okay, so ive been having some problems with my car, and some of them may be traced to an old fuel filter, so im going to replace it. now all i need to know is: where is it located on an 82 Z28, and is it hard to replace? if anyone knows how to replace one, please tell me, i hear its not too bad, but i have never really done much work on my car myself, so if you can explain this to a dummy and make him understand, then i may have a chance.
thanks

 

hmm... Is that carbed or cross-fire injection? I know too little about either of those, really.. :-/

Anyways, There's two places you can check. One, get on you back, and scoot under the driver's side of the car. Start at the back wheels, and find the fuel lines. Trace them, and somewhere you should see a fuel filter. Pretty obvious, it's a metal canister with two nuts on both ends of different sizes. Hold the fuel filter with a wrench while you turn the fuel line with another one. It may be a good idea to use some wd-40 beforehand, just incase it's stuck, and you definately don't want to twist a fuel line.

Another possible location is in the carburator, right where the fuel line runs into it. That's a much smaller filter, but it's changed in a similar manner.

Depressurize the fuel tank when you do this. (I.e., take off the gas cap until the PSSSSHHHHHhhh sound stops.) That'll prevent TOO much fuel from spraying, but be expecting fuel to come out anyways. Also, if it's the kind that's underneath the car, start one fuel line, and then start the other one, and THEN tighten them both down. (In otherwords, don't tighten one side down before you get the other one started, it'll make the job that much harder.)

If you have shop rags, tie them around your forearms. That'll prevent gasoline dribbling down your arm and into your armpits. (NOT a pleasant feeling. heh) Tell your buddies helping you not to smoke. That should be a no-brainer, but you might have some no-brained friends. If you lift the car, lift it evenly. If you lift just the back end of it up you could have an endless dribble of fuel coming out of the lines, and that just makes it annoying.

It's not a hard job at all, just make sure you get the filter on the right direction (it's labeled). Also remember that you'll have created a pocket of air in your fuel lines after you changed the filter, so it may take a bit longer to start than normal. But that's to be expected.

I'm really tired as I'm typing this so if I missed anything, please fill in the blanks.



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89 iroc-z 305 tbi
k&n filtercharger, open element air filter. nuffin' else

 

If it's a v8 with a Quadrajet carb, the fuel filter should be where the fuel line meets the carb. It's inside the carb, so you can't physically see it. The fuel line comes from the bottom-front(passenger side) from the fuel pump and goes up to the passenger side of the carb. I believe you are going to need a couple of open-ended wrenches(I don't know the sizes). You should pick up a repair manual such as Haynes. It's really helped me to do small repairs(plus it has pictures).

You should change the filter out when the engine is cold. You've got to remove the air cleaner. Place some rags underneath the fuel line(where it meets the carb). There are two nuts. I believe you have to hold the nut closest to the carb secure(it is the larger of the two nuts) with one wrench. Then with the other wrench you have to loosen the smaller nut on the fuel line. Be extremely careful!!! The first time I did this, I bent the fuel line. Once the small nut is loose, pull out the fuel line and move it aside(don't move it too much or you could bend it). Next remove the larger nut(closest to the carb). The fuel filter, a spring, and a gasket will be inside, so take note of how they are positioned. Put the new filter in(in the same positions as the old one). I believe the end of the filter that has the rubber gasket and check valve faces away from the carb. Put on the larger nut and tighten it(don't strip the threads, or overtighten). then put in the fuel line and tighten the smaller nut(while holding the larger nut secure);and don't overtighten. Wipe off any fuel that has spilled. Start the car and look for leaks around the fuel inlet. Once you're satisfied, turn the car off and put back the aircleaner and its vaccum lines,etc.

That's basically what you do. I might have left out some details so I urge you to buy a repair manual; especially if you plan on doing more repairs and maintenance on your car. SAFETY FIRST! You should wear safety glasses. Take it from someone who's gotten gas in his eyes; it is extremely painful, and it can cause damage to the eyes.

Oh I believe I wrapped the threads with teflon tape to help prevent leaks. You may or may not want to. If some of it gets loose it can clog some of the small orifices in the carb or injectors on a fuel injected engine.

I hope I have helped out. Let us know how the job turns out.

 

I think they both covered the different types pretty good.. I've changed a couple of them.. just wanted to add a couple things to help you out a little..

make sure the key is NOT on.. hehe.. just take the key completely out, actually.. and, like they already said, release pressure from the gas tank..

if the filter is under the drivers side of the car, it'll have two nut-type fittings on each side.. one's a 16mm and one's a 13/16" .. or, convert those whichever way you want, but those work.. the big one (attatched to the filter) doesn't turn.. turn the smaller one while holding the big one still.. umm.. I think that's about all I can add .. or repeat.. since I know some of it was already said.

 

crossfire injection, is this one of those pain in the *** things where ill have to jack up the car to get at it, or can i just kinda schooch under there (given im not a very large guy)?

oh yeah, and what might some of the symptoms of a dirty fuel filter be? I have looked at some other posts and one guy was complaining about the car being kinda slugish when accelerating, like it would accel. then back off a bit, then suddenly take off, like the pressure downstream of the pump was high, untill he hit the gas and then the pressure was lower after some of that fuel was burned it took a second for the pressure to go back up because the fuel filter was partially clogged. also, would that maybe cause a lean condition? because my car has been heating up, i just had them put a new clutch on the fan, and i checked the air damn, and that helped a lot, but it still heats up on the highway to about 220 or 230, sometimes even higher... i thought that may be caused by a lean condition and if a dirty fuel filter can cause that, then i may have found the problem, hope fully
thanks again

oh and one last thing: how do i release pressure from the gas tank? will the part between the filter and the pump be at a highh pressure and spray me with gas, because i dont want to get that stuff in my eyes.

[This message has been edited by hilljackofdenile (edited September 18, 2001).]

 

I can do my fuel filter without jacking the car up, but then, I've done them before. You *may* want to lift it, just so you can see what you're doing.

Symptoms? Erm, poor acceleration is definately one of them... In my car, before I changed a VERY old fuel filter, as I pushed the gas the engine would rev up to about 4000 rpm's or so, but then the more I pushed the gas the rpm's actually started dropping because of the poor flow. It could cause a lean condition, I suppose... It didn't in my case, though. It just made the car go slow.

 

I found it to be a major pain in the A** to change my gas filter, on my GTA. But it may be easy for you, who knows. I think I had it up on ramps.

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88 GTA 5.7 TPI Charcoal Grey Bone Stock except for loose muffler which makes it a bit louder than normal.

 

It was a major PITA for me too the first time I did it.. but that's because I didn't know what I was doing. I had the back of the car lifted and the gas cap off, so there was a steady stream of gas coming out of the fuel lines. Then I had a very hard time getting either one of the bolts started because I was at a bad angle. I got one completely tightened and couldn't start the other one. So I got the OTHER one completely tightened and couldn't get the first one. Eventually I started both of them and finally got it in place, but not after several visits to thirdgen.org. My anxiety of leaking gas like crazy and needing the car the next day lead me to be rather mean to a friend that happened to be around me that day. heh

 

you will want to jack it up if you have not done it yet (filter change that is) and i would spray some penatrant on the lines at the filter. especially if they are rusty. it will help to loosen them up a bit.

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87 z28 bowtie aluminum 420small block dry sump crower lt. wt. knife edged crank oliver lt wt rods brodix track 1's super ram intake hooker long tube headers mufflex 4"exhaust accel dfi art carr 700 r4 3.42 gears ssm sub frame/ladder bars.....other parts on the way ,soon to be finished!! couple more weeks!!!

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