Racor 230R10 Pre filter with RK30880E Water Detection Kit install

[Tin175 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tin175]

After trawling through the numerous pages on extra fuel filters and bad fuel I finally decided on a Racor 230R10 with the optional water detection kit. I'm expecting to have to buy fuel from some not so reputable places, so a few hundred dollars is cheap insurance compared to an engine re-build.

I have fitted it as a 10 micron Pre-filter and wired it up in parallel to the factory filter warning light. Having it as a pre-fliter also meant that the factory blocked filter warning will still work. Once I got the bracket sorted it was a 30 minute install.

It was cheaper for me to get the Fuel Filter primer pump, spare filter element and water probe kit on ebay from a US seller. I actually contacted the Australian distributor and the wholesale price was more than the shipped price from the US.

Extra bits I needed were
- 400mm of 3/8 fuel hose
- 2 hose clamps 8-22mm
- 1/4" to 3/8 hose tail brass fitting
- 1/4" to 3/8 hose tail 90deg elbow brass fitting
- Mounting bracket. I made my own. I printed a plastic one first and then got it made from pressed Stainless Steel.
see this thread. http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...-for-the-Prado



First thing to do was to fit the brass fittings. The straight hose tail in for the inlet and the 90 degree for the outlet which gets connected by the extra hose to the inlet of the factory filter.



Next was to check the water probe to make sure it works. The probe part number is RK30880E. It screws into the bottom of the bowl. The sensor has 3 wires and also comes with a light that I didn't use as I was connecting it to the factory warning light.
The red wire needs 12v power, black goes to ground and the yellow wire is the negative trigger. This is handy because the factory detector is also negative trigger. There are two wires coming out the factory sensor. A ground wire and a trigger wire. I just spliced the yellow wire to the wire that was not ground.
With the wiring hooked up, I dropped the sensor in some water to see if the factory light came on. There is about a 2 second delay but the factory light turned on every time I dunked it in the water. I was now happy to wind it back into the bottom of the bowl, plumb it up and fill it with fuel.



The water detection probe sits quite high in the bulb. It seems that you would need to see a fair bit of water before it would trigger.



Plumbing was easy. Pull the pipe coming from the tank off the factory filter and connect to the straight brass fitting on the Racor. Run a 400mm long bit of fuel tube from the outlet of the Racor back into the factory filter.

To prime, unscrew the black knob on top of the fuel filter and pump until full and you start to feel resistance. Screw the knob back down into the body. I then started the car and it only ran for a few seconds. I then primed the factory fuel filter til it was firm and then the car started and ran as per normal.



Finished install

[Joe Lighty Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lighty]

Thanks for going to the trouble to publish this - I'm about to do an install myself. Much appreciated!

[Bluedog16 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bluedog16]

Hi all,
At 13,000km I installed a Racor 230T (no water detection kit) as a pre filter and it has been running now for 8000km in my 150 Update. No issues and no water collected in the clear bowl. I have only used BP diesel withe the last 5 fills using BP Ulitmate diesel as it became available.

I am now at the point of thinking at what km's do I replace my filter for the first time?

From memory Racor suggested at 10,000km or 1 year what ever occurs first in the install info that came with the unit.

Now that a lot of people have been running them for quite a while what are the latest thoughts on when to change this filter? Racors 10,000km seems very conservative or wise? I am quite happy to leave the Toyota under bonnet filter till 50000km.

I would welcome your thoughts on when to change the Racor filter (and Toyota filter) and your reasons or experience for doing so.

thanks
David

[AussieAndy Find all posts View Profile Close AussieAndy]

I am doing mine every 20,000Km, unless it collects water or the fuel filter warning light comes on (blockage). I will do it at 30, 50, 70, etc. so it is on a different interval to the underbody filter just to try and break up costs. I will be doing my factory under bonnet filter every 40,000Km. I have come up with these intervals after servicing many diesel vehicles, including Isuzu light trucks which use these filters as a primary filter from factory and have a service interval of 15,000Km. Remember a light truck will use a lot more fuel to travel 15,000Km than a Prado will to travel 20,000Km. Just what I have come up with after servicing and maintaining many fleet vehicles for 10yrs or so now. Just my 2c

[Nightrod111 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Nightrod111]

What made you choose a 10 micron filter?
Ive read other threads and alot of people seem to be using 2 micron filters

[Bluedog16 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bluedog16]

Hi Andrew,
Thanks for your thoughts once again -much appreciated.
I will look at doing the same -Racor 20,000km and Toyota 40,000km.

Are you still at every 5000km flushing the diesel out of the clear bowl as a precaution or relaxing this a bit? (I have not had any water collected to date -touch wood)

thanks David

[Bluedog16 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bluedog16]

What made you choose a 10 micron filter?
Ive read other threads and alot of people seem to be using 2 micron filters

Hi Nightrod,
I am a complete novice, however after my research I choose the Racor 10 micron filter as a pre filter.

At the time (late last year) many PP where using a 10 micron rather than the 2 micron. To me it made sense because the Toyota filter is thought to be 5 micron (NO one has said definitely this is correct) and as such this means the Toyota filter is doing a little work too. If you put in a Racor 2 micron filter pre then the Toyota filter would be doing nothing except maybe catching some water if missed by the Racor. As a pre filter if the Racor gets blocked the Toyota alarm should go off and notify you - so really then a Racor 2 micron filter is overkill (?)
Putting in a filter is a lot to think about -it certainly did my head in for a while but with the kind thoughts of fellow PP's I feel very comfortable with my decision.
Please consider other peoples thoughts as I am no expert.
David

[AussieAndy Find all posts View Profile Close AussieAndy]

I haven't found any water or anything, but being a little anal and it costing nothing but time I am still clearing the bowl every 5,000Km.

I chose the 10micron as I am using it as a pre filter to the Toyota filter. I am doing it this way mainly because my warranty is maintained if the genuine filter is the last filter before the engine. To use a 2micron filter in this position is pointless, the Toyota filter would filter nothing out and it would block quicker. Works for me so far and I'm safe for warranty.

[Nightrod111 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Nightrod111]

looks like the 10 micron is the way to go.
Once my credit card gets over the recent thrashing ive given it, ill buy one lol

[Bluedog16 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bluedog16]

Hi,
My Racor 230 R10 filter was replaced yesterday after 16000km (10000 miles) and after
being installed for 1 year.

A summary of how it went, although it is meant to be easy there was a few issues.

1. It was very difficult to remove the fuel hose from the 'out' barb on the Racor. The
worm drive hose clip was undone and pushed along the hose out of the way. The hose
was rotated to break the seal but it then needed far to much pressure to pull off from the
barb. In the end the hose was cut off and replaced with spare hose rather than force the
issue and risk breaking something.

2. The Racor was then removed from the engine bay. It was very difficult to undo
by hand both the filter and clear bowl. In the end an oil filter wrench was used for the filter
and to remove the clear bowl it was put it in a vice, scared that it might break. The seals
were very tight but eventually with more pressure than I would like we were able to undo
both.
Will consider buying the Racor tool to help remove the clear bowl to ensure it doesn't break
if a lot of pressure is needed to break the seal next time. Or is a large adjustable pliers Ok
with a rag to protect?

As you can see it wasn't a great experience and a lot was learned.

Question - The fuel pump- does it have a safety cut out if the filters and lines are not full of
diesel to protect the pump -ie not primed properly or you run out of diesel?

thanks
David

[Mattfunk 120 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mattfunk 120]

Replaced all my fuel filters today. The 10 micron R20T racor certainly did the job of protecting the the oem toyota filter. This is how it looked after 20 000 km
Cheers Matt

Sent from my SM-J110F using Tapatalk

[Mattfunk 120 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mattfunk 120]

Well that didn't work. Sorry new phone

Sent from my SM-J110F using Tapatalk

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

The hose as rotated to break the seal but it then needed far to much pressure to pull off from the barb. In the end the hose was cut off and replaced with spare hose rather than force the issue and risk breaking something.

2. The Racor was then removed from the engine bay. It was very difficult to undo
by hand both the filter and clear bowl. In the end an oil filter wrench was used for the filter
and to remove the clear bowl it was put it in a vice, scared that it might break. The seals
were very tight but eventually with more pressure than I would like we were able to undo
both.

Question - The fuel pump- does it have a safety cut out if the filters and lines are not full of
diesel to protect the pump -ie not primed properly or you run out of diesel?

You have a classic case of everything being over-tightened. Toyota OEM don't use worm screw type hose clamps. If you use these only tighten to sufficiently hold the hose over the barb and don't over do it. Same for the Racor filter and glass bowl. Hand tighten only ensuring seals are wet with diesel fuel before fitting.

If the pump runs out of fuel then the engine will stall. You really cant do any damage to the pump unless you do excessive cranking when out of fuel. I have Racor filter before OEM. I soak them in diesel before fitting and I have fitted them dry which just means more pumping on the hand primer before firing up.

[gxl_d4d Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close gxl_d4d]

I only every had a dark pre filter like that the first time I installed my CAT setup. Every other filter change after that the filter has come up clean (no black stain). Having said that, I ran the first filter for 40 000km. I now replace every 15000 to 20000km.

[Bluedog16 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bluedog16]

Thanks for your reply Bushbasher

-much appreciated
David