WIF light came on this morning

[mazdarotary]

Hey guys I am sorry if this has been covered to death but in my searching I didn't find what I was looking for. This morning on the way to work a few miles from home my WIF light illuminated. I quickly pulled off the road and left the truck running. I figured maybe there was so water in the fuel due to the heavy rains we have been experiencing so I figured I would lift up on the the drain thing on the filter and drain the water out. I tried this several times and the ligt never shut off. So the I figured I would turn around and drive the few miles back home and steal the wifes car for the day. About a half mile up the street before I could turn around the light shut off,so I figured it was safe to head to work. I got on the highway and drove about an hour with no problems at all.





Should I have not driven it to work?Should I have shut it down right away when the light illuminated?ShouldI change the filter again. It was replaced about 6000 miles ago. A similar thing happened a few weeks ago when while driving in the rain around a off/on ramp from one highway to the next the light came on,but shut off before i had time to pull over. What could this be?





Chris

 

[DOUGMartin]

Could be the cencer is getting water on it from the rain and damp. I have heard of some people getting the light after hosing under the hood due to water on the cencer. Im not sure if this is it but could be.

 

[tugboatphil]

Chris,



I may be wrong, but I think that once fuel is moving through the filter, an "on" light is a malfunction. I think that to complete the circuit inside the filter housing, water has to be setting on the bottom. Once the system is in operation, the fuel and water would mix to the point where that couldn't happen.



I would check the plug and wires coming off the sensor.

 

[cerberusiam]

The fuel filter is also a water trap. The water settles to the bottom and stays there around the prongs on the WIF sensor and completes the circuit. If there is water in there the light will stay on while running. I have to pull the sensor clean and blow it dry everytime I wash the engine off cuz the water gets in the connector and the base and completes the circuit. It will also go on and off when I run in a lot of rain and water on the roads. I think the problem is several small cracks in places that lets the water in. The WIF sensor is not really a fail safe mechanism when it comes to water in the fuel. Depending how well the water is mixed in the fuel you could be ingesting water to the injection pump before the light comes on. If you have major water contamination you should see idle and running problems and hard starting along with the light on. If the engine runs good and the light comes on, all connections being tight and dry, it is and indication of a devloping problem not necessarily and immediate one. I wouldn't drive it a couple hundred miles at that point but getting to your nearest stopping point and investigating should not be a problem. You might try wrapping the WIF harness in good electrical tape and see if that makes a difference. That helped on mine.

 

[Greenleaf]

Yep! Mine too will illuminate (word of the day guys) when I get things wet. I remove it and blow some starting fluid into the connection to flush out any crud then,, blow dry... ... ..... brush and tease and apply a liberal amount of hair spray, protecting the patron's eyes... ... ... ah,... . what were we discussing again?



-S