This summers cruise was very educational. Had some on-going fuel problems and I thought the final solutions might be worth passing on should they help anyone else in the future.

We made it to Provincetown (from NJ) with no problem, but I guess [I]HelenRita[/I] didn't want to go home because as soon as we turned west, she started acting up. The RPM's would drop, then come back up. This happened a number of times until the engine finally quit completely .The symptoms seemed to indicate fouled fuel filters, which I started to change, and here's where I started to learn some things.

1) We all carry extra filters, and I know I have a primary Racor squirreled away on the boat, but I couldn't find it with all the extra gear on board. Called all around Plymouth, and later Newport, but none of the suppliers had the R15P, which was the primary filter on the boat when I got her and assumed was the type it required.

Finally, the young lady running Old Port in Newport spoke to her diesel tech who said the R20P would fit, was readily available and was a better filter (I know, there is supposedly a conversion chart that tells you all the filters that can be swapped in, but no one seemed to have that, and I asked, and no one suggested alternatives). So, if your running the same R15P I was, be aware one alternative is the R20P, or talk to a diesel tech directly.

2) All the tech's told me that many boats have a screen on the tip of the fuel pick-up tube in the fuel tank (suggesting this might have been my problem) and they recommend removing this, letting the primary filter do its job as the primary is easy to change but it is difficult to get the pick-up tube out. FYI.

So, at this point all you old salts are thinking "but of course, everybody knows the first two points" but

3) My problem turned out to be the "head" of the Racor water separator filter (the part the replacement filter screws into).

The fuel line goes into the primary filter into a 90 degree turn before the fuel gets to the filter element. This became completely clogged and shut us down. The pick-up line comes up in the tank and makes a 90 degree turn (through the fuel shut-off valve) and, this was pretty clogged up too.

After these were cleaned out, we had no further trouble. Something others might find worth checking this winter, not to mention cleaning the fueol tank.

Originally my impression was that I had really no warning that I had a problem as I change the filters at least once a year. In retrospect however, I realized that this year I had to crack the throttle about 1/2 an inch for the engine to start, so this was a signal, that I wasn't picking up on, that there was an upcoming problem.

Hope this proves helpful to someone.

Regards....