Case 580K water in fuel, running again, follow-up?

Hey all: I have a 1987 Case 580K with Case/Cummins 4-390 non-turbo diesel engine. This machine sits at my cabin most of the time, and I occasionally dig and plow snow with it. Yesterday, after filling the fuel tank and running the machine for 1 hour, I was driving up the road and felt something funny (intermittent lowering of cruise RPM with constant gas pedal position). I turned up my [steep] snowy driveway, and about 1/2 way up the engine cut out and died. Restarting failed. I quickly got the "fuel system" section of the service manual on my phone, grabbed my tools, and proceeded to:

1. Drain some fuel from the fuel filter
2. Bleed the fuel filter housing bleeder
3. Bleed the injection pump bleeder

After this and some cranking, the engine fired right up, and I drove it the rest of the way up to its parking spot. The fuel pump priming action seemed to be strong (lift pump seems OK?) I examined the tin can which I had drained the fuel into, and noticed some very small (1/32" or less) floating droplets - not many, I presume water droplets. Talking with my neighbor, he had water in his fuel in his tractor, similar symptoms (temperatures and humidity right now are bad for inside-of-tank condensation).

I did some work with the backhoe for a while after all of this, and the engine seemed to run perfect. Perhaps the water was purged in the process of bleeding/draining. What I'm wondering now is what to do next. I've decided to have a spare lift pump on hand, and to get new fuel filters (primary and secondary, plus the inline fuel line filter). I also thought it would be good to add some diesel water dispersant, like Diesel911 to break up any remaining water droplets so they can mix with the diesel fuel. Perhaps treat diesel regularly with Diesel911 when these weather conditions exist.

Does all of this sound reasonable? Now that I know how to work with the fuel system it's not intimidating at all, very simple. I just don't want to have the machine die again in a bad spot if there's something I can do to prevent it.

Thanks,
Gavin

If this is a machine that is not run very often I would be looking into a Fuel Biocide this will keep the black slime away that likes to grow in fuel of equipment that gets used infrequently.

One example is:

http://powerservice.com/psp_product/bio-kleen-diesel-fuel-biocide/

As ks suggested, you may want to consider biocide if you rarely use this machine.

Condensation forms on the walls of the tank, so it is a must to keep the tank full (you didn't mention this in your op). Keeping the tank full will minimize any condensation. Also, I would be very careful using 911. 911 will erode parts quickly if used in excess or frequently.

Yes, yes, and you DON'T WANT to disperse the water in the long term, you want it to settle and drain it off. If your tank has a drain, use it. If it doesn't have a drain, add a water separator with a drain. Maybe a desicant breather on the fuel tank, or even a smaller plastic tank, like a 5 gallon boat tank. Equipment is designed to run a full shift and have plenty of fuel left over, that's a problem when you have adverse conditions and rarely use a full tank at once. You've set up a wine aging cask, not a fresh fuel supply.

Thanks guys- I actually run the machine at least every month or so. Regarding draining- anyone had luck draining only 1/2 to 1 gallon of diesel from these kinds of tanks? (giant plug on bottom of tank) - let it run for a while and put the plug back in? Is that feasible?

Thanks for the tip on the biocide, and the caution about Diesel911. And yes, I'm planning to leave the tank full from now on for sure. I was thinking to use some Diesel911 just this once, but a partial draining could be a good option... Or replace filters and use the machine and see what happens?

As Delmer suggested, I think you're best off installing a filter with a water separator. They're only about $50.

It sounds like that big plug isn't meant to be used for draining off water? You could loosen it just enough that some seeps out of the threads, but that won't get all the water if the bottom is flat. Some tanks are designed to be drained regularly with a petcok on the bottom of a sloping tank.

If you're using less than the whole tank capacity every month, in a damp climate, I'd use a temporary smaller plastic tank. Even better if you can find a vertical one with a petcok drain and a pickup well off the bottom.

Catback- any reccomendations for a specific filter (with built in fuel/water separator) for this application that would take place of the stock one? Sounds like a good solution!

Perhaps something like this?
https://www.tractorpartsasap.com/Fu...p/125817.htm?gclid=CJTpuZy7_coCFQiQaQodCTEBRg

Delmer said:

It sounds like that big plug isn't meant to be used for draining off water? You could loosen it just enough that some seeps out of the threads, but that won't get all the water if the bottom is flat. Some tanks are designed to be drained regularly with a petcok on the bottom of a sloping tank.

If you're using less than the whole tank capacity every month, in a damp climate, I'd use a temporary smaller plastic tank. Even better if you can find a vertical one with a petcok drain and a pickup well off the bottom.

Click to expand...

Not familiar with the 580K but why can't you take that big plug out and replace it with a pipe bushing to reduce it down to 1/4 pipe and install a petcock that you can open to drain the condensation out?

kshansen said:

Not familiar with the 580K but why can't you take that big plug out and replace it with a pipe bushing to reduce it down to 1/4 pipe and install a petcock that you can open to drain the condensation out?

Click to expand...

That would be a good way to go! But I don't have a 25 gallon tank to drain my fuel into for that "conversion" - so perhaps I'll wait until the tank is almost empty- if only my fuel gage worked... perhaps time to get that fixed at the same time...

DualsportWA said:

That would be a good way to go! But I don't have a 25 gallon tank to drain my fuel into for that "conversion" - so perhaps I'll wait until the tank is almost empty- if only my fuel gage worked... perhaps time to get that fixed at the same time...

Click to expand...

5-6 5 gallon buckets will work too!