Water in Fuel (UPDATE)

[Executive45]

Hello all. Looking for some information. Cummins, ISM diesel.

My 'Water in Fuel' light has come on. In the past, when this happened, I simply purged the water separator for about 15-30 seconds and the light would go off. This time, though, it's not doing that. I normally keep my fuel tank topped off to minimize any condensation from forming inside the tank. We are in Florida and have been in the Gulf Coast region for the past five months or so. I last filled the tank in Wildwood and have driven almost 300 miles since with no problems. We left West Palm Beach for Fort Meyers and about half way there the light came on. I stopped and purged the separator but have not been able to extinguish the light/alarm so I'm thinking there's still some moisture in the fuel. I have a 150 gallon tank and figure I've burned about 40 gallons or so. This is our first trip into Florida, and I'm assuming I did not get a bad batch of fuel. The engine runs fine, does not miss and is strong. That said, here's my questions:

With the high humidity of this area, could I have accumulated that much moisture in the tank from condensation?

How long a time is 'normal' to purge the water separator ? Am I not opening the drain long enough?

I'm assuming I did not get a bad batch of fuel as I think it would have surfaced well before 300 miles. Is this a fair assumption?

What else should I look for/do? The fuel filters were all changed in March of this year. I have extra filters on board and am currently parked at a campground so it's not yet an emergency situation.

Thanks for any advice and/or suggestions.....Dennis

[Executive45]

Thanks everyone for their suggestions....I disconnected the sender, cleaned it and put some dialectic grease on it and reconnected it. I changed the fuel filter while I was in there. Finally, I added 32 oz of Diesel 911. We left this morning and arrived at John Pennecamp in Key Largo with no issues at all. Apparently one or all three fixed the "issue". All is good now...happy camping....Dennis

[Trackrig]

Yes, that makes more sense, but sometimes I miss the obvious.


Bill

[wolfe10]

Suspect he is talking about the EXTERNAL connections, not the ones inside the fuel filter/water separator.

[Trackrig]

Ed C wrote:
We had the same problem. There was no water in the fuel. I disconnected the sensor cleaned it and used a hair dryer to dry it out. Then I loaded it with dialectic grease and no more WATER IN FUEL. I learn how to do it on this forum!

Ed - I understand dialectic grease for electrical connections, but please educate me about using it in this situation. My first thought is that if the sensor was coated in dialectic grease it wouldn't be able to sense any water if there really was any?

Thanks,

Bill

[Busskipper]

Executive wrote:
Hello all. Looking for some information. Cummins, ISM diesel.

My 'Water in Fuel'............ We left West Palm Beach for Fort Meyers and about half way there the light came on. Exec, what are you doing in Florida? you should be in the Mountains -- It's HOT.

With the high humidity of this area, could I have accumulated that much moisture in the tank from condensation? I doubt the Humidity will be the problem, just a guess but it might be into the filter now and is not just draining?

How long a time is 'normal' to purge the water separator ? Am I not opening the drain long enough? I've never had to drain it for more than about 6-8 ozs, so you should be good.

I'm assuming I did not get a bad batch of fuel as I think it would have surfaced well before 300 miles. Is this a fair assumption? Yes and No -- the lower the fuel the more it mixes with the water -- slosh factor so it would have more opportunity to get to the filter and the sensor.

What else should I look for/do? The fuel filters were all changed in March of this year. I have extra filters on board and am currently parked at a campground so it's not yet an emergency situation. If the cleaning of the connection does not solve it I've used a fuel additive called 911 from Napa or Wal*Mart - it usually solves all my water in fuel issues.

Thanks for any advice and/or suggestions.....Dennis

Let us know how it goes.

Last time I was in Florida was in a February and I moved up to Hilton Head to Cool Off!

Always enjoy reading your posts,

BOL,

[Sully2]

Executive wrote:
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try cleaning the sensor today....D

Its the sensor. I had one go belly up on my ISC and on those they shut the engine down...kaput!!

[Executive45]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try cleaning the sensor today....D

[Ed_C]

We had the same problem. There was no water in the fuel. I disconnected the sensor cleaned it and used a hair dryer to dry it out. Then I loaded it with dialectic grease and no more WATER IN FUEL. I learn how to do it on this forum!

[eheading]

As a resident of Florida, I do not believe that you could get THAT much moisture in your fuel because of the humidity. You could have gotten some fuel with water in it, but as you said, you would think that would have appeared before 300 miles. The only suggestion I would make is to go to a NAPA or equivalent store and get some "water absorber" to put into your tank, and see if that extinguishes the light. If that doesn't work, I would begin to suspect the "water sensor".

Ed Headington