diesel fuel filters

[freedive]

can the OEM fuel filter be eliminated , if i have a racor 500FGSS filter - separator ? my oem filters aren't secured and are floating . i see the racor separator has a 30 micron optional filter for the fuel . is it enough filtration to get rid of the OEM filters . not enough room to mount all 4 items , 2 OEM filters , and 2 racor separator .

 

[alldodge]

my oem filters aren't secured and are floating

Can you clarify what you mean by floating?

 

[freedive]

not secured to stringers or bulk head in engine compartment

 

[alldodge]

not secured to stringers or bulk head in engine compartment

Sounds like the prior owner added them, so I would get rid of them. Wouldn't mind seeing a pic

 

[freedive]

i have all apart . i should actually say gutted . i just got the gimbal housings mounted tore them totally apart down to bare metal then repainted then added a plywood bulkhead between engine compartment and battery area glassed it in place to give me more mounting room . its still not enough space .

 

[chris.olson]

can the OEM fuel filter be eliminated , if i have a racor 500FGSS filter - separator ? my oem filters aren't secured and are floating . i see the racor separator has a 30 micron optional filter for the fuel . is it enough filtration to get rid of the OEM filters . not enough room to mount all 4 items , 2 OEM filters , and 2 racor separator .

This will depend on the engine. Typically old-school primary filters for mechanically injected engines are 30 μm, secondary is 10-20, depending on the engine manufacturer. With modern common rail engines with electronic unit injectors 4 μm is pretty common since the rail pressure can run up to 36,000 psi and the tolerances in the injectors are very unforgiving. But even so, some mechanically injected engines like the Caterpillar 3116 and 3126 specify 4 μm secondary filtration because of the high pressures and close tolerances in their pushrod and rocker-arm operated injectors. A 30μm fuel filter will render a Cat 3126 inoperative inside of 5 minutes due to seized injector plungers.

 

[freedive]

the engines i believe were installed in 1999 . they are 4 cylinder computerized turbo diesels Steyr is the make 165 HP mounted to mercruiser sterndrives made in austria they are a mono block design . i should have taken pictures prier to gutting it .the engines are so tight fitting , you can,t slide your hand between them . there isn't any way to get the starboard engine oil filter to remove it so it looks like they tried to remote mount it to get at the starter motor on the port engine , it had to be removed so i built a gantry on casters to remove the engines ,and rebuilt that starter

 

[chris.olson]

the engines i believe were installed in 1999 . they are 4 cylinder computerized turbo diesels Steyr is the make

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with the OEM spec on those. I work on Cat, Cummins and Detroit engines. I would recommend checking with the engine manufacturer to see what they recommend for final filtration spec on their fuel systems.

 

[chris.olson]

I should mention too that the vintage of the engine won't make any difference. Even a Cummins N14, which is a 90's vintage design born from the NTC-series 855 cubic inch engines, has a low pressure rail supplied by a gear pump. But it has mechanically (rocker arm) operated, but electronically controlled, unit injectors. Due to the high pressure (52,000 psi) developed internally in the injector and the associated close tolerances this is another engine that requires 5 μm secondary fuel filtration.

So it all depends on the design of the fuel system.

 

[freedive]

thanks , i'll have to wait till after the weekend to call them also sent email .