Air in fuel line FL 135

All that work and you have the wrong anchor!:lol:

AAAAnnnnnd there it is, I knew someone would dislike my rusty anchor and/or its type, its the only thing on the boat I haven't painted, didn't see the point. Honestly I haven't used it yet, so don't know anything about it other than that its heavy. Got a spare danforth, is that the right one? (From my experience in these waters its not, but its a spare so...)

Greetings,
Mr. O....

Not even close to the ship of my dreams, who can afford that? But I'll be taking good care of it till That ship comes along, my first boat. I put a lot of work into her and I'm a happy captain.

Wilson said:

AAAAnnnnnd there it is, I knew someone would dislike my rusty anchor and/or its type, its the only thing on the boat I haven't painted, didn't see the point. Honestly I haven't used it yet, so don't know anything about it other than that its heavy. Got a spare danforth, is that the right one? (From my experience in these waters its not, but its a spare so...)

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Just messin' with you! She looks great!! After all that work the anchor would be the last thing I would be worried about. Time to take a break for a ride, relax and enjoy!

I dig it Oliver, thanks. I just knew when I saw the anchor in that pic that someone would mention it haha. Don't worry, I'll lose it on the bottom in a couple months..... Lost a danforth on a similar boat I decked on in the kind of conditions I would anchor in.

Wilson said:

I dig it Oliver, thanks. I just knew when I saw the anchor in that pic that someone would mention it haha. Don't worry, I'll lose it on the bottom in a couple months..... Lost a danforth on a similar boat I decked on in the kind of conditions I would anchor in.

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Everything happens for a reason!

Well I would have plumbed that return line in today but I have a 6 hour charter tomorrow morning. Didn't want to change things when I know it will run 6 hours no problem. So I'll plumb that in after the trip tomorrow and maybe make a longer run sunday to see how things go. I'll let the group know. Thanks again for everyone's input, I really appreciate the feedback. Sometimes if you talk to your self about a problem long enough the problem becomes apparent, its probably you....

New fuel tanks may have debris from drilling the holes for fittings. I have seen this before and the long curly metal debris will lodge in the fuel lines and not make it to the filters. The engine will run like it is sucking air.

Another way to check for air in fuel lines is to temporarily replace the lines from filter to engine with clear plastic lines and using good light look for air in the lines as you run the engine at various rpm.

Good luck on this issue and please let us know what you find.

Ken

Well I plumbed the return line in yesterday morning and then took a couple friends out halibut fishing to see how it ran. Was out for about 7 hours and it ran just fine. Gonna try and put 20 hours on this week to see if that fixed my issue or not. Caught a few halibut too. Thanks for all the suggestions folks, I'll update this post with how we ran this week later.

A return line helps bleed off air that gets in the system, from leaks or even a low fuel level/sloshing ingestion. Racors are very prone to minor, almost invisible air leaks (I hate them) that usually dont cause a problem, if you have a return line. No return line lets the air build up at the first high point, usually the engine filter. Then you "run outa gas".

Yeah, by routing the return line correctly you've made the 135 self bleeding as I mentioned before.

But that doesn't mean you don't still have the air leak.

Yeah still sucking air at some point. If this allows for me to run and not die sporadically, I'll forget I had an air leak and be fine with that.

Racors are still a POS. The worst leak to find is the drain plug on the bottom. Sometimes the o'ring goes bad (barely) and lets a little air in. But even tougher to find is when the plastic bowl leaks around the drain threads, just a small bubble every few minutes. But, in a case like yours (and countless others) it puts in air that doesnt get moved thru, just collects in a high spot. Will eventually shut you down, not good. Did I mention that I hate Racor filters. Get a Davco 382.

Hi Wilson,

Flounder or Sole here in Moreton Bay Queensland, one of my fav fish to eat.

Regards,

David.

A small air leak can allow pocket of air to collect as mentioned. Under the right conditions, usually rough, that accumulation could move and the accumulation could be large enough to cause a shutdown.
Do not ignore it assuming because it is small that it cannot cause trouble .

I do understand I most def have a problem sucking air. I can fix that problem in less than 2 minutes, including pulling the hatch and getting there. We will see if the return line is a fix or not, I will let you all, or ya'll know once I know. Going fishing in the morning for 7 or so hours so we'll see. Like to put 30 hours on it before I start talking about a victory, and maybe it will just move the problem to that sort of time frame, I don't know yet... I will update the thread when/if I have further problems, and if I don't as well. I do appreciate all the feedback, and hopefully this thread will help someone else in the future as well. I find that searching the archives is sometimes fruitless so I try and make my header as accurate as possible, as the engine kicks out so many commonly used terms. probably kick my entire thread out unless you searched it word for word.....................ramblin over

So I got about 15 hours before the same problem, air in the fuel filters. Since the fuel filters are the high point I'm guessing that I need to run a bleed, or return line off that housing as well. That or run an actual fuel pump around the lift pump to see if that is where the air is getting in. I just replaced the lift pump though, doesn't mean its not the problem, but it is brand new. I don't really see how the racor could be sucking air into the line, but I can see how it would happen, just can't be looking in there while we are running, fuel line was well above the outlet line on the racor when I checked. So that has me thinking it is a faulty lift pump. Anyway, I'll decide what to do later this week and keep this thread posted when i know more.

First thing I would do is double check that the gasket on the lid of the Racors is not rolled and on an edge.

If that is not it, close the fuel valve at the tank, disconnect the fuel line at the engine mounted filters, drain the fuel out of it and any inline filters, then pressurize the line and everthing along it with a few pounds of air and start looking/listening for leaks.

Is there a way to insert a clear line in the fuel line from the tank?

I think if that were possible, it would be nice to see if you're picking up air before or after the pump, filter, or injector pump.

It seems logical that if you had a significant restriction from the tank, then the lift pump would be encouraged to pull air through a weak connection.

Do you have good flow at the lift pump?

Is the lift pump above the tank fuel level?

Is the order of devices: Tank -> lift pump -> racor filter -> injector pump

It is possible that there is sludge or some type of stoppage in the tank that is causing a restriction in flow. If you pull a vacuum on that, any weak point in the line will leak air into the system.

I would shoot a bit of air into the tank (with vents open) so as to remove a blockage if one exists in the in-tank piping.

Use a bucket and see that you get good flow from the bottom of the tank.

Wilson said:

So I got about 15 hours before the same problem, air in the fuel filters. Since the fuel filters are the high point I'm guessing that I need to run a bleed, or return line off that housing as well. That or run an actual fuel pump around the lift pump to see if that is where the air is getting in. I just replaced the lift pump though, doesn't mean its not the problem, but it is brand new. I don't really see how the racor could be sucking air into the line, but I can see how it would happen, just can't be looking in there while we are running, fuel line was well above the outlet line on the racor when I checked. So that has me thinking it is a faulty lift pump. Anyway, I'll decide what to do later this week and keep this thread posted when i know more.

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You've had lots of good advice so far. An air leak like this can be a real pain to track down. You can't put a return line from the racor to the tank. With the engine running, a Racor will have a partial vacuum in it. So any type of leak in any part of the Racor will cause air to be drawn in. That air will collect at the top of the Racor until its enough to shut you down.

Ken

But you can put a self bleeder on the highest engine mounted filter. But you'd be better off finding the air leak and fixing it correctly.

Well I guess I fixed it, have run about 150 hours with no further problems. The fuel tank shut off valve fittings were loose... Anyway thanks for all the help

Good deal. And simple too.

The simplest things always seem to bite you in the ass!
Dope up those threads with Rector Seal #5 from Lowes. (this is not a butt joke)
Racors can be hard to reseal after a rebuild, IMO crappy filters that somehow got a great reputation.
Visit Seaboard Marine website, sbmar.com, and check out their dual stage filtration systems. I swear by them, almost as much as I used to swear at Racors