6.4 water/fuel issue

[Big Daddy Sam]

New freebie member here. Just bought 08 psd 4x4 last week. "Drain Water Sep." light came on. Tried to drain--NOTHING. Back to dealer today, Had some trash in it. ANyway, the light comes on before I get back home with it (25mi) Drained into clear bottle, few drops of water but shouldnt make light come on. Any clues?

[po-po 5.0]

bad level sensor

[Big Daddy Sam]

Hope its that simple, POPO. Will have to wait till next Friday. Headed up to Shreveport this weekend.

[xxf1xx]

why is it that theres water in the fuel to begin with or what does "Drain Water Sep." mean

[DavidPhillips]

When you try to drain it does a lot of fuel come out?

Drain it into a glass jar and let it sit over night to separate. Where did you get the fuel?

[dzchey21]

Originally Posted by xxf1xx

why is it that theres water in the fuel to begin with or what does "Drain Water Sep." mean

WTF?

To the OP mine did the same thing, bad sensor, from having crap in the fuel bowl, it gets cought in the sensor and makes it stick. Or thats what the dealer told me, they replaced it, good ever since.

[po-po 5.0]

Originally Posted by xxf1xx

why is it that theres water in the fuel to begin with or what does "Drain Water Sep." mean

There's always going to be a tiny amount of water in the fuel. Its almost unavoidable. the "drain water seperator" message comes on the dash when the water seperator is full.....so you should drain it.

[navydocsuperduty]

i just drove cross country and every time i stopped and then started driving the light would come on in 20 miles or less. i would ignore thinking its bad sensor cause i just drained it, 500 miles later stop for day or whatever and drain it. very little water, just wasting fuel. so i am here in cali and thinking of taking to dealership but i have no dpf or cat and cali is big on that. might drive over to az and have the sensor repalced.

[RustySocket]

Originally Posted by po-po 5.0

There's always going to be a tiny amount of water in the fuel. Its almost unavoidable. the "drain water seperator" message comes on the dash when the water seperator is full.....so you should drain it.

My feelings are you should be draining your water sep at least once a month. Waiting for the message to come on is akin to waiting for the oil light to come on before changing your oil. They used to call them idiot lights for a reason.... if it came on you were an idiot.

Water is always going to be present in diesel fuel. Hence the need for a separator. It's the nature of the beast.

[Airborne29th]

Mine came on 3 times in one week, took it to the dealership over issue, because it was drained a few weeks before, not much driving in between, came on again, tried to drain but nothing came out.. Took it in and they ended up replacing the sensor