The Mariah Owners Club - water separator and fuel filter

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water separator and fuel filter

I'm having some ethanol related problems . Can anyone recommend a good replacement fuel filter and water separator for a shabah 180 with mercruiser alpha one?

Thank s

Re: water separator and fuel filter

Why not use the original Mercruiser filters :)
Racor makes nice filters but you'll pay for em dearly.

Re: water separator and fuel filter

I'm not sure i have ever replaced mine. Are they all the same? Where are they located?

newbie - I ran some lucas ethanol fuel additive and redline ethanol additive whenever i had to run gas with the ethanol blend. Luckily the local station still gets premium without the ethanol mix.

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Re: water separator and fuel filter

Here's where mine is.... Fortunately we dont have the ethanol 'problem' up here that you have. I change mine every two years or more often if i'm spending a lot of time running the boat during the summer.

Re: water separator and fuel filter

Pretty sure they are all the same. My 4.3 and 7.4 use the same one. NAPA has them. I'm sure most auto store carry them.
I'd change it every season for the cost of 10$.

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Re: water separator and fuel filter

I'm going to have to look at mine - I swear it looks different.. but it's been awhile since i've looked in the hull.

Re: water separator and fuel filter

There's only so much a fuel/water separator can do. If the gasoline has phase-separated, it needs to be pumped-out and discarded. There's no way to get what was an ethanol blend to re-blend after it has phase-separated. A common fuel filter won't help at all.

Undetected phase separation is the biggest danger. Imagine your engine running along at speed and all-of-a-sudden its fuel supply is replaced by water. Bye-bye engine.

From Three Myths About Ethanol

Quote:

Question: Since E-10 attracts water, is it important to install a water separator to prevent the water reaching the engine?

Answer: Unlike regular gasoline, which can absorb almost no moisture, E-10 can hold up to ½ percent of water by volume, and the water molecules will dissolve in the fuel. The solubilized water will bypass the water separator and burn harmlessly through the engine. Only if phase separation were to occur would a water separator do its job, but by then the fuel itself would be the problem. Phase-separated gasoline consists of a water/ethanol mixture on the bottom of the tank and reduced-octane gasoline at the top, either of which will damage your engine

From E-10 in Winter: Recommendations on Storing Ethanol-Enhanced Gasoline

Quote:

There is no quick fix. When MTBE becomes saturated with water, it remains chemically bonded to the gasoline—MTBE doesn’t phase separate—and a water separator can eliminate the excess moisture. With ethanol-enhanced gasoline, however, once phase separation occurs, additives and water separators can’t help; the only remedy is to have gasoline/ethanol/water pumped from the tank.

The fuel in Shazaam! is on its third season. I no longer trust it. So I'm going to buy a high-performance electric fuel pump, hook it to the fuel line, and pump it all out into cans. As long as it keeps looking good, it'll go into the cars. Then I'll refuel the boat from scratch.

If I run into water, I'll pump it out and pay to dispose of it.

Ethanol is one of the biggest scams ever to have been perpetrated on the consumer, and this time with government help.

Jim

Re: water separator and fuel filter

OK, so I can remove the Gas, assuming it's gone that bad.

I also read that the ethanol can strip built up deposits off the inside of the tank, so I figured a water seperator/filter would help with that?

Can anoyon share a know compatible water filter for a mercruiser AlphaOne 3.0 LX?
I just spent 45 minutes on a chat with iBoats, just to have them tell me they can't help me with an "after market" product, go figure.

Thanks

Chris

Re: water separator and fuel filter

You should look into this as well:

USA Fuel Service Gas-Shok

I've used it and had great results. Initially I thought it was a gimmick snake oil type of stuff, but I can honestly say the stuff works wonders. My old Z250 ran better than it ever had after adding a treatment to the tank.

You can also read their advice on ethanol:
Ethanol Basics

Re: water separator and fuel filter

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001HBX3IC
here you go buddy. This is the model filter. They should coat right around 10$ for quicksilver™. The shipping on this is outrageous but its the # you need. NAPA or Autozone can cross reference it to something they have in-house. Or a local boat shop should have them in stock, they are very common.
Like Shabah says, run some sort of ethanol treatment in your fuel. Its worth the extra $ to save your fuel.
I don't know where you live but have a look at this site is you are interested in running real fuel- ethanol free fuels.
http://pure-gas.org

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