Technical Fuel filter warning

I think the best engineering is to not have ANY fuel filter in the engine compartment. It's just an extra link that is more likely to leak (filter, hose clamps) than a straight line from the fuel pump to the carb. Too many times we see filters located just prior to the carb/above the intake, and as Pat mentioned ^^^, it's a bomb in the making.

My later model Chevy pickup has the OEM fuel filter mounted inside the frame rail a few feet out of the tank. If that leaks as a worst case scenario, it drips on the pavement away from any exhaust or engine heat. That's where I place the filter on my builds. I only use gl*** inline filters when troubleshooting fuel delivery problems.

 

have used them on a couple of rides over the years when trying to figure out fuel delivery problem when not sure about internal condition of gas tank. always set up as low as possible not near heat or chance of hitting frame, etc.

 

Just added one of these on a customer's '59 Impala convert. 348 car and I wanted safe and factory-looking. Can also use the metal inline with rubber hose.

 

Yep, my one Son ran what was supposedly "good" transparent red fuel line to the two fours on his T bucket because it had that old timey look. One day he was pulling into our shop and one of the two lines split and started spraying gas all over the place. It was only about a year old at that point. He took it off and put heavy duty black neoprene fuel lines on the car immediately.

Don

 

I think I'll go change out my filters now.

 

No rubber lines other than the short sections needed to install the filter.

 

That and, unless it's an optical illusion, the line to the front carb looks a little tight.

 

mr gasket was recently purchased by holley .

 

"Also off topic cars (read Asian) used a float bowl sight gl*** in the 80's."
Yep, the wife's 1989 Mazda pickup has this feature. Ironically, it is impossible to view it even with the air cleaner off due to all the hoses, wires etc. in the way, even with a little mirror.

It seems that a fuel filter is better placed on the suction side of the fuel pump, then there can be a one piece metal line from the pump to the carb, and in case of leak, the fuel isn't under pressure.

Early '60s Ford fuel pumps had a large metal filter can built into the base, I use this type since they also can hold a ton of dirt and rust, important with rusty old fuel tanks.

 

We will only use Wix for the Win !

 

I've used the clear plastic fuel filters for 25 years flying home built/Experimental Aircraft and now in the hot rods I've built, I like to know the fuel is there, and clean. I've got over 7,000 miles on this filter, on my avatar!

 

My NOS & obsolete Russell. Easy to replace filter when the time comes

 

Well at least we now have the annual ''guess what? my gl*** screw together fuel filter leaked and about caused my car to catch fire" out of the way for another year. I've lost track on how many threads there are on those damned things and people never seem to learn.
From personal experience on one of my OT rigs those cheap fuel pressure gauges that you stick in the nine by the carb aren't any safer. I had one blow the face of the gauge out and leak on an engine a couple of years ago.

 

My dad had a FE Ford PK. 2 BBL autolite carb. It had a factory fuel filter that screwed to the carb inlet and a short two inch section of hose that connected it to the steel fuel line coming from the fuel pump. That short section of rubber failed and pumped quite a lot of fuel into the intake manifold. Filling the low places brim full of gas. He smelled gas so he pulled over. Didnt shut off the engine and opened the hood. Seen the gas spraying. Went and shut off the engine and it instantly caught fire. Blazing inferno. He luckily had a gallon of milk in the car and poured that on the fire. It smothered that fire somewhat. And a p***ing semi truck stopped and used his fire extinquisher to put out the remaining fire. The fire melted the carb burnt the ignition wiring. ruined the cable throttle and water hoses ect. The truck was less than 1 year old. After we fixed it there was a solid steel line running from the fuel pump to the carb. and one of those fuel pumps that had the filter in a cannister on the bottom of it. The fuel pump was standard equiptment for a 330 FE in a F 600 truck.

 

I like the Napa Gold 3027 fuel filter, they are cheap and readily available.

 

How about some part numbers for steel filters that you can run w/o rubber lines? Like posted above with hard lines running to and from.

 

This is what I use, short, simple and safe. If you want to run a clear one, do it back close to the tank, but away from anything hot. I'm going to run an old Holley canister back by my tank, mounted to the frame. Anything sinister, I catch it before the pump.

 

There's many OEM and aftermarket ones.
Here's the one I mentioned in my previous post. 82-08 GM. Made in USA. About $15.

 

Putting a filter on the suction side of a fuel pump will promote fuel percolation (vapor lock) as a vacuum will lower the boiling point of the fuel.

 

Just removed one off the Willys truck I restored. The owner had installed it on the inlet side of the pump. Turns out the gl*** cut the gasket and then when tightened cracked. Came into the shop one morning to the smell of gas. I am ok with the original gl*** sediment bowls and like the Ford FE fuel pump with the metal filter on the bottom. I use spin on filters inline back by the tank on many builds. It is big enough that you could run 100.000 miles without changing it.

 

- good info. most filters are too big to do a clean looking fuel line.

 

I guess that is why EFI has a pusher type fuel pump.

 

We had a 75 ford torino. That car would vapor lock on a hot day. Instaled a truck fuel pump with the cannister filter on the bottom and I never vapor locked again. Installing a filter between the tank and pump keeps debris form damaging the fuel pump. In 50 years Ive never experienced any problems caused by having a filter between the tank and fuel pump.

 

I contacted Airtex and asked them about running a fuel filter between the gas tank and fuel pump and they state that as long as the filter is 100 microns or bigger it should work fine, but to have another filter between the pump and carb. Vapor lock occurs when the filter is much smaller than the 100 micron. So running a 10 micron would lead to problems with vapor lock.

 

"Putting a filter on the suction side of a fuel pump will promote fuel percolation (vapor lock) as a vacuum will lower the boiling point of the fuel."

Many OEM applications used this setup.

"I guess that is why EFI has a pusher type fuel pump."

EFI pumps are high pressure (compared to carburetor pumps) and are very poor at drawing fuel. So if the EFI pump weren't in the fuel tank or very close to it and low, it would need a lift pump as well.

"I contacted Airtex and asked them about running a fuel filter between the gas tank and fuel pump and they state that as long as the filter is 100 microns or bigger it should work fine, but to have another filter between the pump and carb."

I as well as the OEMs cannot see the need for an extra filter between the pump and carb, other than the tiny one at the carb inlet. How much dirt is going to get in the fuel line in this two feet of fuel system? Maybe Airtex is in the business of selling filters.

There are typically three filters in a stock setup: the "sock" in the fuel tank, a filter somewhere in the fuel line, and a filter at the carb inlet. Is there really any need for any more?
As has been pointed out, every filter adds two more connections and therefore leak points.

 

Yes they do. It was either call someone who actually sells such products, or call the girl scouts or consult tarot cards. I figured the better answer would come from Airtex.

They also tried to convince me that an electric pump in addition to the mechanical would be a keen idea. No takers here.

 

Beanscoot, I agree that three are plenty and I get by with two. A small inline between the tank and the electric pump and a canister type after the pump. No sock or screen.

 

Yup. I use them and never had one fail. I don't know anyone who's had one fail and I doubt ever will. Unless I log back into this thread. As for the little gl*** ones? They look like ****. Wouldn't matter if they worked well or not.

 

Being a former NSRA safety inspector , the gl*** fuel filters were number one on the list of big no-no's. Heard many a horror story over the years and none ended well. Hope whomever has these installed will re-think things and change them out.

 

This has been removed after the same setup on my Model A broke. It was in the garage at the time, gas leaking all over a hot running engine, it has a full hood so I didn't see it but I damn sure smelled it! I shut it off and luckily no fire, piece of **** could have burned three cars and a new house.