TON4FUN

I was filling up yesterday and checked the oil and purged the water seperator to drain. Water had been coming out for almost a minute when I shut it off because I had another guy that needed to use the pump. <br><br>My question for you guys is does this happen to be normal for that much water to come out? I dipped my finger in the fluid to take a smell and it did smell like a small amount of diesel but not like the fuel itself, the overwelming smell of diesel. I was wondering if winter mix fuel causes this. I only have about 1500 miles on the new truck and lent it to a buddy for a weekend to haul some stuff. I wonder if he fueled up at a bad station or a station that does not get that much traffic. Any input on this would be appreciated. Thanks.<br>

spots

when the weather cycles from warm to cold with a less than full tank of fuel, condensation will form. This then gets pumped into your tank. While I believe that is alot of water from your separater, this time of year is tough. I try to fill up at the same place all the time, so if a problem does arise, I can track it down. Was the water in fuel light on?

TON4FUN

No it was'nt on I just drained it as normal practice. It still had more in it I just did'nt have time to drain it all out.

cp

Sounds like it's doing its job.<br><br>I've had different kinds of fuel/water separators and they vary in their effectiveness. The best kind I've used was a combination fuel/water separator and fuel heater. You had to drain this thing daily in the winter--out of 100 gallons of fuel, it would easily separate out a half pint of water.

MR. GADGET

I have not drained the 03 CTD yet but if it is the same as my 96 CTD the first part is water <br>then fuel. The water stays on the bottom of the filter and comes out first when you drain it.<br>You should not have much water if you are more then a 1/2&quot; to a 1&quot; of water<br>the &quot;WATER IN FUEL&quot; light will come on.<br>You may have been draining good clean fuel.<br>The old filters hold one quart of fuel and or water max no more!!!<br>I remember people talking about draining a quart of water and if<br>that was true the motor would have been running on water.<br>Jon

bulabula

TON4FUN, I would think you were draining fuel too. I don't think the fuel bowl would hold enough to drain for a minute, let alone it all being water. If it was all water, I don't think you would have been able to drive it to the fuel stop.<br><br>Did you drain it into a glass for inspection? or onto the ground? I normally just let it drain onto the ground. I did it tonight after fueling up - but it wouldn't drain unless the engine was running this time. My little puddle blended in with the other puddles at the truck stop. I normally flip the lever for a little bit then close it to purge any water sitting on the bottom of the bowl.<br><br>Was your engine running? If so, yes, you could probably drain over 30 gallons of fuel if you left the valve open long enough.

TON4FUN

No the engine was not running. I drained it again this morning and the same thing. I think something is wrong with the seporator. As for filling up in the same spot I always do that, but its hard to do when your 600 miles away, sometimes you have to fill up in odd ball spots. When I traveled with my old SO I always tried to fill up at busy stations. I don't know if my buddy did or not. <br><br>I will be taking it in next week to get he issue ironed out. I just wanted to see what everyone else was experiencing. My old SO never leaked a drop out of that container.

Mattdrew

I live in Miami Florida my truck is only two months old with 2800 miles. At the begining I would pull the switch to check for water as the manual indicated but nothing ever came out(the truck was not running according to the manual)? Am I doing something wrong. The dealer told me not to touch it they will check it when I take in for an oil change. I tried to change the oil at 1000 they suggested I do it at 3500 because thats the best break in oil the truck has now. Since I am new at owning a diesel I did as he said .

Badunit

Ton4Fun, if you are draining water then there is nothing wrong with the separator, it is doing it's job. Or did I miss something and you are now talking about a fuel leak from the cannister?<br><br>Mattdrew, there is a TSB related to this. Mine had the same problem and the TSB fixed it. Here's the link:<br><br>http://dodgeram.info/tsb/2002/14-005-02.htm

Mattdrew

Thanks badunit will try in the am. will let you know results.

Drafter

After reading this post I went out and rotated the lever on the water/fuel seperator. Fluid immediately began spilling out on the garage floor. I shut of the valve after a second or two and the unmistakeable odor of diesel fuel was evident. Being new to diesels my questions are these. <br><br>1) Is this something you are supposed to do at every fill up or if not then how often. Also, if you do this at the station I assume you have to climb up on the front bumper to reach the valve because I don't see how else you could reach it.<br><br>2) If there is water in the seperator it will flow out first but eventually you will be spilling out pure fuel once the water is purged because the seperator simply allows a bowl for water to settle and once it is empty the fuel will start draining. Correct??<br><br>Thanks.

Berak

MY first diesel is still on order, so I am curious if it is visibly evident when your done draining water and are now draiing fuel?

phox_mulder

[quote author=Berak link=board=17;threadid=12713;start=0#122152 date=1049040930]<br>MY first diesel is still on order, so I am curious if it is visibly evident when your done draining water and are now draiing fuel?<br>[/quote]<br><br>What I do is drain it into a clear 12 ounce coke bottle.<br>Let it sit for a bit, and the water will sink to the bottom, or rather, the fuel will float on top.<br>If you don't see any seperation, then you didn't have any water in there.<br><br>I gave up trying to drain it every fill up, as nothing ever came out.<br>But when I change my filter (every 10,000) I do this drain procedure just to make sure.<br><br><br>phox

bulabula

I drain it once every 4 or 5 fillups. I've found that its too much of a PIA to try and drain it into a glass for inspection. The ground works for me. Then again I've never had the WIF alert either.<br><br>Drafter, you're correct on Q#2.<br><br>As said a couple of times earlier, sometimes the fuel doesn't like to come out anyways.<br><br>I carry a little 2-step step ladder that makes this easy.<br><br>Don't do this in your ashpalt driveway, the fuel wreaks havoc on it.