OK What am I doing wrong. I went to drain the seperator to replace my fuel filter. I rotated the yellow handle clockwise from the right side of the case to where it is now in the center pointing towards the front of the truck. No fluid comes out. I tried pushing, pulling, etc. but no fuel will come out. I have a 2007 5.9L.

Tom

 

You may not have any water in there. Mine did the same thing when I was changing the fuel filter. No water what so ever when I removed the filter.

Boris

 

You should have something come out, water or fuel.

Perhaps you didn't see the fuel. With the filter in and the system sealed the flow coming out will be a trickle.

What fuel that does come out will run right down onto the front differential leaving no evidence on the ground.

Did you go ahead and change the filter? Did it drain when you got the filter out?

If you got the filter out and the canister has a pool of fuel in it then something is definitely clogged up.

 

Once I figured out that open was rotated to the right and not pointing straight to the front I was able to getg some flow by rotating the yellow handle several times and then backing off just a tad from the full right rotation.

Tom

 

just read this and was gonna say if your lever was rotated to the right to begin with then you must be getting really poor mileage ... since that's how you drain the bowl

 

Well.......there have been some issues with the drain getting plugged too. If you open it and nothing comes out.....leave it open and turn the key on. The added pressure from the lift pump should be enough to unclog the drain.

 

Proper procedure is to drain that with engine idling - place a hose over the drain spout, other end in a clear container so you can inspect the liquid - an empty bottled-water bottle will do, just dry the remaining water so you don't confuse it with what you're draining from the filter - 1/4 bottle will suffice - if fuel is clear, pour it back in the tank.

 

Ok I did mine for the first time recently and when I tried to drain it before removing the filter nothing came out. I pulled the filter and the canister was full of fuel so I attempted to drain it again and it drained fine. I thought there may be a slight vacuum holding it in when the cap was sealed tight.

 

page 380 of the manual has a big "Caution: Do not drain the fuel/water separator filter when the engine is running" Besides that why would you want to do this?

Also FYI, the manual recommends you periodically drain a small amount from filter to drain any water that may be in there. I do every couple weeks in the winter. It's important up here where winters are so cold and the water will freeze solid.

 

I was thinking that was a little crazy to drain with engine running. I also drain mine every couple weeks.

 

That's for the casual drainer - don't just reach down there and dump the effluent with engine running - the fuel is under ~15psig pressure and the stuff will splatter everywhere, could cause a fire - not to mention polluting the ground underneath - place a hose on the drain spout, other end in a clean dry bottle - crack the valve to get some drainage, see what's in the bottle - don't crack the valve wide open or the pressurized fuel will swirl the water as it exits, leaving some in the cannister - if the drainage is good clear fuel, pour it back in the tank.

As mentioned, the contents are usually 'vacuum-locked' and you may not get sufficient drainage with engine off - which is also a fairly good indication your system has no leaks - fuel is much denser than air, so you can have an air leak with no 'wet-spot' indication - if the fuel easily drains with engine off, it may be indication of an air leak in the system .