Draining sedimenter and related questions (1 Viewer)

[fossilcruiser]

Can someone tell me how, exactly, to drain the sedimenter on my BJ70?

There is an outlet on the bottom, which is part of a large bolt. And then there's a smaller bolt on the top. Which needs to be unscrewed?

Relatedly, will I need to purge air from the fuel line if I drain the sedimenter?

Finally, since the sedimenter is 30 years old, I'm guessing that it will need a replacement. What are people doing for this? OEM available? Other brands.

Thanks for the suggestions and help.

 

[ozcrusier]

The sedimenter has a 10mm bolt on the bottom for draining and a 10mm bolt to one side on top to help drain. Does yours look like this

 

[fossilcruiser]

Yes, mine look very similar except that the bottom bolt has a nipple on it. You can barely see it at the bottom of this picture.

 

[ozcrusier]

It should have a 10mm bolt PO must have lost the bolt and put a bleed nipple on it. The bottom bolt is taken off to drain the water if nothing comes out get a poker as there might be sludge and rust blocking the hole. The top bolt stops the vacuum just crack that a few turns to let air in and fuel/water out.

 

[jblueridge]

Does the air allowed in then need to be purged?

 

[fossilcruiser]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I will take another look at it tonight and snap a photo of the lower bolt/bleed nipple.

 

[John Galt]

Does the air allowed in then need to be purged?

Yes, it's best to fill the sedimenter with fuel after draining it. If the fuel system returns fuel to the tank it might purge the air, or not.

 

[fossilcruiser]

So, I had a chance to take a look today. The bottom bolt (with nipple) is 21 mm and the top is 10mm. When I opened the bottom, nothing came out, but I heard a sucking sound. I opened the top and bottom to see if that allowed any fuel/water to escape, but no luck. I figured there would be air in the line, so I tried pumping/bleeding it, but it seemed fine (and I drove it around the block without issues).

So, I'm wondering if my sedimenter is still good? Any ideas? Looks like the OEM is discontinued.

Also, how do I refill the sedimenter - does the top screw off?

thanks for any suggestions!

 

[ozcrusier]

Sometimes they get a built up crud try pushing a bit off wire up inside to break it up.

 

[John Galt]

Yes, mine look very similar except that the bottom bolt has a nipple on it. You can barely see it at the bottom of this picture. View attachment 1193607

The white plastic fitting at the top with the two wires un-screws, and the water sensor can be removed.
Remove the bottom plug and probe with a long screwdriver to dislodge the crud in the bottom.
Once it's clear to drain, flush with fuel a couple of times then refill and you're good to go.
Some folks refill the sedementer with Seafoam, then run the engine for a minute to fill the fuel system with cleaner, then let it sit overnight.

 

[LostinDartmouth]

I realize this is an older thread, but wanted to reach out and say thanks for posting it. I was going to ask similar questions on my 85bj70's sedimenter but your notes on this thread were helpful.
Before I pull too hard, does the white plastic fitting, that holds the two wires and water sensor, pull out or un-screw? I've been doing both with little luck and am concerned about breaking it... Thanks.

 

[sodafeld1]

I recently, so happened, had to remove it on the trail the other day as the hose running from it to the pump was cactus. I didn't have spare hose, so ran directly from the fuel tank to the pump lifter, so no water/fuel gauge warning light. I have a donaldson secondary fuel filter with water separator so was confident to get home.

Been ok, you can run without it, but certainly best to have a water/fuel separator before fuel enters the actual pump and then injectors at the least.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Can someone tell me how, exactly, to drain the sedimenter on my BJ70?

There is an outlet on the bottom, which is part of a large bolt. And then there's a smaller bolt on the top. Which needs to be unscrewed?

Relatedly, will I need to purge air from the fuel line if I drain the sedimenter?

Finally, since the sedimenter is 30 years old, I'm guessing that it will need a replacement. What are people doing for this? OEM available? Other brands.

Thanks for the suggestions and help.

My bottom drain was extremely difficult to get to so I simply got a large hypodermic needle from a local veterinarian office and used it to suck out the fluid and contaminants from the top. A little unorthodox but it worked and I didn’t lose any hide in the process.

 

[LostinDartmouth]

A quick follow up. The sedimenter sensor unscrews. Took a firm whack with a screwdriver to start it. Spins out. I have a hard-start situation so hoping that cleaning out the sedi will help. Curious that there was no pressure in the system and the sedi was about 1 inch full from the top. Perhaps I have other leaks....

 

[sodafeld1]

I don't think there is very much pressure between the tank to sedimentor to pump lifter, the high pressure comes after the pump. The amount of vacuum pressure to the sedimentor should be displayed when opening the fuel tank filler cap with a ' thwauck' sound, I believe .

 

[LostinDartmouth]

A question. Do i need to prime the sedimenter with diesel or will it fill itself up by turning the engine over?

 

[sodafeld1]

makes life a little easier to fill filters( a sedimenter is a crude filter, kind of, oil floats on water) first.

Also, you can fill the filters with the lift pump with elbow grease, or let the battery and starter do it when cranking the pump, it shall draw it from the tank. Bit of work for your battery tho.

If the liqui moly stuff is as good as what folks say, it is a good time to use when pre filling filters.

Hope you never had water in your fuel, only get fuel from big brands.

Filters in diesels are paramount, injector nozzles have exceptional fine tolerances. Be very clean, a spec of dirt can damage.

 

[LostinDartmouth]

Well. I did a bonehead move. Didn't have any diesel around the garage, so turned over the engine. It ran for 2 minutes on what was left in the fuel filter and then stalled out. I was hoping it would pull enough fuel to fill the sedimenter but it didn't. So now have an empty sedimenter, fuel filter and injectors. Will get some diesel tomorrow and fill the sedi and the fuel filter. Then prime, prime, prime the bosch primer until air all out of the fuel filter bleeder valve. Then onto bleeding the injectors....one at a time.....
Live, learn, repeat.