myglide

Dont trust your water in fuel light to let you know if you have water, BECAUSE it might not work. Just took my 04 to the shop full of water and the light didnt come and it never thru a code for it either!!! And of cource DC is not responseable for the damage it created. The bad part is they know that there could be a problem with the sensor. If the fuel becomes contaminated it can cause it not to read water in the fuel. But guess what can mess up the sensor? WATER!!!!!! pretty cool we own trucks that has a sensor for our use to be able to tell if there is water in the fuel and it might not work because the water that got in the fuel messed it up!!! And the sensor is in the fuel bowl after the transfer pump what good is that water in the pump=trashed pump!!!So if it did read water you still trashed your transfer pump!Going after station where i got fuel they said they will make it right. I hope so will find out Friday. Just wanted to pass this little tidbit on for those that might not have known.

Patrolman808

Yea, I found that out too when my engine died on me in Oct. You just have to love DC and how they try to stick it to us after we give them 30K+.

jkitterman

In my owners manual, it states to drain the water every fill-up. Are you two saying you have never touched it?

Mark Thomas

Well, My turn: My water light has never come on not one time, I drain it twice a week and nothing but fuel ever comes out. Not flaming anyone but I think I would find another fuel source JM02

Geico266

A good diesel fuel additive would have disbursed the water in the fuel. Power service works well.

Sampling the fuel filter at least once a month would have indicated water in the fuel. Extend the drain tube so you can get sample in a clean, clear, glass jar.

Keeping your fuel tank at least 1/2 full would have helped keep the condensation(water) out of the fuel. Humid air gets in the tank and when it gets cold at night water condenses inside the tank. Keep you tank full as possible.

I know it is frustrating, but more than likely the only one that could have avoided water in your fuel is the guy behind the steering wheel. We should not rely on "idiot lights" to save the day. These are diesel engines and we need to learn how to maintain them. IMHO.

Scotty

I have the opposite problem, light comes on randomly...WIF sensor is defective.
Dealer said minimum of two weeks national back order and the part is coming up out of the USA. Its a known problem that these sensors fail.

Did you ask the dealer to order one? How long did it take to get it?

Patrolman808

I drain mine every 2 weeks or so.

myglide

OK Lets back up,
1. I do drain it off and as many others only fuel comes out.

2.The system was dry, dealer had to replace defective pump in the tank so all the fuel was new fuel, dealer didnt want me to fill it full in case there was a problem and they had to remove the tank again.

3. So if it was new fuel not in the system what water would I drain off, until you start it the fuel doesnt reach the sensor therefore its to late and also I use a well known and dependable diesel treatment for water and anti-gelling. ( my brother is a over the road driver and mechanic for about 30 years, its what he recommanded and his company uses and has never had a problem)

4. The issue is we are in a electronic age everything is controled by this, so your saying that we shouldnt rely on "idiot lights" what else do we have this is the equipment they provide for us to detect problems. Are you saying that you dont rely on any of the gauges in your truck? Even after market gauges use sensors!! We all rely on what the dash says weather its OEM or aftermarket we have these on our trucks for a reason, TO HELP US PREVENT A PROBLEM!!!

5. Yeah your right maybe I should find another source for fuel, But who do you choose. The one I use supplies about 75% of the fuel used in my town from consumers like us to big trucks, farm equipment, etc. So who do you pick are you going to ask them to check there tanks for water before you fill up every time? If they do you will be lucky!! We dont know who to choose any one can have water at any time. Besides that most places will tell you they are aloud to have a certian amount of water present in there tanks, But what is a acceptable amount? We have to go by what they tell us. So how is the person behind the wheel going to know? If you have a secret please let us know because at this time we ALL are at the word of the supplier.

6. Diesel engines are not something new to me I have been involved with them all my life, But they changed a great deal from years ago. We are at the mercy of the manufactures. Again its the age of electronics. So what they give us is what we have to use and if it dont work and they know there are issues what are we the consumers to do? Rely on what is there!!! So I dont feel Im a "idiot" for relying on my gauges and lights, Because we ALL RELY on them. These are the tools that have been given to us and its all we have.

SBishop

Since when does the '04 have a fuel pump in the tank?

cp

Dealers and mechanics like to blame "bad fuel" for about anything they can't readily diagnose. I will ask for a sample of the fuel if and when I'm ever told that bad fuel is the culprit. You could have the station test their tank for water (very easy to do...paste on the end of a stick) and they can tell you exactly how much water is at the bottom of the tank.

I'm not saying there isn't bad fuel out there, only that it is far more rare than we read about on these forums.

Lightman

From the sound of the damage, no diesel fuel additive would disperse that much water. Typically, additives only disperse their weight in water - so 5 oz in tank may only disperse 5oz water. Hard to know how much you had in there, but likely a lot.

This is just another supporting case to what I've been saying about additives all along though. It's best to use an emulsifying additive to disperse the water that's present in all fuel (not huge amounts like this poor gentleman) because the stock water separators do NOT WORK.

cp

Have to disagree with that.

Emulsifiers only serve to increase the overall amount of water that will pass thru your system. I want to minimize the amount of water going thru the injection system, not maximize it, whether emuslified or not. If the water is already in a state in which the water separator cannot strip it out of the fuel, it's already emulsified to the point that it's going to go thru the injection system--what else do you want it to do? If it's at the point where it is about to fall out of suspension with the fuel, that's what I want it to do and let the water separator catch it.

To sum up: If I'm not seeing any water when draining the separator, it's already emulsified to the point that it's harmless anyway--an emulsifer isn't going to anything. If I DO see water when draining, I sure don't want to re-suspend that water so it can get through to the injection system, I want a demulsifier so that the maximum amount of water can be taken out by the separator.

Emulsifiers defeat water separators. Demulsifiers help them work their best.

FWIW, Amoco Premier contains a demulsifer, and also FWIW, virtually every diesel engine manufacturer either equips their engines with separators or recommends that one be used. I will be really surprised if one can be pointed out who recommends an emulsifier.

cp

I'm going to throw out one more thing.

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that the fuel filter/water separator on the 5.9 is either a Cummins product or has the full blessing of Cummins if it is part of the Chrysler installation. Neither Cummins nor Chrysler could afford the negative customer satisfaction of sub-standard fuel injection protection. Cummins knows what it takes to protect the fuel injection system of this engine and I have every confidence that their engineers either designed the water separator or reviewed it thoroughly if Chrysler's engineers designed it.

That is not to say that it can't be overwhelmed by massive amounts of water--any water separator can. That's the whole reason they say to drain it often.

However, if you're still not happy with protection system provided with the truck, you could always junk it and install one of these:

http://www.fleetguard.com/fleet/en/p...nn_fuelpro.jsp

AaronT

Very good CP.

Mark Thomas

Thats a cool looking filter setup, I'm gonna check into that when I get over to Cummins great plains