Fuel Filter Setups

[homerj1]

Hey,


Just wondering which fuel filter setup should I use on my Mk1 Jetta. I have both the mk1 style and also the mk3 aaz style

thanks

[R.O.R-2.0]

Hey,


Just wondering which fuel filter setup should I use on my Mk1 Jetta. I have both the mk1 style and also the mk3 aaz style

thanks

mk1, hands down...

you could even take it a step further, and add a racor (or any other) filter ahead of your mk1 unit..

heres what i did..



Works great.. still havent had to change out my racor element..

plus, its SOO NICE having a clear sight glass on the bottom of the racor..

[tyb525]

Hey what kind of mount is that for the racor? I'm thinking about doing the same

[ORCoaster]

I think it is just a piece of sheet metal that bolts to the fuel filter on the right and to the fender on the left.  It comes up 90 degrees where he then uses the two stock holes in the Racor to attach to the metal with a couple of nuts and bolts. 

I ran my Racor up to the front near the headlight and drilled a couple holes through the engine compartment and bolted it on that way.  I access the nuts through the wheel well.  Put a piece of rubber in back of it to keep it from vibrating any.  At the time I had bad shakes, with the engine, not with my head.  Put the same rubber pad behind the front engine mount and got the shakes out of the engine once and for all.  Even the rear view mirror is solid as a rock now.  Was fuzzy with the shake before.

[tyb525]

Sorry I meant the mount the filter screws on to. Is it specific to racor?

[R.O.R-2.0]

Hey what kind of mount is that for the racor? I'm thinking about doing the same

its just some sheet aluminum..

[ein bora]

Not the best picture of it - but here's my set-up on my b5 gas to diesel conversion. Bought the kit off of Giles, does has the glass bowl.

[homerj1]

Hey,


Just wondering which fuel filter setup should I use on my Mk1 Jetta. I have both the mk1 style and also the mk3 aaz style

thanks

mk1, hands down...

you could even take it a step further, and add a racor (or any other) filter ahead of your mk1 unit..

heres what i did..



Works great.. still havent had to change out my racor element..

plus, its SOO NICE having a clear sight glass on the bottom of the racor..

Thanks,

I assume that after going thru the Racor - the fuel goes to your ip?

Also what model racor filter housing are you using & what micron filter?  I like the clear sight glass idea.

[CrazyAndy]

I think it is just a piece of sheet metal that bolts to the fuel filter on the right and to the fender on the left.  It comes up 90 degrees where he then uses the two stock holes in the Racor to attach to the metal with a couple of nuts and bolts. 

I ran my Racor up to the front near the headlight and drilled a couple holes through the engine compartment and bolted it on that way.  I access the nuts through the wheel well.  Put a piece of rubber in back of it to keep it from vibrating any.  At the time I had bad shakes, with the engine, not with my head.  Put the same rubber pad behind the front engine mount and got the shakes out of the engine once and for all.  Even the rear view mirror is solid as a rock now.  Was fuzzy with the shake before.

1000 pardons for minor hijack, but might you snap a photo of said pad installed on the front mount?  Like that idea.

OT, is there enough room on the back to put the filters on the rain tray if you have a stock style turbo setup?  Away from the turbo as much as posible, of course.

[ORCoaster]

Crazy A.  

Not exactly a hijack as it does pertain to fuel filters.  
This is the heart of the workings on my distribution system.  You can see the Racor filter on the left and an additional filter/heater on the right.  The two large black hoses are the hot coolant, is that an oxymoron?, that comes up to the old oil cooler now working in reverse.  I have a FPHE down where most turbos are and I use that to split the heat from the engine to the fuel tank via another set of hoses and a 12 volt pump.  The hot water comes up through one ex-changer right before the IP, to the oil heater, then down to a second ex-changer that does the heat for the fuel tank.  

Fuel comes in via the bright blue hose and goes through the primary filter and out through the black hose all warm and toasty.  That hose is behind the red filter and comes up to the elbow in front on the Racor filter.  This is a model that has the self prime bulb and a similar see through bottom on the filter.  Once this filter does its work the fuel drops down to the FPHE that is tucked up on the rail behind the headlight.  I had to remove that board like thing that goes next to the radiator but I put windscreen of sorts back behind the grill so I wasn't losing any heat.  

You can see that i was in the process of wiring up the solenoids here and the ends of the wires are just sort of sticking out in mid air.  These are on a DPDT switch I mounted between the hazard and defroster switches on the dash.  Very clean, I only wish I had put little LEDs on the power lines as I have almost left them in the wrong position and that would have meant a hard start on WVO in the morning.  

What isn't shown here as I didn't have it hooked up yet is the take off for a vacuum gauge that lets me know when my filters are getting tough to pull fuel through.  That is just a standard fitting across from the inlet on the Racor filter.  I use the same type of line as most of us do for an oil gauge, that 1/8 inch stuff.  

After I got all this plumbed in I wrapped it with that silver bubble wrap to keep the heat in.  So now most of this is hidden and it looks like someone from NASA came by and paid my car a visit with some secret squirrel stuff that might have belonged on a mission to Mars.


Need more than that?  DAS

Well if that don't beat all, I did all this and then re read your post only to figure out you wanted a pic of the rubber pad behind the engine mount up front.  If it isn't raining in the morning I will grab one and post when I can.  I have to help a buddy move tomorrow and he says plan to run late.  Sorry for the mix up,  I didn't feel like deleting this as it shows another way to set up a filter system.  

[RustyCaddy]

Hijack warning!!! but

That is a nice veg setup

 

[ORCoaster]

Andy,  Check this thread as it is where we were discussing the use of different stuff behind the flange.  Pictures are there.  Thought it best to post there and link here.  Maintains the flow better.

http://www.vwdiesel.net/forum/index.php?topic=32608.msg302912#msg302912

[bajacalal]

Using a stock VW oil cooler as a WVO heat exchange? Such a brilliantly simple solution! Does it work well... does the fuel come out piping hot or not so much?

[ORCoaster]

Does the oil cooler turned heat exchanger work?

Well it is doing what it was designed to do.  Remove heat from one source and provide it to another.  In the stock setup we use this lil dude to remove temperature from the oil and send it to the coolant.  I saw  some on Ebay or wherever were calling this similar set-up a Veg Oil heater.  I could have eliminated this part and spent 120 dollars to put an electric heater in under the Racor filter and that would have been the way to go for some.  I didn't have the big alternator and was trying to use coolant rather than electric heaters on my system.  I also had the oil cooler on the car but never got the hook up for the coolant going so I just removed it from the oil filter and stuck it on the extra flange I got with the purchase of my fuel tank.  Guy had many parts and I bought them all. 

The rub to these oil coolers is the little pipe that goes inside and the nut that holds the heater to the flange you are using.  I think it is just a standard 3/4 inch 16 threads per inch pipe but getting the threads to go the extent you need to be able to put the filter on is hard to do.  I actually had to go salvage one off a car in the junk yard to be happy about the overall length to the threads.  I think you could have someone extend them for you at Home Depot or Lowe's and use a standard thread on one end and extended on the other.  I think you can also get the thin nut from the hardware section but it might be brass not steel so careful putting the tight on it.


To answer the question in a word, YES.  In fact I can tell you exactly the temperature that the fuel gets to, down to the first decimal place because I have a digital sensor that gives me a readout in the cab at the flip of the switch.  I am sensing the temp going into the second filter from the first.  I would say that at switch over, about 5 miles of driving city traffic, I am around air temp at that point in the system.  Once fuel starts flowing to the IP I get to about 140 about ten miles down the road from switch over.  Once on a steady drive it stays at the 150 mark.  Fuel then goes into the second Racor filter and then down to the FPHE just in front of the IP.  A second sensor at IP runs at the 150-160 mark there. 

I did switch the flow of coolant around recently so that FPHE at the IP gets the first of three take offs as it routes around from the heater hose take off and so I expect to get hotter at the IP now.  Values noted above are my Spring through Fall runs and I have yet to use the system once the weather got cold.  Engine troubles that will be resolved with new set of rings.

I have this whole system wrapped in that bubble wrap that is reflective so I don't lose heat to the engine compartment.  But the real bonus is not touching the heater as you work on the engine after it is warmed up.  Did that a few times until I remembered about that spot as hot.  So careful if you add one they look safe and cozy but will burn you good at full on temps.  My thermostat is a 86 degree C one. 

Thanks for asking.DAS

[745 turbogreasel]

It's not pipe thread.  The die was kind of expensive.