If you own a 6.0 Powerstroke then you’ve probably had the water-in-fuel light come on and many people have learned to live with the light being on all the time. The problem with this is obviously you won’t know when you actually HAVE water in your fuel. Fuel injectors for the 6.0 are around $265 ea. so allowing water to damage them can cost you more than the fix we’re gonna go over today. The water-in-fuel (WIF) sensor on the 6.0 is located in the fuel pump on the driver’s side frame rail. The fuel filter separates the water and channels it down to the drain plug where it can be drained periodically. Unfortunately most people do not drain the water frequently enough so the water coagulates and creates a mucus-like substance that sticks to the sensor. The sensor can be seen in the pic in the lower left corner.
Most of the time when customers bring this issue to us it is already beyond the point of just draining the housing. We repair this issue by removing the fuel pump from the vehicle. We then remove the filter and this cover that houses the sensor and fuel lines. The pan below is a good example of the amount of crud that normally comes out of a filter housing when the WIF light has been on for an extended amount of time.
The pic below is the filter housing with the filter removed. After removing the fuel pump cover (manifold) you can flush these contaminants out with some cleaner and maintain a clean housing.
After removing these components we flush the housing out with cleaner and install a new manifold gasket, fuel filter, and WIF sensor. This ensures a long-lasting repair that will allow you to keep an eye on your fuel quality and make sure to keep your injectors healthy. Thanks guys.