Water in fuel questions

[etpm]

I have a YM2310 tractor and have owned it for about a year and a half. I have replaced the fuel filter once and there was no evidence of water. But after reading about water damage to a newer tractor I want to make sure this doesn't happen to me.
I live about 40 miles north of Seattle, as does the guy I bought the tractor from. The tractor lives outside. Before I bought it the previous owner told me it had sat outside for two years without being started at all. How much should I worry about water in the fuel? Could water be slowly building up in the fuel tank? Should I worry that one day the water level will rise above the fuel pickup? Should I prophylactically add some fuel drier to mix any water in the tank into the fuel so that any water in the tank is removed?
I have read that the newer fuel systems are much more sensitive to water in the fuel and that the injectors are easily damaged by even tiny amounts of water, while older systems don't suffer the same problems with water.
Is there a tank drain that drains from the lowest part of the tank? If so then I guess I could open that drain to see if there is any water present. The only service manual I have is for the YM276 and it shows only one port into the tank and this port enters the tank above the bottom of the tank. The manual does not say anything about a plug that can be removed from the lowest part of the tank for draining. I don't know if the YM2310 is the same but I suppose it probably is, so the tank cannot be drained completely unless it is removed. Maybe I could vacuum any liquid from the bottom of the tank. I could rig up a system that uses a 5 gallon bucket as a reservoir and a carbon vane vacuum pump I have sitting under a bench. That should be safe enough since fumes won't be drawn through a motor like they would with my shop vac. I would rather just use some fuel drier though, it would be much simpler.
Thanks,
Eric

 

[Hay Dude]

I’d be draining the tank by siphoning it if theres no plug or fuel line on the bottom.
Water in fuel = bad juju.

 

[ponytug]

Diesel is hydroscopic, so it will accumulate water over time. Water in diesel causes all sorts of badness. It helps to keep your tank full of diesel as this minimizes air breathing in and out of the tank as the temperature and air pressure changes.

I'm with @Hay Dude, I would drain all of the fuel out first. If the diesel looks ok, I would reuse it by first running it over a water separating filter funnel (teflon coated wire mesh usually) to get the gross water out, then add a biocide, and a water emulsifier, and use the fuel up ASAP, preferably with the diesel running hot. I would keep an eye on the fuel filter as the biocides tend to clump up the microbes that corrode your tank, and the chunks will get caught in the fuel filter. The biocides also work best if the fuel is sloshing around in the tank.

If the fuel looks like crud, or has a lot of water in it, I would recycle it. Clean the tank, and treat your fuel with a biocide and water emulsifier for awhile afterwards, while keeping a close eye on the fuel filter(s).

If you want to go to town, pump it out, run the fuel over a 30 micron water removal/particulate filter, then a 2 micron filter to get the bugs and pump it back into the tank with the biocide a few times. That's worth doing on a large tank, but to my way of thinking, not worth it on a small tank.

It's a process, and not a fun one in my book. I'm going through it at the moment on a big diesel that got left with a half full tank for a couple of years. $$$

All the best,

Peter

 

[California]

I would just remove the fuel line temporarily where it reaches the filter, and capture some fuel in a jar. Let it sit. If you don't see water then I don't think any remedial action is needed.

 

[careyo63]

My Ym-2000 stays outside under a carport. Went through the fuel Sys. problems decades ago. I removed the fuel tank which is Org. and cleaned it out. After the first Filter change and Tank cleaning what showed up later was small beads of water on the fuel. Floats in small puddles on top so easy to see them. Wasn't much just a couple but! 1 drop in there is to much for me. Good cap seal ect.. With it being outside and no tank vent it ended up a condensation building up. Others will leave the cap loose so the tank will vent and prevent a pressure build up. Which Happens and has came up on here several times. Not happy about leaving the cap loose which was not much of a problem. Then recalling I had a old ATV. Cap vent and installed it. Now the tank Vents/Filtered and no Water Vapor build up or leaks from leaving the cap loose. My Inj filter bowl stays super clean. A small Vacume hose first and it worked so well I installed a small filter also instead of the just the Hose, Unbelieveable how clean the fuel bowl and filter stays. Vented Filter I installed the on the cap.

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[tradosaurus]

Drain as much as the fuel. Change the fuel filter.

I use the Mr. Funnel when refueling to minimize water in the fuel. As someone has mentioned it is a slow process so not good if your refueling many gallons a week.

Buy a carport to store your tractor out of the weather. Never understood people who buy a $30K+ piece of equipment and store it outside.

 

[5030]

The issue with a Mr. Funnel is fuel flow through it. I have one and rarely use it except when fueling the gas powered stuff (it catches the water in e-gas quite well). It don't work when I fuel my big tractors as the flow from my pumped bulk tank is way more that the Mr. Funnel can handle and I have the big one with the dual elements in it. Might work for smaller tractors but with mine, no way. Why I have a fuel polishing unit on each of them. Have one on my big truck and my pickup truck as well. The polishing units strip out any water and any other contaminates as well. They all get deposited in the bottom clear bowl where I can drain them off.