Today on my way back to school the plastic drain on the fuel filter decided that it wanted to not seal anymore! I haven't taken it off yet, but it's either cracked or just plain worn out. So it was leaking a steady drip while the engine was running. Nobody around my area has access to a WIF sensor so I've got to wait for one to come from Geno's Garage. In the meantime I went and bought another filter, and found that a 1" plastic pipe plug will fit into the opening to hopefully seal it up. I'm going to install it tomorrow, it fits very snug so hopefully it works out just fine. This is just an informational post so if anybody else runs into the same problem they can just get a 1" plastic pipe plug from Menards or Home Depot for less than a buck. Hopefully this helps someone out in the future! I'll let you all know tomorrow if it is successful...

 

There isn't a Cummins Midwest dealer in MN?

There's a couple of orings insidde the drain valve that get old and crack. It's common.

 

Don't leave that plug in too long.
Diesel melts PVC very well.
There is a very common autoparts replacement oil drain plug that fits exactly.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the PVC, infidel. The plug ended up not working, the threads wouldn't flex enough to make it seal so I ended up taping the old sensor up to slow the leak down. I stopped in to try to find a plug that would fit but the opening is so huge that none of the plugs were even close. There is a Cummins dealer around here, but they have to order from the distributer and they only have the filter/sensor combo kit and that costs over $50 directly from Cummins, plus it wouldn't be here until Tuesday anyway... So I figured I don't have to really drive anywhere (college kid) so I can afford to let the truck sit. Hopefully that replacement gets here this week though...

 

Bummer, it sounds like the parts guy was too lazy to look up the part number for just the drain valve;
94-96 drain valve p/n 3831852-S

 

I just bought one

they are about 45 bucks from the dealership

Rick

 

The Cummins guy did look up the P/N for just the drain, but they didn't have any in stock. I feel like a bit of a dufus now... It ended up not being the drain, but the fuel filter was actually cracked and the fuel was running down the filter where I couldn't see it and it really looked like it was the WIF sensor leaking. It was a lot of messing around, but I finally figured it out. The fuel filter was just put on last week... I think it was a manufacturing defect, it was cracked on the top lip, just outside of the large rubber gasket. For the record it was a Purolator filter, the first time I ever used one and I was forced to put another one on because that's all that was in town and available today. So... I guess I've got a new WIF sensor coming just for preventative maintenance! Thanks for all the help though folks!