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DD S60 Fuel Filter/Drain Water?
Okay so I know I need to “drain” the water from the fuel filter, but trying to figure out the proper way to do it?
The filter has a twist knob at the bottom of the bowl, which aligns with a hole in the bottom of the compartment. I guess I put a catch pan under the hole, open the drain and dump the water, till the fuel is in the bowl. Do I need to do anything else?
Thanks
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12 Replies
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Charles,
Do you have a Raycor vacuum gauge in your instrument cluster ? This gauge will tell you if the Raycor fuel filter is getting dirty because the fuel pump will create more vacuum on the filter as it draws the fuel through it. Mine stays about 0 – 1 pound of vacuum and when it gets up to 5 – 7 pounds I change the Raycor filter. If you do not have a gauge I am not sure other than mileage or loss of performance when to change it.
There is a water sensor also and that may be why you are draining the water if it came on, I always check the bowl visually way before the light has a chance to come on during my pre-trip checks. If water in the bowl is your only concern I would just drain it in a clean container and see what it looks like. Check the foreign matter and quantity of water since the last drain to determine if it is condensation or a bad load of fuel.
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With one exception for water a long time ago, and a second exception for what appeared to be algae the sediment / water bowl on my Racor filters was always clear and free of contamination.
When I did get the contamination I drained the Racor, replaced the filter, cleaned the sediment bowl and kept watching it. Fortunately it was limited to those two unrelated instances.
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Once in awhile the water in fuel light will come on , if it gets wet from rain or if you pressure wash back there , let it dry and it will go out!!
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Charles,
You have it correct. Just open the valve at the bottom of the filter and allow it to drain into a container until there is nothing but fresh fuel showing in the filter bowl. Shouldn’t be too much water if any at all. I have also seen a small amount of algae collect at the bottom of the filter after fuel tank treatment with an algicide.
Make sure to follow all the Federal, State and Local regulations regarding disposal of the fuel/water combination that drained into the container.
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I’ve done it a few times, but left the engine run on high idle so as not to chance any interuption of fuel.
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I want to add to what Paul said………..if you see evidence of algae in the sediment bowl there is a very high probability the pleated filter element has been covered with the algae also.
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As an aside, the generator fuel filter(s) are often less forgiving than the engine filters when it comes to clogging due to algae contamination. If you see evidence of algae in your primary fuel filter/ water seperator, don’t forget to service the generator filters as well.
From personal experience, it’s a much more enjoyable task when you’re planning for it than when you’re at a rally, with no shore power, in the summer, with the generator running 24/7 and all of a sudden …….
Well, you get the idea…
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Hmm, okay. I was thinking this was a maintenance/inspection item that should be performed on a regular schedule. Since the mechanic that I did the walk through with on the coach when I picked it up mentioned it, I was thinking I should be going through this on a regular basis.
Guess I put too much into it.
Will keep an eye on the bowl and make sure there is no water in there and only drain it when there is. Im only getting fuel at Loves at this point (with the Cash – $0.10 why not!) so I shouldnt be seeing that much water in the fuel, plus I am filling it up on the way home, so the tanks are pretty full when parked.
As for properly disposing of fuel, I will make sure I follow all federal regulations when doing that.
Hmm, when is my next brush burn pile going to happen, think I found a way to get rid of some fuel 😉
Funny story, when I was a youngster, I was helping my friend and his dad clear some land. The dad went to burn the brush/tree’s we had cleared that weekend. He took an old tire, layed it on the ground, put a little diesel fuel in the tire, piled the brush on the tires and ignited the diesel. Brush burnt pretty good. Tire made a heck of a lot of black smoke. Not sure he really needed the tire to get the brush going, but I guess it did get rid of the old tire.
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Can you imagine burning a tire today! Wonder if you could still see the smoke from the jail cell.
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I remember as a child growing we used to burn tires out on the bog in the winter when ice skating. My grandparents
had a dairy farm. Remember the milk cartons coated with wax? We would line the inside of the tire with those to help
get the tire started on fire. We would stay out there all night and skate. Those were the days. Try that today and
you’d get hung. Rick -
Geez, I’m going to have to tell Sherry to stop using those tires to get the burn pile real hot in order to burn the trash more efficiently. Here in Texas they charge a disposal fee for tires. After reading these post I’m thinking I might be mistaken in my belief that they charged that fee in order to pay Bubba to take them home and burn them or through them in the lake for fish habitat whichever was most convenient.
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As long as your burn pile has a catalytic converter and uses DEF I think it meets the EPA standards for burning old 315s.
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