I was on the pier couple weeks ago when a neighbor boat owner told me he was coming in off the lake and couldn't get full rpm on his diesel. He asked if I thought it could be the fuel filter being blinded. I said yes and asked when was the last time he changed the element. His reply? 35 years!
I asked if he knew where it was. :) He did. It was an old Perko 209. Google it for a picture. We couldn't remove the screw on top with it in the boat. The entire unit twisted and it started coming off the bulkhead. We removed the unit to the dock and used a large wrenches to take it apart. Inside was a ceramic permanent element. I was unbelievably plugged up. About 1/8 inch of crud all around it. I told him to go get a can of carburetor cleaner and clean it. Took him a few applications of the cleaner but it cleaned up. Reinstalled it and diesel runs fine. On the other hand, I had to change the fuel filter element on Touche' this weekend on the way to Pensacola. I have vacuum gauge on it. It started easing into the red. There was only 100 hours on it. The previous element lasted over 400 hours. Very strange. I had just removed the fuel tank couple months ago and the fuel looked very clean. You just don't know. A batch of bad fuel perhaps? Dennis C. Touche' 35-1 #83 Mandeville, LA
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