Trojan Boat Forum

Changed one of the fuel/water separator-filters on Saturday. Other one needs the mount fixed before it can come off. Anyway needless to say it has been a while since these were changed. I always cut used filters open to see what is going on. All I can say about this one is YUCK!

Wowzers. Yuck is right! At first I wasn't sure if you got confused and just posted a picture of a wet ashtray by accident.

No kidding. Notice the side of the can, the coating is coming off due to water. This is a good ad for "Change your filters annually"! I have no idea when they were last changed, but it has been awhile to say the least.

Before E10 I would change my fuel filters every 3 years on my Four Winns cuddy cabin. I didn't have any problems for 10 years. After E10, I made the mistake of not changing my filter for 3 years. The middle of my third year the fuel filter disintegrated and ruined my electric fuel pump. Paying several hundred dollars for a new fuel pump convinced me to change my fuel filter every year. I also always keep extra fuel filters on board and use Startron very generously. I hate E10!

Having come from a trawler with a single Lehman diesel, I am of the school of carry a lot of filters and change them often, if not from water and particulate contamination, be aware of corrosion, the wall thickness of the filters is very thin.
I change my filters every 25 hours or 6 months, whether they need it or not, filters are cheap compared to the stress of plugged filters, engine only quit running when you need them the most..docking, passing a rock jetty, making the guest dock approach to to a host yacht club...you know, when everyone is looking !

[quote="gettaway"]Having come from a trawler with a single Lehman diesel, I am of the school of carry a lot of filters and change them often, if not from water and particulate contamination, be aware of corrosion, the wall thickness of the filters is very thin.
I change my filters every 25 hours or 6 months, whether they need it or not, filters are cheap compared to the stress of plugged filters, engine only quit running when you need them the most..docking, passing a rock jetty, making the guest dock approach to to a host yacht club...you know, when everyone is looking ! [/quote]

Well said ! And if you have Q-jets don't forget the the filter in the Carb that shut one of mine down and made a 6 hr run into a 10 hr run and alot of looking for the cause.