7.3 diesel as water in fuel

[joanndykes]

[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]My greatest fear is now a realization. The ambulance would not start this morning, error light shows "water in fuel". Of course I do not have money to have it fixed. So here I sit in Mobile, Al. with a half done conversion and vechile of no use to me now. Life definitely is a box of chocolates, but this one is going to be hard to swallow. Bob Wells warned about starting this without money for repairs. Just purchased this in May 2019. 2000 Ford E350 Econoline Type 11 Ambulance with a 7.3 Diesel Engine.  :-/ [/font]

 

[Gr8ful]

Depends on the engine but some have a valve in the bottom in the filter you can open & drail the water out if not change the filter for $3-$4.

 

[highdesertranger]

first off I moved your thread to the mechanical section.

water in the fuel is really not a big deal unless you drive it. get the water out. there is a drain on the bottom of the fuel filter to drain the water off, do that then then change the filter. if it's really bad you will need to drop the tank. I know it's no fun but it's not hard.

highdesertranger

 

[joanndykes]

Thank you for your information. It may not be a big deal for you but for a 75 yr old partially disabled woman with no money to have it worked on, it is a very big deal.

 

[highdesertranger]

ok so where are you? maybe someone can give you a hand.

have you driven it far with the water in the fuel?

how do you know that there is water in the fuel?

I don't know what your disability is, but draining the water out of the filter is just like turning on a valve. like on a sink.

highdesertranger

 

[Gr8ful]

HDR She says Mobile, Al

 

[Firebuild]

ok so where are you?  maybe someone can give you a hand.

have you driven it far with the water in the fuel?

how  do you know that there is water in the fuel?

I don't know what your disability is,  but draining the water out of the filter is just like turning on a valve.  like on a sink.

highdesertranger

MY 7.3 has a "water in fuel" light, I'm guessing hers does too.

 

[Firebuild]

Has anyone heard from this woman? Her last post was 5 hours ago, I'm wondering if she got it handled. I just put word out to see if anyone could go to her but maybe she's all set.

 

[joanndykes]

When I tried to start it, the light that always comes on is "wait to start" and I have to wait for that light to go off before I can start it. This morning another light came on as well "water in fuel" when I tried to start it and it would not start. I had already read prior to purchasing the ambulance with that diesel engine that if the water in fuel light comes on you are not to drive it until you have drained the water. I do have an emergency start, (it has a total of 4 batteries), but I was not going to try to start it because I did not want to damage the engine.  I  live in Mobile, Alabama

 

[joanndykes]

Today was my first time posting and I really did not know how this forum worked. I just found my way back to it. My disability is in my knee, I have limited range of motion which means I can not squat down or sit down on the ground/floor because I can not get back up. I have to bend from the waist if I have to reach anything that is on the floor or bottom cabinets. If I fall down, which I have before, I have to crawl on my hand and knees until I can find some object to pull myself back up to a standing position. I can not get into or out of cars very well.

 

[Weldman]

See that yellow lever in the picture posted, turn it clockwise about 90 degrees about every oil change to drain the fuel and water out and it will prevent this unless there is already ton of water in your tank then you will need some fuel treatment.
After you do this I don't know what year your 7.3 is, but if it is 99 or newer you can turn key on for 3 seconds and turn off about 3 times it will fill the fuel bowl back up, if not you will have to crank a bit till it starts and truck will run rough till air purges from fuel system.

 

[joanndykes]

Thank you. I watched a lot of Utube video's yesterday about water in the fuel. My type 11 ambulance is a 2000 Ford Econoline E350. I watched some showing how to empty using that yellow lever.  I don't know if the information that I obtained is correct. What I read is that Diesel fuel is blue, if it is green it has a lot of water in it. Also, one said that empty that fuel bowl each time I get a Diesel fill up. I want to be able to do this myself but the only problem I see is that the video said you should put a glass container under it so the fuel drains in it. If that means getting under the vehicle on the ground I will not be able to do that. I haven't looked at the engine yet but I think I will see if I can create something that will catch the fuel that I can remove while standing in front of the vehicle and not getting on the ground. I already knew a lot about vehicle gas engines but nothing about the Diesel ones. I have been reading the manual I found online trying to increase my knowledge. Thank you to all of the gentlemen that replied to my post, I appreciate all of you.

 

[highdesertranger]

is there anybody close by that can give her a hand. come on we need someone to step up.


for sure you need something to catch the fuel. you don't want it to just drain it on the ground.

highdesertranger

 

[joanndykes]

ok so where are you?  maybe someone can give you a hand.

have you driven it far with the water in the fuel?

how  do you know that there is water in the fuel?

I don't know what your disability is,  but draining the water out of the filter is just like turning on a valve.  like on a sink.

highdesertranger

You guys are not going to believe this, both my little brother and I can not find it. We have both looked in the engine and under it and can not find that yellow lever anywhere. I have looked at pictures of what was supposed to be an engine for a 2000 Econoline Ford E350 ambulance and my engine does not look the same. I guy that I bought it from did tell me that he thought the engine had been replaced at some point. He even bought the fuel filter but did not put it on. I think he could not find it either. I think I will take a picture of my motor and post it here, maybe one of you guys will see it.

 

[Weldman]

Either someone did a fuel bowl delete or they put a 6.0 in and I hope it was the latter of the two. Pictures of the engine will help determine what is going on. Would love to personally help, but I’m in Montana.
Yours could be on the backside too...

 

[highdesertranger]

do you know where the fuel filter is? the drain is on the backside bottom of the filter. it might be covered in gunk so the yellow color might be covered up. on mine you can't see the filter when you open the hood because there is a cheesy piece of plastic that blocks your view. the filter should be right on top of the front of the engine in the middle from left to right. highdesertranger

 

[Firebuild]

do you know where the fuel filter is?  the drain is on the backside bottom of the filter.  it might be covered in gunk so the yellow color might be covered up.  on mine you can't see the filter when you open the hood because there is a cheesy piece of plastic that blocks your view.  the filter should be right on top of the front of the engine in the middle from left to right.  highdesertranger

if it's a 2000 it's not the same as my 91 IDI, but on mine, the drain is no longer there. Someone removed it or something. So, to purge, you have to depress a tiny pin on the fuel filter housing that looks like the inflator on a basketball while someone else cranks the engine. Whoever is pushing the valve need to be prepared to get some fuel on them.  I would take a photo but my phone is dead, will take one when it juices up. 

Best way to prevent this for the future is NEVER RUN LOW ON FUEL. That's when it happens.

 

[Firebuild]

if it's a 2000 it's not the same as my 91 IDI, but on mine, the drain is no longer there. Someone removed it or something. So, to purge, you have to depress a tiny pin on the fuel filter housing that looks like the inflator on a basketball while someone else cranks the engine. Whoever is pushing the valve need to be prepared to get some fuel on them.  I would take a photo but my phone is dead, will take one when it juices up. 

Best way to prevent this for the future is NEVER RUN LOW ON FUEL. That's when it happens.

Here's the picture.

Mary
(not a gentleman)

 

[Gypsy Freedom]

i have a 97 7.3 powerstroke in a school bus. it does not have the lever or if it does you cant see it. i has a remote "water drain" it is kinda like a dipstick. you pull it out while the engine is running and let a little fuel drain out and it takes the water with it ( in theory ) it makes a mess as it runs down several things and dribbles and rips in a few places. takes a big pan to catch all the dripps. i will try to get a pic shortly

maybe this is what is on this one

 

[Firebuild]

i have a 97 7.3 powerstroke in a school bus. it does not have the lever or if it does you cant see it. i has a remote "water drain" it is kinda like a dipstick. you pull it out while the engine is running and let a little fuel drain out and it takes the water with it ( in theory ) it makes a mess as it runs down several things and dribbles and rips in a few places. takes a big pan to catch all the dripps. i will try to get a pic shortly

maybe this is what is on this one

She can't get the engine running, though - you can't do this unless it's running?