Fuel Filter replacement, step by step

[SoulDaddy]

You can get the Oetiker clamp pliers on ebay for less than $20. A few of our gurus suggest against using them, however. FWIW, YMMV, etc.

[Motech]

Nice write-up, great photos and details. No disrespect intended here, but that would scare the shit out of me.

I agree about the clamps on high pressure applications like this, but that is minor.

What's scares me is the filter itself. This Napa Gold 3012 is manufactured by Wix and is the same as their 33012 and 33032 filters. These are universal in-line filters designed for automotive carburetor applications, and in fact are the replacement filter of a 1989 Ford Festiva. They have a burst rating of 60 psi, fine for a mechanical pump, but totally inadequate for an EFI pump that can generate dead-head pressure over 100 psi. Furthermore, this filter is not designed for fuel submersion, and I suspect cannot withstand that environment for very long.

In my professional opinion, this is a very poor choice of filter. I agree that the aprilia filter is very expensive for it's function, but there is a reason it is made of that fiber material, and a $40.00 savings is really not worth the risk of failure for a part you will likely replace only once or twice in your bike's life.

I don't think I can stress this strongly enough:

DO NOT INSTALL THIS FILTER ON YOUR BIKE! IT IS A CATASTROPHE WAITING TO HAPPEN!

[deefred]

How does a metallic fuel filter housing disolve when being submersed in fuel?
Also the application list for both WIX filters you mention have a lot of EFI cars in there.
http://www.wixfilters.com/filterlook...asp?Part=33032

[SoulDaddy]

Some controversy ... hmmm.

Brad, did you cut your old filter open to view the contents? It would be of interest to see what accumulated over the years.

[pdxmille]

Part of my decision to try this fuel filter was based on my research on BMW motorcycle websites that state that lots of guys replace their BMW fuel filters with this Napa filter with no negative effects....and yes, they use them on BMW fuel injected bikes in the tank...

and I find it hard to believe that this metal Napa filter would have more of a chance of bursting than the PLASTIC/FIBER one that was in there?

.....gonna continue researching

Havent cut the old filter open yet, but that would be a fun idea!

[pdxmille]

also, from what i know of fuel injection in VWs....high pressure sustems such as CIS-e use braided fuel injection hoses and screw on hose connections at the filter so the system can withstand 70-100psi....now, the Digifant system in my car uses regular fuel line with hose clamps cause the system never goes over 40 psi, SSOOOOOOOOO my line of thinking is that Aprilia would hardly be using clamps connectors for the fuel lines in the tank and filter if this injection system puts out over 40-50 psi regularly.....

and certainly any of our bikes are gonna have running issues if all of a sudden the system starts putting out 100psi, but I believe a hose in the tank would burst or pop off the filter or the pump before the metal fuel filter would "explode"...

[soofle616]

For what it's worth, I have had the WIX filter in my bike for quite a while with no ill effects. As the the CATASTROPHIC EVENT!!!!! mentioned earlier, the worst case scenario if the filter were to fail due to pressure or anything else is fuel starvation causing the motor to quit (not like we all haven't already lived through that with these bikes) and possibly clogged up injectors should the filter media make it that far downstream (highly unlikely). Messy, yes. Annoying, sure. CATASTROPHIC!!!!!!?, not so much.

Also, regarding the oetiker clamps, in MY professional opinion (after working at TI Automotive for several years where we built tier 1 and aftermarket automotive fuel modules, ie. pump and filter assemblies) oetikers are the way to go IF AND ONLY IF you know what you're doing with them. More often than not when a module failed in testing the failure mode was a pressure loss. The pressure loss was ALWAYS traced to an oetiker clamp that had not been properly installed. We had "fail safe" sensors on every one of our oetiker fixtures (the clamps were assembled by hand and crimped by machine) to check for both under travel (indicating an improper crimp) AND overtravel (indicating no clamp present) and yet we still had modules make it to final inspection with bad connections. So what do I recommend? I don't. Use what you're comfortable with and understand that EVERY clamp can fail no matter how good you think it is. Worm, spring, oetiker, whatever, they can all be installed wrong and can all fail if installed wrong. For my money I replaced the clamps with worm gears and have had 0 issues.

So, now that you all have my opinion on the matter, flame away

Edit: One more note, CIS systems on any early model VW, Porsche, Benz, BMW, Volvo, etc. all require a minimum of 60-70 psi of fuel pressure to function. The injectors are not electronically controlled (hence mechanical injection) and so don't open until they have enough pressure behind them. As such those systems run at a continuous 60+psi. In the case of the Volvo's I have worked on, it's actually 70psi. Just food for thought

[ghostrider71]

Huh....just when I THOUGHT I had ALL the information, something like this comes-out.
THis is great first-hand, credible info, and I appreciate it.

However that leaves me scratching my head now. What to do, what to do?!?!

Well - I CAN OFFER this: before and after pics of my fuel filter inards.

PIc I show the wound "cardboard" filter media -- I est. it's about 4-5ft long of tightly compacted media! This is the FIRST change @ about 28k mi.


PICII is actually a snap of the unwound APrilia Filter media and the recently changed fuel filter from my 02 Nissan Maxima with 77k miles: notice the color differences!
The Aprilia filter media is almost perfectly "clean", whereas the virtually identical media of the round Nissan Filter is noticably darker and dirtier.

granted - there's almost triple the mileage on the Nissan Filter -- but you can really see the difference.

Just FYI!!

gr

[Motech]

How does a metallic fuel filter housing disolve when being submersed in fuel?

I did not say it would dissolve. I said it was not designed for submersion, and I suspect it would not hold up well.

Also the application list for both WIX filters you mention have a lot of EFI cars in there.
http://www.wixfilters.com/filterlook...asp?Part=33032

I went through all of the applications in the chart from the link you provided
D. Here is the chart itself:

http://www.wixfilters.com/filterlook...asp?Part=33032

Nowhere in the dozens and dozens of applications mentioned is there an EFI engine. It lists farm and industrial equipment, cars and trucks from the fifties to the seventies, but no EFI.

Sorry man, this is a universal in-line carburetor filter. I have installed hundreds of them over the years, and they are awesome for their simplicity and adaptability, but no way in hell am I installing one on an EFI application, ESPECIALLY submerged in tank.

Tell me D... Would you install one in your high-pressure EFI fuel tank?

[Motech]

For what it's worth, I have had the WIX filter in my bike for quite a while with no ill effects. As the the CATASTROPHIC EVENT!!!!! mentioned earlier, the worst case scenario if the filter were to fail due to pressure or anything else is fuel starvation causing the motor to quit (not like we all haven't already lived through that with these bikes) and possibly clogged up injectors should the filter media make it that far downstream (highly unlikely). Messy, yes. Annoying, sure. CATASTROPHIC!!!!!!?, not so much.

If, for example, you pinched your fuel return line reinstalling your tank and caused the pump to deadhead at 80 psi or higher, the cut-rate filter will then be your weakest link. If it were to rupture, you would indeed experience fuel starvation at the engine, but that elevated deadhead pressure would be pumped directly into the tank. Thumb your starter, pressure builds up in the tank, the next weakest link would be the fuel/vapor separator valve for the EVAP controls. Suddenly, that 80 psi of raw fuel is being pumped into your carbon canister, or worse, at whatever device you've installed to bypass the canister, and pressurized raw fuel is now being pumped onto your engine or under your ass.

But it may not even need deadhead pressure to happen, They say it's rated at 60 psi, but it's a friggin' $2.69 Chinese filter for an AMC Ambassador! What if it ruptures while you're on the road? Engine stalls, you pull off to the side of the road, what's your first action? Thumb the starter. 36 psi is truly enough pressure to blow out that check valve and liquid/vapor separator. Now fuel sprays down your engine, adheres to gravitational law and flows downward and onto your 300 degree F catalyst ot 200 degree H-Pipe, and BOOM!~

That, to me, would be catastrophic.

Edit: One more note, CIS systems on any early model VW, Porsche, Benz, BMW, Volvo, etc. all require a minimum of 60-70 psi of fuel pressure to function. The injectors are not electronically controlled (hence mechanical injection) and so don't open until they have enough pressure behind them. As such those systems run at a continuous 60+psi. In the case of the Volvo's I have worked on, it's actually 70psi. Just food for thought

And those applications do not call for this fuel filter.

[deefred]

You are right motec, the cars which I thought were EFI models would have to be late models in that case, for example Mazda RX7.

The filter I installed was the ducati filter P/N 42540101A which is identical to the OEM filter and which I found cheap on ebay.
I now have spare filter for the rest of my life

For the pressure build up in the tank I don´t get it.
As soon as the fuel feed line from the pump outlet loose the ability to hold pressure (like a ruptured fuel filter) there will be no pressure build up in the tank, just fuel circulation within the tank.
Can you please explain further.

We have had plenty of fuel lines in this forum coming undone without any reported bad consequences except for a dead engine.

[soofle616]

If, for example, you pinched your fuel return line reinstalling your tank and caused the pump to deadhead at 80 psi or higher, the cut-rate filter will then be your weakest link. If it were to rupture, you would indeed experience fuel starvation at the engine, but that elevated deadhead pressure would be pumped directly into the tank. Thumb your starter, pressure builds up in the tank, the next weakest link would be the fuel/vapor separator valve for the EVAP controls. Suddenly, that 80 psi of raw fuel is being pumped into your carbon canister, or worse, at whatever device you've installed to bypass the canister, and pressurized raw fuel is now being pumped onto your engine or under your ass.

But it may not even need deadhead pressure to happen, They say it's rated at 60 psi, but it's a friggin' $2.69 Chinese filter for an AMC Ambassador! What if it ruptures while you're on the road? Engine stalls, you pull off to the side of the road, what's your first action? Thumb the starter. 36 psi is truly enough pressure to blow out that check valve and liquid/vapor separator. Now fuel sprays down your engine, adheres to gravitational law and flows downward and onto your 300 degree F catalyst ot 200 degree H-Pipe, and BOOM!~

That, to me, would be catastrophic.



And those applications do not call for this fuel filter.

You logic fails pretty quick there I'm sorry to say. Given you're scenario, something gets pinched, the filter blows. Ok I'll grant you that possibility (though comparing the metal body filter to the stock plastic I think I'm probably safe). So now I have an open circuit in the pressurized line WITHIN my tank. Well now lets think here, I thumb the starter to try and get the bike going again because I am stuck on the side of the road after it starved of fuel and quit on me. Fuel pump winds up and..... BLOWS FUEL OUT THE RUPTURED FILTER AND BACK INTO THE TANK!!!!! Sorry for the sarcasm here but I fail to see how a ruptured filter which is upstream of the supposed block can possibly result in fuel pouring out of the tank. If the filter ruptures, any and all fuel that gets pumped will simply flow right back into the tank leaving the downstream components unpressurized and therefore, not susceptible to pressure related damage. As for pressure building up in the tank.. Are you kidding? Pressure cannot and will not build up in the tank. The tank is vented and is therefore maintained at atmospheric pressure (if this were not the case, you would never be able to open the thing to refuel as the vacuum created by sucking all the fuel out would keep the lid closed, not to mention the fuel pump would have to work like a bastard when the tank was near empty to continue drawing out fuel). Even if it wasn't vented though, drawing a fluid from a container, pressurizing it, then returning it to that container is NEVER going to result in an increase in pressure. I'm simplifying here but pressure cannot change without an associated temperature or volume change. The volume is not changing unless you sit on your gas tank and squash it. The temperature might rise a little because of the mechanical work being done to move the fuel through the pump and/or because you're stuck on the side of the road with the sun beating down on you but that's also why the tank is vented. So, no change in volume along with an insignificant change in temperature = no change in pressure. The tank will remain at atmospheric, downstream components will see no pressure at all, and all you will do by thumbing the starter is draining your battery by pumping fuel in a endless loop and cranking the motor.

The ONLY possible catastrophic failure in this scenario is blowing you're sprag cause you kept spinning the motor without starting it. That would definitely suck but its hardly going to end with the rider engulfed in flames.

[Motech]

By the pictures, the filter is upstream of the hi pressure pump. If it fails, it pumps 40-plus psi into a sealed tank vented to a canister (in most cases). I'm no physicist, but I do not understand how that would NOT increase pressure inside that tank and risk that fuel forcing it's way past the next weakest link.

But that's OK, I don't know everything. But I do know that if saving $40.00 on a one-time maintenance item of your exotic Italian motorbike by installing a cut-rate Chinese carburetor filter designed for 1950's tractors and 1960's automobiles is OK with you, who am I to tell you you're a fool?

And catastrophic failure, by my definition, is anything that might cause me to be stranded, or worse, stall my bike coming hot onto apex and potentially causing me to crash. Worse yet would be if it was my own damned fault for pinching a few pennies and installing a critical fuel delivery device that has no flippin' right to be on ANY EFI system on earth.

Go ask your aprilia mechanic if they would professionally install that filter for you.

[Motech]

Tell me D... Would you install one in your high-pressure EFI fuel tank?

The filter I installed was the ducati filter P/N 42540101A which is identical to the OEM filter and which I found cheap on ebay.
I now have spare filter for the rest of my life

Somehow I could not picture you doing this "mod" D.

[pdxmille]

Plenty of people running around with this "catastrophic" filter in their "exotic" Italian bikes that proves this is NOT a "dangerous" filter to use...including soofle....who works professionally with fuel injection systems...

guess all these people running around with Napa/WIX filters are "fools" as you say, motech....

also, most "trained Aprilia" mechanics in this town I wouldn't let anywhere NEAR my bike, much less value their opinion on parts...

That being said, use whatever damn filter you want! Oh, and use whatever damn clamps you want!!

lol!

jesus...blah, blah, blah...