Thread: D3 fuel filter water sensor

The filter housing contains a water trap with a drain. When mine first went off I was far from home, it was raining, after dark and I knew what a PITA it is to get access to the water drain. I soon worked-out that it must be a false alarm because I had travelled so far since refuelling from my local servo that had never caused problems before. I will mount another seperator / alarm in the engine bay for easy access that is plumbed before the LR filter.

Originally Posted by Graeme

The filter housing contains a water trap with a drain. When mine first went off I was far from home, it was raining, after dark and I knew what a PITA it is to get access to the water drain. I soon worked-out that it must be a false alarm because I had travelled so far since refuelling from my local servo that had never caused problems before. I will mount another seperator / alarm in the engine bay for easy access that is plumbed before the LR filter.

Will 45Lpm flow rate be enough? Might try installing one on the weekend as I will be in the bush for a dawn and sunset hunt and a few hours to kill during the day.

http://www.dieselcare.com.au/fuel-manager-filter have up to 300 Litres/hour making the marine 10 gallons or 37 odd Litres/hour look a little light on.

Originally Posted by weakestlink

Warning light when off road or way out back might be disturbing. Why not add a fuel/water filter. I have one in my boat, when full of water no water or fuel gets to the motor. I have stopped about four times with a filter full of water which I simply empty and then off I go again with no water in my injectors.
An alarm sounds ok but you are stuck really if it goes off? Without a filter to remove the water, driving might be causing damage to your engine.

A filter with a glass bowl to allow inspection and removel of any water like

Fuel Manager - Terrain Tamer 4WD Parts

or

https://www.whitworths.com.au/main_i...135&item=34306
50quid for the ebay alarm option or $80 odd for whitworth and $150 for the terrraintamer kit might be a better option. The terrraintamer allows an alert other then just an inspection option. I feel that might be unneeded if they work as well as the filter which works well in my boat which would be a cheaper option again. Space in our discos it the real issue for the filter, where to mount one?

The terrain tamer looks good and several hundred cheaper than the Water watch one that Davis and others sell. Any one here have one installed?

CAV Fuel Filter Adapter | 4WD Systems | Gear to Goannawhere

Looks like the Delpi 296 which is the marine link from Whitworth Marine at $89.90 I posted is used in 4wds by 4WD Systems Gilles Plains (Adelaide)

The prices for the others seems more than a little high and more suited to semi trailer engines or bigger.

Marine engines and parts are usualy tougher then most. Given my expiriacne with a overload of water stopping any fuel getting to my boat engine I am happy to try this one especially given the '4WD Systems Gilles Plains' using them.

I would want one that triggers an alarm.

Originally Posted by Graeme

I would want one that triggers an alarm.

The KISS principle works for me. You should see my "alarm" on the very few occasions my boat has stoped due to water in the filter.

If there is a little water (another post on long range tanks mentioned 5ml) what would we do? If I had a filter, I would simple keep driving and drain daily the filter or more. That works for my boat. If I had no filter I would stop, drain the both tanks and fuel lines and then load up with new fuel. This last option would not be a happy event if we are a long way from home and is not an option on my boat 50 miles off shore.

The alarm might be an additional bit of information which would only be useful 'if' you chose to dump all fuel even if you had the filter. It would give you an another option. A daily check while on tour or each time we fill up would be enough to keep me happy. Love my LLAMS, dual batteries, lights and even want the eletric trailer brakes but do not want to much more wiring or other bits in my disco.

If I had a water alarm on my Common Rail I would be stopping immediately and getting the tank and lines cleaned out - given the cost of repair to the system I would not be relying in just draining the water catch on a regular basis. Now obviously if you are a thousand kms from anywhere with no one around then things are different and I would try and pump the dirty fuel out and separate the water from the fuel and top back up - then relying on the water catch to capture any that is left.

Garry

As Garry says the issue with common rail diesels is that you need to have a water seperator capable of withstanding the flow rate of several hundred litres an hour as the fuel pump circulates the diesel at this rate to cool and lubricate the high pressure pump.

The other problem is thatif you get a large amount of water in the fuel ( greater than the capacity of the trap ) then in all likelyhood the water alarm won't save you unless you shut down immediately due to the trap being overwhelmed.

Most water trap devices installed in line between the tank and the high pressure pump have the potential to void warranty on the injection system as well.

Regards,
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