Fuel Pressure Regulators

[iceman]

Last week I took my Maxum 2600SE to my marine mechanic for yearly service. Some may remember the problems I had last season. I had a spike in fuel consumption starting with my first outing, from 12 GPH to 20 GPH. Back then a different mechanic found a bad fuel pressure regulator, and replaced it. That brought the fuel consumption down to about 14 to 15 GPH. I wasn't totally sure about the 12 GPH baseline since I hadn't had the Floscan for very long, so I let it ride that way for the season.

Last week the mechanic told me the problem again is high fuel pressure (60 psi) because of the FPR, and when I told him it had been replaced, he said there are two FPRs, one on the top and one on the bottom. He said there was some debris like paint in the FPR screen so he cleaned it out and it worked fine after that. He said the paint was some sort of internal coating that wore off. He didn't replace the FPR because he said it was a $1000 part and cleaning solved the problem.

The engine is a Mercruiser 5.0L MPI. So I have a couple of questions:

1. Are there really two fuel pressure regulators on that engine?
2. Has anyone ever heard of the FPR getting clogged by the internal coating wearing off? Why would that happen?

Thanks for any insight!

Tom