[C320-list] Water in Diesel

[Larry Frank]

I would like to find out what the collective wisdom and experience of this
group is regarding water in diesel.

A few weeks ago I discovered about 1/3  to 1/2 cup of water in the fuel
filter water separator bowl during a routine check.  Prior to this discovery
the engine had run fine.  After this discovery I instituted a procedure of
checking the separator before every time I started the engine. Until this
last weekend I didn¹t fine any more water than a drop or two.  During this
period I probably ran the engine for 10 hours in smooth to light chop
conditions.

I cannot determine exactly how water got in the fuel but suspect either the
fuel source or a filler cap not completely tightened combined with rain
water.  In 20 years of owning WindSwept I have never had this experience and
I replaced the tank about 2 years ago so I do not expect sources like
condensation to be the source.

This last weekend after motoring for an hour into a good chop (20 knots on
the nose in rather exposed water) the engine RPM dropped from 2300 to 2000
RPM and would not increase with increased throttle.  Luckily we were now in
a position to sail and raised sails and shut down the engine.  I checked the
separator bowl and drained about 1/4 cup of water.  We sailed across Corpus
Christi bay and restarted the engine when entering the breakwater and
protected water.  The engine seemed to run fine and no more water
accumulated in the fuel bowl.  When moored in our slip I ran the engine for
about 20 minutes at 2000 rpm in forward and increased the throttle to max
and the engine rpm was smooth at 3400 rpm so there didn¹t seem to be any
fuel restriction at this time.

Now that you have the background here are my questions.

1.  Has anyone had a similar experience and did enough water eventually make
its way out of the tank allowing the problem to go away?
2.  Do I need to try to siphon or pump the water from the bottom of the fuel
tank?
3.  If I were to allow the engine to run when the separator fills with water
will the engine just shut down or will damage occur?
4.  Does the filter element need changing after water exposure?

Thanks,

Larry
WindSwept 
C320 #246