fuel filter question

[Uncle Ben]

Are fuel filters something you clean or something you replace when
they get dirty?

I have been running E85 for a thousand miles now, and they say there
may be gunk in there that the ethanol has cleaned out of the old car's
fuel system.

Uncle Ben
1999 OBW
2.5 L Boxer
FFI Platinum converter

 

[Tony Hwang]

Are fuel filters something you clean or something you replace when
they get dirty?

I have been running E85 for a thousand miles now, and they say there
may be gunk in there that the ethanol has cleaned out of the old car's
fuel system.

Uncle Ben
1999 OBW
2.5 L Boxer
FFI Platinum converter

Hi,
Fuel filter is replaced but very seldom. I don't recall ever replacing
one in YEARS.

 

[hippo]

Hi,
Fuel filter is replaced but very seldom. I don't recall ever replacing
one in YEARS.

Hi. Oz spec 99 OBW is pretty much the same as yours except that you sit o
the wrong side

Fuel filter is a replace item on the std service schedule for interval 3
4; so 50 & 100,000 Km.

I was using E blends over here up to 16% in this and maybe 22% in a 9
Liberty (your Legacy) with no probs BUT if there's gunk in the fue
system, ethanol *will* kindly clean it out for you and the filter is th
first thing that comes along to stop it! For mine. I'd let it go until th
next scheduled change unless your performance has suffered, in which cas
you know what the likely cause is. Cheers

 

[Uncle Ben]

Hi. Oz spec 99 OBW is pretty much the same as yours except that you sit on
the wrong side

Fuel filter is a replace item on the std service schedule for interval 3 &
4; so 50 & 100,000 Km.

I was using E blends over here up to 16% in this and maybe 22% in a 91
Liberty (your Legacy) with no probs BUT if there's gunk in the fuel
system, ethanol *will* kindly clean it out for you and the filter is the
first thing that comes along to stop it! For mine. I'd let it go until the
next scheduled change unless your performance has suffered, in which case
you know what the likely cause is. Cheers

Thanks to all. I'm at 150,000 without ever a thought for the fuel
filter. I think I'll change it just to be "pro-active" (a favorite
buzz word).

Ben

 

[Tony Hwang]

Thanks to all. I'm at 150,000 without ever a thought for the fuel
filter. I think I'll change it just to be "pro-active" (a favorite
buzz word).

Ben

Hi,
I have been driving over 50 years. I don't recall fuel filter giving me
a trouble on any of the cars, trucks I owned.

 

[Dave]

Hi,
I have been driving over 50 years. I don't recall fuel filter giving me a
trouble on any of the cars, trucks I owned.

I've been a mechanic for 35 years and have replaced thousands of stopped up
fuel filters. Some just stopped up enough so that the car didn't want to
climb hills without nosing over, others so bad the car wouldn't start at
all. A lot depends on the quality of gas you typically get and the type of
car you own. Some just stop up easier than others.

A good reason to replace the filter once in awhile is that a restricted
filter puts a strain on electric fuel pumps causing them to fail sooner.
It's one of those 'Pay me now, or pay me later' maintenance items. A $10 -
$50 fuel filter every 15k to 50k miles, or a $300 to $1200 fuel pump sooner
than later. YMMV.

Dave

 

[Rick Courtright]

I have been driving over 50 years. I don't recall fuel filter giving me
a trouble on any of the cars, trucks I owned.

Hi,

Yup, that's one of the problems that comes w/ time, the memory starts to
go!

Ok, just kidding, but fuel filters DO need to be replaced periodically
for best performance and reliability. Used to be we'd see the book
recommend 10k miles or so, today's intervals are more like 50k and more.
Some of the "interval" choice depends on the type of filters in your
system in addition to the usual "driving condition" considerations. The
fact some owners manuals don't spec a change interval doesn't mean
they'll last forever!

"Back in the day" when all we had was a tiny filter inline to feed a
carb, they'd get clogged up rather easily. Then we started getting much
larger filters w/ injection systems, and filter problems went down, but
not away. A few cars today use a smaller "prefilter" plus the larger
main filter. W/ some of them, a periodic change of prefilter is usually
fairly easy, inexpensive, and will increase the life of the main filter
tremendously (which is good, because the main filter is often
outrageously expensive for what it is, and "hard to get to" would be
understatement.)

Unlike Tony, I've had a few few filter issues over the last 40 plus
years. And still remember most of 'em... so I change mine according to
the book if there's a recommendation, or, if there's not, at 15k to 30k
mile intervals for the old carbed stuff that still lives around here,
and 30k to 50k mile intervals for the injected stuff.

If your car's been driven pretty regularly all its life, you'll probably
not experience too much "cleansing" action from the E85, but I've also
seen some vehicles that weren't driven much for a long period of time
suffer problems when all of a sudden they were pressed into regular
service and some of the old crud and varnish in the tank got stirred up
and caught in the filter.

Still, changing out a filter w/ 150k miles is neither a waste of time
nor money...

Rick

 

[Rick Courtright]

Unlike Tony, I've had a few few filter issues over the last 40 plus
years. And still remember most of 'em... so I change mine according to

Edited to correct: that should read "a few FUEL filter issues..."

The memory's fine, I'm just getting repetitive w/ age, I guess!

Rick

 

[Uncle Ben]

I've been a mechanic for 35 years and have replaced thousands of stopped up
fuel filters. Some just stopped up enough so that the car didn't want to
climb hills without nosing over, others so bad the car wouldn't start at
all. A lot depends on the quality of gas you typically get and the type of
car you own. Some just stop up easier than others.

A good reason to replace the filter once in awhile is that a restricted
filter puts a strain on electric fuel pumps causing them to fail sooner.
It's one of those 'Pay me now, or pay me later' maintenance items. A $10 -
$50 fuel filter every 15k to 50k miles, or a $300 to $1200 fuel pump sooner
than later. YMMV.

Dave

Again, thank you all for your wisdom and eperience.

 

[Uncle Ben]

Are fuel filters something you clean or something you replace when
they get dirty?

I have been running E85 for a thousand miles now, and they say there
may be gunk in there that the ethanol has cleaned out of the old car's
fuel system.

Uncle Ben
1999 OBW
2.5 L Boxer
FFI Platinum converter

Well, I did it. It wasn't hard. When both the old and the new filter
were out, I tried blowing into the input side to feel the pressure.
Both were the same. So I guess I didn't need to change it. But it
was only $15.

Uncle Ben

 

[Steve Daniels]

Well, I did it. It wasn't hard. When both the old and the new filter
were out, I tried blowing into the input side to feel the pressure.
Both were the same. So I guess I didn't need to change it. But it
was only $15.

Does it run better now?

 

[Uncle Ben]

Does it run better now?

Can't tell any difference. I guess not.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Both were the same. So I guess I didn't need to change it. But it
was only $15.

Methinks you wasted not time, nor money.

If you haven't tossed the old one, cut it open (HAND hacksaw, nothing
powered--w/ many filters, there's gonna be gas in there for a LONG time)
and inspect it. It would be interesting to see what critters have taken
up residence in there over the 150k miles or so this filter's served.

Let the paper dry and check for a shiny surface, too. I've had filters
clog up that looked perfectly clean, until dried. Then the varnish
coating that blocked the medium became obvious.

Rick

 

[Uncle Ben]

Methinks you wasted not time, nor money.

If you haven't tossed the old one, cut it open (HAND hacksaw, nothing
powered--w/ many filters, there's gonna be gas in there for a LONG time)
and inspect it. It would be interesting to see what critters have taken
up residence in there over the 150k miles or so this filter's served.

Let the paper dry and check for a shiny surface, too. I've had filters
clog up that looked perfectly clean, until dried. Then the varnish
coating that blocked the medium became obvious.

Rick

Rick, I'd like to think that you are right, and when time permits, I
may carry out your procedure.

I don't think the performance of the car was affected, however,
because of the throughput I got when I blew into it by mouth. (That
funny taste has gone away, thank goodness.)

Ben