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Would be a worth-while investment for your motor and piece of mind for you.
Consider the model that incorporates a clear plastic bowl (with a fuel drain pet-cock) below the spin-on filter cartridge. Moeller Marine, Racor, and Sea Choice produce this type. Research for a minimum 10 Micron filtration media which is about standard in the marine industry.
The advantage to the clear bowl is obviously visual inspection of any contaminents (debris,water,etc.) and draining capabilities of such at the filter. Find a suitable location within your motor compartment that is not affected by the motors direct heat since your Whaler is a Jet-Drive in essence it's an in-board.
The rule for whether or not your boat needs a water separating fuel filter are simple, and applies to ALL size boats and has nothing to do with engine size, etc.
1. If your boat uses on-deck fuel tanks, plastic, aluminum or aluminized steel (Tempo 12 gallon BW tanks), you DO NOT need a water separator, since these tanks do not collect condensation drip. Installing a water separator in a boat like this is a waste of money and needless rigging clutter.
2. If your boat has an internal tank, vented to the atmosphere, which in Whalers are well insulated because of the foam construction, and adding to the problem, you NEED a water spearator.
It's as simple as that.
If you are worried about dirt in the fuel, and have on-deck tanks, install a $7 dollar inline disposable plastic or glass filter.
Good point Finnegan. I never thought about the above deck/below deck difference before.
Just changed the Racor on my 18 outrage today. It has been getting put off as it was very tight and I feared damaging something in the process of removal.
What I did was disconnect the fuel lines, unscrew the mount from the boat, take the whole assembly to the garage and put it in a vice. Then I could employ the strap removal tool exactly where I wanted and easily break free the top and bottom from the filter. First time I have done it this way and was very pleased with the result.
Just look at what Boston Whaler does in their factory engine rigging work. They follow this simple rule outlined above.
A boat like a 170 Montauk, which uses on-deck tanks, does not come factory rigged with a water separator, since it is not needed because on-deck tanks do not collect condensate and drip water into the fuel.
But a larger boat, like a 190or 210 Montauk, which has an internal tank, does come rigged with a separator.
In conjunction with Mercury, Whaler should certainly know what they are doing.
I forgot to mention another advantage of complete removal. It allowed me to very easily inspect the insides of the top and bottom portions of the racor assembly.
I actually discovered the internal white paint on the top part was starting to flake. I removed as much as would come off with sandpaper. Also cleaned the area where the upper and lower O ring and rubber gasket go.
