RACOR FUEL SYSTEM UPGRADE

Have you made changes to your coach? Improvements? Remodel? New technology? Tell the story and show some pictures here.
Safaritoonces
Posts: 215
Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2019 9:51 am
Location: Bowen Island, BC
Contact:

RACOR FUEL SYSTEM UPGRADE

Post by Safaritoonces »

The original fuel filtration system was a Racor/Winn 200200 which was known to have air leaks. Air leaks into the injection system can potentially contribute to failures of the injectors which are very expensive to replace. This is the first part of three in upgrading the original system to a new design. This changes adds a pre-filter to the fuel system for visible monitoring of air leaks and the ability to see debris in the fuel. The additional filter has a number of possible filter canisters, from a 170 micron down to a 17 micron filter with a water separator. The filter as bought has a 17 micron water filter.

https://safaritoonces.org/racor-fuel-system-upgrade/

Robert and Bev Lewis
2000 Safari Continental, since 2017
3126B Cat, 330hp
MD3060 Allison

https://safaritoonces.org
Robert and Bev Lewis
2000 Safari Continental, since 2017
3126B Cat, 330hp
MD3060 Allison
Bowen Island, BC

https://safaritoonces.org/
RSBILLEDWARDS
Posts: 39
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2019 8:10 am

Re: RACOR FUEL SYSTEM UPGRADE

Post by RSBILLEDWARDS »

It could be added here that originally the micron rating of the primary filter was 30 micron. It is not necessary to add the additional filter Robert has added as the 790 unit has a clear bowl under the filter so in effect he has added some redundancy. One change made by whom ever builds the Racor filters and the Wix Golds. Originally the bottom center depression was open allowing the chunkies to descend to the bowl, as alluded to, that is no longer the case. I cut that depression out with a hole saw so they can drop and I can see if the system is contaminated with algae or other foreign matter.

As for a visual on air infiltration. The fuel from the fuel tank is under GRAVITY FLOW only in our SMC coaches to the Racor filter unit. I do not know if Monaco continued this. It is from this point that there is a known failure point with the hose from the filter unit to the fuel pump that now pressurizes and delivers fuel to the secondary filter. This hose requires only a cursory examination to determine if it potentially leaking air. Because it is under suction pressure it will not leak fuel even in a static condition. If the outer sheathing of this hose is fractured/broken, ugly, it is likely to have never been changed and should be at the earliest convenience. An injector replacement on a C 12 in in excess of $20,000 dollars. One could surmise the cost on a 3126 or b could exceed $10,000.

It would be pointless to make the conversion to the Racor 790 unit if the above fuel line is left unchanged as the original unit shows clear evidence of air infiltration as it is. Make a note, if the engine is running and the fuel in the clear filter/screen bowl is below 12 an inch from the top it is beginning to suck air. If it is half way or below grab you wallet! All of that said it has been common for the filter unit to be the culprit with it’s o-ring joints and being too tightly screwed together.

For those of you with CUMMINS POWER I do not presume to know. You will have to access the situation base upon what has been provided..
Safaritoonces
Posts: 215
Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2019 9:51 am
Location: Bowen Island, BC
Contact:

Re: RACOR FUEL SYSTEM UPGRADE

Post by Safaritoonces »

The points that Bill makes are critical. I implemented his advice on the shutoff valve. John, Dave Atherton and Bill were the key people I relied upon for doing the corrections. The additional filter was my personal decision, for the reasons I mentioned in the video.

What I did not mention but will in the next presentation is the fuel level of the Racor/Winn (Old) filter when the engine was running. Mine was about half the volume in the small yellow fuel bowl last year. When I rechecked it this summer it was less than 1/4 full. That was when I decided that now was the time to change the system out.

With the new system (before the line was changed), in the large fuel bowl the filter would fill to 1/2 half the volume. This new bowl is several times larger than the Racor/Winn system. The bowl fills by gravity feed as Bill points out, but when the engine is running there is a suction from the fuel pump through the filter system, as I understand this is how the fuel gets to the pump on the engine. When the engine was running the bowl would drop down to about 1/3 of the bowl. After changing out the fuel line the bowl will fill to 3/4 full by gravity and then drop down to 1/2 when the engine is running. Now I don't know why this is but it is observable and I will video this in the next presentation.

As Bill points out it is critical to change the fuel line. I couldn't see the damage on mine without taking it out. In fact I couldn't even trace it to the engine until I had pulled the line from the filter and pulled it back through the looms. Once I did I could see extensive cracking on the line. I bought a set of plugs for the old line and will pressurize it in a pail of water just to see how much leakage was happening. This is another example of someone/some company saving a few dollars but causing someone else a lot of grief, expense and work. The Cat fuel lines are still in perfect shape. The new lines without the fittings cost about $15 for just the heavy duty steel core line, versus probably about $6 for the poor quality rubber line that failed.
Robert and Bev Lewis
2000 Safari Continental, since 2017
3126B Cat, 330hp
MD3060 Allison
Bowen Island, BC

https://safaritoonces.org/
astrnmrtom
Posts: 167
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:49 pm

Re: RACOR FUEL SYSTEM UPGRADE

Post by astrnmrtom »

Thanks for the information. I was aware that the original prefilter was prone to leaking air past the o-rings and another place the plastic prefilter fails is the seam at the larger end where the cap is plastic welded/glued in place.

I do have a question about the trouble prone fuel line. Are you talking about the line that goes all the way forward to the fuel tank? If so, how hard was it to run a new line?

Thanks,

Tom Masterson
1998 Serengeti 3706
Tom and Pris Masterson, w/ Buddy the 18 year old Siamese cat.
1998 Serengeti 3706
300hp Cat 3126, Allison 3060
900 Watts of Solar
17cf, Fisher & Paykel residential Refrigerator
Dragging four telescopes around the US seeking dark skies.
RSBILLEDWARDS
Posts: 39
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2019 8:10 am

Re: RACOR FUEL SYSTEM UPGRADE

Post by RSBILLEDWARDS »

Tom, No the hose from the tank has no suction on it, it is gravity flow only. I can assure you, you do not want to do anything with that one. The hose being referred to runs from the fuel pump mounted on the engine right side to the output of the Racor filter unit. It is a suction line and sucks fuel from the Racor unit to the pump which pressurizes the fuel to the Huey (sic?) pump. It is a 1/2 inch ID line with 37 degree JIC fittings. There is a return line for unused fuel back to the tank. This line is not affected. The constant circulation aids in keeping the fuel cooler.

Bill Edwards
1999 SMC Panther C 12
Safaritoonces
Posts: 215
Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2019 9:51 am
Location: Bowen Island, BC
Contact:

Re: RACOR FUEL SYSTEM UPGRADE

Post by Safaritoonces »

Tom, I will post the pictures and information about the fuel line in the third part. It was a brutal task, but there were a number of ways it could have been done different and easier.

I will try get the second part done in the next day and video the fuel fill and run process.

Robert and Bev Lewis
2000 Safari Continental, since 2017
3126B Cat, 330hp
MD3060 Allison

https://safaritoonces.org
Robert and Bev Lewis
2000 Safari Continental, since 2017
3126B Cat, 330hp
MD3060 Allison
Bowen Island, BC

https://safaritoonces.org/
TDJohn
Posts: 552
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2019 11:34 pm

Re: RACOR FUEL SYSTEM UPGRADE

Post by TDJohn »

Bill and Robert,

Logically, things are not quite adding up. Having cracks in the suction hose that goes be between the primary filter block and the pump, will not cause air to enter into the primary filter, nor cause the filter to be only a quarter full. If your primary filter is getting air into it, and/or the filter is only a quarter full, the only way this can happen, is air being sucked up at the filter (seepage at the o-ring) or the hose and/or joints running between the filter and the fuel tank. Yes, the line between the filter and the fuel tank is gravity fed, but if you are drawing a higher volume of fuel than the gravity can supply, then that line becomes a suction line. This likely happens when the engine is running, especially under full load. So, if the fuel line coming from the tank is in similar poor condition as the one that runs between the primary filter and the pump, then your are very likely sucking air. If the line from the tank looks a tiny bit wet, damp, or has dirt/dust attracted to it, that is your culprit. If you still have doubts, install a short section of clear hose between the filter block and the hose going to the fuel tank, and than look for those tiny bubbles flowing toward the filter, when the engine is running.
It actually is not a bad idea to install a section of clear line, as mentioned above and also a section of clear line on the suction side of the fuel pump, that way you can monitor and have a better idea on which side of the filter block the air is entering.

As for changing the fuel line coming from the fuel tank? Very likely a royal PITA, like Bill mentioned...
John
'95 Serengeti, Cummins C8.3-300
Allison 6spd.
RSBILLEDWARDS
Posts: 39
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2019 8:10 am

Re: RACOR FUEL SYSTEM UPGRADE

Post by RSBILLEDWARDS »

John, is technically, and figuratively correct. The visual air in the filter bowl typically comes from the weak assembly points of this part of the Racor unit. Yes the fuel hose between the two is an even bigger culprit because it's air infiltration cannot be seen cannot be seen. Thanks to John for pointing out the error of description and my apologies for not explaining it clearer. I am unaware of the gravity hose ever having an issue. I might also add that Dave Atherton discourages any of the SMC additions such as the Racor unit and favors THE EVEN MORE SIMPLE CAT filter base and thumb priming pump as it offers no possibility of air introduction. It's use does nothing to solve the faulty suction hose.
Safaritoonces
Posts: 215
Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2019 9:51 am
Location: Bowen Island, BC
Contact:

Re: RACOR FUEL SYSTEM UPGRADE

Post by Safaritoonces »

Here is what I found with the filter system.
- on static condition which is with the engine off the fuel bowl field slightly less than 1/2.
- With the engine running the fuel level in the bowl drop to about 1/4
After installing the new Racor filter 790R30
- I could not tell any fuel levels because the clear bowl at the bottom of the filter only shows water. The engine ran fine but I couldn't tell what the fuel system was doing based on the installation I have done.
- With the additional fuel filtration that I added, this allowed me to see the fuel before it got to the Racor unit. The bowl on the additional filter is larger than the entire filter system for the Racor and many times larger than the bowl on the old winn system.
- the static condition on the golden-rod system showed about five dots on the filter from the bottom which is about just under 1/2 the fuel bowl.
- without the new fuel line and with the engine running this dropped down to 1/3 of the fuel bowl.
- After I changed the line to the Racor and engine which was the primary fuel filter originally, the static head on the Goldenrod filter was about 6 dots from the bottom when the engine was running and it is about half-full. This would be expected given that this is a closed system and gravity cannot feed to a closed container and fill the entire container.
- When the engine is running some suction is produced by the fuel pump that's why the fuel level drops in the filter this is observable, since the is a cloaed system there will be a suction from the fuel tank, although very small. As I said I will do a video on this today if possible or by tomorrow.
- Not everybody wants the additional redundancy. But for what I did it works for me because I don't like to not see exactly what is going on with this critical component. I'll go over this in more detail in the second presentation.
- But this is one of those things that we can verify easily.. I'll show you the system static and running. If I get time I'll try and charge the old line with air pressure in a pail of water so we can see what kind of cracks are in the original line and what amount of failure that would produce.
- What I did notice when I first put the Goldenrod filter on but did not have the new line installed was there were tiny Bubbles at the top of the fuel bowl, I don't know that that was or if is was simply a carry over from when the system was assembled and there was air in the line coming from the fuel tank.
- I think Bill is right in that there would be no air coming from the gravity feed line. The gauge indicates zero pressure on that line when the engine is running. There is very little suction from the engine pump that I can discern. If I run the 12 volt fuel pump on the Racor unit it draws about 12 to 15 PSI. When the engine is running it reads 0 and showed about 5.5 dots of level on the filter from the bottom, which is about just under 1/2 the fuel bowl.
With the engine running this dropped down to 1/3 of the fuel bowl.
- After I changed the line to the Racir and engine which was the primary fuel filter originally, the static head on the Goldenrod filter was about 6 dots dots from The Bottom when the engine was and running it was about half full. This would be expected given that this is a closed system and gravity cannot feed to a closed entire container. When engine is running some suction is produced by the fuel pump that's why the fuel level drops in the filter this is Observer Bowl. As I said I will do a video on this today if possible or by tomorrow.

Robert and Bev Lewis
2000 Safari Continental, since 2017
3126B Cat, 330hp
MD3060 Allison

https://safaritoonces.org
Robert and Bev Lewis
2000 Safari Continental, since 2017
3126B Cat, 330hp
MD3060 Allison
Bowen Island, BC

https://safaritoonces.org/
Safaritoonces
Posts: 215
Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2019 9:51 am
Location: Bowen Island, BC
Contact:

Re: RACOR FUEL SYSTEM UPGRADE

Post by Safaritoonces »

Part 2 of three is posted under upgrades
Robert and Bev Lewis
2000 Safari Continental, since 2017
3126B Cat, 330hp
MD3060 Allison
Bowen Island, BC

https://safaritoonces.org/
Post Reply