Having lived in Alaska for 30 years,  I have learned about ice and water
in the fuel lines. The common practice was/is to add a small amount of
Alcohol to gasoline tank - say a pint - every other tankful or so - to
keep the water that accumulates from condensation out of there. Most
common was Heet, a brand sold in the gas stations. Did the job.

Alcohol will absorb any water, and will mix with the gas and be passed
out through the fuel lines to the chyinders. If there is a lot of water,
then warming the vehicle and draining the lines is the only solution.
But one can  keep ahead of it by simple planning and routine preventive
maintenance.

Regards,

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

Dennis Haynes wrote:

>The need to drain water from the filter/separator depends on the quality
>of the fuel you get. Some say to check it after every fill up. If you
>get your fuel from the same place and you never see water, then you can
>drain it infrequently. If you do get water and you allow it to
>accumulate, eventually it will stop the flow and shut you down. In
>winter use, it can also freeze plugging the filter. If water should get
>into the injection pump, nasty things can happen there. As for Diesels
>being noisy, the noise is due to a combination of the injectors slamming
>and the higher compression ratios/combustion process.
>
>Dennis
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
>Of Dave Chameides
>Sent: Monday, July 19, 2004 1:16 AM
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: Draining Fluid From the Fuel Filter
>
>I have an 83 Diesel 1.6 and am new to this whole diesel thing so how
>often
>do I have to drain the water out of the fuel filter and is there
>anything
>other than common sense involved in doing this?  What happens if I
>neglect
>it (not that I would but just wondering)? And finally, and this is a
>more
>general diesel question, why do diesels make more noise than
>conventional
>gasoline engines?  That�s probably a stupid question but I�m still
>wondering.  Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller......
>
>Dave
>
>
>
>Lead by example.
>
>
>