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Craig Illman

We had a little excitement as we returned from Desolation Sound last week. As we were motoring down Thulin Passage, north of Lund, B.C., the engine stumbled for a couple beats. I turned the helm over to my G.F. and dashed down below to check my M3-20, under the galley in my C30. I saw a small stream of bubbles coming in the bottom of my Racor and when I reached down to check if something was loose, the "head" of the plug pictured below fell off and introduced a big leak. The engine obviously stopped immediately. Luckily, close at hand, I had a partial roll of butyl rubber (from Mainsail) and some duct tape. I made a "chewing gum" wad of the butyl rubber to plug the hole and secured it to the filter bowl with the duct tape. A few seconds of fuel pump refilled the bowl, purged the air, and the engine started. Needless to say, we were a bit nervous for a few hours while we continued on to Powell River where there was a chance of getting spare parts. The patch worked fine for the remainder of our journey home, about 25 more hours of engine use.

It's a mystery to me, why this plug for the optional water detector probe failed. I have a replacement bowl on order and will check locally for maybe just the plug.

Craig 

Craig Illman

Well, after my trip to Fisheries Supply here in Seattle, it doesn't sound that unusual. Replacement part number is RK 20126. It was about $12.  I removed the piece out of the bowl using a "step down" drill bit from the inside. I'm not sure how easy it would be with the bowl installed on the filter. Maybe an "easy out" ?  Anyway, probably a good spare to keep handy.

mark_53

Craig, thanks for the heads up.  Was this a manufacturing defect on Racor's part or an installation issue?

Craig Illman

Mark - I don't see how it could have been an installation issue. The plug had likely never needed removal. I've had the boat only two of the past twenty-six years, so who knows? It really surprised me. The new plugs are black, maybe Racor has changed materials?

Craig