Okay, so I had the new filter to hand, where is all that fuel coming from!!!
I detached the right hand connector, which I guess is to the fuel rail. I put a jug under and collected a litre of fuel. I poured this into a tank and started another litre!!! Surely the fuel rail can’t hold this!!!.
Okay John, undo the other, that goes to the fuel pump so won’t have any fuel… Yeh right!!!
Okay, tell you what, put a tray underneath, lined with tissue and get ready to swap.
CAN’T GET THE BLOOMING WHITE CONNECTOR OFF THE. FILTER!!!
Neighbour’s pit, starting to panic…
Connected it back up to old filter after a short panic that the white connector had rotated and would not push in.
Okay, so I’ve ordered a couple of connectors which I’ll attach to the new filter next week, but the question is, where is all the fuel coming from? From the pump side should be none surely? From the rail side, surely not a litre!.
By the way, I changed the diff oil at the same time. The filler is 23mm not 24mm like the drain. I had to jump on the bike and track one down. Thirty years of bike mechanics and never needed a 23mm socket; got one now!
The white ‘connector’ is, in fact, the retainer. There are two types. Look at the end where it fits onto the pipe, is it a solid ring, or is it slotted on each side. The removal method is different for each type. If you post the type I can tell you how to remove it. It would appear you have set up a syphon on the filter inlet side. Remove the fuel cap to destroy the syphon, if that does not work I find golf tees are useful for plugging the outlet.
Thanks Geoff, the tees sounds like a plan.
The clips look slotted and I struggled, bearing in mind petrol pouring from two pipes at the time, to get the clip over the lip in the pipe.
I’ve ordered two clips and at a pound each, am more than happy to fit these to the new filter first and remove the old ones when I have the old filter comfortably on the bench.
Make sure the ignition is off!!!It cant keep pumping if ignition of off surely !!Never seen one siphoning before but there is always a first time.If there is nothing going in it cant come out ???
I was reading about this generally a while back when looking to find the fuel filter on our Mk3, err, which doesn’t have one, so that saved me a job
Anyway, looked it out again and there’s a definite fuel pressure relief procedure for the Mk2,
remove fuel cap
remove fuel pump relay from fuse box inside car
start engine and allow to stall from lack of fuel
crank engine a few times - pressure now gone
turn ign off
disconnect battery ground lead
then, no mention of doing any other connections or procedures, it’s straight onto swapping the fuel filter.
I really would disconnect the battery with open fuel btw as there are some always-live connections under there and it would only take one spark to ignite the fuel vapour.
If the white retainers are slotted, squeeze the end together, the connector should come off leaving the retainer on the pipe. To reassemble, fit the retainer to the connector, then push the whole thing onto the pipe. If the white retainers are solid at the end it is the claws at the top which need opening with two small screwdrivers. The connector then comes off, this time complete with the retainer. reassembly as before. If you get new connectors they may look slightly different from the originals, do not worry, they are interchangeable. I made a tool to release these retainers from a piece of tubing, 17mm. long, ID 8mm, OD 11.5mm. I cut a slot in the side so that it would just fit over the fuel pipe and push into the connector releasing the upper claws. It is a copy of the Mazda SST If you search this forum there is a photograph of it somewhere. Hope this all helps! Incidentally when I changed my fuel filter, the car had been standing a couple of days, so I just wrapped a cloth round the connector and released it, then immediately connected it to the new filter, very little spillage. The fabricated SST really does make the job simple. What Rich says is correct though, The proceedure he outlines is what you are supposed to do!
No link in your last post Geoff, but thanks for the other info.
For a couple of pounds, it’ll be a lot easier with the new clips on the new filter.
Very annoying that the service section, changing fuel filter, in Haynes makes no mention of depressurising, as per fuel section.
I hope others read this thread before changing their fuel filter for the first time.
Not pre-empting the job in two days time, but with new clips in place, depressurised also, it should be straight forward, but as I said, if you don’t, I gave up after two litres of fuel discharge!!!
Can you imagine a newbie unclipping the fuel filter, breaking one of those white clips without depressurising!!! I stopped before I broke one.
Haynes makes a few mistakes, but that might be because I notice more having worked on my bikes for years.
John, I got the info from Haynes 61016 page 1-32 which as first step says relieve the fuel pressure and refers to page 4-3, is yours the old book, they may have updated it.
Mine’s the red Haynes 5565 I think, page 1.13, section 23
A very short, very simple procedure!!! No mention of pressure.
Like I said, with new clips and depressurised, it might be easier. I’d also argue, although I’m not a namby pamby health and safety person, section 1.13 could put you in a world of hurt.
If on Sunday you see a small mushroom cloud over Eastbourne, then you’ll know all is not well
Okay, new filter fitted.
Had to use the old clips. With a neighbours help with a pair of pliers, we struggled to get the new clips to insert into the black part on the pipe. Didn’t want to go too mad with force! By the way, my neighbours has worked on his own five cars for thirty to forty plus years.
Did not depressurise, couldn’t find the fuel pump relay under the dash.
Two of us, fifteen minutes, could not find a 6 pin connector ala Haynes, with two red/whites etc.
So, tank cap off, jug underneath, fuel down arms, but job done.
