Water in fuel warning

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julians

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Afternoon,

Just been out in the boat for the day and on the way back the water in fuel warning came on, the engine ran fine ,so when i got back to the marina, i drained the engine mounted filter and a few ml of clean looking water came out.

Questions,

1. where does the water come from?
2. Should i do anything else other than keep an eye on the warning light?

Engine is a volvo penta d4 if it makes any diffetence. Boat is in mallorca.

This is the first time in 4 years of owning a diesel boat that ive seen this warning, and never seen it in 15 years of petrol boating
 
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Check the filler cap tightness and rubber seal
Do you replace the cap or does the fuel guy do it?
Hosing the boat down -a bit aggressively around a loose ish cap ?

Good news is WIF alarm worked do you drain often or just wait for alarm ?

It won,t be condensation ,my mechanic in the SOF says he never see it too warm

Also just check around the tank inside the ER to see if a cockpit floor seal is leaky and over time water has pooled on top or running down the tank at a theorectical sealed ( now old and not so sealed ?) access piont .

If you have drain cock a the bottom of the tank ? -- let a bit out and leave in a white or transparent container for a day or so to see its seperates -- or what colour it turns .

I dose every time "Startron " € 18-24 for over 1.5 K litres --- so tuppence really ,reckons to dissolve water /disperse water according to its blurb .Been doing it 14 years --never had any issues .
We have WIF and glass bowls ,and tank cocks --- full monty ----
Touch wood , never seen a thing ---knowingly .
 
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Thanks for response.

I always put the fuel filler cap back on, its tight, but cant tell if the seal is failing,will have a closer look.

Ive never drained the filter before,this is the first time ive done it.

Will lift the hatch above the fuel tank and have a look around. I dont think theres a drain cock on the tank.

I drained the pre filter ,and nothing but fuel came out.

Ill get some fuel additive tomorrow and chuck it in,hopefully its not a sign of a bigger issue,but in my experience it usually is.
 
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Another explanation
There's actually zilch water in the fuel !
It's the sensor wiring shorting somewhere - eg @ the back of the dial ,the spades behind the dash ,or some other place along the wiring that's chaffed and been wet ,soaked .

We had WIF alarms once about 3 y ago in heavy weather crossing from Elba to Corsica in a F 6/7 on the port beam -waves /spray coming in over the screen and seawater drenching the dash ( and crew what fun )

Gallons swooshing over and running out through the cockpit scuppers ,
On entering port and checking ,there was no water in the bowl ,but on disassembly of the guage /alarm on the dash ,it was all soaked = shorting setting it off .
A quick clean up ,dry ,WD 40. ---- we were on our way .
As a precaution @PeteM we changed the Racor filters on the FG 900,s as well since we carry 6-8 that's 3-4 sets .
We were about to head N to France ,wind on the stern now much dryer ride
 
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There will be breather tubes for the tanks.
Atmospheric condensation can slowly accumulate; the usual advice is to keep your tanks full especially during those parts of the year when condensation is high. (I always fill mine for the winter.)
Your aggressive hosing could possibly enter the breather tubes.
 
WIF sensor is on engine filter. The most stupid place to fit this by VP Sensor should ideally be fitted in pre filter.
You must check and drain your pre filter if you have one with a renewable element , what boat do you have ?
If you have a pre filter it wil more than likely be full of water if water has made its way into the secondary filter .
 
Its a windy 25.

I drained the pre filter and there was no water in it,only fuel,the water was in the engine mounted filter, there was maybe 100ml of water,maybe a bit more.

The wif warning is all part of the volvo penta evc system
 
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julians said:
Afternoon,

Just been out in the boat for the day and on the way back the water in fuel warning came on, the engine ran fine ,so when i got back to the marina, i drained the engine mounted filter and a few ml of clean looking water came out.

Questions,

1. where does the water come from?
2. Should i do anything else other than keep an eye on the warning light?

Engine is a volvo penta d4 if it makes any diffetence. Boat is in mallorca.

This is the first time in 4 years of owning a diesel boat that ive seen this warning, and never seen it in 15 years of petrol boating
Click to expand...


Where in mallorca are you? In andraxt at the moment.
 
It shouldn't be possible to get water in the engine mounted filter with none being in the prefilter. It wouldnt be the first time that a manufacturer has fitted the pre filter to the return line.
 
aquatom said:
It shouldn't be possible to get water in the engine mounted filter with none being in the prefilter. It wouldnt be the first time that a manufacturer has fitted the pre filter to the return line.
Click to expand...

Will take aa close look to work out whether the prefilter is plumbed in wrong
 
guernseyman said:
There will be breather tubes for the tanks.
Atmospheric condensation can slowly accumulate; the usual advice is to keep your tanks full especially during those parts of the year when condensation is high. (I always fill mine for the winter.)
Your aggressive hosing could possibly enter the breather tubes.
Click to expand...

In the Med, we have to put up with Road fuel with 10% Fame - vedgy oils - this drops out of the system as a black waxy runny substance. I drain off my tanks through a well designed sump and this year I only used 150 liters of fuel before the summer layup. At the start on June the 6th I cleared out at least 50ml of this stuff and one month later pulled another 30ml out. I have run this through a water separating filter and just a small amount total block the filter which needed cleaning with carb cleaner spray.

I had a new tank 2 years ago and I am trying to keep it clean. SO what I am finding is not the accumulated crap of years, but very recent deposits. In the UK, this stuff is not allowed in our red marine diesel for this very reason.

So how many boats are accumulating "out of sight, out of mind" quantities of this filter blocking stuff with out realising it? Waiting for the first rough sea to bring all to a halt?

Because of this, I run my tanks well down when I leave her (Greece at the moment). How much would there be I I left the tank Full? I only have a 230 gallon litre tank - just think how much Large Mobos tanks hold.
 
I haven't had chance to check the plumbing to see if the pre filter is in the right place in the circuit, but I did buy some emulsifier additive, poured some in the tank.

Ran for a couple of hours today, no more water in fuel warnings.

I checked the fuel filler cap,it was tight, and the rubber is still good. Will check the rest tomorrow - family don't like me fannying around with boat while they wait in hot marina
 
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