GregP

Well, I "think" I may finally know what was happening. I've talked to severl other boaters, and a couple of car racing guys, who have had similar problems with oil filters shutting down. In all the cases it took only very trace amounts of water to swell the typical paper filter elements shut.

The car guys said even slightly porous castings would weap enough water to stop the filters aftr only about 40 minutes of rnning. One of the boat people said they had the same problem on one motor of a Fountain triple, and found that the tailpipes were leaking and letting just a little water reversion.

Since I know my old exhaust was leaking when I replaced it, I'd guess that the motor was also getting a little water reversion.

With a bypass valve in the oil system, when the filter clogged it would just bypass the filter and the owners likely never noticed. With my system with no bypass (same as the race cars and the Fountain) it is obvious when the filter stops.

The race car guys switched to synthetic media filters (WIX racing or Mobil 1) and the problem went away as the synthetic media doesn't swell shut in the presence of water.

Since the boat now has new exhaust, I'm hoping that with an oil change and pulling to pan plugs to remove any final trace of water the problem should go away.

Thanks to everyone who has helped with my attempts to track down this most elusive gremlin.

-Greg

US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

Greg, That's great. Lets hope that's it.

Just for the record, I had major problems getting a lot of water in my motor from blown intake gaskets, (High water pressure) and luckly I didn't have the problem you did. Would also venture to say that many times I had as much as 3 qts of water in less than 1 hr of run time. THAT problem has since been fixed. Now last year my motor ran so cold that I had ton of condensation to the point of damaging my new cam and lifters, and still no signs of plugged AC filter. Isn't that what you also used? BTW, mine is the factory setup: remote filter and cooler with the bypass only in the block, none in the remote. So like you say, with a bypass valve, maybe I was also pushing the envelope and never knew it. My demons also are being eliminated completly with this winters work. It's costing some change, but just gotta do it. Next time my motor has to come out, it will be by the hands of a new owner!

Jerry

candyman35

GregP,

Thanks for the info. I was wondering what happened to this post. I have been using the wix filters ever since reading the oil filter study. No problems.

US1 Fountain.
What is it with Fountains and high and low water pressure? I haven't blown a head gasket but my pressure goes to 35 lbs. and will drop to 10 lbs. on a hard run when trimmed up.

US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

Candyman, my bypass hose got so much build up on it that it wouldn't bypass enough water when the stat was closed. Only place for the water to go was make its own path past the intake gaskets. (crossover setup) I fixed that problem by removing the stat and the bypass hose and just running full flow, but using a restrictor to keep some pressure. Course this is what lead to my too cold running motor, rest is history.

If I had to guess, when you are trimmed out and running, you may have a supply problem to your outdrive. Just a guess.
35# would make me nervous. You running all stock? Surprised that the spring loaded balls in the brass tee would allow that.

GregP

US1 Fountain - It was the fact that so many people (like your case) have had mucho water in the oil without "noticing" the filter shutdown that took me so long to believe it was water killing the filter, since I never had enough water to visually see it. It has become obvious that very small amounts of water will actually stop the (paper element) filters from flowing ... and the bypass just keeps anyone from knowing it.

-Greg

Excalibur

Wish i had see your post,i have a 604 merlin and i started to loose pressure,motor is fairly new and i couldn't see a engine failure since it has low hours and hasn't been run that hard yet.
i pulled the filter after changing the oil and it looked like nothing was flowing through it like it should.My bypass is eliminated too.
Heard about how good the wix filters are and bought one to try.When i put new filter on pressure returned to normal.I guess we had the same gremlin,but if it happens again i know where to start.Doen't take much to stop thoses cheaper filters.

GregP

I've gone to System 1 filters. The stainless mesh isn't affected by water, and they have an internal bypass just in the off chance something does plug them . Just put them on while reviving it for the summer (and of course then the weather turned crummy), so don't have any time on them yet except for tuning.

Just to make sure you know, I "did" find a source for water in my motors, the tailpipes were leaking (pin holes) and letting just enough water in to kill the filters, but not enough to be visible in the oil. I'd check your motors until you find the water source, it can be pretty small.

-Greg

audacity

just a hint...35 psi is a waste....make it so it's much lower...figure it out. remember psi is not flow.

Mr Gadgets

GregP

Glad to hear you figured it out.. I was concerned about the filter issues.. Now we know what to use to prevent it. Again the board proves to be invaluable. I will switch to that type of filter when I get it running..
Now go have fun with that boat!!

Dick

blue thunder

Audacity... I agree with what you say. What pressures at WOT and at idle in gear do you feel comfortable with?

BT