Remember to change your OTHER fuel filter...

[IDBoating]

Most people know to change their inline fuel filters every year. But most fuel-injected engines recommend their injector filters should also be changed every year. By "injector filter", I mean the one that is usually in the same housing as the high pressure fuel pump that drives the fuel rail. Some engines place it in the vapor separator tank (or equivalent). My PCM engine uses a PCM-specific "fuel control cell" (FCC) that performs the same function. These systems have a filter, and it needs to be replaced periodically.

Just in case you're still not convinced, here is my FCC filter after one season. I installed a brand new one during winterization last year and at that time it was paper-white. This photo is taken against a sheet of paper so you can see the color difference:



You can only see one side here, but it's discolored like that all the way around with a few white patches here and there. This is after just ONE season. And I buy the very best non-ethanol gasoline I can find, so it's not that I have unusually dirty fuel.

Just a reminder... since this filter is out of sight, it can also be out of mind.

[whitlock87]

Do you add STAB to your gas?
it will discolor the filter in one tank

[rushin]

I don't even know where my fuel filter is let alone this one.

Is this just a PCM thing?

I have a MP 340, where can I find my fuel filter? Maybe I have not looked hard enough.

[IDBoating]

Do you add STAB to your gas?
it will discolor the filter in one tank

It will tint the filter red, yes. Not make it dirty like this.

[IDBoating]

Is this just a PCM thing?

No, most (all?) fuel injected engines have a filter associated with the high pressure fuel pump (HPFP) that feeds the fuel rail. My previous boat had a Mercury engine and this filter was inside the VST along with the HPFP. On my current PCM engine, this filter is inside the FCC along with the HPFP (it actually fits around the cylindrical HPFP within the FCC).

I have a MP 340, where can I find my fuel filter? Maybe I have not looked hard enough.

Start at the fuel tank and follow the hoses toward the engine. There are usually three: A vent hose to the hull (ignore), a feed hose running fuel from the tank to the (first) fuel pump, and a return hose bringing excess fuel back to the tank. At the non-tank end of those last two hoses you should find an inline fuel filter, beyond which it will connect to the first component in your engine's fuel system.

[whitlock87]

The stab i get is BLACK, so it makes the filter black and it looks just like that

[whitlock87]

I don't even know where my fuel filter is let alone this one.

Is this just a PCM thing?

I have a MP 340, where can I find my fuel filter? Maybe I have not looked hard enough.

For you engine there is a filter / water separator mounted in conjunction with the primary fuel pump.
This is a smooth silver locking can the sits on the left side of the engine just behind the belts. You need to spin it off with a strap wrench. (It about the size of a small can of coffee)

I have the MP 340 hp (5.7) engine

[IDBoating]

The "marine" Sta-Bil (for ethanol fuel) is darker, but I don't use it because I only buy non-ethanol fuel for my marine engines:



The normal Sta-Bil I use is red:



I also only put Sta-Bil in my tank once per year, at the end-of-season fillup in preparation for winterization and storage.

[IDBoating]

For you engine there is a filter / water separator mounted in conjunction with the primary fuel pump.
This is a smooth silver locking can the sits on the left side of the engine just behind the belts. You need to spin it off with a strap wrench. (It about the size of a small can of coffee)

My Mercury engine also had this separate fuel/water filter, but there was also an earlier separate inline filter AND a later, typical fuel injection filter (total of three filters).

Does your engine not have an inline filter ahead of the fuel/water separator? That would be a first in my experience.

[geek]

I also have the Marine Power engine, 5.7. It does not have an inline filter, only the fuel/water separator.

[skippabcool]

I also have the Marine Power engine, 5.7. It does not have an inline filter, only the fuel/water separator.

Same here

[TRD]

is this something an older boat would have?

[whitlock87]

My Mercury engine also had this separate fuel/water filter, but there was also an earlier separate inline filter AND a later, typical fuel injection filter (total of three filters).

Does your engine not have an inline filter ahead of the fuel/water separator? That would be a first in my experience.

Yes, Tige's with MP engines only have one factory installed filter

[IDBoating]

Yes, Tige's with MP engines only have one factory installed filter

Remarkable. I hope that one, single filter is a really good one and that it gets replaced religiously....

[skippabcool]

Remarkable. I hope that one, single filter is a really good one and that it gets replaced religiously....

Many people have years and hours on them without replacing. Maybe it is a better design than the PCM. I am pretty sure that my 07 was changed for the first time when I did it this summer.