My new Racor install

[Coyote machine]

Thanks for the flow explanation. Did you remove the small factory filter? When you refer to the main injection pump are you talking an actual fuel pump, or the injection pump with internal injector rack for fuel distribution to the individual injectors?

 

[dodge man]

I removed the rear factory filter since this is the one that I and others have had problems with it plugging up. When I talk main injection pump I'm talking the one mounted on the side of the engine that feeds the three fuel injectors and controls when and how much fuel is injected. There is also a small factory filter before the main injection pump that I left in place.

 

[Coyote machine]

Thanks for clarifying what's the way to go. Any thoughts on why the OEM filter closest to the tank tends to plug up? Any reason for leaving the filter next to the injection pump,(IP) in place?

Thanks again for answering my questions. I appreciate it. Seems a lot of people on TBN have fuel filter issues across brands of tractors; some as a result of contaminated fuel, some due to infrequent filter changes, and various other reasons. Using a Raycor filter or similar could save a lot of headaches, and damage to IPs and injector function. I may have to add one as a precaution to my DK to have that extra layer of protection against downstream fuel issues.

 

[Chilly807]

Most marine installations I've seen with Racor filters have an additional "last chance" ordinary filter before the injection pumps. Just saying, it seems to be industry standard.

Sean

 

[dodge man]

Those are good questions and I wish I had the answer. I left the small factory filter in place figuring it couldn't hurt anything and its never plugged in the past.

As far as what causes the factory filters to plug, that's been discussed some in the past. For me its always been in the winter when clearing snow. It could be gelling, but I'm not sure. It could but dirty fuel but my fuel cans are always clean in the bottom. BX's have had problems with the fuel sending unit getting rusty. This could be the issue but my fuel gauge still works. When I remove the plugged filter its more or less 100% plugged. I've cut them open and don't really see anything inside but this last time I might have seen a very small amount of silt.

As a rule I have had my fuel filter plug up once every winter and I've owned the tractor about 6 years. This last winter I was on my third filter when I decided this was starting to get old and installed the Racor.

I think the problem is just the normal dirt in the fuel and the very small filter on the BX, it looks like it belongs on a riding lawn mower not a small diesel tractor.

 

[Coyote machine]

Rust from a failing sender unit could easily clog a 'pre-filter' close to the tank, especially if it's undersized, like it sounds like you're describing the OEM BX filter to be.
I forget what the Racor micron level is at the moment, but most of the filters on tractors get down to fairly small particulate matter that might be hard to see with the naked eye. As you mentioned, the size of the OEM filter may not be large enough to not clog frequently, especially during freezing weather when large quantities of particulate matter, and gelling combined would likely jam the filter sooner or more often than in milder weather.

Chilly807, Your point about a final filter on marine applications is a good one. I can't recall if my Yami is setup that way or not, but it is very specific about using their large fuel/water separating filter to validate and extend the factory warranty program a full year beyond what is offered without use of their filtration system, if I recall the details correctly.
When I bought my Raycor filter for the Merc Optimax I owned at the time, I bought a separate stainless steel filter head, in place of the painted metal one that came with the filter package, because of salt water use. When I re-rigged to the new Yamaha motor I kept the head unit and put Yami canister filter on. It is a huge volume filter, twice the size of the squat sized Racor. So far I've had no issues with fuel on the new motor; it's starting it's third season this spring/summer-(the engine, not the filter )

 

[kuboman]

Leaving the small inline filter just ahead of the IP is a good second defense especially when changing the main filter. It is always difficult to be 100% clean when changing filters so any particulates that get by when changing will be caught by the inline and it should last many years.

 

[dodge man]

The Racor is a 2 micron filter but you can get different levels of filtration. I've added a photo of mine for what I hope is the final install, its pretty much exactly the same location as Scoobys. I've got to get a welder and learn to weld. I spent an amazing amount of time trying to figure out where to mount this thing and how to mount it. There just isn't may places to mount the thing.