[Austinite79]

Proud new owner of a 2017 6.7 Powerstroke and looking for guidance on necessary regular maintenance other than Oil Changes and lubes. Don't be afraid to give me the basics as this is the first diesel I have owned. Purchased my truck about 3 weeks ago and just took her on a Cross Country trip from Central Texas to Georgia and back. Also, can anyone identify the tube that is coming out from the driver's side wheel well (See pictures).

 

[Austinite79]

Been reading a lot about Diesel Additives and want to know what other's opinions are. Specifically, is it necessary to ensure the longest life of the fuel system (Not concerned with trying to increase power or MPGs) to use a lubricity and cetane booster like Opti-Lube XPD with each fill up. I understand the science behind it but am unsure how to determine the quality of Diesel fuel at my local filling stations. I live in Georgetown Texas and usually fill up at Shell where I see a lot of diesels filling up.

 

[dieseljay74]

Opti scored second to only Biodiesel for lubricity added at 319 micron improvement.

Some additives actually lowered lubricity below regular diesel.

I stick with Opti xpd all year for this reason.

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[dieseljay74]

Lubricity Additive Study Results - Diesel Place : Chevrolet and GMC Diesel Truck Forums

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[Painted Horse]

I usually have some XPD around and use it frequently. I don't remember every fill-up, Opti-Lube has their Summer product for warmer months when you don't need Anti-Gel. It's more cost-effective to use to just add Lubrication.

Grease your Caliper Slide Pins whenever you have the tires off and have access to the Calipers. They have a tendency to freeze and destroy your rotors.

Drain the water Separator monthly.

 

[Austinite79]

How much do you recommend draining, the owners manual recommends .54 Gallons when the sniffer alerts to water in the basin. Watching some YouTube videos on the subject and see people draining about 12 to 16 oz. Thanks for the reply!

 

[Hawk388]

How much do you recommend draining, the owners manual recommends .54 Gallons when the sniffer alerts to water in the basin. Watching some YouTube videos on the subject and see people draining about 12 to 16 oz. Thanks for the reply!

I'm also a first time diesel owner with my 17 F250. However, drove a LOT of them during my two decades in the Army. I wouldn't just automatically drain over half a gallon. Most times, I'd drain about 8oz and if there was any amount of water in it, dump it, drain another 6 to 8 and if it was clear, drive on. If it still had water in the second sample, then I'd drain a good half gallon. Dump that, then drain a smallish amount, 6oz or so, and if clear, drive on. If not, it was time to drain a hell of a lot, usually two gallons plus due to contaminated fuel truck, replace fuel filters and then drive on.

 

[Austinite79]

I like that approach, how do you determine if it has water in it? Does it separate from the diesel if you let it sit a while?

 

[Hawk388]

I like that approach, how do you determine if it has water in it? Does it separate from the diesel if you let it sit a while?

Instead of a yellowish color, depending on the fuel source, farm fuel, etc, it will appear cloudy with tiny globules of water mixed in with the fuel. I suggest you take a few samples to see what normal fuel looks like and then, you'll know the difference when you have one with water in it. Given a couple of hours, the water will physically separate from the fuel. When it does this, the water will appear very milky to somewhat brown depending on the color additives in the diesel fuel.

If you've ever seen what coolant looks like when you have a blown head gasket in a gasoline vehicle and there's a bit of oil in it, it will initially appear a lot like that from the fuel sample you take at the first filter. If you ever see that, it's best to drain until you get clear fuel. Then, replace the first stage fuel filter. I've already got one on the way to me just in case although, being in Florida, it's less likely to happen. Keeping your fuel topped off as much as possible, especially during large temperature changes, will prevent the natural formation of water. If the source is contaminated, you'll just have to proceed with the basic steps I've posted here.

The worst I ever had was with an old Deuce and a Half. It had three gallons of bad fuel drained before I got clear fuel. Had to replace all three filters to get her running right. Being an old Army truck, the fuel pumps and injectors didn't die.

 

[Painted Horse]

How much do you recommend draining, the owners manual recommends .54 Gallons when the sniffer alerts to water in the basin. Watching some YouTube videos on the subject and see people draining about 12 to 16 oz. Thanks for the reply!

The Youtube videos you are watching probably are draining the filters on 2011-2016 engines. You got a totally new redesigned filter in 2017.

The manual says it will hold 6.x Ounces of water. So I would drain at least that much out to see what comes out. Follow Hawks advice above and repeat if your 1st sample is questionable. In the last 8 years and 250,000 miles of driving a 6.7L. I've never had any water in my samples. Maybe I just choose good places to fuel up. Maybe just lucky.

To learn what to look for, Drain some into a one liter water bottle and add an ounce of water. Shake it up and see what it looks like.

Reading the manual, I'm thinking " Where am I going to dump half a gallon of diesel" So like you I will take smaller samples unless I see a problem

 

[uncletony41]

manual states on the 2017 that we would get a message when water is detected in the filter, I do not see in maual stating to check this on a monthly basis.
2011-2016 had a diesel supplement guide, however 2017 does not.

 

[cletusjermal]

One thing with optilube summer blend is it doesn’t have the demulsifier in it where the xdp does. It seems like one of the biggest issues with the 6.7 is water. So once I use up all my summer and winter blen I’m gonna get some of the xdp and just run that all the time. I had the summer blend left over from the 7.3 which didn’t seem to care about water.

Does anyone know if the fixed the water in fuel sensor with the 17? I know with the older 6.7 by the time the light on the dash came on it was too late and the fuel system was toast. My friend has an 11 and never got a water in fuel light and destroyed the whole fuel system. 10K to replace everything

 

[jd4010]

Manual states:

You should drain water from the
module assembly whenever the
warning light illuminates or a
message appears in the information
display advising you to drain the water
separator. This occurs when approximately
6.76 fl oz (200 ml) of water accumulates
in the module. If you allow the water level
to exceed this level, the water may pass
through to the engine and may cause fuel
injection equipment damage​

You are right....it doesn't say to do it monthly but if you wait for the warning light to illuminate or the information display to pop a message, there's a chance that you are too late and risk an impact to your CP4 high pressure pump. So make sure you are doing it often enough to avoid the light coming on (or info center message). Maybe every other tank.

If you look towards the back of the manual (my online manual it's page 573) the scheduled maintenance chart does say that at every oil change. Fuel and water separator. Drain if necessary (or if indicated by the information display).

 

[MadeInDade]

Reading the manual, I'm thinking " Where am I going to dump half a gallon of diesel" So like you I will take smaller samples unless I see a problem

Where do you dump the one liter you drain?

 

[jd4010]

Where do you dump the one liter you drain?

I dump mine into my diesel tractors. Or I'll use it for a fire pit starter. If you change your own oil, you can also mix it in with that and dispose of both at the same time (wherever you take your used oil in for recycling).

 

[F250_SUPER_4x4]

I dump mine into my diesel tractors. Or I'll use it for a fire pit starter. If you change your own oil, you can also mix it in with that and dispose of both at the same time (wherever you take your used oil in for recycling).

I have a tree that gets watered with diesel and oil weekly. :rofl::hehe:

 

[Anti-Medic]

I too am a first time diesel owner. Outside of driving military vehicles and performing pmcs on them, I had no clue what owning a diesel truck entailed. 2018 6.7L F350 btw.

 

[Michael Waites]

Wow, I'm a bit surprised about how often you all are suggesting to drain the water separator. But only because I don't know better, I've never owned a diesel before. But I've had a lot of buddies that do, and I would have thought that this would be a topic that came up more often if you had to do it that often.

Is it possible that there are other conditions going on that make you need to drain so often?

I'm asking, cause as someone who just bought a diesel with 60k miles, should I run out to my truck immediately and drain the water separator?

 

[Michael Waites]

Also, trying to get a full list of things I should do to get me most out of my diesel...

The notes I have are...

Make use of additives (several are mentioned), but I don't feel there was strong advice on how often.
Drain your separator, how often seems to be a bit of a guess too, but I asked about that previous message.

Anything else... things I've seen elsewhere... make sure to get new air filter when the yellow shows up in the gauge off the air filter harness.

What about things like, should we consider deletes, as something that would improve the life of the engine over long periods of time. (I've seen conflicting information on this.)

 

[cletusjermal]

I use optilube at every fill up just about. If I'm on the road or something i normally don't but when traveling i normally fill up at truck stops so I'm not as worried about bad fuel from them. Ill drain the water separator every 2 months or so just to see if there is any water in it. I only drain about 1/2 quart and check it. You probably don't have to do it that often. A friend of mine had to replace the whole fuel system due to water and he was having issues again and took it to ford and they said the whole fuel system needed to be replaced again. So he traded the truck in since its about 10K to replace the whole system.