Water in the fuel

[Spam Bot]

Last week, a friend picked up a 5-gallon container of oil for me, and he helped me get it into the BX23S. I held the funnel, and he poured. A couple of days later, I started the tractor and moved it out of the garage onto the lawn, but it died. I knew immediately that it was fuel-related, so off to the local dealer to get new filters. On Sunday, he stopped by to help me drain the fuel and put in the new filters. It had about a quart of water in the fuel, but when clean fuel started running out, we clamped off the line, installed the new filter, and moved on to the filter in the engine. Got that one off with little difficulty, but getting the rubber line off was next to impossible. After a struggle, it finally came off. Cranked the engine till it came to life, and let it run for about 15 minutes before putting it to work. Was cutting the grass with the Landpride rear finish mower, with the tach at the 540 RPM mark. Occasionally, it would drop down about 400 RPM and then recover. My guess is it got a couple of drops of water through the injectors. What is really strange is that the engine is now running much more smoothly than ever before. Did that water clean some carbon out of the cylinders? I don't know, but I do know I ordered a marine fuel filter that will allow fuel to flow to the tank but not water. It will process 3.5 gallons per minute, which is a lot faster than we can empty a 5-gallon plastic tank.

 

[GeoHorn]

Water in fuel is never a good-thing and does not “clean out carbon” such that it makes it run better. . It erodes injectors and can quickly ruin them.

It also hosts bacteria/fungus and their body-wastes will clog the fuel system and corrode metal parts. While a marine-filter will capture water, it will not remove it from a tank where it can still cause the above problems dowstream (and eventually ruin a metal tank.)

 

[Blue2Orange]

Have used a funnel with a water, particulate filter when fueling the tractor owned for +25years. So far, no fuel issues. The old NH had a clear chamber in which the fuel filter sat in allowing for easy eyeballing the condition of the filter. Also, a stopcock to isolate it when needing to change the filter. Made life easy for filter changing. Would have paid Kubota extra for the BX if they would have had a similar feature.

OP, bad source for your diesel fuel? I try avoiding opening the fuel cap unless topping off the tank. Unsure if that reduces the chance of moisture condensation from any air space. Did have a moisture issue with the truck. 32 gallon tank that I haven't been filling up to max for awhile. Driving is down to less than 4000 miles per year. Truck gets low to mid 20's mpg. Might have bit me in the butt this past winter. Dx code noted moisture. Took couple bottles of red heet. to shut off the check engine light. Happened after just adding a few gallons of gasoline at the local gas station. Maybe bad fuel, maybe condensation, maybe????

 

[JonM]

metal fuel storage is the number one way of getting water in your fuel. the inside walls condense water drops which can build up surprisingly quick. diesel floats on water so your fuel transfer will suck up water first. its common to get a lot of water in fuel from sources that are not changing or checking their water seperators frequently when dispenaing from bulk tanks. metal bulk tanks have to be treated regular with biocides to prevent growth in the water layer. so if your sourcing from a diesel supplier and their shop area looks shoddy thats an indicator of lack of routine maintenance and i wouldnt buy diesel there