Water In Fuel Filter Light & Abs Light

[coopertron]

Hi All,

 

Just another couple of quick questions I wanted to ask as you have all been a great help on the last two queries I had. These are the old favourite "intermittant" problems I'm afraid :)

 

Water in fuel filter light on dash (intermittant)

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Since I bought the car, the Yellow "Water in fuel filter" warning light on the dash has been lighting up intermittantly. Whenever it does light up, the car drives absolutely no differently, (which I would have thought it would).

 

Sometimes it comes on and stays on for quite a while, and then goes off again, or it will sometimes just flick on briefly and then go off again.

 

I wondered if it perhaps might be condensation around the sensor or in the fuel filter casing or something, as surely if there was water present, the light would come on and stay on until it was all drained out?.

 

I have read in the Haynes and the owners manual how to drain the water out, but haven't attempted this yet, as it is always raining when I plan to do it.

 

How messy is this? - does diesel pour out of the nut you loosen, or just out of the tube? or do you have to pump it out with the primer pump?. As an aside when you change the diesel fuel filter, is that a messy job, ie does the diesel pour out?.

 

 

ABS light on dash (intermittant)

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The other problem I have had occasionally is the ABS light coming on and staying on when first starting the car, or once while I was driving and staying on.

 

Normally if this happens, you can enable the ABS again by stopping the car, and turning the ignition off, leaving it a minute or so, and then starting it up again.

 

The problem seemed to be a lot worse when we had a really cold snap, and hasn't appeared more recently in the last month or so.

 

Is this likely to be a dodgy ABS sensor, or perhaps one gammed up with gunk?. I appreciate this is not really a diagnosable problem without plugging in a scanner but I just wondered if you guys might have had a similar problem and what you did to resolve it.

 

Thanks for your time,

 

Regards,

 

Mark

[Guest Colin Hunter]

Regarding the fuel filter. To drain out the water just crack open the tap and operate the bulb (GENTLY!). The fuel will come out of the tube only. Catch it in a tin or something. To change the filter, open the drain and place said tin under the tube. when you undo the cover bolts the fuel will run into the tin and the filter will drain. Take the cover off and change the filter. Close the drain and fill the filter with clean diesel (Put some extra in a jerry can when you fuel up the car) and replace the cover. This should mean you don't have to bleed through before starting up.

 

Regarding the ABS problem see this forum for some info.

http://www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk/citro...?showtopic=4274

The only way to diagnose a duff sensor or other abs problem is to have a diagnostic check done by Citroen or another garage with the relevant equipment. It's unlikely to be a broken reluctor ring if it's intermittent.

 

Cheers Hope this helps :)

[coopertron]

Thank you once again Mr Hunter :)

 

With regards to the fuel filter light issue, is it normal for it to come on and off whenever it feels like it?.

 

If water was present, wouldn't the car drive a bit "off"?

 

Thanks again

 

Regarding the fuel filter. To drain out the water just crack open the tap and operate the bulb (GENTLY!). The fuel will come out of the tube only. Catch it in a tin or something. To change the filter, open the drain and place said tin under the tube. when you undo the cover bolts the fuel will run into the tin and the filter will drain. Take the cover off and change the filter. Close the drain and fill the filter with clean diesel (Put some extra in a jerry can when you fuel up the car) and replace the cover. This should mean you don't have to bleed through before starting up.

 

Regarding the ABS problem see this forum for some info.

http://www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk/citro...?showtopic=4274

The only way to diagnose a duff sensor or other abs problem is to have a diagnostic check done by Citroen or another garage with the relevant equipment. It's unlikely to be a broken reluctor ring if it's intermittent.

 

Cheers Hope this helps :D

[Guest Colin Hunter]

With regard to the filter, the amount of water in the filter at present will be very small and will be swilling around as the car goes along, making contact with the sensor intermittently. This small amount will cause no problems to the engine as it is trapped in the filter as it is meant to be. If the light is annoying you (It's meant to!) then drain the filter as described.

 

The car's performance and driveability will remain unaffected as long as the water does not get past the filter. Say, for instance, you had just filled up at a garage and when you drove away the light came on and stayed on, indicating that you had bought a load of contaminated fuel. This would be the time to immediately stop the car and drain the filter before the water got to the pump. If the water does get to the pump the engine will start labouring and eventually will stop. Thankfully such instances of bad fuel are few and far between although it can and does happen if the garages installation is not up to scratch.

 

Cheers. Hope this clarifies things :)