Life expectancy of a fuel filter

[youngsyp]

All,

I recently (4 months ago) changed my fuel filter as the car had become hesitant on trailing throttle and mis-fired at WOT. The car again started to mis behave, with 'pulsing' on trailing throttle and just didn't seem as keen on WOT. So, I took the fuel filter off again and blew it out and once again, a lot of black stuff poured out with the fuel. I put the same filter back on, and the car was back to it's old self again.
Now, I do tend to run my tank low (not any more) but, surely a fuel filter should last longer than 4 months ?!

Could the petrol station I use now (been using for the last 8 months) be the culprit ?

Cheers

Paul

 

[pulsarboby]

howdy paul
a fuel filter on any car should normally be changed at 12,000 or yearly service intervals.
obviously this varies by different manufacturers, but thats what i suggest with my customers!
sounds as though your tank is full of nasty sediment at the bottom.
if i were you i would either remove tank to clean it or if you cant be assed to do that, then dis-connect fuel line from tank (when almost empty) and put an airline in tank, 'covering hole with your hand' and blast out the remaining fuel and crap thats left in there!

 

[youngsyp]

Bob,

I might have a go at removing the tank when I come to change the fuel pump. It's definitely worse lately but, as I've moved, it could be the shorter journeys, mixed with running the tank low.
As you've said though, the tank must be full of crap !

Cheers

Paul

 

[OZ-Racing]

Did you look closely at any of the black bits. Could they be bits of degraded fuel hose :?
The filter on the fuel pick-up should keep any crap from the tank out of the system, unless yours has fallen apart or fallen off?

 

[youngsyp]

Did you look closely at any of the black bits. Could they be bits of degraded fuel hose :?
The filter on the fuel pick-up should keep any crap from the tank out of the system, unless yours has fallen apart or fallen off?

It just looked like Bob described "silt"!
I've replaced the hose to filter from the pipe from the tank and from the filter to the FPR. I guess as an immediate fix, I could change the hose between the FPR and the pipe back to the tank.

I aim to do the fuel pump soon so, I'll check the pick up then.

Cheers

Paul

 

[MarkTurbo]

I had this problem in the first year of owning my R, i was going through a new fuel filter every 2-3 months! Then my fuel pump packed up (the strainer on the pump dosent stop everything ;-) ) when i changed the pump i noticed there was a lot of crap in the tank, it took 2 or 3 times of draining the tank right down then sucking all the crap out the bottom of the tank with an old pump to get rid of it all ;-)

Never had a problem since i did that 8)

 

[youngsyp]

I had this problem in the first year of owning my R, i was going through a new fuel filter every 2-3 months! Then my fuel pump packed up (the strainer on the pump dosent stop everything ;-) ) when i changed the pump i noticed there was a lot of crap in the tank, it took 2 or 3 times of draining the tank right down then sucking all the crap out the bottom of the tank with an old pump to get rid of it all ;-)

Never had a problem since i did that 8)

The pump packing in is my next concern. All that crap going through it won't do it any good.

I think when I replace the pump, I'll have a go at emptying the tank and cleaning it out properly.

Thanks for the comments guys !

 

[Pascal]

I've started getting that hesitation as well at WOT, in the upper rev ranges. My car was fitted with a brand new petrol tank imported from Japan at the end of last year, and the fuel filter was replaced then, but now I'm starting to think other contaminants might have gotten into the lines during the work.... I'll take the thing apart again soon I think.

 

[youngsyp]

I've started getting that hesitation as well at WOT, in the upper rev ranges. My car was fitted with a brand new petrol tank imported from Japan at the end of last year, and the fuel filter was replaced then, but now I'm starting to think other contaminants might have gotten into the lines during the work.... I'll take the thing apart again soon I think.

Just pull the filter out and let the fuel drain back through the 'in' port, into a tin can. You could blow through the filter too. yours is anything like mine, the fuel will come out black and, you feel the filter 'clear' !