Which way....

does fuel flow through a fuel water separator? Does it go through the center hole, and then out through the smaller holes? or vice verse?

Re: Which way....

Fuel flows in through the 12 or so holes, through the filter medium, and back out through the center hole.

The outside of the medium will be the dirtiest if opened up.

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That's what I thought, that it was the same as an oil filter. Now, my question is this; since you can't see the filter medium, how do you know if it's clogged? I know to replace every 50 hours, and mine has about 20 hrs on it, but I have some concerns that it may be clogged. At $30 ea., I don't just want to put a new one on. If the fuel entered through the middle, I'd blow into it, but with it exiting through the center, I don't know if that would really tell me if it was restricted.

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Standard fuel/water separators usually command replacement every 100 or so hours, depending of course on the use, quality of fuel, contaminents, etc.

The best way I've found to decide if it needs to be replaced is engine performance. If it feels like the engine is starving, switch it out.

There are other options, though.

1) Add a fuel pressure gauge inline. When the pressure significantly decreases (after the filter) or increases (before the filter), change it out.

2) Add a clear fuel/water separator with a drain function. They runs $100-$150 dollars, but last much , much longer and are drainable.

3) Change the housing out for a more common size. My separating filters are $7.00 each. I've always been told they only make 2 sizes. I buy them at a local marine store (Marpac filter...I think) and they keep about 50 in stock all of the time.

Send me your model number and if it's the same, I'll get you their email address and web site info.

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Unscrew the filter and dump it in a clean container just to get some idea of how much water or debris is in it. If it's just got a few drops or particles of dirt in it then screw it back on and run it some more. I have a 90HP and the filter has been on there a couple of years and I just dump it and keep using it with no problems. If anything at all gets past your separater then it's going to end up in the motor mounted filter, so keep checking and cleaning that one also, from time to time. If you had a big, old, dirty gas tank with water in it then you could probably plug one of these filters rather quickly. Still a good idea to carry a spare filter catridge on your boat just in case you need it. Good Luck!

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Mine does have the glass (plastic) bowl on it, but because of it's location, I can't see it. I've been having a fuel delivery issue since I got the boat, and have changed all the filters. That seemed to help, but I still bog down and die when running through rough/choppy water. One of the times I died, I decided to check the fws to see if there was water in there, and there wasn't any when I opened the drain. However, air either came out or got sucked in (still can't tell which), and then the gas would flow out, I close it back up when the gas starts to flow, and she starts right back up and runs like there was no problem. I'm stumped about the air pocket or vacuum that gets created, and was wondering if a clogged/dirty fws could be causing it.

I'm also wondering if over-tightening the fws can cause this, (thinking the O-ring isn't sitting right).

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Oh, and last night it was dieseling when it would die. I plan on checking the plugs (tomorrow if time allows) to see if I'm running too rich or too lean.

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double post

Re: Which way....

A pressure gauge is the only way to accurately determine the condition of a filter. I change mine based on pressure and get anywhere from 150-250 hours off a filter.

My motor has a fuel pressure alarm but I like the visual service indicator better since so I can see the filter's condition at a glance.

http://www.go2marine.com/product.do?no=160213F&WT.mc_id=gb1

The delivery side of the fuel pump is under a constant vacuum. One would expect to hear some kind of sucking noise if you open the vacuum side of the fuel pump to atmosphere.

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Beefer said:

Oh, and last night it was dieseling when it would die. I plan on checking the plugs (tomorrow if time allows) to see if I'm running too rich or too lean.

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If that's happening, check the carb tuning, check the timing, and give it a tune up. You might be chasing a clogged fuel filter problem that isn't there.

You can never adequately trouble shoot an engine problem until you're positive the engine is in tune.

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What you are describing is what happens to mine every time the pick up screen in the tank gets clogged from picking up debris in the gas tank. I open the drain, relieve the pressure, the debris falls back into the tank, I close it and restart and it runs fine again until it does it again. It's very random. I spent a few hours filtering the gas with a small inline filter and no screen and picked up quite a bit of hard varnish that is still coming loose. I got much of it out when I had the tank out but there is still more of it coming loose. Perhaps you have an obstruction like mine. Of course until I have this problem solved my family is not extremely confident in the boat, although I'm pretty comfortable with it now. I still won't take it out in the Atlantic until this is solved.

Re: Which way....

proaudioguy said:

What you are describing is what happens to mine every time the pick up screen in the tank gets clogged from picking up debris in the gas tank. I open the drain, relieve the pressure, the debris falls back into the tank, I close it and restart and it runs fine again until it does it again. It's very random. I spent a few hours filtering the gas with a small inline filter and no screen and picked up quite a bit of hard varnish that is still coming loose. I got much of it out when I had the tank out but there is still more of it coming loose. Perhaps you have an obstruction like mine. Of course until I have this problem solved my family is not extremely confident in the boat, although I'm pretty comfortable with it now. I still won't take it out in the Atlantic until this is solved.

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Drain all the fuel from the tank and take it to a motorcycle shop (or get the kit) and have your tank 'creamed'. It's an interior coating they put in rusty tanks and it seals the entire inside of the tank. Always seemed to work great for us.