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freddmc's avatar
freddmc
Explorer
Sep 04, 2016

Water in Fuel

A friend recently had a situation where water in fuel destroyed his injector pump in his 2008 Ford F350. He said there was no warning that he had water in the fuel.
How can one check to make sure this warning system actually works? I have a 2005 Ram cummins.

Thanks
  • Kafn8td wrote:
    Most modern diesels have a water separator in the fuel line. I think Ford recommends it be drained monthly, not sure about Dodge.


    A lot of people check that filter by draining a little every time they fill up. The filter is under the truck, right underneath the driver's seat so you can check it without crawling under the vehicle.

    Also that filter needs to be changed every second oil change.
  • Greene728 wrote:
    Turtle n Peeps wrote:
    Your friends 08 Ford has a totally different fuel system made by a totally different manufacture than your Cummins.

    I know of no way to check it other than putting a little water in the filter housing and see if it trips the sensor.

    I also would not worry about this too much with the fuel system you have. The CP3 pump is a pretty robust fuel system. The Ford system; not so much.


    What T&P said. It's pretty much a non issue for you.


    The 05 Dodges have a single fuel filter and have been the source of injector failures which can lead to engine failure.
  • freddmc wrote:
    A friend recently had a situation where water in fuel destroyed his injector pump in his 2008 Ford F350. He said there was no warning that he had water in the fuel.
    How can one check to make sure this warning system actually works? I have a 2005 Ram cummins.

    Thanks


    Did your friend use Motorcraft/Parkers fuel filters? All the aftermarket fuel filters I've seen do not have the aquablock membrane and will allow water to pass thru the filter.
  • I was at a local shop that works almost strictly of Ford Power Stroke engines. They showed me various cut open fuel filters for the Ford Diesels. Only the Ford filter had a waterproof membrane in it to stop the water. All the rest of them appeared to have adequate filter media, but none of them had Ford's water membrane.

    I often use aftermarket items because I think a lot of them are better than the OEM trying to pinch a few pennies - in this case, I'm staying with the Ford fuel filters.

    Bill
  • Turtle n Peeps wrote:
    Your friends 08 Ford has a totally different fuel system made by a totally different manufacture than your Cummins.

    I know of no way to check it other than putting a little water in the filter housing and see if it trips the sensor.

    I also would not worry about this too much with the fuel system you have. The CP3 pump is a pretty robust fuel system. The Ford system; not so much.


    What T&P said. It's pretty much a non issue for you.
  • Most modern diesels have a water separator in the fuel line. I think Ford recommends it be drained monthly, not sure about Dodge.
  • Your friends 08 Ford has a totally different fuel system made by a totally different manufacture than your Cummins.

    I know of no way to check it other than putting a little water in the filter housing and see if it trips the sensor.

    I also would not worry about this too much with the fuel system you have. The CP3 pump is a pretty robust fuel system. The Ford system; not so much.