Fuel filters?

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You're in it, as far as I know
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Although you could probably discuss coolant filters both here and in the coolant forum.
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There doesn't appear to be as much diversity in OEM replacement fuel filters as there is for oil filters. There's a few for dispensing for both gas and diesel ..but not so much for fuel (gas, there are plenty for diesel fuel). Sure every filter company offers something for the application, but there typically isn't a good, better, best offering within one company for a given application.

Most that I've seen are made in Israel ..which kinda makes me think that much rebadging occurs.
 
I think that the proper forum for fuel filters is "Auto & Lubrication General Topics".

When I bought fuel filters for my 2003 Ford Ranger and 2003 Subaru Forester last year I priced them at Auto Zone and NAPA. At both stores the filters for each vehicle were identical and were stamped as made in China. They were about 1/3 cheaper at NAPA by the way -- it pays to shop around.
 
There is a thread over at the Regal forum discussing which brand of fuel filter seams to promote the beat gas mileage.

I was hoping someone had diceted different brands of fuel filters for comparison.
 
a clogged fuel filter WILL hurt your milage, by your logic, a restricted intake would help your milage, too.

If a clogged filter will hurt your milage, logically a filter with too much restriction will do the same, right?
 
i shopped around too many times over the past 2 years, fopr my 95 neon. ive found, the dealer is the best fuel filter to get for yur car. i had purolators, made in isreal... the lines were all half the size of the dealer ones, cheaper, and restricted fuel flow, caused my car to run poorly. i tried autozones, Deustch not bad, close to dealer specs. i have yet to try amsoils, but they are 1/3 more in price: ( i looked at NAPA's for my car, and it lokked IDENETICAL to the purolator. also made in isreal as well as price. stay with dealer... after all, the dealer made those fitlers, designed around your car.
 
my old car had a clogged up filter and its top speed slowly went down. at the point when it would only go 55mph, i was getting GREAT mpg, something around 20% better than normal. but then again i had to take off slow and couldnt give more than 1/.4 throttle or it would sputter and try to stall.

when i changed filters, the old one was so plugged up i wouldnt hardly blow through it with my mouth. the new filter put my mileage back to where it normally was.
 
You're not going to get better or worse fuel economy by changing your fuel filter if the old and new one both flow.

Actually, a poor flowing crappy old filter might yield better economy since it would reduce line pressure and possibly make the car run a bit leaner, if the PCM didn't adjust for it
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. Fuel pumps are electric, the filter is just in the way of the pressure and is not affecting flow much at all.
 
I don't think the extra power required by the fuel filter pushing fuel through a slightly more restrictive filter would be significant in terms of total power output of the engine. At most, maybe equal to turning on the headlights for a really clogged filter.

[ May 18, 2006, 01:04 AM: Message edited by: rpn453 ]
 
I have read that not changing the fuel filter regularly can cause premature failure of the fuel pump since the fuel pump has to work harder. I try to change mine every year or two.
 
most fuel pumps have a bypass valve, not unlike an oil filter. if the fuel pump is clogging up the pump will just bypass fuel back into the tank to prevent it from working too hard..
this also prevents excessive pressure in the case of a clogged filter.
it shouldnt hurt a thing IF (and that word if is the big ticket) youre pump has a bypass valve.
i would guess most modern cars do. every car i have owned in the last decade has.

cars with pumps not in the tank might not have a bypass. although alot of vw's with outside tank pumps still have bypass valves.
 
The pump must maintain that working pressure. How can it do so if it is by-passing?

it maintains that working pressure in part by bypassing, (also the fuel pressure regulator) not unlike an oil pumps maintains its rated psi by bypassing the excessd out back to the sump.

on cars with returnless fuel systems like mine, the only way to maintain proper pressure it by bypassing, dont matter how clean the filter is.
 
A 2000 tahoe came into the shop I work at the other day and the customer was complaining of lack of power.

Even though I knew this wasent going to solve the problem he requested the plugs be changed so we did that and there was no difference.

The 1st thing I thought was it had a restricted cat.
After looking under it I noticed he had a original fuel filter with 150k on the truck.
I convinced him to change the filter to see if it would help and after the change it was back to normal.

Before the change I would accelerate from a dead stop and put it to the floor and it would peak at 3000rpms and not go above 30 mph with the pedal to the floor.
Under really light acceleration it would eventually get above 30 mph but If u tried to pass someone it was stuck at 3000rpm and not going anywhere.

I tried to blow through the filter and absolutely nothing came out.
So basically in some cases a fuel filter can dramatically affect performance.
No trouble at all reaching 5000 rpms with the new filter.
 
I've changed mine every 80k or so miles.

When we got a used 91k 1996 Civic for my GF, part of the tune-up was changing the fuel filter. The dealer was suprised I was buying one, wondering what was wrong b/c they aren't listed as a maintenance item. Also some new cars have lifetime filters mounted in the tank. I've never noticed any engine performance or efficiency change with a new fuel filter, but once my sister's old Volvo wouldn't run b/c the $1.50 clear plastic fuel filter was too clogged.
 
Think about that response for a moment.

The injectors require the proper working pressure of fuel delivered to them. If the pressure is low, the engine may have performance problems from running lean, especially when when fuel demand is higher such as acceleration or climbing a grade.

The pump must maintain that working pressure. How can it do so if it is by-passing?

Fuel pumps do work harder if the filter is restricted. There is no practical way for the average consumer (or even average repair shop) to tell if the filter is restricted without removing it.

I agree with the earlier comment that changing the fuel filter on a scheduled basis is fuel pum insurance. Now if there were an easy way to tell the pressure drop through the filter while in operation, that would be a different matter.
 
This is interesting because I have been changing my fuel filter every 15k on my 01 Ford Escape, following advise I got from a mechanic friend sevral years ago. His contention was that the fuel pump would last longer and I would get better performance. I know some people believe that fuel is now cleaner than it used to be and that this is not necessary. The filters I have removed were considerably heavier even after the fuel drained, making me think they had significant crud in them.
 
You should have cut them open.
Hmmm, a hack saw?
After only 15K miles the media should be very clean.
30-50K mi would be a more reasonable interval.
 
Just came back from my local Autozone.
I'm still on the factory fuel filter after 70K miles.
There wasn't much of a choice.
There were 2 kinds of filters available for my model: a generic non-brand and a curious "Luber-Finer" brand in a different box but under the same part #.
The non-brand is a US made , Luber-Finer - in China.
The Chinese filter is heavier, shinier and looks a little bit better made on the outside than the US filter.
And look what I've just found.
Luber-finer is Champion's brand.
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