In-Line Fuel Filter

[CMM]

Bought a 53 Jubilee. It would run awhile and die. I noticed the in line fuel filter would run dry...tractor would die. Duh! I removed the gas cap, no change. I removed he settling bowl, both screens clean. I replaced the fuel line with 1/4 inch brake line and replaced the in line filter. I even pulled the elbow going into the carb, it's clean. The in line filter is turned right with arrow. Why isn't fuel flowing? Can it be the in line filter and do I need an in line filter?

 

[old]

Most in line fuel filters are made to be run on a machine that has a fuel pump and a fuel pump puts out 7psi plus and no gravity flow fuel system is going to come close to even 1 psi so yes get rid of that in line filter. Factory your tractor had 3 filters any how so why have a fourth one.

 

[Jerry/MT]

I"ll respectfully disagree that the filter is the problem. I have filter on my Ferguson and have never had a problem attributed to it.

There is a posibility that the inlet line in the tank is clogged. Some sediment bowls have screens on them and they can clog or the tube can clog if you have a cruddy tank. You"ll have to drain the tank and remove the shutoff valve to see if that"s the problem. You can also blow backwards through the fuel line upstream of the filter and maybe clear a blocked fuel tube.

If you open the fuel tank valve wide open and remove the plug from the bottom of the carb fuel bowl, does fuel come out? If it doesn"t, your float maybe hung. Rap the carb with a block of wood and see if that cures it. If it doesn"t you may have a piece of crud in the float valve.

Using a filter is a judgement call. I have broken baffle in my tank that constantly stirs fine particles up that don"t necessarily settle in the sediment bowl so I use a filter.

 

[Michael Va]

i uncloged my shutoff valve with a stiff wire - open valve- push wire up into the hole till gas runs out...the using air pressure idea sounds better - but if your out in the field have your wire handy

 

[36 Coupe]

Using air pressure on gas lines can start fires.Air pressure at carburetors can collapse floats.

 

[36 Coupe]

I have had gas filters clog and shut things down many times.Put a filter that wasnt in a package on a Plymouth.Bugs had gotten into the filter, the engine flooded.Filters MUST be changed on a regul basis.

 

[Hobo,NC]

(quoted from post at 06:22:28 10/18/10) I"ll respectfully disagree that the filter is the problem. I have filter on my Ferguson and have never had a problem attributed to it.

Just goes to show ya that folks believe every thang they read,,, That guru stats can be achieved by blow'n smoke out yer arse.... I guarantee that most if not all fuel filters will gravity flow fuel,,, even if its designed to handle 100 PSI I have the gassey smell'n arm pits to prove it... If it will not you have a restriction are contamination that's the root cause... One thing I do know for sure,,, water will not flow thru a good filter unless it forced to....

 

[souNdguy]

bottom line, see if fuel will flow from/thru the filter with nothing on the outlet. if it will. the filter is not the issue.

some fitlers are restrictive.. some are made for small gas engines with no pumps and aren't restrictive and will gravity flow. if yours will flow, then look downstream.

soundguy

 

[Hobo,NC]

(quoted from post at 15:08:09 10/18/10) bottom line, see if fuel will flow from/thru the filter with nothing on the outlet. if it will. the filter is not the issue.

some fitlers are restrictive.. some are made for small gas engines with no pumps and aren't restrictive and will gravity flow. if yours will flow, then look downstream.

soundguy

That's backerds,,, the smaller filter has more restriction...

 

[Jerry/MT]

Can you explain why using air pressure on a gasoline fuel line will cause a fire?

 

[souNdguy]

not small filter, filter for small gas engines that are gravity fed.

besides.. filter size is not what restricts flow.. it's filter media size. a ceramic filter in a 1qt container will impede flow a whole lot more than a #20 wire mesh cylinder filter installed inline in a fuel elbow.

( #20 is .955mm )

soundguy

 

[Hobo,NC]

(quoted from post at 19:33:03 10/18/10) not small filter, filter for small gas engines that are gravity fed.

besides.. filter size is not what restricts flow.. it's filter media size. a ceramic filter in a 1qt container will impede flow a whole lot more than a #20 wire mesh cylinder filter installed inline in a fuel elbow.

( #20 is .955mm )

soundguy

I bet the media is the same,,, the moe the butter...

I have changed a zillon fuel filters,,, believe me you will get a good bath of fuel... foreign, domestic gas, diesel, injected, pushed, pulled are by gravity...

Wire mesh is not the question... inline filters are...

I would bet the PSI rating has to do with the filter housing construction,,, not the media...

 

[36 Coupe]

A poster on this forum explained how his friend did it.As I remember he applied air pressure to a gas line and sprayed gas on a drop lite,Burned his tractor and garage.

 

[Hobo,NC]

(quoted from post at 23:37:17 10/18/10) A poster on this forum explained how his friend did it.As I remember he applied air pressure to a gas line and sprayed gas on a drop lite,Burned his tractor and garage.

Zane's bud learned incandescent bulbs and gas don't play well together... The air was just part of the mix,, the ti[p should be to throw away all those trouble lights that use incandescent bulbs...

Air,,, bulbs are what ever gas is a dangerous thang to play with... I don't care how safe you play it can get ya...

 

[Jerry/MT]

I guess the problem was spraying gas on an ignition source, not blwing out the line per se.

 

[NoNewParts]

like Hobo says, it's probably water in the gas
plugging the inline filter.
I've posted a pic before of the inline filters I use
on dirty tanks.
They have a metal cone-shaped screen inside just like an N filter.
(I'm at deer camp on VERY slow dial-up, so I can't post the pic again)

 

[36 Coupe]

I had a ceramic filter that would not pass fuel.This was a Carter filter on a chevy 6.There was a green coating on the ceramic that would not wash off in the parts cleaner.I cleaned it on a motor driven wire brush.That worked.I expect that paper filters will plug up if water gets into them.A milk filter that is wet with gasoline first wont pass water.Used this to get the water out of lawnmower gas.You can look in most mower tanks and see a big blob of water in the bottom.I have tried Drygas but it wont pick up water until you give the mower a good shaking.

 

[Walston]

(quoted from post at 05:51:40 10/19/10) I guess the problem was spraying gas on an ignition source, not blwing out the line per se.

To burn you need oxygen, fuel and an ignition source. This is called the "fire triangle". The atmosphere inside a gas tank is considered "rich" (more fuel than can burn because of the lack of oxygen), only one leg of the fire triangle. If you blow air into a tank containing gasoline, you introduce the second leg of the triangle (oxygen) INSIDE the tank in essence making a bomb. If the tank finds an ignition source, which can be a static electricity discharge, you wont be participating in the Tractor forum anymore. Unfortunately more people are killed by this than one might think.

It is never a good idea to blow air into a gas tank. Anytime we have to do blow into a tank containing a flammable liquid at work (I work at a chemical plant) we use nitrogen instead of air to prevent the possibility of a BOOM.

In the spirit of safety.

 

[souNdguy]

yep.. I've used those carter style filters to. got one that had too much glaze on it and not enough porous surface area.

I've used those poly-propylene oil -sorbant mats as a gas / water seperator too. the water won't pass the mat.. just beads up on it. the gas saturates it, then flows thru.

soundguy