My $500 inline Fuel Filter.

[Carnut]

Don't remember if I told the story of the $500 inline fuel filter I had in my 40 Ford or not.

Couple years ago my 40 started giving me troubles in driving for extended distances.

Had one of those clear glass fuel filters on it. Always checked it to see if there was crud or gas in the line and the gas was always clear.

Replaced the electric fuel pump with the latest neato Carter model since the 30yr old Carter was probably used up.  

Didn't fix the problem.

On one trip could only get a couple of miles down the road at high speed before dying.

Got home and blew out the line into the gas tank and started pricing new fuel tanks, may be a fiberglas one. Heck the old original tank was probably rusting up bigtime inside.

Finally had a friend suggest the problem was probably electrical. He had a semi reasonable theory and he was real happy with his latest MSD Dist and Box setup. Heck my old distributor seemed to be rattling around a bit anyway, so I ordered one. New Dist. Box. Coil Wires, the whole bit.

I'm getting kinda old and worthless and was a little afraid I wouldn't be able to get it all installed on my own, but with the money invested I figured I better get er done and surprised myself and got it all installed, never had to call Roger for help.

First trip up the interstate and about 5 mi of 65mph it starts dying on me.
I limped it along the side of the road exasperated. Looked under the hood and gas was in the clear fuel line filter, but that darn thing just didn't want to run. Even let it set with the fuel pump running and eventually it would start.

Now at my wits end I decide to pull the inline fuel filter out of the line and see if gas would flow into the carb, may be the fuel filter was putting a bit of a strain on the fuel pump or something. Went to the trunk to get a screw driver and found a new Fram fuel filter I just happened to have back there for another purpose and got to thinking, maybe is something could be wrong with the clear one even if it looks ok.

Anyhow, I remove the clear filter and install the new Fram and bingo starts right up and purrs like a drunk kitten, the SBC's got a bit of a cam in it.

Then out of curiousity I disassemble the clear filter and look closely at the
white/ivory looking element and see that it  is actually clogged up with some sort of clear/white looking stuff in the mesh. Could never see it inside the glass when not looking for it.

Not being sure if it was the problem took the 40 out and drove for 20mi or so that night and ever since it's run great.

Only cost me $500 or so in parts to track down the problem.

Obviously my name and mechanic should never be used in the same sentence again.

[enjenjo]

I had an Olds Omega, customer car, she had it towed to me, it quit, and wouldn't start. Tow truck dropped it off, I hit the key, and it started right up. drove it 20 miles or so, started it several times, no problem.

She picked up the car, the next day on her way to work, it quit, and wouldn't start. I went and picked up the car, just for grins, I tried it, and it started right up.

I checked everything I could think of, including the fuel filter, and could find nothing.

I gave her the car back, two days later, it did it again. When I went to pick up the car, it started right up. I gave her my car, and kept hers.

I drove it for a week, and finally it did it to me, died, and wouldn't start. now I could check things. Spark was ok, no fuel. I pulled the fuel filter out, and it started right up. I replaced the filter, and it was fine, she got her car back, and no further troubles.

The filter did not have much in it, so I was puzzled as to why it wouldn't work, so I cut it apart. It had an internal check valve, made of rubber, common in the 70s. Something in the fuel had swelled the rubber up, so it was blocking the fuel flow. When the engine cooled off, it would allow enough fuel for it to run, but as the engine got hot, it would close off the fuel again.

Over the next few years, I found several more with the same problem.

[donsrods]

Years ago when I first got my '27 running, I would be driving it to work, and it would shut down at just about the same spot every day.  It would restart, and make it to work, but I was never sure when it would happen again.

Finally I made a call to Holley and spoke to a tech there (I am running a red Holley electric pump) and he sent me a new set of diaphrams for it, and told me to look for any debris in the old one.  Sure enough, when I tore it down, there was a little white spec that was probably a sliver of fiberglass dust, and it was sitting under the one diaphram, keeping it from seating all the way.  It had even gotten through the 10 micron filter installed before the pump.

Cleaned it out and never had another problem with it.


Don

[48ford]

On our Monte SS it turned out to be the sock in the gas tank.
It took me a long time to find that one.
Russ

[BFS57]

Hello;
You know, I have had my problems with these * things too. My buddy told me something. If the old filter looks good do this: Pick up the old filter and gently blow through it. Then pick up a new filter and blow through it gently. I have done this test several times and always notice more resistance from the old filter than the new one!
Try it you'll like it!

Bruce

[Jbird]

I had a lady customer a few years ago who's 73 VW bug would die on her two or three times a week. It stalled out on her way home from work, at almost exactly the same place every time. I couldn't find any thing wrong,  both filters were new and fuel flow was always good. We traded cars and I drove hers for a couple of weeks before it finally died on me, going up a short steep hill. It started right up after just a minute or so. I pulled the sending unit off the top of the tank and found one of those foil seals you have to peel off the top of fuel additive bottles, after you unscrew the plastic cap. I fished it out and found the perfect impression of the tanks outlet tube in the foil. The sock normally found over the outlet was missing in action, it had been replaced with a filter outside the tank. Three days after I gave her the car back she called, same problem, same place, same time. I found two more foils in her tank. Quite a few years before, someone told her she needed octane booster. When she peeled back the foil, she wouldn't peel it all the way off the bottle, so it was hanging off the pour spout when she stuck it in the tank. Over the years three foils had come loose while she was pouring.   Jbird

[t-vicky]

Back in the mid 60s I worked in a service station. ( washed windows, checked oil & air in the tires. )  We had a lady that owned one of the early falcons. 6 cly 3-speed.  Said it was only getting 4 - 5 MPG.  Wanted us to tune it up. Put all new plugs, points, coil rebuild kit in the carb.  Next time she got gas the milage came out at 6 MPG. Rechecked everything. After the fourth or fifth time the boss paid me to take it on about a 100 mi trip.  Got almost 18 MPG. Finally after about 6 months of not finding anything  the boss told her to take him for a ride a couple miles down the road & back.  They never got out of the driveway.  She got in the car, got her keys out of her purse, started the car & reached over & pulled the choke lever and hung her purse on it.

[Mac]

Had one of those clear glass fuel filters on it

[/quote].

Years ago I also had chronic problems with one of those filters. It looked like such a nice unit at first: a little chrome bling, glass so you could verify fuel delivery, replaceable element and reasonable price. Even after popping in a new element the starvation problem would be back in only a few hundred miles. Finally ditched it for a less glamorous "can" style and never had another problem.

Love the purse hanger story.  

[39deluxe]

In the mid 70s I sold my '70 SS454 LS6 El Camino (yeah I know..really dumb move but I got $2700.) and drove my wife's '72 Malibu to work.  It was just fine for several weeks then begin stalling  about 6 blocks from work every day. After it sat for 10 minutes it would start and run again. Her brother had tuned it for her a couple of months earlier and it ran well so I new all of those parts were good. it was just like you shut off the ignition. I checked everything, changed the fuel filter again and anything else I could think of.

I finally went into the distributor even though I knew I was wasting my time since the tune up was fresh. I was looking for anything at this point. When I looked at the points to see if they were damaged I discovered that they were some sort of cheap set and the arm was actually made from nylon instead of steel. I started to mess with them to see if the rubbing block was worn already and discovered a hair line crack on the back side of the part that encircles the post. When they would get hot the nylon would get soft enough that the points would miss each other and the engine would stop.

A new set of GM points cured it. I never could understand why the car never quit on the way home.

Tom

[C9]

Along these same lines, I've run a vacuum gauge in just about every car I've owned.
Great for on the highway trouble shooting and the like.

I've run a fuel pressure gauge on a couple of cars in the past and have always had one on the roadster.

You can see problems coming with a fuel pressure gauge.
Once upon a time, I watched an electric fuel pump slowly go bad
It got to the point where 1/2# - 1# was all it could do.
The new one - regulated - ran 5# with no problems.

I strongly recommend you use a fuel pressure isolater if you use a mechanical gauge - which is my preference.

Electric fuel pressure gauges are available.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All of which reminds me, it's about time to change the 32's fuel filter.

[Roadstar]

I'm putting togeather a 1958 Fuel Injected Corvette at my shop and the original fuel filter for the car is $500.oo and the two bolts that secure it to the bracked are $45.00 each.

I like to refer to it as "Corvette Tax" hhahahah those suckers  

[58Apache]

My dad had a 71 Kingswood Estate station wagon. Something happened to where he couldn't run the manual fuel pump...rod bent or something. He installed an electric fuel pump on the frame near the back passenger tire.

On hot California days, in stop an go traffic, the thing would vapor lock from all of the heat. I proved it one day on the freeway when I was stopped and could hear the pump change pitch and the engine died. I got out of the car with some ice from my soft drink cup, and put it on the top of the pump.

That got me home ok ..unless I was in stop and go traffic too long. Then it was time for more ice.

I'll be planning for cooling the fuel somehow on the rod I am building. I have a couple of ideas.

                                     Steve

[SKR8PN]

Back in the early 70's my very first job as a wrench was in a small Ford dealership. This was around the time  there was a lot of labor problems in the factories. The master tech Bill Woesner, that took me under his wing,is still a very good friend of mine. One of the very first tough problems I remember helping him with, was  a brand spankin' new Ford shortbed 2wd pickup equiped with a six banger and three on the tree. Just your basic nothing truck. I had done the new car prep on it,and during the short test drive,I found the truck would NOT accelerate over 25 mph,no matter what I tried. Bill was given the job of helping me find the problem......... After checking everything under the sun, ignition,fuel, and even removal of the exhaust system looking for restrictions....we pulled the carb to have a look see. The carb base gasket had a screen mesh built into it to aid in fuel dispersion. Some ornery factory worker had tossed a few of those plastic hydraulic line plugs, under the carb, but on top of the screen mesh! It would allow enough fuel/air to idle and do a few rpms,but no more.  
Some of the strange rattles, and even some odors, we had to track down were "interesting" as well.  

[EMSjunkie]

I had a 1972 Ranchero with a 351 cleveland that would die when you turned right

point type ignition.  had a 90* electrical connector at the coil that was broke. when you turned right, the engine moved just enough to break the connection. as soon as you straightened out, it would re-fire.

took me 6 months to find it. :x

Vance

[bigun]

Before my dad died he had bought a 1970 FA100 that had been in an accident. I had known the the truck before the guy had wrecked it so I knew it  was in pretty good shape engine used a little oil. Well dad had just replaced the front clip when we found out he had cancer that had started as Colon cancer and spread through out his body. After he died mom caught a sale on re-manufactured engines at a local Ford dealer so she had them put her in a new 390. When it had been wreaked the fuel filler had been bent up so it had been left open to the elements for a while. Man that engine would run then all of the sudden it would just stop. Now this was moms transportation when it did it one to many times she went and bought a used Explorer. Well I needed wheels so I borrowed the truck and it did it to me. I got out and checked no fuel pulled the fuel filter off (lots of fun out on a rural country road in the middle of the night with a almost dead flash light and a leather man tool) sure enough there was junk in the filter I turned up side down and dumped it out and went on my way. Every time it would do this we would do the same thing dump the filter the truck would start and go on down the road. I figured that it had picked up a bunch of sand while the fuel filler was screwed up. Well mom gave it to my eldest niece who's boy friend convinced her to change out the tank. He put one under the bed but in typical kid fashion just did it good enough to drive you never knew how much fuel was in it. His older bother and I had the great idea of standing the old behind the seat tank up in the bed next to the cab. So we went down to the local metal place and had a piece of diamond plate bent up to make a cover Craig built a frame for the bottom of the tank to fit in then cutting spacers the right length and drilling holes in the upper seam of the tank and matching holes in the bed rail we prepared to mount it. When I picked up the tank to hand it up to him we heard some thing in the tank well we turned up side down and shook it  and out fell one of those little round seals they put on bottles of gas treatment. It seems that somebody had told mom that she needed to pour the stuff in because the tank only had a rag stuffed in for so long. What we figured out is every once in a while it would get near the pick up get sucked up against it causing the motor to quit running of course in the process of getting out of the truck to clean out the filter we would shake the truck cause it to move off the pick up tube and when you got back in the truck would run.