Installation of Fuel Flow Sensor

[tobnpr]

Anyone that would recommend against adding a water-separating filter would be an idiot. Especially in this age of ethanol-laced fuels it's a must-have. You should add one whether or not you add the fuel flow computer.

FWIW, I have the analog flo-scan on my Chris-Craft. Extremely accurate and reliable- they're used on aircraft.

 

[garryowen]

i bought and use the lowrance lmf 200 last spring. i got coast gaurd approved hose and installed the sender between my fuel filter-water seperator and fuel pump. this part and setting up the network went fine.

i never could get the fuel used to give you what you had left in the tank feature to work. it quit all togeather last aug.
i had very poor luck trying to get any help to get this thing going from lowrance.
as far as i know the fuel flow part did work till it quit and left a blank screen.
long waits on the phone and no real tech support. there is a time out feature on these and it sets from 3 seconds or so up. i was on the phone with one tech and mine kept timing out; as when it came back on every thing was back to factory spec.
its not a big deal to change this but i need the flow chart in the operater manual and didnt have that at hand. i asked the tech to just walk me thru it and he was lost. [this is one of the most simple things to do] then he wanted a number off the back of gauge. i tried to explane to him it was mounted in dash and i couldnt see it. and the last thing i wanted was to have to call back and wait 30 to 45 min on my cell for another teck. in the end he said i would have to take the gauge out and the sender and send them in. to much trouble for only 3 months of service.

sorry for the rant but lowrance lmf 200 isnt ready for prime time. imho

 

[PlayDate]

Just a clarification....Navman was purchased by Northstar in 2007. The Navman 3100 is now the Northstar F310.

You are correct. My main issue with Navman, (this only applies to the fuel computers) is that the display would fail. That was the major problem with the 3100.

-John

 

[davefin]

Lawndoctor,

The NAPA filters are Gold 3299. Sorry for the incorrect part number in my original post. The fuel inlet and outlets are larger than auto filters. The larger size is consistant with the fuel lines on the boat. Good luck. They should be available at all NAPA stores.

 

[electricaldoctor]

Lawndoctor,

The NAPA filters are Gold 3299. Sorry for the incorrect part number in my original post. The fuel inlet and outlets are larger than auto filters. The larger size is consistant with the fuel lines on the boat. Good luck. They should be available at all NAPA stores.

Do you have a picture of these filters Dave?

~Ken

 

[lawndoctor]

Lawndoctor,

The NAPA filters are Gold 3299. Sorry for the incorrect part number in my original post. The fuel inlet and outlets are larger than auto filters. The larger size is consistant with the fuel lines on the boat. Good luck. They should be available at all NAPA stores.

Great - Many thanks.

Sorry, one more thing, are your engines gas Mercruiser EFI?

 

[davefin]

Yes, they are 5.7 Mercruiser EFI, 300 HP. I'll take a picture of the NAPA box this weekend when I am back on the boat.

 

[rondds]

I just replaced the sensor on my port engine. I have these babies...

I spent a fair amount of time on the phone with Craig Willis in their tech support department. What he explained to me is that in order to get accurate readings, the sensor must always have fuel in it, which is why they want the sensor installed lower than the filter. Also, it needs to be far enough away from the fuel pump so as to NOT be thrown off by the pulsations made by the pump. My replacement sensor came with a "pulsation damper" which looks like a water tower. The original install (by PO)has no damper. The sensors were mounted about 3' away from the engine, after the bulkhead mounted fuel filter and before the fuel/water separator. I wanted to keep the same setup (for ease). Craig said I can skip the pulsation damper b/c the F/W separator will serve the same purpose.

 

[davefin]

Here is a pic of the NAPA filters I have been using for the Navman (Northstar) flow sensors for about 5 years.