DK45SE water in fuel

   / DK45SE water in fuel #1  
T

tpulley

Silver Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2011
Messages
171
Location
Wake Foest NC
Tractor
Kioti DK45SE
Not sure how it happened but I am sure it happened. I use a 55 gallon tank and put it onto a trailer to get off road diesel and save .53 cents a gallon or so. Anyway, the tractor was running fine right up to the point I put some diesel into the tank. I estimate I only put 3 gallons or so into it. It was already over half full. Here is what transpired this far.

Tractor was idling as I was undoing the hoist I used for the barrel. I noticed some white smoke come out and tractor began sounding like it was missing. I hopped onto it and gave it throttle. It died slowly after that. I went to the dealer as I supected water in the fuel at these symptoms. I took out the fuel filter and sure enough it was full of water. I dumped it 3 or 4 time and still water. I am thinking I want to run the contents of the tank out until I get all the water out. What is a good way to accomplish this? How can I get it to flow like a river instead of dribble out? Once I do get this done is there anything special I need to do after that to get it to run?

Thanks for the help.
 
   / DK45SE water in fuel #2  
Might want to get you a water separator/gascolator for the 55 gallon tank so it doesn't happen again.
 
   / DK45SE water in fuel #3  
1. Take the hose clamp off at line where hose goes into filter. It may not drain tank and faster but will be a more direct stream so is easier to catch in a container. Save that fuel for the next brush pile to burn.
2. Put a water separator/filter on your barrel.
3. Check with fuel supplier where you bought the fuel. If your barrel has been inside or under cover so rain can't get to it, contaminated fuel must have come from them. They need to check their filters/separator and if they don't use any, find another supplier.
 
   / DK45SE water in fuel #4  
In the boating community, they make funnels that pass fuel but not water, like this:
WEST MARINE 006_180_003_517 at West Marine

There are also lots of good filters and separators but they cost a bit more. Depending on the amount of suspect fuel in the drum, a filter/separator may be worthwhile. But your best bet is a reliable fuel supplier. The fuel filter in the tractor should block small amounts of water but large amounts will (in effect) plug up the filter or maybe damage the membrane (which is bad because water can get through).
 
   / DK45SE water in fuel
  • Thread Starter
#5  
I was able to get all the water out and I changed the filter while I was at it. 367 hours, it needed it. All told about 20-24 oz of water was in there. Looking back I believe the pump hose may be the culprit. We have had a lot of rain this year. I believe the hose caught the water. I thought I had drained it as i was unhooking/hooking it back up. Evidently not. I like the idea of putting a water separator on the pump hose. I am going to investigate that out. I am sure glad this wasn't my ford 3000. that tractor is a bear when/if you run out of fuel. This took me about 2 1/2 hrs to fix but much of that was because I was uncertain how to get the fuel flowing freely. I did find that if i turn the pit cock to air fuel seems to flow into the filter much better. I did that about 5-6 times until I continue to see red all the time. Then I took the top hose going into the injector and filled it up with fresh fuel. PUt it all back together and in 30 seconds or so of turning it fired up. Then I ran it for about 30 minutes straight and trouble free.

Thanks for the ideas and help guys.
 
   / DK45SE water in fuel
  • Thread Starter
#6  
I really like this. WEST MARINE 006_180_003_517 at West Marine This is the easiest way to accomplish what I want.
 
   / DK45SE water in fuel #7  
I have one of these to use whenever I fuel my tractor (model F15) and smaller sizes for other equipment. I have tested fuel/water separation using Pri-D and Opti-Lube XPD mixed into the diesel and it still filters out the water completely.

Models
 
   / DK45SE water in fuel #8  
tpulley said:
I really like this. WEST MARINE 006_180_003_517 at West Marine This is the easiest way to accomplish what I want.
Click to expand...

Me too. I also like to add a little biocide (kills the microbes that grow at the fuel-water interface) to my Diesel fuel periodically.

For cruising sailors at sea, an inop engine can be a big deal (vary cramped maintenance spaces, can't charge batteries, can't maneuver into harbor) and they are forced to buy fuel at questionable places along the way. Their other trick is "polishing" fuel. Large Diesel power boats may have hundreds of gallons in the tanks; too much to just throw away. So guys come to the docks with a big fuel pump and a very big filter/separator bank and circulate that fuel through the filters for hours. It isn't cheap nut it's a lot less than replacing all that Diesel. By the way. all vented fuel tanks will accumulate some water. If the engine is run enough and the filter drained periodically, that should be sufficient. But Diesel systems that sit for very long periods (like years) have special problems.
 
   / DK45SE water in fuel #9  
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