"Water in Fuel" light

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Brian w. Hall

Brian w. Hall

Well-known member
Joined
May 21, 2007
Posts
93
Location
USA
My "water in fuel" light came on for the first time when I turned on my RV.  I just had work done on my radiator hose and power steering belt.  My "low cool" light has also been coming on even though I filled up the coolant.  Are these two related?  Can I drive with this light on?  I have an appointment to get everything checked out before a long trip but still have about 30 miles to drive tonight.  Any thoughts would help.  Thanks.
 
Since they're fed from different sensors in different places, I'd expect the two alerts to be separate issues. If you don't have a spare water separator/filter, you can drain any accumulated water from it by opening the valve at the bottom of the filter (or the bowl, if it has a bowl on the bottom). Use a container to capture the water & fuel that comes out. This is a diesel engine, right? Gas vehicles don't normally have water separators or water sensors, although gas powered boats do have water separators.

I kept getting the low coolant alarm on our last trip and it didn't go out until I topped up the overflow reservoir to the 'high' mark. One of our forum members has had a low coolant alarm on his diesel coach for several years and he believes it's a bad sensor.
 
Thanks tom,

I am not too mechanicaly inclined but I do have common sense. Is this something I can figure out and do right now? Like I said I have an appointment with Cummins tomorrow but dont want to cause any damage. If I did drive with that 'water in fuel' light what would happen? I dont know what valve to look for. Any other advice or description would be great thanks.

Brian
 
Personally I would not run the engine untill I had drained fuel from the filters as Tom had mentioned and replaced the fuel filters.
 
Brian,

The fact that the light is on tells you that you have some water in the bottom of the filter (or bowl), but it doesn't tell you how much or if it's possible for it to get to the engine. The result of it getting to the engine while driving will likely be that you come to an abrupt halt and may not be able to restart. I'll see if I can upload a photo of a typical filter water drain. Gimme a little time to find it.
 
Ok thanks. I do see the "water fuel seperator" but i didnt see a valve on it to release any air. Is this caused by the 100degree weather its been here in Atlanta? I cant wait to get it to Cummins, just hope It will make it. ill wait to hear anything new from you guys. I found the seperator but dont know what to do with it.

Brian
 
Its a FleetGaurd FS19592 water fuel sperator. I didnt see any valve on it. I saw something that looked like a bicycle tire air valve though.

 
I tried to upload a picture but it said the ' upload file is full'. how can  i post a pic?
 
Sorry Brian, took my eye off the ball. You should be able to upload your photo now.
 
Here it is. Do you guys see anything that might help me fix this problem?
 

Attachments

  • fuelfilter.jpg
    fuelfilter.jpg
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I was told that i could drive it with the water in fuel light on. I only need to go about 30 miles to the cummins place. is this a bad idea? thanks

brian
 
Brian,

That filter has a screw-on bowl at the bottom. If you're sure it doesn't have a drain valve in the bottom of the bowl, you could remove the bowl and dump out whatever is in there. Be sure to use a bucket or something similar under the filter when you remove the bowl because you'll get more than just the contents of the bowl coming out. If you have your owners manual, please check something before removing the bowl .... Look for something that tells you if the fuel filter needs to be filled (with fuel) before replacing it, or if the fuel pump will take care of filling the filter. One thing you don't need is air in there that can't be overcome by the fuel pump.

As for driving it as is, your choice. It could be just fine, but you just don't know how much water is in there. If you've been using the coach, my guess is that there's not much water in there and you could drive it, assuming you haven't taken on a load of fuel that had water in it. If so, all bets are off. As I said, your choice.
 
Thank you for all the help with this. Rather than rushing to get this fixed right now Im going to wait until the morning and talk to cummins and talk to camping world since i just got it serviced there this morning. If I need to Ill try more tomorrow getting any water out. On a side note, I have been inspired to become a diesel mechanic and am researching some schools. ill give an update tomorrow. thanks.
 
.... wait until the morning and talk to cummins...
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good plan.

.... talk to camping world since i just got it serviced there this morning.
Click to expand...

What! If they didn't change the water separator/fuel filter as part of the service they need to pay for any and all remedial costs, including any towing that might be involved. I'd ask them to give you a certified list of everything they did (not the bill).

When my wife's Lexus showed a low fluid light a couple of days after having it serviced by the Lexus dealer I was all over the service manager. When she took it back, sure enough one of the fluids (don't recall if it was engine oil or transmission fluid) was low, albeit not at a dangerous level. The following service was on them.
 
I drive a schoolbus and we have that setup also. When our humidity is high we
can get that water in fuel light, also if its been raining. The mechanics tell us to
do our run and bring it in to the shop at the end of our run. Some of the bowls
on the seperator are clear and you can see the fuel, its its milky looking thats
the water in it, but some of the bowls are solid so you can't see through them.
 
Ava,

I'd be interested to know from the mechanics and tech guys here how ambient moisture/humidity/rain can have any effect of the amount of water/moisture in your fuel system.
 
Could maybe happen if the water in fuel alarm  connector is not seated or in some way exposed to moisture.  Of course IMHO if this is the case a good maintenance shop would make sure it didn't happen again by fixing it properly.
 
Ron, isn't the water/moisture sensor inside the bowl or filter? Detecting water/moisture outside the bowl/filter is meaningless.
 
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