Water in Fuel

[Lenny and Louise]

The water in fuel alarm went off (Volvo D-3). With the engine cool, I drained the fuel filter. I got about 4 tablespoons of water and 4 gallons of diesel. At least that is what it seemed like when I was standing on my head in the bilge holding a coffee can under the filter and hoping it would stop pretty soon. Fortunately I caught it all, which is amazing for me, and got everything back together. I ran the engine at the pier with no alarms and no unusual noises.

That was the easy part. Now the question is – where did that water come from? The tank, I suppose, but then I have to wonder how it got there and how much more is there? Most important, how do I get it out of there?

Four tablespoons at a time every time the alarm goes off does not seem very efficient.

 

[knotflying]

There are several reasons why water might be in the fuel, bad fuel, condensation, water originally in the tank, etc. You may have to work through this and hopefully it clears. If it remains persistent you may have to drain the tank and have the fuel scrubbed or just simply discarded and go for a full tank of fuel you know is good. I use FPPF on a regular basis on my Yanmar and this was recommended in the diesel class I attended. Here is a link
http://www.fppf.com/products-by-name?task=catalog.product&id=16 You may want to try this as your first line of defense and then take it from there. If you have a lot of water than this will not help.
Good Luck! And let us know how it works out for you.
Mike Rizzo