Changing the Fuel Filter on a Universal M-30 Diesel Engine | Engine Not Getting Fuel
Vložit
- čas přidán 21. 07. 2024
- In this video we show you how we diagnosed and replaced our clogged fuel filter on our M-30 Universal Diesel engine.
While we were out sailing in some bigger swell, we lost power to our engine. After checking the engine temperature and oil level, we determined that the engine was being starved of fuel. Every time we increased the rpm, the engine would die, but at low rpm it ran fine.
We replace the secondary fuel filter, then bled the fuel lines of air and started up the engine. The project was a success and our engine is running like normal again! In the future we will have to inspect the primary fuel filter and diesel tank, but for now Blue Moon is back up and running!
* Disclaimer: we're not experts! Just sharing our experience as we learn to work on our engine :D
If you enjoyed this video and want to support us directly, you can receive access to our episodes Ad-Free, our chat community, behind the scene updates and more at / bluemoonlife
These videos are made possible by the generosity of viewers like you and we want to thank you so much for being here!
If you are new to the channel, Blue Moon is a 1978 Catalina 30 sailing vessel which we acquired in 2020. One year later we decided it was time for a road trip and built out a 1998 Delica to drive across the country. Now we live aboard the boat full-time, take weekend trips in the van, and explore this beautiful world.
Thanks for watching!
J+G
Patreon Community!
Eric Smith
Fred Adrian
Gerald FitzGerald
Josh Klar
Paul H and Linda L
Tom & Siiri
Cathy Norrie
Dave Hines
Ed Mcormick
Eiso
Jamie
Jesse Milam
Jim M
Joseph DiMarino
King David
Michael Bingham
Moneysuckle
Paul Beadle
Scot Yount
Sean Perry
Simon Law
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
patreon - / bluemoonlife
Instagram - / bluemoonlife_
paypal - paypal.me/bluemoonlife?locale...
We use royalty-free music from Epidemic Sound. Sign up with our link to get 10% off your first 12 months PLUS during the month of June the first 30 days are free!
www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
Tangled up in Dreams (Instrumental) by Nickolas Jones
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0:00 - Engine failure: determining that our engine wasn't getting fuel
1:19 - How to change the secondary fuel filter on Universal M-30 diesel
1:58 - Remove the old filter
2:39 - Install new filter
3:55 - How to bleed air from fuel lines
5:03 - Start the engine
5:15 - Next steps - Jak na to + styl
Get some Liquimoly Diesel Purge and fill the secondary filter with it. Diesel purge will clean your injectors and prechambers. Wear good rubber gloves. Doing a purge using only the purge fluid every 100 hours is also good maintenance. You should also be using biobor for crud growing in the tank and an antigel given how little you use the engine.
Good job, well done video and explaination. Retired master mechanic here.
Thanks for the advice!!
Alan, can you describe a Liquimoly diesel purge as maintenance? How often?Just pour out the contents of the filter and fill with the liquimoly. I use my M25XP for less than 20 hours a season (I often can sail on and off the mooring). I use Biobor JF when I top off the tank each fall before haulout. Should I also use Startron enzyme tank cleaner yearly (in the spring?) or would that be overkill or unwise?
@@ross20 ideally you fill your new filter with either clean diesel or purge fluid. As a maintenance thing I would do it every 200 hours. Or when changing the filter. A proper purge is to run the engine off the diesel purge. You fill the secondary filter. Run hoses for inlet and return directly into the Diesel Purge can then run the engine at various speeds until all the DP is used up. If you use your engine very little your biggest risk is algae ( biobor should take care of that but not always and then you have the dead bodies to deal with) and gel/wax/asphaltines. I used to drian my fuel tank and fill with fresh fuel every 2 years. The old fuel goes into my oil burner at home. In your case I'd use DP when changing filters (every 100 hours or sooner if the bowl gets cloudy) and a good anti-gel yearly and replace the fuel if there is ever a hint of algae bloom going on.
Great VIDEO! A little tip, I always use a permanent marker and write the date that I installed it on the filter. Works wonders for my memory.
Should also go in engine log.
Thank you :D Great idea!
A note of engine hours when the filters are changed could be helpful. The boat log book could also be used. I like the atmosphere/ambiance of your videos.
Always remember lefty loosey is always from the bottom of the object, since you were looking down on the filter, it needed to go the other way. Same when looking down on bolts etc.
Glad you got it running, diesel tanks can be a big mess, the diesel return line does do some polishing since it's returning clean fuel back to the tank but there can be bad gunk growing on the bottom. Took my C30 out today looking for Orcas, had 4 out here yesterday but no luck, but wow what a beautiful day it was on the water.
Haha yes I learned that quickly! Oh wow! We are always looking out for orcas but haven't had the opportunity to see any yet... we're keeping our fingers crossed for this summer though!
I can't recall ever watching a fuel filter being changed from start to finish. I enjoyed this show! You did a masterful job.
Good job, don’t take the bleeder bolts out just loosen them about 3/4 of a turn.Also not necessary to bleed at the injection pump.if you change the main filter use a 10 micron or bigger, racor has a 2 micron and that too fine.It will stop up and look perfectly clean when you pull it out but it is clogged.I had a Universal 35 just like yours in a 37 Oday.Good video👍👍😃
Thanks for the advice!!
Great video. I find it helps me when I am changing the fuel filter to use a zip lock bag. I put it completely over the filter once It has been loosened a bit and just let the oil and filter drop into the bag and zip it. No mess . 😀
That is a great idea! We will definitely be doing that next time :D
Oh my gosh guys, I’m 58 and have always added oil/diesel to the filters O ring. I’ve done it because as a teenage I was told to do so, but never knew why. Thank you for sharing, so informative, love you guys.
Awe wow we are so happy to hear that!! :D
Simple story well done! I probably have that same problem and that helps remove the mystery!
Hi Guys, From a mechanics point of view you did well.
I read someone suggested fitting extra filter, my advice is just to save the expense just change the filter more often.
The more things you add to the engine the more things to go wrong, extra filters would involve more fuel lines and connections ,more chance of air leaks etc.
Good luck and take care.
Thanks for your advice!! that makes sense :D
Thanks for this!
Good work … very informative 👏🏻👏🏻
We're so glad to hear that :D
Great Video!
Thank you! Glad you liked it :D
Nice one ..... I need it for more education
Good vid, tks
Very smart to buy two, one to use and one as a spare.
If you always do that you will build up an excellent spare parts kit over time.
I had a similar problem once and it was the air filter that got clogged up because one of the many belts was shredding and the very fine pieces of the rubber/fiber belt completely smothered the engine. Also a very easy fix.
Nice demonstration video!
Good to know that an air filter could also cause the problem! Thank you :D
Jonas sitting out in the sun with the glasses on, nodding "What the Lady says" :D Great work and I may actually have to check my diesel tank, too O.O
Thanks :D Haha good luck if you do! A bit of a daunting task haha
Great timing. I was reading my manual yesterday and preparing to do the same thing for my first time. . Thought I would pull up a video or two to walk me through the bleeding process. Universal M3-20 on a 92’ Cat 30.
Oh great!! Good luck with that! We found it was much simpler than expected, assuming you have good access to the filter and bleeding bolts :D
You guys did a great job with this "how to" video. It was easy to understand and I am sure many diesel engine newbies will appreciate it!! During our first circumnavigation we encountered exactly this in big seas off of New Zealand. We looked at each other and said" Heave-to time!!". That gave us time to deal with everything and then we carried on. Once in port in New Zealand we had our fuel tanks polished and bought a special filter for the fuel we would have to fill up with in less than civilized countries. I believe one brand is called a Baja Filter - we would run the fuel through that filter (it is large and handheld) as we filled the tanks. We also fill our tank on Pixie completely full in our winterizing routine so there is no condensation... one of the other comments explained why. Great video!!
Hey Cathy! Thank you so much for sharing this experience, we will definitely put some of this into practice :D
The cyclic engine phenomenon is called 'surging'. Although my diesel experience is limited to working around stationary plant backup gensets, I think it would be a good idea to improve the running filtration system on the boat for both fuel and engine oil. That means modify and install a pair of large cassette filters of the appropriate type, for each of fuel and engine oil. That's so filtration works better for longer. If the pipes/hoses are routed properly, it also makes changes much more convenient. A couple of acquaintances did that to their trucks and were happy with it.
Stuff grows in diesel, especially in the tropics, and larger boats have a polishing system that filters and preps a day's worth of diesel before running it to the engine and it's filters. Just having better filtration capacity in a colder climate, together with cleaning out the tank, should be sufficient to avoid most fuel problems.
Thanks for all the tips! We'll remember these for future engine work :D
I noticed that your oil lamp was swinging wildly in the chop. I tie mine down with a line through the lops of the lamp and down to the table. I was hoping to share a picture of my lamp with you but didn’t know how to send in the comments section.
Oh great idea! We will definitely be trying that out :D
great video the pickup pipe is about an inch above the deepest part of the tank so you are right but i think its important to remember that its not a very nice job but if you don't do it it can be a ball aching job and that's to put it politely
Thanks! Yes we're not looking forward to it... but hopefully we can find a couple good days to just get it done!
Great explanation Gillian. It is righty tighty lefty loosey but only if you are looking at it from the bottom. ;-)
Haha thanks Mark! Yes I will definitely remember that now :D
Hello great video. After dealing with this multiple tomes i simply purchased a small outboard tank and now assured to always have clean fuel. still using the filters but have the confidence of not losing power. hope this helps
Great video and very easy for newbies to follow.
Definitely change primary filter, that's where the biggest bits are trapped.
To clean out the tank is easy you can do it yourself or just call up your local fuel polisher, yes I know it sounds weird but they don't actually polish the fuel 😆
Ok finally a tip. Always keep your tank as full as you can in winter, reason being, just as moist air when it hits the cold surfaces of the boat condenses, the very same thing happens inside your tank. Lots of people leave their boats over winter only to find the fuel is contaminated with water in the spring.
Full tanks never get water contamination as there are no surfaces to allow moist air to condense on.
Hope that helps.
Oh I love this channel it's perky and very fresh, with two great characters.
❤️
Thank you so much :D And thanks for the tips!! We'll remember that and keep the tank full this winter!
Great video!!
Thank you !! Quick question
Don't you have to wait for the diesel come out before I completely close the screw?
I’m glad you weren’t half way to Maui…. 😉
Haha us too :D
and that's why I want a full electric
You are my idol.
deppresion is very serious subject
ok I have experienced this over and over. on my latest sailboat in installed a day tank below the stern lazaretto. this tank is plastic and double protected from water. The main tank sends pre filtered fuel to tgis day tank. zero water zero sludge
Oh interesting, thanks for sharing that!!
Even re-fueling can agitate the fuel in the tank enough to cause problems. On my truck I now have twp primary filters, one just for water the other for sediment, seems to be working for me.
Oh interesting, thanks John that's good to know!
I havnt read all comments. So appologies if im doubling up. Dont forget to purge the other fuel filter now and then. It will have moisture build up. We always do both on our boat at the same time. Great video though.
Sill question when did you guys last lift out to scrub.
Thanks for the tip!! We scrubbed the bottom a couple years ago and are keeping a close eye on it :D we'll need to do it again in the near future!
@@BlueMoonLife you are welcome. If you are still in the area with nice high tides. You can beach yourselves clean and antifoul one side. Then do the otherside without the lifting costs. You have a lovely boat so please becareful. Hate to see osmosis start up. Happt sailing beautiful people
Great, changing the fuel filter is not a big deal, write down the date on the new filter so you know when it is the last one. Furthermore, you don't need to completely take out the air screw/bolt but just a little is enough to let the air pass and you have less mess to clear up later. Happy sailings, good luck.
Thanks for the tips! Yes we have recorded the date but it's a good idea to put it right on the filter :D
My gosh, what beautiful eyes!
Nice video. Is it a Universal M30? I have an M35, I didn't know that there was an M30 model. I thought most cat 30's have M25's.
It's a bit of a long story, but we believe it is an M-30! We recently found the engine plaque for it :D
Was the replaced filter clogged? Can you even tell since it appears to be a closed?
It was hard to tell how clogged it was, but we could see gunky debris in it so we figured it was definitely time to change it!
👍🎣🌊⛵💯
♥️♥️🥰🥰
Fill the filter with diesel first...is that a thing?
We looked into priming the fuel filter (like we would for an oil filter), but didn't find anywhere that said to do it. So we're not sure!
M30 that's a bigger motor than normal for a Cat30 ... usually universal 24 or 25hp is normal...
Yes it's a long story... but we recently found the plaque saying it's an M-30 :D We were surprised as well!
Check your fuel tanks if they are clean... o_~
Yes absolutely!