Fuel/Water Separator....I SEARCHED!! - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

dabenz · #1 05-05-2008, 03:14 PM

Trying to answer several questions at once....

The cleanable inline primary is 50 micron. Cannister secondary is 15 or 16 micron (depends on manufacturer). Spin-on secondary is 10 micron, I think (dabenz has a cannister). My opinion is that there isn't much of a difference between 10 and 15 microns - there's lots of ways to rig the ASE/ASTM test in your favor (my opinion again). Build quality is the issue for me.

NAPA 3369 is a 10 micron Stanadyne filter in a NAPA paper box. If you expand the photo on the NAPA filter web site then you'll see the Stanadyne part number. Quality of filter? Don't know for sure, but to me it's built better than the cannister filters. daBenz is now a summer toy, so I change the NAPA about every five years. The secondary filter (Baldwin) is a bit cheaper in price and build (my opinion again), so it gets changed every year. Plopping out a bit from the filters every driving day is an old habit, as is being picky about where I buy fuel, as is keeping the tank full. The last water I remember pulling out was when I bought the car in 1991 or 1992 - but then again I don't make a habit of saving what I plop out to see if it separates.

babymog is right: the NAPA 3369 is all I really need. But I like seeing up and downstream of the hand/fuel pump, so the inline stays even though it doesn't do much. The inline is downstream of the fuel pump so it ought to be positive pressure, providing the hand pump doesn't leak - and I'll see that in the primary filter. Disregarding the primary, I have a high flow filter upstream of the fuel pump and (I assume) a lower flow filter downstream of the fuel pump, both of which are drainable (if that's a word).

Kind of make sense?

xdjio · #2 05-05-2008, 05:35 PM

BensLover - is that your own water separator in your photos? If so - I'd be curious to talk to you about maybe a) getting my hands on such a separator of my own and b) installing it.

Come to think of it, I'd be interested to talk to you about this anyway!

bill murrow · #3 05-05-2008, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dabenz

Trying to answer several questions at once....

The cleanable inline primary is 50 micron. Cannister secondary is 15 or 16 micron (depends on manufacturer). Spin-on secondary is 10 micron, I think (dabenz has a cannister). My opinion is that there isn't much of a difference between 10 and 15 microns - there's lots of ways to rig the ASE/ASTM test in your favor (my opinion again). Build quality is the issue for me.

NAPA 3369 is a 10 micron Stanadyne filter in a NAPA paper box. If you expand the photo on the NAPA filter web site then you'll see the Stanadyne part number. Quality of filter? Don't know for sure, but to me it's built better than the cannister filters. daBenz is now a summer toy, so I change the NAPA about every five years. The secondary filter (Baldwin) is a bit cheaper in price and build (my opinion again), so it gets changed every year. Plopping out a bit from the filters every driving day is an old habit, as is being picky about where I buy fuel, as is keeping the tank full. The last water I remember pulling out was when I bought the car in 1991 or 1992 - but then again I don't make a habit of saving what I plop out to see if it separates.

babymog is right: the NAPA 3369 is all I really need. But I like seeing up and downstream of the hand/fuel pump, so the inline stays even though it doesn't do much. The inline is downstream of the fuel pump so it ought to be positive pressure, providing the hand pump doesn't leak - and I'll see that in the primary filter. Disregarding the primary, I have a high flow filter upstream of the fuel pump and (I assume) a lower flow filter downstream of the fuel pump, both of which are drainable (if that's a word).

Kind of make sense?

Yeah....I follow you.

have been wondering how often you change the filter. Nice to know it's done after 5 years so cost of filter really isn't an issue.

I'm concerned with water in the fuel because my car is at the beach a lot where condensation is a huge issue plus I don't know what stations sell water free diesel and am afraid of getting a bad batch although thats never happened before. Plus I want my fuel extra clean. Last year I cleaned out the tank in the 240 and it was amazing just how much junk was in there.

Thanks for all the help. I'll let you know what I decide on. Most likely will go the Napa 3369 route as the reasonable bone yard is a long ways away plus the time involved pulling the filter off once I drive there.

Diesel911 · #4 05-05-2008, 03:56 AM

You may find that the filter element cost is not an issue. Where I used to work all of the Refer unit diesel generators had similar CAV glass bowel type with a filter element about the size of about 4" tall by 3.5" wide water seperators and in the 3 years that I worked there I never had the element plug up on any of them (I believe they are 30 micron elements). As long as you drain the bowel of the gunk or water the filter element will last a long time. This assumes you have no abnormal tank or fuel issues.
If you are curious about the micron ratings you might be able to find them at these sites:
http://www.wixfilters.com/filterlookup/index.asp

http://www.filtermart.com/fpdbdb/fmccross.asp

http://catalog.baldwinfilter.com/
Wix most often give the micron ratings; the others only sometimes.