6.4L Power Stroke Engine and DrivetrainDiscussion of the 6.4L Power Stroke diesel engine and drivetrain in the 2008-Up Super Duty trucks. No gas engine discussion allowed except on transmissions and drivetrain that pertain to all models. Please confine discussion of topics in this forum to those items that are specific to the 6.4L Power Stroke engine.
On my trip to FL yesterday and today I got the drain water message up 2 times. How soon should I have stopped and drained the water off? I got off the interstate as soon as possible and drained it out. In 4 months this never came then in 2 days it came up 2 times. Each time after draining the alarm cleared. How much should you drain when doing this? Thanks for the info.
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you should drain as soon as possible, but don't pull over on the interstate to do it.
Sounds to me like you got a bad batch of fuel is all.
How long since you changed your filters? If message continues after you have burned off the bad fuel that may be necessary, or you could try a fuel additive.
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08F250 CC 6.4 PSD
Banks 6 gun/ram air
40' Stoneridge 5th wheel, coming in at 14K.
I don't mean to sound like an a$$ here, but I do recall seeing in the user's manual that one should drain the water separator with a reasonable frequency as opposed to when the message center tells you to. I've known a handful of F-series Super Duty owners who swear to me that they've never done it and that they actually don't even know where the valve is.
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2000 Nissan Frontier, Custom Motorsports 8 inch lift (4x2)
I think you are supposed to drain it once a month but diesel costs too much imho to do that. So i do it every 6mo. which correlated with oil changes. So i just slide the drain pan over and drain the HFCM at the same time. I buy my diesel at a high volume dealer and never get anything of concern out. I carry around a clear plastic container just for this reason. Only once had i had a bad fuel issue and it went on every 50miles. So i drained it every 50 miles until that tank was gone. Never had a problem since. I usually just pull over where ever i am and drain it. Just make sure you open the fuel fill cap to release tank pressure. I usually drain about 8oz or more depending on what it looks like.
I started with the drain once a month thing, but each time I've drained it there wasn't a drop of water visible, so now it's more like every 6-8 weeks when I happen to get a chance. As for wasting it, if you use a clean container and there is no water in the fuel, just dump it back in the tank, or dump it in your tractor like I do.
Page 40 of the Power Stroke Owners Guide Supplement says to do it when the message center tells you to. NOTHING in the manuals (09 manuals at least) say to do it monthly, or on any set schedule. I asked my neighbor who has an 08 with 55k on it how often he drains his, and he says he checks it when he changes his oil, which is like twice a year.
Page 40 of the Power Stroke Owners Guide Supplement says to do it when the message center tells you to. NOTHING in the manuals (09 manuals at least) say to do it monthly, or on any set schedule. I asked my neighbor who has an 08 with 55k on it how often he drains his, and he says he checks it when he changes his oil, which is like twice a year.
Ok sports fans..your fuel system can cost upwards of 6K if you have to do a rebuild of everything. So preventative maintance is key.
Attached is the info sheet from Ford It is from April 2009.
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08F250 CC 6.4 PSD
Banks 6 gun/ram air
40' Stoneridge 5th wheel, coming in at 14K.
Last edited by senix; 05-10-2010 at 09:00 PM.
Reason: grabbed the wrong file!
Ok sports fans..your fuel system can cost upwards of 6K if you have to do a rebuild of everything. So preventative maintance is key.
Attached is the info sheet from Ford It is from April 2009.
Ok.... Maybe you grabbed the wrong file to upload? You uploaded one for the regen instead of the fuel/water separator...BTW, I drained mine the day I got it...It was clean.
Last edited by ChargersFaninCO; 05-10-2010 at 08:59 PM.
Monthly it is, then...I wonder why MY book doesn't say monthly...I just updated my calendar to remind on the 2nd Sunday of the month. My main book says to refer to the Engine Supplement, which was another book, and it said only when the light came on. I figure by then, it's a little late unless I stop then and there.
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