Fuel hose breakdown?
QMy Princess Pilgrim has a Volvo aQ130 engine which runs on unleaded fuel. The problem i have is that small pieces of rubber in the fuel tank have been going through the filter and blocking the carbs. The tanks and hoses are all new, as is the jerry can: i always fill the tank through a mesh filter, and believe the pieces of rubber must be the filler hose breaking down. i would appreciate your comments. Gerry Johnson, by email
PAT MANLEY REPLIES:
Current UK and EU fuel regulations for petrol mandate that it is a blend of petrol and ethanol. Ethanol is a biofuel and reacts with some plastics, and is a real problem with older petrol engines as it dissolves rubber and some plastics. As blends get more and more biased towards a bio blend, things will get worse.
I suspect that it is probably your tank filler pipe that is the problem, but it could be any pipe or component that is not ethanol-proof. If the particles are getting past your filter, it suggests that the micron size of the filter is too big. Normally on a diesel engine there are two filters, the primary water-separating filter and a finer engine fuel filter. Petrol engines have only one filter.
I would suggest that you replace the fuel tank filler hose with a hose guaranteed to be safe with blended petrol. Also, I would replace your filter body with a filter with a separating bowl from a supplier such as Racor. Although more expensive than the Delphi filters, they are much more user-friendly and you can specify the size of the filter element in microns. Have a word with ASAP Supplies (www.asap-supplies. com/marine) for the best filter for your installation.