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Why Change Engine Fuel Filters?
- Thread starter Curmudgeon
- Start date
Depends on the motor. If you're running a Racor or the like and have a carb'd motor, the engine filter isn't going to stop anything that got past the first filter but still check it once a year. If you have an injected motor, there's 3 or 4 filters you will need to change. The low pressure pumps are cheap but you don't want to buy a high pressure pump or replace injectors.
Even if you're not going to change it, spin it off and pour the contents into a clear glass container and give it awhile to settle and separate. I have a large twist on type filter in my fuel line as well as a twist on filter that is part of my engine. Both were replaced in June and my motor had limited use all summer (only put about 100 gallons through it) but my alarm that indicates water in my filter started going off, although the engine was finally running great. I dumped out my engine fuel filter and within 30 seconds it separated into 2 distinct layers in the bottle. The lower layer (2/3 of contents) was clear and slightly beige in color and the upper 1/3 was more white-milky and more difficult to see through. I haven't had time to separate the two layers and test what they are but I suspect the bottom layer is gasoline and the top layer is ethanol that has separated out due to my engine sitting for only about 3 weeks even though I had added Seafoam to the gas when I last filled my tank. Scary!
The specific gravity of ethanol is greater then gasoline so if separation occurs, the ethanol settles to the bottom. Therefore your assumptiom is incorrect. Phase separation is not all that common and you won't get it in three weeks except in some situations where a lot of water was introduced into the fuel. Water will also settle to the bottom and it is possible that is what you see in the mixture but I don't think so.jtsailjt said:Even if you're not going to change it, spin it off and pour the contents into a clear glass container and give it awhile to settle and separate. I have a large twist on type filter in my fuel line as well as a twist on filter that is part of my engine. Both were replaced in June and my motor had limited use all summer (only put about 100 gallons through it) but my alarm that indicates water in my filter started going off, although the engine was finally running great. I dumped out my engine fuel filter and within 30 seconds it separated into 2 distinct layers in the bottle. The lower layer (2/3 of contents) was clear and slightly beige in color and the upper 1/3 was more white-milky and more difficult to see through. I haven't had time to separate the two layers and test what they are but I suspect the bottom layer is gasoline and the top layer is ethanol that has separated out due to my engine sitting for only about 3 weeks even though I had added Seafoam to the gas when I last filled my tank. Scary!
Why do you think thay call your additive SeaFOAM!
How much did you add????
That picture didn't show up the last time.
Nice filter, what did the others look like or was that one not changed for a while? Is there a water separating filter before it? It looks like the E-10 did a good job cleaning the tank.
jtsailjt, be careful. If the lower 2/3 is ethanol/water mix, you have a lot of phase separation. The top should be relatively clear, not milky.
Nice filter, what did the others look like or was that one not changed for a while? Is there a water separating filter before it? It looks like the E-10 did a good job cleaning the tank.
jtsailjt, be careful. If the lower 2/3 is ethanol/water mix, you have a lot of phase separation. The top should be relatively clear, not milky.
The filter is the VST/high pressure on a Honda, the rest are fine. If ethanol is the culprit, it happened before I replaced the tank 3 years ago. The real problem lies with it probably being OEM on an '03 motor even though it's just now reached the hourly replacement point ... :uhm
Right now the mixture that was in my fuel filter is still in that bottle I put it in and the bottle is in the back of my pickup truck which is at the Toyota dealer while they try to figure out why it's shimmying...a whole other story! When I get my truck back I definitely plan to look into what the 2 layers are made up of and the season is pretty well over up here anyway so I'll be draining my fuel tank and burning it in my other vehicles, but I'll sample it first to make sure it hasn't separated too. Thanks for the "careful" heads up!Grog said:jtsailjt, be careful. If the lower 2/3 is ethanol/water mix, you have a lot of phase separation. The top should be relatively clear, not milky.
As for how much seafoam I added to it, I put in 3 cans and I think my tank is either 50 or 65 gallons. It's quite possible that the bottom layer is just water. That's what I expected since it set off the alarm on the motor and water is obviously heavier than gasoline. But it just doesn't look like water because it has a yellowish tinge to it. Maybe that coloring is just some other impurity that is in the water. I'm sure it will become much more "clear" to me once I get my truck back and really look into what it is.
I have no idea why any product is named whatever it is but suspect it's usually what some marketing guy thought sounded good. Do YOU know why Seafoam is named that? Care to share?seasick said:Why do you think thay call your additive SeaFOAM!
How much did you add????
3 cans in either a 50 or 65 gallon tank. I say either 50 or 65 because the literature that I've seen on my old Grady says 65 gallons, but I've drained it out as much as I could and have only been able to add about 49 gallons so suspect that I have 49 or 50 gallons of usable fuel. In either case I believe the can says to add one can for every 16 gallons so that's the guidance I went by.