Glenn233
Member
What tool did you get to remove/reuse the Click R clamps?
Water in Fuel Light WIF warning is on.
- Thread starter 220629
- Start date
Just search amazon for clic r pliers - it takes a few ticks to figure out how to use them - once you get the hang of it, it takes seconds to remove the clamp
D
Deleted member 50714
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pfflyer
Well-known member
I some what feel your pain. Right now I am over $6k in repairs after two visits to the dealer. Got bad fuel from Quick Trip verified by GA. State Agricultural test. QT is slow or not responding. I hope there aren't more issues down the road. In hindsight I should have had the van towed sooner but I had some cargo a customer was relying on me to deliver. WIF light didn't show up till I was around 1/2 tank and a few days later. Rough start the first start after fill up. The cargo I was carrying wasn't worth $6k in profit but a happy customer is worth ALOT more.
Your experience post AEM (aka Approved Emissions Modification)
It appears that the AEM may trigger false WIF warnings in some NCV3 models.
vic
It appears that the AEM may trigger false WIF warnings in some NCV3 models.
vic
Thanks for the post. Same issue here in Chicago. Dealer completely unaware.
RI_LockGuy
New member
Same issue here with my 2011. AEM was done, WIF light on. MB says roughly 3 weeks before a fix is available.
Just had my Sprinter 2011 AEM work done in San Luis Obispo. At pickup yesterday, got the warning message Water in Fuel. Service blamed it on not replacing fuel filter. Went through the draining of water per handbook. Did not help. Thanks to this forum as it confirmed my suspicion that it is related to AEM procedure. Will follow through tomorrow with service as I left the vehicle there for diagnostics.
I did a little digging and it appears that they have figured out a solution for the Fuel Heater issue you guys are experiencing. This Doc states that letters will be sent out May 5th to do corrective software updates on the 2011 Vans. I would Start setting up some appointments around that time if you are experiencing this issue.
Thought this may be useful to some, and apologies if this has been mentioned previously (I'll admit, I haven't read the entire thread, but was frantically hopping around the posts for advice most of today).
Check your electrical connection to the fuel filter!!! You may get lucky.
Just had a stressful day today after the WIF light came on upon startup this morning. It wasn't there the last night, after I gave the van two successful startups / short idles after working on it. I spent some time yesterday replacing all 6 glow plugs, and installed a new fuel filter. Then when I went to leave this morning, I got the WIF message as soon as it started?!!? I didn't know how sever it could be, so I started driving. I figured it was from the nasty gas station I stopped at the day before. A last minute stop to get fuel just incase I ran out before getting home (yes I was very low and pushing it). It was a Space Age, and the diesel pump was so bad I almost took a photo to show my wife. You know the ones absolutely covered in grime and looking like a crime scene. But I figured that must mean people use it often, right? Anyway, to keep this short, I was stressing so I pulled over, googled what to do, read this post and others, freaked out, but had a container on hand so I did the drain water from gas thing. Didn't get too much the first time and WIF still came on, so I opened the lock nut more and did it again, but the fuel drain line blew out of the nut thing, and diesel sprayed everywhere in the engine (you know I was sitting in the drivers seat with the hood up and didn't realize). What a mess. I drove on, telling myself it cant be that bad with a little moisture in the fuel....
Anywho, stopped at a parts store on the way home, bought another fuel filter, some degreaser, and stopped at a DIY car wash I passed on the way home and cleaned up the engine. Got home, went to change the fuel filter - and there was the connector.... NOT connected. An oversight by me the day before when I was reassembling everything. I reconnected and started the engine, and all is good. Unless I'm stuck in a grounhog day and this bullshit will repeat tomorrow
So if you made it this far, I guess the auto default could be WIF warning if there is a break in the wiring. Keep that in mind if you are trouble shooting.
I also noted the fuel filter I used yesterday did not have the usual caps on? The replacement I bought today does, so it confirms what I recall always seeing. Not sure why that is, but you know, my mind was feverishly looking for any and all possibilities. Thought maybe it was a returned fuel filter I'd ended up with.
Good luck to anyone experiencing this issue. Crazy to think that so much harm can be caused by a gas station with water getting in their tanks. Living in the PNW, and with environmental engineering friends who work on gas station sites, it can happen.
Check your electrical connection to the fuel filter!!! You may get lucky.
Just had a stressful day today after the WIF light came on upon startup this morning. It wasn't there the last night, after I gave the van two successful startups / short idles after working on it. I spent some time yesterday replacing all 6 glow plugs, and installed a new fuel filter. Then when I went to leave this morning, I got the WIF message as soon as it started?!!? I didn't know how sever it could be, so I started driving. I figured it was from the nasty gas station I stopped at the day before. A last minute stop to get fuel just incase I ran out before getting home (yes I was very low and pushing it). It was a Space Age, and the diesel pump was so bad I almost took a photo to show my wife. You know the ones absolutely covered in grime and looking like a crime scene. But I figured that must mean people use it often, right? Anyway, to keep this short, I was stressing so I pulled over, googled what to do, read this post and others, freaked out, but had a container on hand so I did the drain water from gas thing. Didn't get too much the first time and WIF still came on, so I opened the lock nut more and did it again, but the fuel drain line blew out of the nut thing, and diesel sprayed everywhere in the engine (you know I was sitting in the drivers seat with the hood up and didn't realize). What a mess. I drove on, telling myself it cant be that bad with a little moisture in the fuel....
Anywho, stopped at a parts store on the way home, bought another fuel filter, some degreaser, and stopped at a DIY car wash I passed on the way home and cleaned up the engine. Got home, went to change the fuel filter - and there was the connector.... NOT connected. An oversight by me the day before when I was reassembling everything. I reconnected and started the engine, and all is good. Unless I'm stuck in a grounhog day and this bullshit will repeat tomorrow
So if you made it this far, I guess the auto default could be WIF warning if there is a break in the wiring. Keep that in mind if you are trouble shooting.I also noted the fuel filter I used yesterday did not have the usual caps on? The replacement I bought today does, so it confirms what I recall always seeing. Not sure why that is, but you know, my mind was feverishly looking for any and all possibilities. Thought maybe it was a returned fuel filter I'd ended up with.
Good luck to anyone experiencing this issue. Crazy to think that so much harm can be caused by a gas station with water getting in their tanks. Living in the PNW, and with environmental engineering friends who work on gas station sites, it can happen.
An added "Wow" on the post, but thanks for the follow-up and information. 
WIF warnings are a touchy situation.
So many posts here do seem to show that often the warnings trace to other problems with the monitor system as opposed to actual bad fuel... BUT... if you do really have a Water In Fuel WIF problem it can ruin your day, and literally possibly your engine.
Generally the quality of diesel fuel does seem to at least be good enough in N. America. Many Mercedes diesel engine vehicles are designed/sold with no WIF warning design at all. Many OM612 engine owners have eliminated the WIF feature to avoid possible air leak problems.
I've run the 2004 since 2008 and the 2006 since 2015 with no WIF problems. (knocking/touch wood while I type...
)
Rolling the dice without a WIF system warning is probably less risky than ignoring a WIF dash warning from an intact monitor system.
I have no solid answers as to what an owner's response should be. Life on the edge.
vic
WIF warnings are a touchy situation.
So many posts here do seem to show that often the warnings trace to other problems with the monitor system as opposed to actual bad fuel... BUT... if you do really have a Water In Fuel WIF problem it can ruin your day, and literally possibly your engine.
Generally the quality of diesel fuel does seem to at least be good enough in N. America. Many Mercedes diesel engine vehicles are designed/sold with no WIF warning design at all. Many OM612 engine owners have eliminated the WIF feature to avoid possible air leak problems.
I've run the 2004 since 2008 and the 2006 since 2015 with no WIF problems. (knocking/touch wood while I type...
)Rolling the dice without a WIF system warning is probably less risky than ignoring a WIF dash warning from an intact monitor system.
I have no solid answers as to what an owner's response should be. Life on the edge.
vic
Midwestdrifter
Engineer In Residence
If I got a WIF warning, I would decant some of the fuel from the filter water purge fitting into a clear container. If it looked clear, and the typical amber or slight green tinge, I would just keep rolling and assume a system fault. If it was cloudy, rust colored, or had obvious liquid water, I would stop and if necessary get a tow to a location where I could have the fuel purged.
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I found it interesting that the warning came up as a default of the harness not being connected to the fuel filter. Mine was a very obvious oversight, as I'd completely failed to connect it. But if somehow it wasn't completely clicked into place, someone could have the same experience. Perhaps a rear occasion, the wiring harness could be damaged and cause this issue.
Of course, knowing the filter had just been changed is a good sign to check that as a first step. If it hadn't been touched, I'd rule that out. In my case, I'd also filled up from that bad looking pump at a station I never used, and had run the tank pretty low. So I was concerned that water in the fuel was a real potential. And having never seen this warning before, I didn't know about it. This is where this forum is amazing for information. I drove 3 miles before I stopped to search this info, and then purged some of the diesel out right there. It didn't look watery at all, or cloudy. With all I now know, I would indeed stop and get it towed if I was far from home, or if I had seen any issues with the diesel. I was still extremely nervous when I went home and my fingers were crossed that I'd find the connection off. As I mentioned I was about to put another new fuel filter in, and if that didn't do it - I was going to follow the steps and have the tank drained.
Thanks again to all who provided the info and wisdom on this issue.
Of course, knowing the filter had just been changed is a good sign to check that as a first step. If it hadn't been touched, I'd rule that out. In my case, I'd also filled up from that bad looking pump at a station I never used, and had run the tank pretty low. So I was concerned that water in the fuel was a real potential. And having never seen this warning before, I didn't know about it. This is where this forum is amazing for information. I drove 3 miles before I stopped to search this info, and then purged some of the diesel out right there. It didn't look watery at all, or cloudy. With all I now know, I would indeed stop and get it towed if I was far from home, or if I had seen any issues with the diesel. I was still extremely nervous when I went home and my fingers were crossed that I'd find the connection off. As I mentioned I was about to put another new fuel filter in, and if that didn't do it - I was going to follow the steps and have the tank drained.
Thanks again to all who provided the info and wisdom on this issue.
clydedillman
New member
I've changed many of these filters. Poor design on 2003 dodge sprinter van. Too
Many holes where air can be sucked. That being said, the plug can work loose. Has happened to me more than once. The best way to prevent water in fuel is to shop at stations you know that have a high rate of fuel turn over. Less likely water will condensen in tanks. The newer fuel has more tendency to collect moisture. Use a addictive especially if you don't drive your van frequently
clydedillman
New member
Save the connection on bottom of your filter and go buy a European fuel filter. No ports to leak air or false reading. Then make sure you buy your fuel at a place that has high turn over. Really not a fan of the Mercedes water separator filters. Too many things to go wrong even if you have a qualified sprinter mechanics do the work. I've had issues changing filter myself and having sprinter mechanics do it for me
Gwilym & Eddy the Merckx
2005 313 CDi 4mWB Orchid Green Crew Van 52k miles
Finally! 🙄 I have just read every post in this long thread to see if anyone mentioned whether it is necessary to drain the entire filter in order to asses if the diesel is contaminated with water.
MWD and nzdave have both said they drained “some” of the fuel.
My T1N WiF enabled filter has the drain at the bottom and, I would suppose, water collects at the bottom so surely if water was present you only need to drain part of the fuel filter contents to asses the presence of contamination?
I have drained about a quarter or more a few times now and have only collected clean diesel. As mentioned in other threads I am in the process of diagnosing the reason for my intermittent WiF warning light.
elemental
Wherever you go, there you are.
I'm no expert, and I have never had to deal with water in my diesel fuel, fortunately. However, water *is* denser than diesel fuel, so it settles to the bottom of any container that it is in. It seems likely that if you are draining your fuel filter and only see diesel fuel, especially after letting the vehicle sit for *a while* (how long is a while, I don't know - a half day, a day?), that you don't have any water to speak of in the fuel filter, which would make me question whether there is really any water in the diesel fuel at all.
I found this article the topic from a slightly different perspective: https://clearflowsys.com/blog/your-diesel-water-separator-explained/
If you *did* have water in the bottom of the fuel filter, you would then need to figure out whether that was all of the water in the system, or you actually had a bigger problem due to water in the fuel tank. The above article talks about that in the context of boats, which are in much more watery environments than vans usually are.
I found this article on vehicle diesel fuel filters and the "water in fuel" problem: https://klmperformance.com/collections/diesel-fuel-water-separator-filter
That's all I've got... maybe someone else who has dealt with the problem themselves can chime in.
Gwilym & Eddy the Merckx
2005 313 CDi 4mWB Orchid Green Crew Van 52k miles
Thanks elemental I will look at those links.
There are extensive conversations on his forum about the WiF warning light. Think I have read all of them but people often seem to veer off in to describing methods for getting rid of the WIF warning function which is a route I want to avoid if at all possible.
Having a correctly functioning WIF warning light seems quite re-assuring to me although I do understand why people get rid if they have spent a lot of time failing to figure out why they get red light alerts when there is no water in the filter.
Apparently non-WiF warning filters also filter out water but do not have a sensor to tell you when they have collected a substantial amount, of water.
I am currently pre-occupied about whether my specific fuel filter, which has the drain at the bottom unlike US versions, would drain collected water preferentially? Which seems logical.
*Slight correction “US non-pumped models like the 2000-2003” have drain screw on the bottom as stated by Autostaretx in next post*
There are extensive conversations on his forum about the WiF warning light. Think I have read all of them but people often seem to veer off in to describing methods for getting rid of the WIF warning function which is a route I want to avoid if at all possible.
Having a correctly functioning WIF warning light seems quite re-assuring to me although I do understand why people get rid if they have spent a lot of time failing to figure out why they get red light alerts when there is no water in the filter.
Apparently non-WiF warning filters also filter out water but do not have a sensor to tell you when they have collected a substantial amount, of water.
I am currently pre-occupied about whether my specific fuel filter, which has the drain at the bottom unlike US versions, would drain collected water preferentially? Which seems logical.
*Slight correction “US non-pumped models like the 2000-2003” have drain screw on the bottom as stated by Autostaretx in next post*
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