my 88 gxl is running just over 198k miles and i want to change the fuel filter (i just bought it recently and dont know when or if the 1st owner every changed it)

I need to know where it is located and if its hard to take it off. HELP....

 

It is located on the driver side near the firewall, about half an arms length down from the top. It will be positioned vertically with the line from the pump on the bottom, and the line to the engine on top. There are 2 or 3 bolts holding it on, which are easy to get to if you put the front of your car on jackstands. The hardest thing to get off was the fuel lines friggin' stuck to it. Also, you know to pull the EGI fuse while the car is running so that there is minimal fuel in the line first, right?

 

I didnt Pull the EGI fuse. I Unscrewed the cap to release pressure. IF you dont know where the fire wall is located it is sor of by your starter motor.

Alot of gas comes out be prepared :P

 

Oh yeah, if you plan on working on your car, it's probably a good idea to buy a Hayes (or Haynes) manual which is about $20 from Pep Boys... and to download the FSM.

 

Make sure you pull the fuse, and have plenty of rags... It is a real bitch to get off. You can either try to loosen the bracket that holds it and slide it out, or just disconnect the bracket and take it out when it's off the car.... Have the new one handy either way, to try to plug the lines to minimize fuel spill.
The first time I changed mine, it took about 2 hours... The damn bolts were frozen from god knows how many years they were on there... Get some never-seize for them to make it easier the next time.

 

The new fuel filter that I bought had the bracket on there, so I just unbolted the old filter and the old bracket.

 

Yo,


Definitely try and find the bleeder screw for the fuel system. I didn't bleed it and it gave me a unleaded shower! Some serious sprayage, all over the place. Not good.

Other than that, you might want to head down and pick up some new fuel lines, mine were in okay shape but it's cheap to replace them.

Kevin
1989 GTUs "Unleaded with Premix: For Men."

 

http://www.1300cc.com/howto/how2/fuelfilter.htm

 

Hey Scott, that's a very nice site.

 

Also, If you haven't Installed one yet, flick the Fuel Cut Switch on at Idle to relieve the pressure In the lines. Your car will bog out on you. Shut the Ignition off and remove the Gas Fill Cap. This will confirm all pressure Is lost. Doing this will call for the least messest FF replacement, atleast In my experience.

 

$20???? DAMN....go to autozone and get it for 13.99 and for that matter, get your other things there too so you can save even more money. at least out here Pep Boys is outrageous on their pricing!!!

 

ok--here's the real deal on the fuel pressure.....

your car, like the rest of the cars out there, has a FUEL PUMP. that means that pressure is built up in the lines from the fuel pump forward to the fuel rail, and it ALSO means that taking the gas cap off doesn't do much to relieve the pressure!!
You can pull the fuel pump fuse, then try to start the car. It obviously wont start, but it WILL relieve the pressure. You will still get some gas out of the lines when you take the filter off, but it wont be as bad.

Think about it--if your car lost all its fuel pressure each time you took off the gas cap, don't you think it would be harder to start afterwards?? at least until the pump kicked enough pressure up to get all the air out of your fuel lines again!!

 

I unplugged the fuel pump while it was running. The plug is in the driver side strut tower (between the metal and the fabric) at least in an S5. I had very little fuel spill, and I plugged the line with a paper towel so it would stop dripping. God were those lines hard to get off! I guess 150k miles of heating and cooling will do that.
I think that works better than pulling the egi, when you do that you cut the ignition too.