Water in the fuel filter

[covers57]

Hi everyone, just registered on site and am new owner of 55 reg T330 135BHP Transit, SWB LR. Sorry if this has been covered already but am in need of urgent help as stranded in France with no breakdown cover.

Bought this van in uk about 10 days ago and have used on several short trips around town and a couple of short motorway bursts of about 20 miles with no problems.
Drove from London to Dover and then ferry to Calais. About 1 mile outside ferry port engine warning light came on and lost power down to a crawl. Managed to limp to a Ford dealer who diagnosed water in the Fuel Filter, they were going to replace then realised they didnt have one in stock so took off old one and cleaned out. They told me to replace when i could. Paid bill and sent on way but within 2 miles same thing happened, managed to limp back to dealers who have said they will replace on Monday but they are not sure if this will fix the problem.
We have continued our journey and are now 500 miles from van and face going back to collect this week.
The language issues prevented me from understanding a lot of what he said and when I asked why there would be water in the filter he just shrugged.

So can anyone explain why there would be water in the filter? Would it be in the diesel? my wife and I both filled up from the same garage (different pumps) just outside London and she has had no problems in her car.

Many thanks

Dave

Any suggestions about possible cause or what to do would be welcome as I cannot converse with the mechanic.

[Dan T]

Did they read the fault codes ?

[covers57]

Hi Dan, if so they didnt tell me what they were, just that it said replace fuel filter, obviously language problems didnt help.

[Dan T]

Seems rather strange
I'd want to know the fault codes before going any furthar, it could be anything really.
They language barrier wont help and i doubt a new fuel filter will resolve the problem.

[ake]

Water collects in the bottom of the filter to prevent it reaching the pump/injectors. Condensation forms inside the diesel tank which becomes water, the problems start when the water in the filter freezes and swells, which then chokes the filter

[covers57]

Hi Ake, thanks for that, assuming that this freezing was the initial cause and that the garage cleared the filter and replaced it wouldnt have had time to refill and freeze in the 2 miles or so that I covered after they had fixed it, shall try and get codes Dan but as it stands they are replacing the filter tomorrow and they will then test it again, but like you i am not sure that this will fix, I believe he was trying to say that if it didnt fix the problem then it may be the electronic management system which sounds expensive to me. So far only upside appears to be that french main dealer charges are approx 70euros an hour.

[Dan T]

The glowplug light flashing means a diagnostic code has been logged in the Powertrain control module (PCM) you'd need to codes to find the source of the problem which could be anything from faulty injector(s) to a faulty throttle pedal.

[covers57]

Many thanks for the responses guys.

Have just managed to get the van down to the Dordogne from Calais, the garage eventually changed the fuel filter and it got back here without a hiccup.

Only returning 25mpg and that without a heavy foot , decided to avoid all motorways in case I broke down again so saved on tolls as well.

Shall have to get myself a manual for future reference.

Regards

Dave