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Warning! New filter system on new Yanmar engines is Bad!

18K views 60 replies 19 participants last post by  gibbo90909 
#1 ·
Hi folks,

I got into a very serious problem the other day.
I have a new Yanmar 4JH57 the new common rail engine. 300 hours on the clock. It has a new pre-filter replacing the Racor 500. The inlet on the new Yanmar pre-filter has a Banjo bolt where the fuel must turn at 90 degrees and go through a hole in the bolt about 1mm wide.


This turn gunked up and the engine stopped.... in a remarkably difficult and dangerous location with a contrary current of 5 knots and me being only able to sail at 1.3 knots - directly towards the rocks!!! With another 6 hours of current sucking me into the infamous Alderney race with currents up to 9 knots.

If it had stopped 15 minutes later there is no way I could have turned around and been able to sail into the current.

So I had a fun few hours trying to sail and locate the fuel fault.
Also the filter needs a spanner/wrench far larger than I have so I couldn't change the filter at sea!

On a brand new engine its not expected to stop!
Anyway I finally traced it back to the Banjo Bolt and its tiny hole. A tiny piece of orange plastic has gummed it up then crap built up around it.
I though a pre-filter was meant to suck anything out of the tank and filter it before the primary fuel filter mounted on the engine.

I do not want / and will not have this possible situation again. Cruising boats can often pick up dirty fuel (I've fuelled in Venezuela, Egypt, Oman, Indonesia, Malaysia etc) or some goop can get in or grow, no matter the additives etc.

My solution is to buy a new Racor 500 as a pre-pre-filter and to mount it in the aft cabin on the external riser for the bunk, adjacent but on the outside wall to the Yanmar filter. Thus I will be able to ensure gunk the size that blocked the Banjo Bolt will not cause a problem, and that I can visually see the Racor from the Saloon, and change that Racor filter in less than 1 minute.

I found the problem and cleaned the Banjo Bolt and was able to get back to harbour no problems... but by then another bit of gunk was in the bolt.
I pumped out the whole tank and filtered the fuel and its clean as a whistle.

I will upload a pic of the problem off my phone in a few moments... but heres a location snap of exactly where you do NOT wanna have the engine clag up.

Your comments appreciated.


Mark
 

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#2 ·
Good job on making without scratching up the rocks off the cape at Cherbourg! I had the space in the engine compartment and put in a dual Racor system before the engine fuel filter and so far it has done a good job (apart from the episode where I had more water than fuel - no filter can keep up with that). I had a lot of gunk in the lines as well despite the fuel tank being clean.

Could the plastic piece have come into the system during the commissioning/installation process ?
 
#3 · (Edited)
The black goobie bits are flattened.

I 'think' the orange it came in from a gerry can. Dunno how.

The filter show shows how much gunk I got out of the fuel tank. Negligible.

BTW, the passage was a major shake-a-thon and I only had about 50 litres of fuel in the tank, so classic stirred up sediment.

[most spelling corrected :) ]
 

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#5 ·
Spelling corrected :)

The black stuff was stuck in the Banjo Bolt before getting into the filter.

Yes, the wires below are for the water alarm. Its that part I cant unscrew at sea without a better tool.

With your dual racors:
Do 2 Racors slow down the fuel flow?
What micro filters are you using?

I was thinking the 30 micron... but if fuel flow isnt slowed down could I use 10 micron or even 2 micron?
With 2 micron the pre-filter and the engine mounted fuel filter would never need to filter anything.

Mark
 
#7 ·
So these new fangled Yanmars come with both an engine mounted and remote pre-filter?

Sounds like I'd lose the Yanmar pre-filter altogether and replace with a Racor. Intuitively, those bango fitting are not the best inlet for a fuel filter.

I'm not a fan of dual 2 micron filters in series. That means that everything clogs the first filter and nothing ever gets to the second. If you had real sediment, I think that shuts off the fuel sooner.

I use a 30 micron Racor and a 2 micron engine mounted. The big stuff is caught first, as well as the Racor separating any water, then the 2 micron gets anything left over. Change them both on schedule, which is annual for my use. I would change every 6 months, if I was full time and taking on suspect fuel.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Mark - As someone has already noted, the dual Racor doesn't run the fuel through both filters, just one. But if that filter becomes clogged I can switch over to the other filter with the engine still running and then have time to replace the other. I did this so that I can, when necessary, run the engine with bad fuel as long as I have sufficient clean filters for replacement. I have 30 micron filters in the Racors and the filter on the engine is a 2 micron one. When I replaced that filter it was still clean so the Racor is doing its job. The whole assembly is pretty big and you might not have enough room on your boat for it, but a single Racor with shut-off valves on both sides of it should be sufficient.

I have an electrical warning as well for water, but that didn't work when my engine ingested water or the wires might have worked but I heard no buzzer or alarm. Do you know if your water alarm is functional?
 
#13 ·
One thing I substantially prefer about the Racor 500, over the Yanmar filter in your pic, is the clear bowl. You can visually see sediment and water.

You probably know this, but the 500 comes with and without a metal cup under the clear plastic bowl. I understand the metal cup is necessary, if mounted in the engine compartment. I'm really not sure if it's to deflect heat or catch a drip. It's nearly impossible to ignite dripping diesel fuel, unless a fire is already raging, in which case, I don't see the cup helping. :eek
 
#46 ·
You probably know this, but the 500 comes with and without a metal cup under the clear plastic bowl. I understand the metal cup is necessary, if mounted in the engine compartment. I'm really not sure if it's to deflect heat or catch a drip. It's nearly impossible to ignite dripping diesel fuel, unless a fire is already raging, in which case, I don't see the cup helping. :eek
The metal cup is actually called a "heat shield." I believe that they are an ABYC requirement - too lazy to look it up. I don't have one on my boat, and they are STUPID expensive (like $150) for a $2 piece of stainless.
 
#14 ·
Mark,

A question.

Does this troublesome Yanmar filter have a hand pump on its top? I think I see one in the picture. That might be a nice feature to retain if possible.

Is there a way to replace the banjo fitting with something more straight forward? I’ve had good success with a Parker dealer helping me out with odd fittings.
 
#22 ·
Mark,

A question.

Does this troublesome Yanmar filter have a hand pump on its top? I think I see one in the picture. That might be a nice feature to retain if possible.

Is there a way to replace the banjo fitting with something more straight forward? I've had good success with a Parker dealer helping me out with odd fittings.
Yes to the pump on top, that's one reason to keep it as there is no hand operated pump near the final engine mounted filter, nor a bleed screw on the engine.

Re replacing the Banjo Bolt with a screw in barb fitting. I will investigate.

Thanks for the thoughts.
 
#38 ·
I've been TOLD, by a surveyor, that the damn metal cups are an ABCY requirement.
ABYC requires fuel filters to meet a fire rating specification or be fitted with a heat shield. I don't know of any plastic bowls that will meet the requirement although glass bowls do.
 
#17 ·
I had the dual racors and never found them clogged etc. from bad fuel. I decided to remove one and so have on single pre filter. Maybe I use so little fuel which is clean that I don't get logged and clogged filters. Engine filter is changed each year regardless.

How much fuel do you use before you you need to replace a racor?
 
#19 ·
I think the fuel I buy at the dock is clean and high quality and super filtering should not be necessary except for breakdown and gunk which may accumulate in the tank. Of course it's not a bad idea... but likely a but of overkill. Offshore is a different story.
 
#20 ·
The water alarm is triggered when the resistance between the two wires drops. I'm not sure if diesel conducts much or not at all, but any water in the fuel will be contaminated enough to be a good conductor - so the alarm will go off when the resistance goes towards 0Ohm. This makes it easy to test if you can access the plug end of the alarm cables, just turn on the ignition (the engine doesn't have to be running) and short the two cables and listen to see if a buzzer goes off. I didn't test this on my engine because I couldn't get at the plug for the cable and wasn't going to drain the fuel filter again just to check this.
 
#21 ·
I agree with ripping the whole thing out and replacing it. Short of that, I'd re-work the fittings ( if possible) to eliminate the 90 degree turn. Adding another filter, just seems to add another maintenance and potential failure point.

Sh#$ happens with fuel, as you experienced, it usually happens at the worst possible moment. But, It shouldn't happen because of poor design.

After a few similar incidents on my old girl, ( too much crud in the tank, no inspection port) I yanked the fuel tank and replaced it.
Even though it has worked flawlessly since, I still carry a stern anchor that I can deploy in a minute, just from the memory of the engine cutting out, perilously close to the inlet rock pile.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Have the exact same set up as Z. Works great. Have gotten bad fuel and would alternate between changing them but was able to keep the boat going until we got wind. Went through 6 yes six filters with that episode. Impressed on me the need to carry as many spare filters for everything you can find room for. Fortunately have four fuel tanks so was able to switch to the other tanks for the rest of the trip. Learned to never fill all 4 tanks from the same source unless I knew it had good clean fuel.
The fuel filter mounted on the engine block of 4 hjte yanmars is a PIA. It’s attached with two bolts. Find getting the sensor out without chafing or tensioning the wires is easiest if you remove those two bolts. Then you can easily disconnect the wires, take off the protective steel cup and get to the filter.
Find it’s good practice to have a gallon or qt. of diesel stored in a separate container. You can use that to top off the racors without having to mess with the tanks after changing filters.
Also if you unbolt the fuel filter you have room to put something under the thing so you don’t get a diesel mess with a fuel filter change. Use sockets for this change and tighten lightly to allow me to do stuff with the thing held in my hand. I change the fuel filter with each oil change. I change the racors only when needed. I’ve found the smallest zip ties don’t scratch metal and are good for cleaning out most small clogged holes. Can take a razor blade to make them even narrower. Then run corrosion X then carb cleaner through them to clean out any residual junk.
 
#28 ·
Another thought is to use a pre-fill filter. I read in PS that the West Marine pre-fill rated best. I have that one and don't like it. Takes forever. I think they all might. The Baja filter is popular and expensive, but I've never tried it. Also gets good ratings. Says 2 gallons per minute filtration rate. We can easily take on 60 gallons (we hold 110). That's a half hour. I suppose, if cruising the islands, it's just part of the deal.
 
#30 ·
My experiences pale in comparison to you *ocean-crossing folk, but still, my recent change/upgrade to a Racor 500 might be relevant.
Pictured in my blog entry and among the photos is also one showing the old installation of the smaller Racor inside the engine compartment.
New Location: Racor & Lift Pump - Blogs - EY.o Information Exchange

Having the 12 volt "Facet" lift pump in place to pull the fuel thru the Racor and push it on thru the spin-on engine filter, to the hi pressure pump is, as the saying goes, a "good thing."

*this would be those of you who have wrung more water out of your socks than I have sailed over...

:)
 
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#31 ·
We get yelled at if we take too long at the fuel dock. Try to run a tank down to 20% full before filling it. Figure that way mixing less old fuel with new and it gets new biobor right away. Try to wait until at least two tanks are low but sometimes until all are low if I know I can get a lower price in the near future (I.e. full up just after clearing out down the road at the next landfall). So may put in 100 to 150 gallons at a time. Just under 200 if really empty. At 2g/m that’s longer than any fuel dock will put up with so definitely see the logic of no prefiltering.
Every trawler I’ve been on has a for real polishing system and a day tank. You could have dead bodies floating in the fuel tank(s) and the engine would be fine. Has anyone here done something similar on their boat?
 
#40 ·
.....Every trawler I've been on has a for real polishing system and a day tank. You could have dead bodies floating in the fuel tank(s) and the engine would be fine. Has anyone here done something similar on their boat?
Good point. No way one is prefiltering at 2gal/min, when taking on 1000+ gallons. Not humanly possible.

Best I can tell, polishing systems are nothing more than a couple of filters in series that recirculate the fuel. Probably a 10 mic and 2 mic in series, with water separating filters.

They would be a great idea, if one has the space, power and money. 2 Racors, a pump and all the supplies and fittings is probably running north of a boat buck, before all is done. I wonder if one could rig a dual R500 system to do double duty. If each filter went to/from a mainfold, some valving might do the job. Motor away from the dock, drop the hook, turn some valves and power up the polisher, while one cracks a cold one or makes a meal. Interesting thought.
 
#32 ·
Im fairly religous about keeping my small tank and 4 jugs topped up.
I do not add any biocide or treatments to the tanks.
The last place i want any trash going...is to the bottom of the tank.
Filter now in use is almost 2 years in....est around 475 hrs. Engine hrs = oil changes
Bowl is clear with a few specs of whatever fuel trash was put into the fuel jugs.
 
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