Filter Change
- Thread starter elreyos
- Start date
Asureyez
New Member
- Apr 22, 2007
- 1,535
- Boat Info
- Sea Ray 460 Sundancer Hardtop 2001 - SOLD
- Engines
- Cummins 450 Diesels
I assume you have the twin 900 units for each engine? If you have the next size up units the process is the same. So here goes:
Gather your filters, gaskets, a small set of channel locks pliers and a few pair of fuel risistant gloves (non latex ones work best), 1 1/2 gals of clean diesel in a spout container, a large pail or bucket to drain units into and to catch dribbles and to hold old filters and to drain the sediment from the bows into and a small plastic tub container a 1qt size
Take all this back to the filters
If you are lucky enough to have a shut off before the filters close it, if you have any fuel shut offs at the engine fuel pump close them as we want to protect from air intrusion as best we can. Then at the filters close off both filters on the valve position selector. This prevents an back draining of fuel to the tank or letting air into the lines.
Place the bucket under the first filter to be cleaned and open the drain cock at the bottom. If stuck use the pliers gently now. Then drain the bowl of each filters, one at a time. You'll need to crack off the lids to let air in.
When the bows are drained, I leave the drain cocks open and throw an OilSorb pad under the units. Then screw off the lid and extract the filter element. Keep your bucket under the Racor bowls as this is a little messy. Drop the filter in to the bucket (you could have a separate filter drain bucket for draining and disposal, But I prefer to mess with all this at the dock box where things are less cramped.)
Using the small tub pour in to the empty filter chamber a small amount of diesel to get some fuel into the bowl to wash down any loose sediment. The venturi vanes might not give up all the crud you might see but thats okay just get the loose gunk if any. We aren't doing a tear down anyway.
Close up the bowl drain cock and add more fuel until bowl is full but not the filter chamber.
Drop in the filter element and then using the tub again add fuel slooowly until filled right to the lip. Every bit of air you leave in the head will have to be pumped out at the engine, so wait and allow any air to bubble up from the bowl, filter and feed lines valve. Tap the metal chamber lightly with the rubber plier handles to loosen any bubbles, we want as much air out of the lines as we can get, refill to the lip if necessary.
Replace gaskets on lid if necessary and tighten lid
Swear and ask yourself why you didn't add a fuel priming pump.
Do next filter.
and so on and so on
Now, when both lids are dogged down open the valve at the filters to the BOTH position. Open the fuel shut off valves at the engine feed pumps you closed earlier.
If you have too much air in the system, you may have to bleed the air out of the filters and lines manually up to the fuel pump on the engine. Your engine manual will show you where the bleed nuts are located. But first, we will try it the easy way as most modern engines will tolerate a small amount of air as long as there is good fuel flow initially. If a mate is handy have them start up the first engine and let it run, and while running, while you aret the engine bleed the nut at pressurized side of the feed pump as directed in your engine manual. That should do it.
If it dies, you've pulled to much air and you'll need to bleed the system to from the feed pump to the injector pump manually. Its rare this happens as long as you've dogged down the filter lids tightly enough to compress the gaskets, so check them again.
Once all the air is out the engine will run. After the engines have fired off and remain running for a few minutes shut down and swab up the ER. and Clean up any fuel spills on the engine.
Check for any damange you've caused from working in confined space. Broken ground wires on rudder stock, etc. Inspect exhaust tubes, clamps etc.
Next day touch up paint any nuts or screws you worked in the process to prevent corrosion.
Make plans for a fuel priming system.
Gather your filters, gaskets, a small set of channel locks pliers and a few pair of fuel risistant gloves (non latex ones work best), 1 1/2 gals of clean diesel in a spout container, a large pail or bucket to drain units into and to catch dribbles and to hold old filters and to drain the sediment from the bows into and a small plastic tub container a 1qt size
Take all this back to the filters
If you are lucky enough to have a shut off before the filters close it, if you have any fuel shut offs at the engine fuel pump close them as we want to protect from air intrusion as best we can. Then at the filters close off both filters on the valve position selector. This prevents an back draining of fuel to the tank or letting air into the lines.
Place the bucket under the first filter to be cleaned and open the drain cock at the bottom. If stuck use the pliers gently now. Then drain the bowl of each filters, one at a time. You'll need to crack off the lids to let air in.
When the bows are drained, I leave the drain cocks open and throw an OilSorb pad under the units. Then screw off the lid and extract the filter element. Keep your bucket under the Racor bowls as this is a little messy. Drop the filter in to the bucket (you could have a separate filter drain bucket for draining and disposal, But I prefer to mess with all this at the dock box where things are less cramped.)
Using the small tub pour in to the empty filter chamber a small amount of diesel to get some fuel into the bowl to wash down any loose sediment. The venturi vanes might not give up all the crud you might see but thats okay just get the loose gunk if any. We aren't doing a tear down anyway.
Close up the bowl drain cock and add more fuel until bowl is full but not the filter chamber.
Drop in the filter element and then using the tub again add fuel slooowly until filled right to the lip. Every bit of air you leave in the head will have to be pumped out at the engine, so wait and allow any air to bubble up from the bowl, filter and feed lines valve. Tap the metal chamber lightly with the rubber plier handles to loosen any bubbles, we want as much air out of the lines as we can get, refill to the lip if necessary.
Replace gaskets on lid if necessary and tighten lid
Swear and ask yourself why you didn't add a fuel priming pump.
Do next filter.
and so on and so on
Now, when both lids are dogged down open the valve at the filters to the BOTH position. Open the fuel shut off valves at the engine feed pumps you closed earlier.
If you have too much air in the system, you may have to bleed the air out of the filters and lines manually up to the fuel pump on the engine. Your engine manual will show you where the bleed nuts are located. But first, we will try it the easy way as most modern engines will tolerate a small amount of air as long as there is good fuel flow initially. If a mate is handy have them start up the first engine and let it run, and while running, while you aret the engine bleed the nut at pressurized side of the feed pump as directed in your engine manual. That should do it.
If it dies, you've pulled to much air and you'll need to bleed the system to from the feed pump to the injector pump manually. Its rare this happens as long as you've dogged down the filter lids tightly enough to compress the gaskets, so check them again.
Once all the air is out the engine will run. After the engines have fired off and remain running for a few minutes shut down and swab up the ER. and Clean up any fuel spills on the engine.
Check for any damange you've caused from working in confined space. Broken ground wires on rudder stock, etc. Inspect exhaust tubes, clamps etc.
Next day touch up paint any nuts or screws you worked in the process to prevent corrosion.
Make plans for a fuel priming system.
Last edited:
W
Warren
Guest
Excellent post Chad - thank you! One small thing which may be helpful is to oil the strainer gasket before the lid is sealed - this may help to seal the lid and prevent any air intrusion.
Warren
Warren
Thank you Chad! I can approach the job with some degree of confidence now. I've done this on my cars in the past, but it seems that marine diesels are a lot less forgiving than the automotive ones. Where do I send the check? Thanks again.
Andre'
Andre'
RiverGalsMan
Member
Chad, I remember reading that the QSC engines, I think because they're common rail, have a fuel pump that automatically runs when the ignition is energized. The post was in relation to changing the secondary, engine-mounted, spin-on filters, not the primary Racors. It runs for 60 seconds and if not enough pressure then the engine will not start. You turn the ignition on again, wait 60 seconds, try it again. Supposedly, you do this until some sensor in the fuel system indicates OK and then the engines will start. They also specifically mentioned not to pre-fill the filter with fuel. Again, they were talking about the secondary filter, but my question is, "does the same apply to the primary filter?" If it does, it would sure make the process easier on the QSC high pressure common rail engines. Could the fuel priming pump you mention be standard equipment on the QSC engines?
I've got twin 1000s. I'm going to the boat this weekend and will attempt the filter change. I'll be putting in 2 mic elements. I did the gen last weekend and had to open the bleeder on the injection pump to bleed the system. I hope the mains go smoother.
Thanks
Thanks
Robski97
Well-Known Member
Larry,
Ur QSC has no prming pump. The electronic fuel pump will fill ur primay and ur secondary. I would not do both at the same time.
Rob
Ur QSC has no prming pump. The electronic fuel pump will fill ur primay and ur secondary. I would not do both at the same time.
Rob
RiverGalsMan
Member
So, could I change out my primaries (the Racors,) get the fuel flowing, change out my secondaries (the spin on Fleetguards) and get the fuel flowing again and I'm done?
- Oct 6, 2006
- 12,153
- Boat Info
- 1996 450DA
- Engines
- 3116 Caterpillars
You should change both the o-ring on the t-handle and the lid gasket even if you think they are ok. A new set comes with every Racor element.
On Cat engines, prime the Racor by simply filling it to the top with fuel. Change the secondary Cat filter and prime with the pump on the engines. Then when you crank up the engines, immediately set the idle RPM's to about 1000-1200 until the engines purge any air and smooth out. You definitely do not want to let the engines die due to air in the system.
On Cat engines, prime the Racor by simply filling it to the top with fuel. Change the secondary Cat filter and prime with the pump on the engines. Then when you crank up the engines, immediately set the idle RPM's to about 1000-1200 until the engines purge any air and smooth out. You definitely do not want to let the engines die due to air in the system.
Robski97
Well-Known Member
Yes sir. For me it was quite a few on offs of the ignition. I actually watched a cummins guy do it on another boat last week. They advanced the throttle during the START sequence. I saw no difference in his results then mine
Rob
Rob
RiverGalsMan
Member
Thanks, Rob.
Robski97
Well-Known Member
Ur welcome ... These guys here taught me ...
Rob
Rob
