Westfolk Secondary Fuel Filter Install

[DUG]

I've had Westfolk's secondary fuel filter kit here in the box for a while now. Drama with my boy's birth mom and then this heat has kept me for gettin' it done. Today I fired up the install video and grabbed my 13 year old to put it together.

All told we were in the hot sun a little over 20 minutes. This is partly due to the heat, partly due to the fact we had problems removing old gaskets and maybe a little bit due to my mechanic just taking his time.

We covered the fender in rags and had to keep everything in the shade because if you set anything down for more than a few seconds it became uber hot in the sun.

We laid the kit out and double checked we had everything and then grabbed the few tools Westfolk recommends. The old filters and canasters came off easily, but the old gaskets did not. I remembered that when I changed the secondarys last year they didn't come with gaskets so we left the old ones in. Those old ones have been there for a long time. We tried to get them out, but no luck. I had the boy pull the filter mount completely off and flip it so he could see what he was doing. Then it was easy.

With the gaskets lubed and in place we installed the o rings. The old ones on the top bolts were pretty bad, but Westfolk sent new ones to replace them. Once the o rings were in he put the adapters in. I did the final snug on them, but he did everything else.

We filled the filters prior to installing them and she fired up after only a few extra spins. NO LEAKS.

I have all of Westfolk's kits installed in my deuce and I am 110% happy. On every install my son did most of the work. Easy and the price is right. I highly recommend.

 

[DUG]

The rest of the pics:

 

[mikeroot2]

Just ordered a set for my m109a3, oil and fuel. Already have 'em on the m35a2. Money well spent.

 

[area52]

speaking of Westfolk - where is he?

nice writeup with pics.

 

[FormerNewMVGuy]

Thats an Awesome mechanic you got there. Love them father -son projects

 

[Billy Bobbed]

Hoping to put a set of screw on oil and fuel filters on mine next year.I have a 14 year old daughter think I can get her to put mine on.

 

[DUG]

Thats an Awesome mechanic you got there. Love them father -son projects

He's a pretty good kid. Always ready to learn and get dirty.

 

[DJones]

Awesome!

 

[dabtl]

I have had the jatonka spin on filters, oil and fuel for two, or perhaps three, years now. I am glad to see Westfolk join in with an additional supply.

I think these are the most innovative things we can do to the multi-fuel engine to both preserve them and to extract the maximum performance from them.\

I love the immediate fuel pressure on the jatonka filters. And, getting rid of the rust in the fuel filters is a max bonus!

 

[DUG]

I have had the jatonka spin on filters, oil and fuel for two, or perhaps three, years now. I am glad to see Westfolk join in with an additional supply.

I think these are the most innovative things we can do to the multi-fuel engine to both preserve them and to extract the maximum performance from them.\

I love the immediate fuel pressure on the jatonka filters. And, getting rid of the rust in the fuel filters is a max bonus!

I've seen JATonka's stuff on my friends trucks and they look good. I do like Westfolk's primary filter set up better, but I have never heard of anyone complain about JATonka's stuff. Westfolk's primary set up reeled me in and his prices hooked me.

 

[dabtl]

You must have the Westfolk oil filter adapters also? Are they the anti-drain filters also?

 

[DUG]

You must have the Westfolk oil filter adapters also? Are they the anti-drain filters also?

Yes, I have all of Westfolk's filter set ups. The oil filters are anti drain back. Somewhere I have a list of filters that I can use - it's a big list. I like the 1 quart anti drain backs cuz they are cheap and I can change them as often as I want. Some say bigger is better - maybe - I haven't had any problems at all so far.

The secondarys fuel filters are 6 micron IIRC. I might swap in a 2 micron on the final to clean things up some more.

Before any big road trip - Dirtbag, Death Valley, whatever, I plan on changing out all the filters and then I carry a full set of spares. Might be overkill, but I think it's cheap insurance.

 

[dburd72]

thank you just sent him an email thru ebay this moring just need to put the money aside for all 3 kits glad to see other people like these kits

 

[DUG]

thank you just sent him an email thru ebay this moring just need to put the money aside for all 3 kits glad to see other people like these kits

You will be very happy.

 

[dabtl]

You will be very happy.

I have really liked the spin on filters.

Every time I looked at the fuel filter cans they had more rust, even after being completely cleaned. Using the spin on fuel filters eliminated the need to clean the cans completely.

The oil filters give instant pressure on starting. I like that much better than sitting waiting to see if something happens.

It will be interesting to see how much longer these engines last after being brought into the 21st Century.

 

[Heavysteven]

I noticed that the new spin on filters do not have a drain at the bottom. Any problems getting all the air out of the fuel system?

Thanks for sharing. I'm taking notice to how many good things i hear about spin-on.

 

[DUG]

I noticed that the new spin on filters do not have a drain at the bottom. Any problems getting all the air out of the fuel system?

Thanks for sharing. I'm taking notice to how many good things i hear about spin-on.

We filled the new filters with fresh fuel prior to installing. Starting took an extra 3-4 seconds. Otherwise, no problems at all.

 

[doghead]

Typically, you drain fuel, water or sediments, from the bottom drain.

You bleed air out the top plug or petcock


You cannot bleed the air out of the bottom of a filter/filterhousing.

 

[DUG]

Typically, you drain fuel, water or sediments, from the bottom drain.

You bleed air out the top plug or petcock


You cannot bleed the air out of the bottom of a filter/filterhousing.

I couldn't bleed the normal way since the top plug leaks and is holding only due to some top quality pipe dope. Someday I'll fix it proper, but for now it's holding well and I don't want to mess with it.

Filling the filters prior to installing worked for us, but if it didn't we would have had to use the bleed plug on top.

 

[Katahdin]

Since Dug is promoting this thread in his sig line I thought I'd help him update it.

Several week ago, when changing my secondary fuel filters, I noticed the inside coating of the filter houseing flaking off. I could easily scratch off the coating with a nail. This made me decide to convert my secondaries to spin-on filters (I was already using a spin-on primary filter). After perusing the market I approached Westfolk about buying a set of the same spin-ons Dug has and learned that model was discontinued. After some hemming and hawwing over traditional deuce vs modern fuel housings I decided to give his new design a try. Here's what thoughts went through my mind:

1) Its affordable, the complete kit is $135.
2) I liked, mostly for looks, having two secondary filters. However, if I swap out the filter housing I can still use the original one for filtering waste oils to use as fuel.
3) I hadn't done any fuel line work with ferules, this gave me an opportunity to build up some fuel line changing experience with the direction of Westfolk's install video.
4) I accept that the pumps will eventually purge the air out of the fuel line, but I thought having a draincock to open was a quick way to see if the in-tank pump was working and quickly bleed larger fuel filters that his kit fits. No problem. There's a spare port on the outlet side of the filter where I installed a drain petcock to bleed the air from the fuel system.
5) I liked that the kit is threaded for a large variety of spin filters, both in size and filtering down to 2 micron. The kit comes with the 6 micron filter shown.
6) Less O-rings to have to deal with. Adapter plates require O rings and the top bolts holding the adapter plates have O-rings, this kit does away with those.


Install review: It took me a couple hours but I'm slow. A lot of time was just going back and forth to my various tool stashes looking for a wrench that would fit the tight spots where the fuel fittings are located. I have a set of Craftsman line wrenches but these were pretty much useless because they didn't fit in the spaces allowed. Also, I probably second guessed myself several times where the lines should go even though Westfolk had everything labeled accordingly. This where having a solid working knowledge of how the existing fuel system is works and where the lines go would come in handy. Read the TMs and study the video!

Wrenching off the old fuel lines was easy, I assumed they would be stuck on tight and difficult to budge like my experience with brake lines, but it didn't take much effort. You will want to cut the old lines near the fittings near the injector pump to make it easier to unthread the fitting.

That drain petcock I added to bleed air out of the fuel system? As soon as I turned on the tank pump I saw I had leaks to fix on the line fittings going to the fuel filter. I'm pretty sure the air bled out through those. I was able to tighten the fittings from above using a 5/8" crow's foot. Once I got the fittings tightened my leaks stopped.

First impressions: My truck starts faster. Replacing the fuel lines and housing must have fixed an air leak I had somewhere. I now get those quick first-attempt starts other SSers talk about.

Looks: It almost looks like it was originally designed to go there once you cover it with olive drab paint. Here's some pics from the install last weekend.