Replacing Racor Primary Fuel Filter on Diesel Engine 

I have yet to see such a complete, simple and informative example of working on a fuel sstem, as you have presented here. If you're not an instructor at a community college or similar place,,,, YOU SHOULD BE. Very nice job of this presentation and narration. . Thank You.

OK gentlemen. This will settle this question about the terms "primary" and "secondary" fuel filters once and for all. I have in front of me three books on diesel engines: Paul Dempsey's Troubleshooting and Repairing Diesel Engines; Nigel Calder's Marine Diesel Engines; and Thomas Reale and Michael Johnson's Your Boat Belowdecks. All three refer, starting at the fuel tank, to the first fuel filter (usually mounted remotely from the engine), as the "primary" filter, and the next filter (usually mounted on the engine) as the "secondary" filter. All three mention that the primary filter is a coarser filter that filters out the big stuff, and that the secondary filter is a finer filter which filters out the smaller stuff. It's irrelevant what terms the engine manufacturers use; they don't know how the engine will be installed in various applications. When they sell an engine to a manufacturer it typically only has the secondary filter, which is mounted on the engine. The primary filter is usually added by the boat manufacturer who installs the engine in a given boat.

Thanks for showing ALL of the steps unlike many of the other videos on youtube. I haven't changed a filter in a while and needed a good refresher. Opening up the fuel petcocks to refill the filters sounds a little risky to me though, maybe OK dockside but you don't want to take the risk of having to bleed an engine if you need to switch out filters in an emergency situation. Thanks again from NYC.

Outstanding video! Perfectly explained as I needed a refresher. Thanks for making this video!

Thanks. That's very useful, as I'm about to change my fuel filter for a RACOR after experiencing problems with the type currently fitted. Greetings from Wales, UK.

Good job David ! Most videos aren't really clear .

Great, clear video, thank you. I have 3 to change before going out to a lumpy sea for the first time since acquiring the boat, so this was very helpful and will give me confidence to do it myself

Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to explain this. New to me and very helpful.

Thank you for taking the time to make these videos. Saves me a bunch of money

I see we both graduated from your Thistle i crewed on with you, great to bump into you - Frank

Useful, need to swap mine for the first time . thanks

Thanks very much. Extremely helpful for a noob like me.

Great video, explained very well!

Also note if you want to use the filter also as a water separator you want to use the 30 micron filter. Racor says the finer filters wont do it.

Thanks for the Video now ill do mine

Thanks for the video.

Also you need to clean fuel bowl and water separator !!!!

what is the name of this product and can i get it on amazon

what racor is that?

People always reverse the designation of the fuel filters because of their position in the fuel supply line. Properly, the PRIMARY filter is the one attached to engine and is the LAST in line before the injector pump. The SECONDARY is the Racor mounted somewhere off of the engine that filters fuel and separates water BEFORE the lift pump.

Great explanation! When changing the Racor filter (Racor 2010PM-OR Fuel Filter) yesterday, I found that the new filter had a different design than the one it was replacing. The very old kind had a rubber piece that fit in the bottom of the filter that kept it from going down too far. It was replaced with a filter that was pretty much flat across the bottom, no longer needing the rubber piece. The one today is not flat across the bottom nor was there a rubber piece in the kit. It did have some plastic pieces that kept it from going in quite as far as the very old one (I think). I read the directions (!) which said to shove the filter all the say in - did that. What I didn't do was run the engine to check for air in the line or leaks. Q: Did I get the old model by mistake? If not, does the new model need an adapter?

Okay I'm going to try on my CHB 38 now! 🛥️🔧🫣