Water in Fuel? When Do You Drain the Filter?

[BurbMan]

Hi diesel noob here again LOL....so I'm considering taking the plunge and buying my first diesel, 2015 Ram 3500 with 6.7L Cummins and 81k miles.

Reading through the Diesel Supplement to the owner's manual, it says that if the "Water in Fuel" light comes on while driving, to stop immediately and drain both fuel filters, one of which is located under the truck. It occurs to me that that light is only going to come on when I'm dressed up taking DW somewhere...

Do you drain the filters periodically to prevent the light from coming on? How often is that needed? If you're on the 8-lane bypass with traffic zipping by and the light comes on, do you pull over and shut 'er down?

Thanks in advance!

[noteven]

4x4ord wrote:
I think periodic fuel filter changes is a waste of time and money. If you get dirty fuel the new filter will plug almost immediately.... if the fuel you get is clean your filters will last for years. Some of my diesel engines haven't seen a filter change in 15 years. I change my fuel filters if I notice a lack of power or when the fuel restriction gauge shows a problem.

Don’t tell anyone but I was learned in Fleetguard filtration school that air filters need not be changed until the restriction indicator says to change. They do a better job of filtering as they load with dirt.

[Grit_dog]

4x4ord wrote:
I think periodic fuel filter changes is a waste of time and money. If you get dirty fuel the new filter will plug almost immediately.... if the fuel you get is clean your filters will last for years. Some of my diesel engines haven't seen a filter change in 15 years. I change my fuel filters if I notice a lack of power or when the fuel restriction gauge shows a problem.

But your views on vehicle maintenance is THE reason more people buy new cars and are afraid of what they're getting in a used vehicle.


For the uninformed here, 4x basically buys a new vehicle, does the absolute minimum humanly possible to maintain it and then buys another new one before that one gets enough miles on it to have major problems due to lack of maintenance.

He's a used truck buyer's worst nightmare...

[ppine]

BurbMan,
You can pick up a load of water at any time. Like from the bottom of a gas tank that doesn't see much sales volume. If you see the light on the dash, by all means drain some fuel (and water) out of your fuel filter. Keeping the tank closer to full eliminates a lot of condensation in winter. Diesels are forgiving engines, but they don;t like water.

[cummins2014]

4x4ord wrote:
I think periodic fuel filter changes is a waste of time and money. If you get dirty fuel the new filter will plug almost immediately.... if the fuel you get is clean your filters will last for years. Some of my diesel engines haven't seen a filter change in 15 years. I change my fuel filters if I notice a lack of power or when the fuel restriction gauge shows a problem.

I am kind of with you on this, although I do change this 2014 Ram of mine once a year, never had a fuel light come on yet, until the wires got chaffed on the rear fuel sensor on this Ram, and every time I would go thru a rainstorm I would get the warning ,new fuel sensor , no more warnings.

My previous 99 ford Superduty , got three fuel filter changes that I can remember in nearly 16 years. Never drained the filter ,never had a water in fuel warning. To this date 22 years with a diesel truck ,and never had a warning because of bad fuel. Lucky, no idea. Have bought diesel all over the western US , and parts of Canada.

[4x4ord]

I think periodic fuel filter changes is a waste of time and money. If you get dirty fuel the new filter will plug almost immediately.... if the fuel you get is clean your filters will last for years. Some of my diesel engines haven't seen a filter change in 15 years. I change my fuel filters if I notice a lack of power or when the fuel restriction gauge shows a problem.

[ACZL]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

ACZL wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
"I didn't drain the separator at last oil change and all is still well"

You better drain it today or you won't sleep tonight!

Wanna bet? It's 420am EST, 1st nite back to work and eyes are not doing so well staying open. LOL

Good to hear! Build America!!!

Sorry, my post was a tad misleading. Was on vaykay last week. My work has been deemed essential and having been w/ this place for close to 30 years, was pretty safe from getting laid-off. Did drop down to 4 day work week, but still goin'.

[patperry2766]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Dennisokey wrote:
I have a 2018 Ram 2500, with it you replace both fuel filters every 15k. Go to www.Genosgarage.com for best prices on Oem filters. He does a great job explaining why you should no go with a non-oem filter on a diesel.

I like to support Geno's but the OE MOPAR filters are $85.80 on AMAZON Prime and Geno's Racor and Mopar are $108.42 with shipping of $10.52.

x2. There are some good videos on Youtube on doing it yourself. For S&G I asked at the dealership last time I was in how much to change them. Their quote was close to $300. Last change took less than an hour so I guess my time is worth $200 an hour. Wish my employer felt the same way

[4x4ord]

I've had a water in fuel light come on once. I pulled over immediately and drained the primary filter. If you get fuel with water in it there is no way of knowing how much water you got .... In the rare instances that a water in fuel light comes on I would recommend pulling over immediately. Draining your filter periodically is a waste of time in my opinion. If there is water in the filter bowl the light should be on. If there is no water in the bowl why are you draining it?

[Cummins12V98]

ACZL wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
"I didn't drain the separator at last oil change and all is still well"

You better drain it today or you won't sleep tonight!

Wanna bet? It's 420am EST, 1st nite back to work and eyes are not doing so well staying open. LOL

Good to hear! Build America!!!

[Cummins12V98]

Dennisokey wrote:
I have a 2018 Ram 2500, with it you replace both fuel filters every 15k. Go to www.Genosgarage.com for best prices on Oem filters. He does a great job explaining why you should no go with a non-oem filter on a diesel.

I like to support Geno's but the OE MOPAR filters are $85.80 on AMAZON Prime and Geno's Racor and Mopar are $108.42 with shipping of $10.52.

[ACZL]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
"I didn't drain the separator at last oil change and all is still well"

You better drain it today or you won't sleep tonight!

Wanna bet? It's 420am EST, 1st nite back to work and eyes are not doing so well staying open. LOL

[Edd505]

driving diesels since my 1st 99 super duty, 750K on a 60 series Detroit and never had water in the fuel.

[Dennisokey]

I have a 2018 Ram 2500, with it you replace both fuel filters every 15k. Go to www.Genosgarage.com for best prices on Oem filters. He does a great job explaining why you should no go with a non-oem filter on a diesel.

[Huntindog]

I have been driving diesels since 2001. Never had any water in the fuel. I change the filters when the truck tells me to. They last a long time.

If you ever get a WIF light.... Deal with it immeadiatly! It means you probably gt a lot of water at your last fill up. It is one of those things that hardly ever happens, but when it does, it is a big deal. Kind of like your oil light coming on. People worry about it too much though as it probably will never happen to you.