Water in fuel causes $10,000 damage to my Kubota Grand L6060

[DieselBound]

I have only ever found water in my Kioti's fuel system. NOTHING in my METAL bulk fuel tank (I have pulled the drain plug and have found no water), and nothing in my other equipment that gets fuel from this same tank.

Traced the problem down to the Kioti's fuel cap allowing water into its tank. Lockable fuel cap. I got a newer/better one from my dealer and that nearly eliminated the problem: I have had one instance of the water-in-fuel-light coming on in about 400 hours since then. I really need to either completely ditch the locking fuel cap or place a tin can or such over the top of my fuel cap so that it doesn't get exposed to rain at all. 100" of rain here last year.

 

[EdinLa]

I know a lot of people hesitate to take this advice, but adding 1 ounce of Acetone to every 5 gallons of diesel has some terrific benefits. If there is water in the fuel, the acetone forms an azeotrope with the water that is compatible with carrying through and burning in the combustion chamber. ....The acetone additionally improves the spray pattern on your injectors, resulting in a quieter running engine that maintains peak performance. I have two old tractors that were sold to me because they were at that stage of disrepair that their owners were afraid of them. ..Both tractors had significant other problems, but a good dose of acetone improved their performance and calmed their 'presence' while running. ....I routinely 'fix' small engines that are running poorly, with a couple of ounces of acetone. Lurking droplets of water in small fuel systems are VERY hard to remove and can have great effect on the operational status of the engine.

 

[MHarryE]

I see your location SE USA. Year before my retirement we were having way too many fuel injection pump failures (these were lower pressure Stanadyne pumps) due to water. I did a worldwide failure analysis by region. SE USA was second only to Persian Gulf area in pumps failing due to water. Water separators need to allow fuel through so they can't begin to separate all water - 90% is excellent. Here is a quote from a study of new separator media "The water separation performance of the novel filter medium was evaluated. The results showed that the filter medium with an upstream layer containing 20 wt% kapok fibers possessed maximum separation efficiency (89.5%) under IFT of 17 mN/m.". The trick is not to block flow to the high pressure pump. I have a water block filter from my tank and my tractors and CTL all have water separators yes all my tractors have shut down due to blocked water separators. My tank separator gets 90%, my tractor separator gets 90% of what gets past the tank separator. We tested Bosch and Denso injectors for common rail systems with Denso being best. I believe your L6060 has Denso. They do have a life limit due to dirt and water.

 

[arto98607]

My tractors and mowers all have old school mechanical fuel injection and all my fuel is pumped through this 10 micron filter and water separation bowl.



I sure hope all these new modern common rail injection systems have better than 10 micron filters in the tractor.

 

[ruffdog]

Not all filters and filter media are created equal. When Bobcat switched from Kubota to Doosan, they upgraded the filtering media from a 10 micron to a 2 micron system. They also use a special nano filter media that refuses water transfer.

 

[Larry D Johnson]

Like the title says, water in fuel caused me a $10,000 repair bill to my 2017 Grand L6060 with about 1200 hours on it. The water caused rust in the fuel rail which caused damage to the injectors. I have had fuel problems with this tractor since its new.

I have a 100 gal. nurse tank that I use to fuel my tractors. I assume that condensation is happening in this tank. I do add a fuel 'cleaner' to each 100 gallons I put in the nurse tank. I guess this is mostly my fault, because I don't monitor the water separator on the tractor closely enough. I will check it more often now after this.

This would tell us that the filters they use are highly inadequate. Menthol Alcohol makes water float and is a cheap fix for water in fuel. Isopropyl alcohol actually absorbs water and it disappears. It is used in air systems in trucks in very cold climates to get rid of the water because one fraction of a drop can cause air valves to freeze and not work.

 

[Hay Dude]

Two farmers tips I’d like to share with all of you about fueling your tractors:

1. Do not let your tank go below 1/4. It greatly increases your chances of sucking up junk. In general, keep your tank filled as high as possible.

2. When you re-fuel, turn off the tractor. The act of filling agitates the junk off the bottom. If you wait ~20 minutes, the junk will settle back down. Then resume running tractor.

 

[LouNY]

Two farmers tips I’d like to share with all of you about fueling your tractors:

1. Do not let your tank go below 1/4. It greatly increases your chances of sucking up junk. In general, keep your tank filled as high as possible.

2. When you re-fuel, turn off the tractor. The act of filling agitates the junk off the bottom. If you wait ~20 minutes, the junk will settle back down. Then resume running tractor.

I've heard and been told the same thing.
The issue that I have with #1 is that almost all tanks draw from a low point with a suction tube or in tank lift pump.
Also the older tractors had a sump ir bottom tank tap to supply fuel.
Now, many of the bottom tap pulls did have a short riser inside the tank with a screen above that, they wouldn't draw the last 1/4" or so out of the tank.

#2 I'd agree with more, then the issue is do you pull it down to the filter or let it buildup and then suck a heavy slug of it into the system.

Our bulk storage tanks the pickup tube is a couple of inches off the bottom, when I think of it and have nothing better to do I will lower the suction pipe, remove the tank filter and pump 10-15 gallons into a barrel, then raise the pickup up and reinstall the filter. Usually the bottom has been fairly good a couple times I've gotten some sludge and water.

 

[Bob Rooks]

Sorry for your situation, but it almost seems like you were gambling that it would never happen to you. Your fuel can never be clean or dry enough.
You need to dose your "nurse" tank with a biocide, and read up about Diesel Bugs.

You need some water finding paste to check your "nurse" tank periodically,

a coalescing fuel filter on your "nurse" tank,

and a coalescing fuel filter on your engine as the PRIMARY filter.

 

[Hay Dude]

I've heard and been told the same thing.
The issue that I have with #1 is that almost all tanks draw from a low point with a suction tube or in tank lift pump.
Also the older tractors had a sump ir bottom tank tap to supply fuel.
Now, many of the bottom tap pulls did have a short riser inside the tank with a screen above that, they wouldn't draw the last 1/4" or so out of the tank.

#2 I'd agree with more, then the issue is do you pull it down to the filter or let it buildup and then suck a heavy slug of it into the system.

Our bulk storage tanks the pickup tube is a couple of inches off the bottom, when I think of it and have nothing better to do I will lower the suction pipe, remove the tank filter and pump 10-15 gallons into a barrel, then raise the pickup up and reinstall the filter. Usually the bottom has been fairly good a couple times I've gotten some sludge and water.

Yeah but the lower the tank level the greater the chances of dirt. Higher the tank level, the more diluted it can be, especially when jostling around in field.
1/4 tank has greater concentration of dirt/gallon then 3/4 tank.