[Patrick Feeley]

These were the parts that made up a Tymar system (at least waaaay back in the day!):

1 Filter, Donaldson B085011
1 Hose, Purosil 367-400-060
1 Mounting Band, Donaldson M002119
3 Constant Torque Clamps, Breeze CT-450L
1 Exhaust Elbow, 4” Diameter, 45 degree, Plain Ends, 8” CL Radius, 6” Legs

Cheers!

 

[1997VAstroker]

Thank you Patrick! I am all about making my own when I can! I need a couple of spare Donaldson filters for the truck in question anyway

 

[Craig Alberts]

Did you actually check the fuel tank selector valve for proper operation? When they get stuck the fuel flow will be reduced to a trickle and the truck will start every once in a while but will not maintain running for more than a minute or so.

 

[1997VAstroker]

Thanks Craig. I had not switched tanks recently before the first issue took place. I had no fuel that first cold day, that lead me to believe the frozen line theory I had. I believe that the lift pump is getting weak and the bad fuel did not help the situation. The bad idiot light switch, caused me to not see any water in fuel light. I have switched tanks since the incident and the truck seems to fun fine on both tanks. I am trying not to drive it right now until I get the new WIF switch just to see if that takes care of the original issue. Everything kinda started to snowball. So I am trying to fix things in the order I discovered them.

 

[1997VAstroker]

Went to start the truck this morning to see what would happen when it was 15 degrees out. it fired right up ran for about 5 seconds and died, tried to fire it up again and it tried to catch a couple of times and then I quit trying. Opened up the fuel bowl and pulled out the filter again I did not notice any ice on the filter or bottom of the bowl, but when I tried to drain the bowl fuel was very slow to come out. So I got a empty container and drained a bit more fuel out and sure enough it was full of ice chucks. Looks like I got a couple of bad tanks of fuel last week. Besides trying to drain the two tanks, has anyone had any luck using HEET to remove the water? The WIF switch is supposed to be here today so I will be able to monitor what is going on again.

 

[themule67]

Went to start the truck this morning to see what would happen when it was 15 degrees out. it fired right up ran for about 5 seconds and died, tried to fire it up again and it tried to catch a couple of times and then I quit trying. Opened up the fuel bowl and pulled out the filter again I did not notice any ice on the filter or bottom of the bowl, but when I tried to drain the bowl fuel was very slow to come out. So I got a empty container and drained a bit more fuel out and sure enough it was full of ice chucks. Looks like I got a couple of bad tanks of fuel last week. Besides trying to drain the two tanks, has anyone had any luck using HEET to remove the water? The WIF switch is supposed to be here today so I will be able to monitor what is going on again.

Hi! 1997VAstroker The best thing to use if your fuel has already gelled is Power Service diesel 911 which is a red bottle use the white bottle anytime before it gels which is a winterizer/Antigel and cetane booster. I use to run commercially up in the northern states where I would see temps minus 30-50 degrees and I always ran the white bottle anti-gel but, if I already, gelled I would pour the red in and it works great.

 

[1997VAstroker]

Got home and in the mail was the WIF switch! Immediately went to the truck and installed it. WIF light now lights up while cranking, as I blipped the key to see. Before I tried to start it I drained out the fuel bowl and this time the fuel drained out like it is supposed to. When I went to start the truck temp about 40 degrees it took a couple of seconds then fired right up and idled fine. I sat there waiting for the WIF light to come on, in 15 minutes of idling it never came on. I drained off some more fuel into a clear container at that point was very cloudy and the smell was very bad. I let the container sit for an hour or so and there is defiantly water in there. I added a container of ISO HEET Red bottle to the front tank as I only had one bottle sitting around. I also have some Power service White bottle in both tanks. I do not know if this is going to be good enough though. Is there any better options out there, if not my next step is to pull as much fuel out of both tanks as I can and start over.
My thought now is I have a bad WIF sensor ( think I had it replaced 14 years ago when I had the fuel bowl rebuilt when I first got the truck). I know that all fuel has water, but what gives? Does anyone know aprox how much causes the light to come on? I am pretty sure my fuel heater works but I will be testing it, but many people run without them at much colder temperatures than I am dealing with. I have never had this happen in this the being 15th winter with this truck! Another thought is that the fuel pump being weak just does not have the power to push the cold fuel. Fuel pump should be here by the end of the week. Any other thoughts would be appreciated. This all has come on all of a sudden right after getting fuel and a cold snap came on.

 

[bugman]

I'm just guessing here but was the HEET that you added for diesel?

But if you do have water in the fuel you really need to drain the tank dry to get it out for good.

On draining the filter housing I usually need to crack the lid to get it to drain. I have also drained a little out of it with the engine running

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[bugman]

You can also drain some fuel into a glass jar and then place it into you fridge or freezer to see what it is doing as far as gelling

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[1997VAstroker]

Thanks bugman. Yes the Heet was for Diesel (Red container) Good point on putting it in the freezer, I never saw any gelling it really dose not get that cold around here for that but there were Ice crystals in this mornings sample. My drain will fill a bathtub with the engine running, even with the pump only reading 14 p.s.i. The pump is starting to leak again anyway so no loss in replacing it as i was going to need to do it again very soon anyway.
I have accepted that the tanks probably need to be drained, with the flat bed on it now it should not be that hard. I am half tempted to load the bad fuel in a 55 gal drum and sit it in front of the counter at the Exxon station I bought it at!

 

[Patrick Feeley]

The one time I had water in the fuel, I only got the WIF light to come on (intermittently) when making right hand turns. Makes sense since the WIF sensor is on the driver's side. Got home and drained a quart into a jar and it was obvious after letting it sit for awhile. Cheers!

 

[bugman]

The only time that I got water in my fuel was after filling up at a truck stop before heading up into the hills. Luckily it was only in one tank but when I switched to that tank the engine ran about 5 minutes before the lights lit up like a Christmas tree. Then it took me about 5 tanks to get it all out. I managed to drain a lot of the water while I was hunting by running the bad tank for a couple of minutes before switching over to the good tank and then draining the housing.

That was my only problem with water in 25 years

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[1997VAstroker]

I wish mine was only in one tank, I just pulled another sample out of the drain, the fuel was clearer after sitting a couple of hours but that is just because all the water had separated more now! Still the same amount of water as this afternoon in the same size sample. I put this afternoons sample in the freezer just for fun.
It does make perfect sense about the WIF light sometimes coming on on right hand turns. I now remember reading about that awhile back. I sure wish Ford had a tank drain at the bottom of the tank like my RX-7 does. This problem would be solved in about 1/2 hour.
Edit: Sample has been in the freezer for 45 minutes and there is a ring of ice at the bottom of my Gatorade bottle!

 

[bugman]

What, do you want to make things easy?

I did hear of one owner who hooked up a electric fuel pump to the outlet of a tank and drained his that way.

But I think that I would just get a few 5 gallon cans and siphon it out.

I need to just do some preventive maintenance on my tanks this summer. I am thinking of replacing the pickup foot in both tanks before I have any problems with it.

 

[1997VAstroker]

Bugman, Our moto at work is always, "If it was an easy job, they would have called someone else".
I like the electric pump to the outlet idea, my reason for saying that is I have two new tanks with two new pickups that are sitting right on the bottom where the water is. If I was to try to siphon out the fuel I probably will end up with what i had when I did it on both my tanks this past fall, about a gallon or two left in there at the bottom where all the water is.

As far as doing your pick ups I would say do it for sure. I try never to run much under a 1/4 of a tank anyways, but after seeing both feet broken off I guess i have been lucky many times! I really watch the fuel gauge and miles on my other truck now at almost 303K I know both its feet are floating around the tanks.
Again Thanks everyone for all the help.

 

[1997VAstroker]

Took the truck for a test drive tonight (40 degrees) to see if the WIF light would come on while driving back roads. In 5 miles of up down and round and round it did not come on, and the 2 samples I pulled tonight after the test drive showed an obvious good amount of water. Guess it is time for a new sensor.
I am thinking about calling the VA consumer services number and report that fuel station. I do not expect any outcome out of it as it has been a week since I got fuel there, but this is ridiculous. I do not normally make a big deal about things like this, but when your product leaves my kids on the side of the road in 20 degree weather it kinda gets me fired up. Not to mention the PITA I am going to deal with to get the truck back to right.
Guess this is a wake up call to all of us to really watch our idiot lights when they are on check mode.

 

[MichaelPatrick]

Yep, get that water out of your tanks. It will freeze and cause an obstruction that won't allow fuel to flow, thus creating your original problem. Also, if the fuel smelled bad as one of your reports indicated, this could signal growth of microbes due to the water, which can also screw your fuel system.

 

[1997VAstroker]

Michael, I suspected the microbes too in the first sample I took. Just for fun I pulled a sample from my other truck this morning, it has been a few tanks since I blead any fuel off. I just filled it up the other day at one of my trusted stations. Not a drop of water!
I reported the bad fuel today to the Va consumer protection people. They took the complaint very serious, and once the investigation is completed they are "supposed" to let me know the findings. I will be surprised if I ever hear anything though. Wish I had thought to call them the next day
New fuel pump is supposed to be here this Friday and i ordered new fuel sensor this morning. Going to be another fun weekend!

 

[1997VAstroker]

Pulled all the fuel I could out of the front tank this afternoon. I pulled it out through the supply line (blue line) using just a electric fuel pump. I will do the rear later. It looks very cloudy and the smell is off, but no noticeable water at the bottom of the jugs. I have removed the pump, just about lost the foot, it was close. The new pump is ready to go, but the water in fuel sensor will not be in until Tuesday. I could put it all back together and just pull the filter housing back up later to do the sensor, but I got to thinking If I ground the tip of the sensor to the bowl and the light comes on the sensor is good right?
UPDATE: So I decided to go ahead and ground the sensor, at this point what do I have to loose. It lights up fine when grounded.
Fuel on left was bought today, fuel on right is what came out of the front tank. Both have a flashlight shining through them!

 

[bugman]

That fuel doesn't look good at all.

Do you have any type of additive in it?