6CTA 480 secondary fuel filter install

[Greg Weaver]

Hi all.

So I have had my boat since early September, the previous owner was not running her much so I have been working on cleaning up the crap in the tanks.

After purchasing the boat ” 35 Carolina Classic ” I purchased 12 primary filters because i knew i’d blow through them, and I have.

1st thing I did was have my main tank polished, we removed a fair amount of crud, pumped tank out and inspected with scope and look really good, however, we could not polish the saddle tanks and that’s where I believe where 98 % of the crap was.

So, now I am confident I am very clean as next to nothing is being seen changing the primaries.

At this time, I would like to now change the secondary filters just to be 100% confident all my filters are clean.

Zero performance issues at all now, I am in spec with Tony’s fuel burn and I am also getting my full RPMS 2690-2700

So my question is………after I change the secondaries, im sure I will have air in the system, I have been shown where the pump is and the nut I’m supposed to crack open while I’m pumping.

Is this a pain in the butt job ? does it require 2 persons ?

Any advice would be highly appreciated and if there is a link to this procedure, maybe someone might share it with me

NOTE: Secondaries I purchased for install are FF5285
Thank you very much

Greg

Topic

[Greg Weaver]

Just came from the boat.

33 degrees out now

Engine room right at 58 degrees with Wolverine 250’s running 24/7

Disconnected POS and NEG from heater grid at manifold
Key to on position and zero faults like Tony said.
Fired engine up and smoked no more than it usually does.
Voltage running was 13.80

If this is the wrong way to temporarily disable the heater grid Please, please chime in.

Once my fingers heal and it warms up some, I will completely remove the entire system

Thanks

Greg

[Greg Weaver]

As doing research I found this,

It mentions the only downside to removing Grid heaters is getting rid of the “active fault” message on the panels after each start up..

This is what I don’t want to have to go through

[Greg Weaver]

Rob, Tony or other with direct knowledge of this grid heater delete

Please regard my last post.

Removing entire heater grid as Tony mentioned is not possible for me at this time, come summertime, I can remove entire thing.

So for now, I just want to disable it.

I have searched high and low and see no 10 amp fuse to remove to disable it on my 2003 6CTA 480.

I did follow the POS lead from the board and it goes over to the top of the starter.

1) I am assuming if I disconnect it from there and put a rubber boot on that connection with a zip tie, it will disable the heater grid.

OR

2) Disconnect POS and NEG at the heater Grid.

I just want to be certain of my actions and be safe and not cause a problem somewhere else.

If you all recommend my option (1) above, do i need to disconnect anything from the battery or am I safe to just remove the POS lead from the starter solenoid.

There is the main BIG Positive lead that powers the starter solenoid and the POS lead to the heater grid is behind it so I would have to remove that giant POS lead first, I don’t want to do something stupid and get a giant arch when I put back on the main POS lead to the starter and short something out.

Please bear with my questions folks, I am just trying my best using my due diligence and not screw something up.

Thank you all for your time

Greg

[Greg Weaver]

Tony,

I see your point in removing the entire set-up

And with all due respect….

By just removing the 10 amp fuse, will that disable everything

Come summertime, I can remove in entirety

Thank you

[Greg Weaver]

Thanks Tony

[Tony Athens]

My 2-cents.

Remove the entire heater harness assembly……………….Disconnect the POS of the battery–then start at the 2-big wires on the heater grid on the intake manifold–Follow them down ( cut pull ties as needed) and disconnect all and remove the entire harness and ECM Plate with the mag switches–It all comes off in ONE un-cut piece–

IT HAS NOTHING to do with the electronics on the engine.

Tony

[Greg Weaver]

Thanks Rob.

If I may ask you another question, It would be about the Grid Heaters on my engines.

I am trying to prevent future headaches, I charter this boat so having it be reliable is very important to me.

I have seen the write up here on disabling the Grid heaters, I have looked for the 10 amp fuse to remove but maybe I need to get a flashlight and look harder.

My question is, I have the ED-1 gauges, once the Grid Heaters are disabled, am I going to see any fault codes or issues electronically ?

I live in Virginia Beach, VA so we do get cold snaps, however I have taken the advice from Tony and installed 250 watt Wolverine pan heaters, I run them 24/7 and even on the coldest days here, the engine room is nice and toasty warm and my engines fire up at the touch of the keys.

I ask this question because I have read that the Grid Heaters are a burden on the alternator and the batteries

Thanks Rob

[Rob Schepis]

Yup, nothing better than cleaning the tanks & polishing that fuel than doing so traveling in rough seas for 200 miles! You got the right boat for running in that slop….

[Greg Weaver]

Rob,

Thank you for your reply.

As for the saddle tanks, I shocked them. they are 50 gallon tanks each, I have put many tanks of fuel with them.

In the beginning I was seeing lot of Algae, each time I changed the filters I saw less

My last 2 trips were to the point which is 98 NM each way so basically 4 hours each way, the first trip was flat calm and when I returned, I saw nothing in the bowls , so I did not change them before next trip, the next trip was 4-5 footers on the way there and 7-9 footers once we hit warm waters and current, So I am confident those saddle tanks got agitated and when I changed them after the second trip there was only a small amount of algae.

My primary filtration is R90P.

I plan to change these over to the option sold here on this site.

[Rob Schepis]

So how did you handle the saddle tanks if that is where 98% of the crap was?

What is your primary filtration and what filters are you using?

As to your on-engine filter your part # is good. The Bosch P pump should not need anything “cracked” open. You can install the fuel filter dry, pump until the you hear the squeak of the relief valve passing fuel, which will be right about when your thumbs fall off.

[Author]

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