Thread: LR to CAV options

And, I finally got around to Mr Gavo's suggestion: Refitting the metal sedimenter base to the CAV filter. As he said, you need a longer bolt: a 9cm (3.5 inch) 1/4 UNC bolt ( I used HT - normal should be OK). The following photo shows the two bolts side by side, plus the filter and the normal metal housing that is replaced.



I won't bother with another photo of the assembled article - it looks just the same, although it's 1cm longer than the glass one. I did have to take the two lower bolts off the uppper shock mount so I could move the assembly to put the longer bolt in, but that's easy since the third shock mount bolt holds it all in place. And, I didn't need to bleed or prime - the tdi just sucked it up again.
ps:When draining the sedimenter with a filter, I only lost 300mL of fuel - not much mess at all.

Good tech. I have done the same on my 110 county. Swapped the factory CAV sedimenter for the sedimenter+filter. I still have the glass bowl, but have zip-tied some thick rubber around it, and so far had no problems. But the swap to a metal bowl is a very good idea.

Incidentally, although the CAV filter is quite good, there are much better sedimenter designs around these days. The best of which actually use a hydrophobic filter to coalesce and remove the water. I assume the TD5 would have a water coalescer along these lines, as unit injectors are much more susceptable to water damage.

can't remember, but is the centre bolt exposed to diesel at all ?
While not as critical as when replacing the plastic drain screw (5/16" UNC) , a plain black bolt could rust, which definately happens if you use one as a drain plug. I've used a stainless cap screw there, as I initially used a black steel bolt, and had the thing rust half away in six months

Originally Posted by langy

Those who went ot the expo might have seen LRH's LR to CAV filter adaptor



Since I've hit 280K, I went and cleaned out my sedimenter, and apart from the interesting stuff I found in it, I noticed it seems the same size as the CAV unit.




So I looked around and Whitworths marine had a whole CAV assembly on special



This housing isn't for the front: Whitworths has old imperial ( 1/4 NPT) stock: although they sell appropriate tails, for a swap of the LR housing, a metric version is required. ( ie the Banjo bolts for the LR filter head are 14mm metric fine).

Whilst I may find a metric CAV head or buy an adaptor for the front, I figured why not experiment with the rear housing.



Since it is a sedimenter, this is how it is rigged- fuel from the tank enters on the right, flows across the plastic umbrella in the assembly (not shown) and then drawn up from the center and out on the left. With a filter attached, it has to be reversed. Easily done, just a matter of swapping the blanking plugs around.

And voila!



Drawbacks: It is 2cm longer than the original unit, but the same diameter. If I didn't have the sway bars, I'd be apprehensive about what would happen at full articulation, since the propshaft donut is nearby.
2nd: The sedimenter portion of the filter is glass. This I'm not too worried as the glass is really thick. A cheap metal shield should suffice against stones flying up.

Initial response: Performance is good so far, no need to bleed, the Tdi just sucked it up no probs.

Result: A 6 micron filter easy to find filter costing $8 instead of a 20 micron $35 hard to find filter, and a backup system - if the CAV blocks, I just replace the original sedimenter assembly, and go back to factory filtering. And come replacement time, it seems easier to access the rear than where the front is (Draining the front is messy, difficult amoungst injector pipes.)

I had a whole new one of these sitting in the shed waiting to be found a home. so when I got the County-Isuzu I fitted it under the bonnet on the suction side of the lift pump and did not disturb the factory's chassis mounted sedimenter. My Isuzu also has spin-on oil & fuel filters, not cartridges.

A far better fuel filter/separator is the Raycor, which is the best one I ever came across in my truck and mining equipment days. They come in sizes to suit everything from small engine installations such as pumps, bob-cats, etc. to bulk fuel storages for fleets, mines, depots. They used to be sold by Donaldson through their Duralife outlets but I think this is no longer the case. Raycors have a very efficient cyclonic separator section. For your interest, Raycor sold a set-up for bulk fuel fleet users that incorporated a metering section to use your waste oils as fuel. you could store your changed oils and the system would cleanse and meter the waste oil in to your bulk fuel storage at a ratio you could adjust.

I finally finished the CAV stuff off:

If you've read the above, I ended up with a CAV assembly with imperial threads, and after some looking I've changed the spin-on TDi filter.




This shows the CAV unit, a straight bolt on in place of the LR unit.



From this side, you can see that the original feed from the lift pump is used with the original banjo fitting and bolt. I was able to get 2 adaptors ( imp to metric) for $5 ea. They bolt on very simply. The hardest to find were the two extra banjo bolt fittings- 14mm for the filter end, 12mm for injector end ( $7ea). $7 for 65cm of oil proof line. The only drawback is that the fittings were for 8mm tails, so I had to use 8mm line ( The red pipe). I avoided cutting up my original LR pipe, and can go back to spin on filters readily.

Conclusions: As to ease of changing filters, it's a little harder. But at $70 outlay, and $8 each future filter ( Vs $35 for a spin on filter) it was worth it to at least experiment with the CAV equipment.

Recommendations: I'm still 50/50 at the moment about this: It was some stuffing around, and the benefits haven't surfaced yet. At least you now know what it looks like, and what bits are what.

Cheap fuel filters that get changed every service has got to be the go!!!

LRH

The Lucas/CAV/Delphi filter units are modular and can be swapped and changer around as the mood takes you. There are four variations to the lower bowl/base fitting.
1. Square glass bowl with alloy base.
2. Square alloy bowl with alloy base
3. Dome glass bowl.
4. Dome metal bowl.
The glass bowl types are great to see what sort of crud/water is floating around in your fuel, but are prone to gravel damage when mounted down under the chassis. Imagine for a moment you are travelling fairly quickly along a gravel road, when the car sputters to a halt. What's going on, and why is there a smell of diesel fuel? Ah! Cracked glass bowl on the filter. I'll just replace it with one I always carry as a spare.

The metal bowl types are much better for chassis/undercar mounting, while the glass bowl types are perfect for mounting in the engine bay where you can see what's in the fuel.

Originally Posted by langy

And, I finally got around to Mr Gavo's suggestion: Refitting the metal sedimenter base to the CAV filter. As he said, you need a longer bolt: a 9cm (3.5 inch) 1/4 UNC bolt ( I used HT - normal should be OK). The following photo shows the two bolts side by side, plus the filter and the normal metal housing that is replaced.



I won't bother with another photo of the assembled article - it looks just the same, although it's 1cm longer than the glass one. I did have to take the two lower bolts off the uppper shock mount so I could move the assembly to put the longer bolt in, but that's easy since the third shock mount bolt holds it all in place. And, I didn't need to bleed or prime - the tdi just sucked it up again.
ps:When draining the sedimenter with a filter, I only lost 300mL of fuel - not much mess at all.

I finally got around to trying to do this the other day, and found that it don't work on a 130. Or not on my 130.

The sedimenter on the 130 is mounted on a bracket above the chassis rail that is angled in towards the centre of the vehicle. There just isn't enough clearance to adapt the old sedimenter to a filter/sedimenter. To make it work you'd have to space out the sedimenter mount point

Bugger.

Cheers
Simon