Today I attempted to replace my FUEL FILTER, since my car is close to 70K miles and it has never been replaced.

I followed the instructions from the HAYES manual for my car (INTEGRA 97 Ls)
First the manual says to let the car cool down for 3 hours (an eternity)
The next step is to relieve the Fuel system pressure, and followintg the instructions from the HAYES manual here is what I did:
*Took everything off the trunk,
*removed the protective aluminum bar cover that protects the fuel pump connector,

*removed the second aluminum cover to gain access to the fuel pump connector, and proceded to unplug it, (Pic Below)

here is a close up:

The next step according to the HAYES manual was to let the car idle untill it stall....
Well here is the PROBLEM:
I left the car Idle for 15 to 20 minutes, and it NEVER STALED.
can anyone tell me what I'm doing Wrong? :confused:

I tryed disconecting the Fuel Injection PMG-FI relay, but then the car wouldnt even start (Pic below):

Anyone has any idea what I'm doing wrong?
PLEASE help!

 

The fuel filter is in the engine bay not where you are looking.

 

he was trying to relieve the fuel system pressure. but i never heard of doing that when changing the fuel filter tho.

 

Yeah...put your trunk back together!! An insignificant amount of gas will leak out of the line when you disconnect it from the filter, but nothing to worry about. Just yank it out and slap the new one in there...

 

remember the thick towel...

my friend decided to go half assed about it, didnt open the gas tank cap, and removed fuel filter. needless to say, gas in eyes, mouth, face, nose.... he was sent to the emergency room

 

According to the Helm's manual to relieve pressue you simply loosen the 6mm service bolt on top of the filter. It worked fine for me. (This is a good reason not to rely on the cheapo Haynes manual)

 

What Teken said is correct. Remove the gas cap to relieve the pressure and open your hood and in the engine bay you remove that banjo bolt holding down that fuel filter and make sure you got a rag or whatever so you can cover the fuel spray when doing so.

 

Heh heh...Haynes strikes again! They are dead wrong about the location of the pump. What you are disconnecting is the fuel level sending unit (have you noticed that your gas gauge is reading a bit low ?).

The fuel pump is located under your rear seat. It has an aluminum cover just like the sending unit.

I know a lot of guys here say disconnecting the pump is unnecessary - and it probably is. But it's such a simple thing to get at the pump (once you know where it is ) I say better safe than sorry.

...and buy some nitrile gloves!

 

Haynes
Helms

Lets not confuse the two. Here is the difference ... Helms tells you everything you need, Hayes tells you just enough to get you in trouble.

 

well I tend to disagree.... Yes Helms has everything you ever wanted or needed to know, and I will be getting one as soon as I can, but for now I have my Haynes and it serves me pretty well for most things. I worked on my old car for probably 3 years with nothing but Haynes, plus a factory electrical repair manual the last few months I had it. Both served me VERY well.

As for the fuel filter, I changed mine according to the Haynes manual, had no problems. Removing the gas cap does not relieve enough pressure to keep fuel from spraying when you remove the hard line from the fuel filter. If you disconnect the fuel pump (or disconnect the PGM-FI system) and crank the car, it will relieve more of the pressure, so when you disconnect the filter line, only a small amount of fuel dribbles out instead of sprays. You will still need towels under it, of course. Be sure to use a flare-nut wrench on that hard line fitting. HTH


[Modified by PatrickGSR94, 10:19 AM 5/31/2002]

 

i take what the haynes says with a grain of salt and use it as a guideline when I dont have my helms (friends borrow it all the time) and since im mechanically inclined i just use the guidelines of that and do what makes sense. If i really get in a bind i just go track down the helms (if i didnt have it to start with)

 

you should charge a rental fee on your helms

 

I find the Haynes manual only good for simple things such as brakes. It's nice when you need a picture example every now and then. But anyway, what you just did is WAY overkill for relieving fuel pressure just to simply change the fuel filter. Gas cap and banjo bolt and it's done.

Idle 'til it stalls? Wow.

 

Yikes, guess I got lucky then, i just pulled loosened the nut, let the gas slow drip down the side of the filter, took out the nut and swapped, no other problems, and very minmal amount of 94 octane on towels. Next time, I'll loosen the cap

-Rage

 

So what you guys are saying is that if just open the gas cap you should be all set, but just be careful? also, where should i get my fuel filter from? autozone want 20 bucks for one.

 

i just got a purolator fuel filter.. I forget where I got it from.. I think it was pep boys.. it was around $20... anyway I just took out the gas cap and pulled a fuse and the car stalled while idling.. then I undid the banjo fitting and the lower nut for the hard gas lines (dont bend these).. then finally undid the bracket that holds the filter to the firewall.. install was reverse.. make sure you use the new metal washers that are supplied...

when I first cranked it over.. the car would not start it would just crank but motor wouldnt start.. I was like "oh $hit where did I mess up" then I figured since the filter was new and dry.. that fuel had to run through it before the car would start... after a few cranks.. the car started up and has been fine every since..

 

You dont even have to be careful. Just open the gas cap. The amount that will drip out could fil a thimble. It is exremely minimal, just put a rag under the filter. Like they say, all of that is wayyyy overkill.

 

i just replaced mine the other day.. it was easy.. i didn't even take off the gas cap.. i just simply took off the fuel filter... there was a lil gas coming out.. but it wasn't squirting.. it just fell..

 

what do you mean by craking the engine?