I was enjoying a nice leisurely cruise when my port engine died. The boat is a 1987 Avanti 3450 with twin US Marine 454's. I quickly checked the gauges (oil pressure, water temp, fuel level with 1/2 tank) and all seemed ok. I sat for a moment to ponder then attempted to start the engines again. Port engine would not start. Starboard engine started fine so I began to make way on one engine... for about 2 minutes then my only running engine died. Both engines dead in the water - not a pleasant feeling. I did make it back to the marina safely then I started searching the problem. After all other checks, I changed both fuel/water seperator filters. First I must mention that I installed the fuel/water seperator filters, one for each engine, shortly after I bought the boat twelve years ago and just before I had installed a FloScan fuel flow meter. After I changed the filters, both engines seem to start and run fine. It had been a while since I had changed the filters so I am curious about 2 things:
1) how often should these filters be changed, and
2) how probable is it that both filters would stop each engine at the same (almost) time?
1) how often should these filters be changed, and
2) how probable is it that both filters would stop each engine at the same (almost) time?
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