Fuel filter advice

R

ronp

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I want to replace the old Fram fuel filters on my boat. One of them has an internal seal that looks shaky, not that it would leak into the bilge, just that it might let dirty fuel pass by. And, the elements are sometimes a pain to find.

Small block (i.e. 270) Crusaders.

What am I looking for - a 60gph filter? 90 to have some margin? Both engines can feed off one tank and therefore one filter the way it is plumbed (although I normally don't cross feed that way.) So 1 gph for every 10HP, I need at least 54gph if were to open it up? Could use a sanity check there.

And, any preference on brands? I'm looking at the Racors with the spin on element and metal bowl on the bottom such as the 320R-RAC-02. What else should I consider?
 
When I added Racors to my Crusader 454's I left the original fuel filter canisters in place and just removed the filters in or to eliminate re-plumbing the fule lines at the engine. If you still need the filter and O-ring I found them at autozone and NAPA. Or under these p/n's -
Fuel filter (canister) Deutsch FF425 or 33271WIX
 
Ron, I had one of my housing go bad and I thought the same thing, replace with Racor. I never pulled the trigger because it would of took more plumbing then I wanted to do. Mabbott’s idea is a good one though. I also have the 270's and my lines are all metal, tanks to carbs. The Fram's are a little wider than the Racor’s and the plumbing would have been a biz. If you need a new housing I believe the modern day part # is Fram HPG1. The Wik filters are easier to find.

Good luck
Niles
 
I have to look at it. The boat is at the yard for it's shorthaul today and tomorrow so I can't look right now. I have flex lines, but I wasn't sure about the fitting size - the 1/4 NPT that the Racor 320 uses or the 3/8 that the 660 wants. I think the Fram FCS1136M is the filter body and it seems to use the 1/4 from a spec sheet I found. Surprisingly, it says that's only a 30gph filter, so apparently this was undersized for feeding both engines off one side and cranking it up.

The issue I saw with the 320 was the outlet at 90 degrees to the inlet. The Frams are straight through. I can't change the plumbing between the filters, where the T fittings to the engines and the crossfeed valve sit. That would be a pain. What I don't know is if I could put elbows on those outlets, move the filters closer to compensate for mating to the middle of each one instead of the inner edge, and have enough slack in the lines from the tanks to still reach.

Or I could get the 660 which has straight across inlets/outlets, and add 1/4 to 3/8 NPT adapters I suppose. Then I'd have to move them a bit farther apart to account for the adapters and secure some extra slack in the lines to the tanks.

It's never easy.
 
If I recall the ra660 is what I was going to use because it xrefs to the Crusader Ra080033 that was listed in Crusaders ethanol bulletins. I think I have different housing than you. Good luck and if you do it let us know how easy it was :)

Niles
 
So, Niles, I went ahead with this. I ordered the Racor 320s and used elbows to deal with the outlets being in the front of the filter head. It really wasn't difficult. Almost everything came apart without a fight - just one "nipple" stayed stuck in the old filter. I pretty much finished in one evening, but came up that one fitting short and so finished the next night. I also replaced the spin on filters on the engines with Racor 10 micron units - not the type with the drain bowl since that won't fit.

So far everything looks good - runs well, cranks up to planing speed, no leaks.
 
That is great. I am going to put more thought into doing this over the winter.

Niles
 
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