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Just started the van (Trafic) after a couple of weeks of sitting idle and got a dash warning suggesting that there might be water in the diesel filter.
Diesel tank is almost full as I topped it up when last driven.
It's certainly been a bit cold these last few days, with heavy mist in the glens, but nothing unusual.
I've "parked" any notion of using it until it's been looked at, which means sometime next week.
Is it possible to drain the filter, and then hope that the fuel is fine or am I looking at a complete drain (disposal) and re-fill?
I guess it could also be a faulty sensor?
If it can detect water in the fuel filter then it will likely have a water drain valve on bottom of filter.
The diesel sits on the water so when you get diesel out the water is gone.
The sensors do go bad in that I've seen them come on twice in my life of driving and both times it's been the sensor.....once it has come unplugged because a Dodgy connector and the other time it was new sensor time(neither on a traffic though)
Given that filters are cheap I’d probably change it to be safe. Seems odd though as normally you’d only get water due to condensation if your tank is half empty. So probably only a small amount.
Also…water shouldn’t be a big problem short term but longer term you can get the dreaded diesel bug, which can be a bugger to get rid of…
The water detection sensor in my van is at the bottom of the diesel filter. The sensor takes the place of small plastic drain cock that the filter comes with as standard. If there's water detected the first course of action would be to drain some or all of the contents of the filter canister to see if there's any water in there. Might be as suggested that the sensor has gone south.
If you get any water out this means it's been pumped in there from the tank. So draining down the filter might not be the end of your problem as there's almost certainly more in the tank. The method for re-priming the filter housing after it's been drained depends on the vehicle. On mine, this means cycling the ignition on & off again half a dozen times & you can clearly hear the air being purged back through the return line back into the tank. YMMV. Once the filter housing is full again you're good to start the engine. Check online. It's probably covered on youtube how to drain the filter.
Good luck.
As above there can be water in diesel and the systems designed to trap it and let you bleed it out with a tap on the bottom of it. Google is your friend here.
What age is the traffic? I looked at a 65 plate vivaro last week for a pal that had sat for a few weeks due to him breaking his ankle. Its a screw in tap on the bottom of the filter, as an added bonus it was also self priming too after the filter had been emptied.