles in the first 10K of use, I change my filters every 10k. I loosen the star wheel to drain and nothing came out of the filter. I retighten the filter drain (so I thought) start the truck and back out of the garage. Fuel all over the garage and frame, shut off the truck and retighten the star wheel, felt like I was cross threading the threads.

When I went to change the filter at 10K, I reopen the star wheel again and never could get the filter to drain.

The second filter went 10K and I never drain the filter. When I went to drain filter to change it at 20K. I loosen the star wheel again to opened and to drain water and fuel from the filter, nothing would drain from the filter. I needed to loosen the filter a couple of turns in order for some fuel to be empty from the filter. I then check the fuel collected from the filter and no water was present.

I am hoping that the new redesigned filter housing will allow easer draining in the future.

 

[DanSullivan]

I have had the same problem, open the drain and nothing, What seems to work is to open the drain then turn on the key to run, this will turn on the fuel pump and dump some fuel, good to extend the hose into a bucket to save some mess.

 

[traindrv]

I drained my OEM(old style) over Thanksgiving and it started leaking fuel, the more I tried to tighten the drain the more it leaked. Luckly I had ordered a new style and was able to change it out with no leakage problems yet but haven't tried to drain the new one yet either. Is a bogger to change but once I got it figured out was a piece of cake, can be changed from the top by removing the batwing cover and unbolting drip stick.

 

[EDankievitch]

See my thread on the 5. 9 engine forum about the "SEVERE DUTY FILTER KIT" also read the thread about "water in fuel light never came on need new fuel system" in the 6. 7 forum, SCARY!