My Adventures In Fuel Filter Land

[92BlueByU]

After doing my research, some on here some on planet soarer, I decided to do my own fuel filter.

My 400 didnt really need it but it had original spark plugs so I figured it wasnt cared for. I jacked up the rear, disconnected the battery, and removed the gas cap. Underneath I noticed that the plate covering the fuel filter was gone, someone has been here before. I tried using a 14mm flare wrench and it has some slack in it. So I used a 14mm box, still had some play but not as much, go figure. So I give a good turn after letting it soak for awhile with some liquid wrench, and it broke loose, so far so good.

I start unscrewing and then I get some gas trickling out, I read thats normal, not worrying yet. Well I get it unscrewed all the way and its still coming, and my cup runneth over with premium gasoline. So I scramble and get my gas can, trying my best to catch what I can. It just keeps coming, and now I'm laying in a pool of gas and starting to get a funny feeling from the fumes. Then I realized that my shop light is laying a few inches away from the ever growing puddle. So I tighten the fuel line back on, wipe the gas off thats now burning my arm (chemical burn) and call a mechanic. Luckily I have one at the end of my street. I drive it up and they get started on it. The Beck-Arnley filter wont screw on. They have Purolator delivered, it wont screw on. They took my old one and blew it out and didnt notice any gunk or dirt. So now I'm wondering it someone replaced the filter awhile ago, had problems with the nuts and rigged something up.

Any other horror stories?

[sc4sooner]

i as well tried to do it myself, i got the old one off only loseing about half a gal of fuel, however much like you discovered an aftermarket would not go on, i tried so hard i striped the bolt and had to get vice grips to remove the aftermarket filter. i blew through the old one and like you said it seemed fine and has no signs of not being the original. so i put the the old filter back on it fit fine. i ended up going through about 16 gal of fuel and like you did got chemical burns on my arm and hip, that still havent fully healed (2 weeks) my arm was the bad one it went from sholder to wrist and i had blisters 1/4 of an inch tall.

i dont know if these filters ever need to be replaced but that tells me they dont do any filtering, my car is a 92 sc400 with 109,000 miles there is no way it shouldnt have had the filter replaced.

[Lethal_Threat]

i as well tried to do it myself, i got the old one off only loseing about half a gal of fuel, however much like you discovered an aftermarket would not go on, i tried so hard i striped the bolt and had to get vice grips to remove the aftermarket filter. i blew through the old one and like you said it seemed fine and has no signs of not being the original. so i put the the old filter back on it fit fine. i ended up going through about 16 gal of fuel and like you did got chemical burns on my arm and hip, that still havent fully healed (2 weeks) my arm was the bad one it went from sholder to wrist and i had blisters 1/4 of an inch tall.

i dont know if these filters ever need to be replaced but that tells me they dont do any filtering, my car is a 92 sc400 with 109,000 miles there is no way it shouldnt have had the filter replaced.

I was told by our master tech. that they have a 100,000 mile lifespan, but for maximum efficiency, you should change them every 30,000 to 40,000 miles. ( Use OEM filters, it will save you alot of heartache, K&N's fit well also. ) As far as the fuel on the arm issue goes, next time tie a few shop rags together, end to end, and the tie the first one around the nut at its end leaving you just enough room to put a spanner on it. Then drape the chain of rags to the side, with a bucket underneath. Just be careful as you put the nut back on that you dont catch the rag. Best thing of all though, run the tank empty to the point of the fuel level warning light coming on, only common sense.

[sc4sooner]

i didnt worry about running the tank empty because i have changed fuel filters on other cars before and they usualy take at most 5 min and may leak at most a half gal of gas, this car just has to be a !Removed! to do it on.

[UCF3]

fill-up your gas-can with fuel. 1 gallon should get you to a fueling station.