fuel filter draining

[Bhooper]

Believe my own. man. says drain filter at every fill up. Do you drain the whole filter or just let it run a bit? If the whole thing gets drained wouldnt that be putting air into the system?? I have no problem getting the fuel to come out. Currently I am shutting it off as soon as it starts flowing figuring any water is on the bottom. Thanks for helping a newbie. . I have a 98. 5. . It is my dream truck, luvvin it. . thanks. bhooper

 

[illflem]

You are doing it right, the water is on the bottom. Make sure the engine is warmed up well if it's below freezing, any water will be ice. How often you drain it depends on how long a tank lasts you and how humid your climate is. Unless you are buying bad fuel any water will be coming from condensation in the tank. Draining the water from the filter once a month would be very safe in most climates. Guys in arid climates can get away with no draining. You can catch some fuel in a glass container and go from there, any water is obvious. Beware of spilling diesel on an asphalt driveway, it will melt it.

 

[gwizpro]

illflem,



I have never checked the filter for water and when I looked at where I should do it,I wonder how I am going to got around all the things in the way. ( owned truck for 5 months now & 80k miles on it , 10k from me. ), I do live in the desert and the in cab light for water goes out within a short time when key is turned on. . Doesn't this sensor tell if you have water in fuel and that you should drain it then. Or is it too late once the sensor (light) stays on. . Also, how often should the filter be replaced??



Thanks

The RackMan

 

[Joe G.]

I gave up on the filter drain business. I have never detected any water in my fuel. For some time I would drain a little in a glass jar and let it set for a while. No water.



As far as changing the fuel filter is concerned, go with what you are comfortable with. I was changing them on a regular basis when I first got my truck. When I would cut one open it was always pretty clean. Just some black scum on the outside (dirty) side of the filter. Then I extended change intervals quite a bit. The filter was still pretty clean. When I ran a fish boat we changed a fuel filter when fuel pressure dropped so I decided to do that with my truck. I got nervous a while back (illflem got me worried about media collapse) and changed it. Still pretty clean and in good shape. More black gunk on the outside where it should be than before with shorter drain intervals. I've never seen a fuel pressure drop yet. Some experts claim that the dirtier a fuel filter gets the better it filters. Dunno about that, but my experience is that extended fuel filter intervals do no harm, just make you nervous. I carry a spare just in case I get some bad fuel. So far so good. I always fuel up at a card lock station and use the big nozzle to reduce the chances of getting gasoline or dirty diesel.



201K+ miles on the Green Monster so far.

 

[illflem]

I've found 25k a good time to change filters, but like Joe said carry an extra. It only takes one tank of bad fuel to plug things up. One member here reported going 63k on the filter that came new with his truck before it stalled from lack of fuel. I have to wonder if a lot of folks use that method. I don't quite understand why but a partually plugged filter will lower your mpgs. Best bet is a fuel pressure gauge.

 

[Utah Willie]

I am not sure how often one should schedule a fuel filter change, but I do know, I got a lot of advance warning that it was plugging up. Since I am moving from here in Utah to Parker, AZ, I was on the road with a load and noticed some slight chugging on a hard pull. It proceeded to worsen as I returned to Utah and by the time I arrived home (where I had a spare FF) the truck was running like s***! A new fuel filter had me back to "new" again. I think I had about the 25K that Bill recommended when it plugged.

 

[Joe G.]

The important thing is clean fuel. One load of bad fuel will make you walk shortly. If you always get clean fuel you can go a long ways on a filter. We got a good dose of fungus on the fish boat one year. We bought filters by the case until we got rid of that.

 

[CumminsPower98]

I went to visit some friends this summer down near St. George Ut. who have a '96 CTD 2WD that has been slowly loosing power. It's all stock and they really like it. I suggested that they change the fuel filter and adjust the valves and such things. So I get down there and we get the fuel filter off and guess what, it still has factory paint on it suggesting it's never been changed in 118K!!! Also the valves had never been adjusted (no chipped paint). So after the new filter, adjusting the valves and replace leaking fuel return hose it had more power but still a little slow (except I forgot what stock feels like). I suggested they pull the cat and gut it or replace with a piece of pipe since it is probably plugged. I have not heard back yet on the cat killing operation.



Living here in dry South East Utah I have never seen any water in my filter canister so I don't even bother to drain it.

 

[Pit Bull]

I change mine every 12K and drain some fuel once a month. Run Rotella DFA at every fill-up and I also run some biocide in the humid part of the year. I also alway fill-up at a truck stop that handles a bunch of big rigs and I alway use the big nozzle pumps so I don't screw up and put gas in my rig. I know I'm anal

 

[Joe G.]

Holy overkill, Pit Bull!!!!

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by Joe G.

Holy overkill, Pit Bull!!!!

Your making fun of me

 

[GLASMITHS]

Pit Bull

Wait until he has to change the filter on the side of the road; hopefully he will make it to the nearest rest area; about 95Deg outside, hot engine, moma whinning, ... ... ... ... I been there. Good preventative maintainance keeps yoo cummins hummin

 

[Joe G.]

You haven't changed a fuel filter until you do it in a fish boat in a hot engine room trying not to get burnt on a hot engine during rough weather. That tends to cause a blue tint in the air. I did that a lot shortly after we bought the boat. The previous owner let it set all winter with no biocide in the fuel. Lots of algie in the fuel because of that. It looked like snot and plugged up the filters rather quickly. After we killed it we still had plenty of brown dead snot to filter out. Lots of fun in a storm!



I always carry an extra filter. I also have a fuel pressure gauge so I can see if it starts to plug up. If it plugs up fast that would be caused by bad fuel at the last fill up. That would get you regardless of how old the filter was.



From what I have read on some old threads in these forums and on some truck sites a dirty fuel filter actually filters better. The gunk plugs up the big holes in the media. Like I said above, do what you are comfortable with. I'm comfortable with running it until I see a pressure drop. Then there is still plenty of time before it gets desparate. I put enuff miles on mine that I don't need to worry about a biocide because the fuel goes thru the truck pretty quickly. If I have to park it for some time the fuel will get doped up for that.



Mine still runs glassy smooth. This morning about 4:20 or so I was running along I5. I noticed that I passed a truck like it had stopped. Looked at the speedo and it said 95. Backed off. Smooth at all speeds. I would like to wear out these small injectors so I could justify a bigger set. No luck with that so far.

 

[GLASMITHS]

RIDE IN A BOAT?????

That is one experience I will not partake in. I drove 29 miles out of the way to fuel up at a huge truckstop South of StLouis. 200 miles later the filter got changed on the side of the road. You figure where I got the bad fuel. Also, there was about 900 miles on the filter. I also have a fuel pressure gauge, and plan to start watching it instead of bad feelings about that experience.

 

[Joe G.]

That's exactly why I installed a marine pressure alarm switch along with my fuel pressure gauge. If my fuel pressure drops below 10 PSI a red light comes on. Hopefully, that will give me enuff warning of bad fuel so I don't have to change the filter on the side of the road. If I remember correctly the pressure switch was about $11. I try to keep an eye on the pressure gauge so I can see if the pressure is abnormally high as well as low. Other things than bad fuel can cause pressure problems.

 

[The patriot]

I've been draining my filter (just a few oz's) at least every week.

I've never seen any water out of it. If I catch the fuel, sometimes I get a very little sediment.

I've been doing my filters @ every 10K miles. This is too often.

I now have a fuel pressure gauge hooked up on the fuel filter housing. I dont think the senders are calibrated exact, I got 4-5 lbs drop on the filter now with 4K miles on it.

I'm going to replace the filter, and do the screen this month so that I can establish an accurate baseline.

Eric

 

[Hammer]

Overkill... .

Joe G why do you think that???

With all the miles in a diesel I run annually I'd be the first to disagree with your theory on a dirty fuel filter works better than a clean one. The longer one is let in the truck the fuel milage will fall off. Remember we do not have the luxury of the larger filters and their bigger media like the bigger series of Cummins have. With ours being so small it certainly be much better to the motors life changing sooner and help to keep fuel milage up. The old orange filter saying comes to mind here,pay me now or pay me later,what you save in allowing the filter to go longer will end up costing you as much or more in fuel milage,power and quite possibly a lift or VP44 pump in the newer trucks with the lean condition that will exsist due to a plugged fuel system.



So Overkill,nope I'd say preventive maintence...

I change mine every service with the oil,better now than later... . Andy

 

[Joe G.]

Hammer,



My fuel milage has stayed constant since the CARB change in CA fuel. The dirty filter filtering better is not just my theory. If I can find any of the articles I've read about it I will post them.



If it makes you more comfortable to change fuel filters every oil change, by all means do so. I think it's a waste of money. Every time you open the fuel system there is a danger of foreign material getting into the system. I prefer to keep my system closed up as much as possible.



The filter on the Detroit 6/71 that was in the fish boat I ran was about the same size as our filters, maybe smaller. After we finally get the algie cleaned up it ran for the whole season with no problem. That system passed a lot more fuel than ours does with more pressure (60PSI). (the main function of a 6/71 is to convert fuel into noise) That boat carried 1000 gallons of diesel fuel and didn't take long to use it up. Most other fishermen operated the same way. Change the filters before the season. From then on change if the fuel pressure dropped.

 

[navyjoe]

Originally posted by Joe G.

I gave up on the filter drain business. I have never detected any water in my fuel. For some time I would drain a little in a glass jar and let it set for a while. No water.



As far as changing the fuel filter is concerned, go with what you are comfortable with. I was changing them on a regular basis when I first got my truck. When I would cut one open it was always pretty clean. Just some black scum on the outside (dirty) side of the filter. Then I extended change intervals quite a bit. The filter was still pretty clean. When I ran a fish boat we changed a fuel filter when fuel pressure dropped so I decided to do that with my truck. I got nervous a while back (illflem got me worried about media collapse) and changed it. Still pretty clean and in good shape. More black gunk on the outside where it should be than before with shorter drain intervals. I've never seen a fuel pressure drop yet. Some experts claim that the dirtier a fuel filter gets the better it filters. Dunno about that, but my experience is that extended fuel filter intervals do no harm, just make you nervous. I carry a spare just in case I get some bad fuel. So far so good. I always fuel up at a card lock station and use the big nozzle to reduce the chances of getting gasoline or dirty diesel.



201K+ miles on the Green Monster so far.

You are correct. You should get a differential pressure increase (using a meter with two ports HI and Low placed across the filters input side and output side) as the filter media becomes clogged or flow rate increases. That is why many pressure systems have a bypass valve around the filter. Its a great way to detect the true indication of media clogging. However, there are some other reasons to change a filter due to aging effects. Pressure drop across the filter is a good trouble shooting indicator, but not the total story.

 

[Joe G.]

I agree with that. When I cut my filter open after about a year and a half I checked the condition of the filter media. No funny looking places. No crud where it shouldn't be. Sparkling clean on the inside. I suspect that aging affects would be more likely to happen with celulous (paper) than with the stuff these Fleetguard filters are made of.



I do worry about getting an unexpected large dose of water. So I have been thinking about a small Racore prefilter with a transparent bowl but I don't see a good place to mount it. That's the setup on most fish boats. Those filters are way too big for a pickup. Worked real well. Any water was trapped and easy to see. Drain cock at the bottom. The deal on the boat had the water separator and primary filter next to one another. The water separator was first. They were both pretty big gadgets. Racore does make small combination filter and water separators. This might be overkill for a pickup but it would sure catch crud and water from bad fuel before it got to the secondary (the stock) filter.



202K+ miles on the Green Monster so far.