88grandmarq
09-11-2005, 10:24 PM
My car has been running rough lately, acts as though it has a dead cylinder. very similar to when you cross 2 wires on the distributor cap.
Today I decided to change the fuel filter, since it hasnt been replaced in about a year and maybe 10-15K miles.
After getting the old filter off and hearing a suspicious rattle inside, I decided to cut it open.
If you are not familiar with how fuel filter works, its basically a paper element inside a larger metal can. one end of the paper element is capped or sealed, this forces the incoming fuel to through the paper element, thus being filtered and then through the outlet.
when I cut mine open, I discovered the metal cap on the end had fallen off and the rubber that had sealed the end of the paper element was deriorated and coming apart. Essentially the fuel was going straight through the filter housing, not being filtered and picking up rubber debris on the way as it went to the injectors.
http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Fuel_filter01.jpg
http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Fuel_filter02.jpg
http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Fuel_filter03.jpg
http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Fuel_filter04.jpg
http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Fuel_filter05.jpg
This is some of the larger debris that was floating around in the filter cannister. thankfully the larger pieces had not lodged in the outlet port, which would have probably fried the motor when it went lean.
http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Fuel_filter.jpg
Today I decided to change the fuel filter, since it hasnt been replaced in about a year and maybe 10-15K miles.
After getting the old filter off and hearing a suspicious rattle inside, I decided to cut it open.
If you are not familiar with how fuel filter works, its basically a paper element inside a larger metal can. one end of the paper element is capped or sealed, this forces the incoming fuel to through the paper element, thus being filtered and then through the outlet.
when I cut mine open, I discovered the metal cap on the end had fallen off and the rubber that had sealed the end of the paper element was deriorated and coming apart. Essentially the fuel was going straight through the filter housing, not being filtered and picking up rubber debris on the way as it went to the injectors.
http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Fuel_filter01.jpg
http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Fuel_filter02.jpg
http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Fuel_filter03.jpg
http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Fuel_filter04.jpg
http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Fuel_filter05.jpg
This is some of the larger debris that was floating around in the filter cannister. thankfully the larger pieces had not lodged in the outlet port, which would have probably fried the motor when it went lean.
http://www.85merk.com/members/eric_s/Fuel_filter.jpg