Heres a goofy question

[Bige21566]

Last night I was standing there fat, dumb and happy filling my DP up after finding the cheapest diesel around when for some reason I noticed the sticker on the fuel door tellin me to drain the water from the fuel water separator after every fill up. You would think that after a few months of owning that rig I would have noticed it before...but.....After a little research I found out that the fuel / water separator is under the gas tank...I crawled down there today and found a fitting on the bottom of the tank that looks like it takes a T- wrench to open...

Folks.....the goofy question is ...What should I expect when I pull that fitting out...water or fuel gushing out over the ground? Do folks really do this every time they fuel up?

Thanks guys

[Steve Ownby]

That is not your fuel/water separator. The separator is one of the fuel filters & most likely back close to the engine. When you open the fitting on the bottom don't let much drain out or you could have trouble restarting. That fitting on the bottom of the fuel tank is a tank drain and although it certainly drain any water that might be in the tank, that is not its fiction. I have never had any water come out at the separator.

[Dunner]

I haven't used the water drain on my Ram diesel for so long, I forget where it is. It probably helps living in AZ where moisture is not allowed.

[Melmoses]

What i do is use a glass measuring cup under the fitting. Open it just a little until some fuel starts coming out, let it fill about 3/4 of a cup then retighten the fitting. Let the stuff settle and you can see any water easily. I have never had any show up. I do not check it every fill either. Maybe a couple times a year now.

[Gadget Man]

Most fuel separators have a clear bowl on the bottom. This is not by accident. If you look closely and/or shine a flashlight on the bowl, you'll be able to see any water. Like others have said, I have never found any water in mine either. I glance at it every now and then, but I definitely don't check it every time I fill up.

Craig

[amanda_h]

We use to check (drain) it every month but never found any water so now DH does it about every six months if that. He thinks it's because we keep the tank full as much as we can (especially when we are sitting for a period of time) and try to buy diesel from stations that turn over large amounts of fuel. Even though the price might be cheap at smaller stations, if they don't move large amounts of fuel, they may have diesel sitting in their tanks for longer periods of time where water could accumulate.

Our separator is located in the back compartment in front of the radiator. It looks like a big oil filter with a clear bottom section with a petcock thingie on the bottom. We too take a glass jar to collect. Let it sit for awhile and if you see what looks like sort of a bubble at the bottom, that's usually the water. Like Craig says, you can look in the clear section to see if there's water but we've found even when using a flashlight, we can'st see in there very clearly. But chances are, there won't be any water in the fuel. Don't drain too much or you will have to manually prime.

I don't know if you'll have the same separator filter we have or not but when we changed ours, we followed this person's instructions. You can see what the fuel water separator looks like and where it is located (on a Winnebago with a CAT anyway).

[deandec]

Originally Posted by Bige21566

I crawled down there today and found a fitting on the bottom of the tank that looks like it takes a T- wrench to open...

Folks.....the goofy question is ...What should I expect when I pull that fitting out...water or fuel gushing out over the ground? Do folks really do this every time they fuel up?

Thanks guys

As previously said, that likely is a tank drain not a fuel/water separator drain!

You may have two fuel filters on your rig. One may have a clear plastic bowl at its bottom. The filters will be in or near the engine compartment. You need to change the filters as part of the regular maintenance so you do need to find them anyway. The clear bowl moves from old to new filter.

The possibly clear plastic bowl will have a drain at its bottom to remove any water that has been separated from the fuel. That is the drain the notice is referring to.

[Dogpatch]

Originally Posted by Dunner

It probably helps living in AZ where moisture is not allowed.

Jeez yer funny Dunner. LMAO!

[Sutler]

Originally Posted by dogpatch

Jeez yer funny Dunner. LMAO!

Yah but true, main worry is Air Filters here Dust,Dust,Dust--------- i call them dust storms. Guess the word these days is Haboobs or whatever they call them now, Duner would get more of those then we would here in GV him being in Phoenix and all he knows those storms well. Wouldn't you say Duner. ---- lol----

[Dunner]

Oh yeah, they regularly hit national news as they steam roll through the valley, sometimes 5000+' high. Being on the west side, I don't get it as heavy.

[Dogpatch]

I looked up those Haboobs when Dunner mentioned them.

HOLY CRAP! They are HUGE! I had no idea.

I thought that was just something seen in the Sahara Desert.

[Dunner]

We used to have tornadoes east of town, but they've died down to maybe one or two per year.

Before the "heat island" effect, we use to have some pretty heavy monsoon storms. They still form, but melt when the get near the city.

[Sutler]

IT gets a little exciting sometimes !!!!!!!!!!!! Especially when im on the way up to see my niece you see this wall coming at ya my wife freaks and sinks in the seat .

[Dunner]

I imagine that when it is on the south-east of town, where it hits first, the visibility is pretty bad, but by the time it gets to me, it is sometimes, hardly noticeable.