how to depressurize the fuel system
 

searched already. can you depressurize the system by just taking the gas cap off to remove the secondaries. thanks in advance. kevin.

yeah that should do it so gas doesn't pour out everywhere but some will still come out

Pull the fuel pump relay (green) in the large fuse box in the engine compartment. Start the engine. It will catch and then die, having used all the pressurized fuel that was left between the pump and the injectors.

Now open the fuel cap and vent the pressure from the fuel tank. That will equalize the pressure on other side of the fuel pump and keep fuel spillage to a minimum when you pull off a fuel line.

in my 93 yellow r1, i did not do this before changing the fuel filter...gas everytwhere, burn my armpits up and gas all in my eye... but with my mb 95 base, I did what Jim said above....no burnt armpits this time :-) (heheheh)

pull off the gas tubes, lol its a little messy but if u forget to do it right it still works :)

I forgot to remove the gas cap when I replaced my fuel filter and I had a little surprise in the form of some fuel spraying at my eyes, but after the inital spray there wasnt too much running out. I think the most important thing is remembering to pull the relay to release the pressure between the pump and the engine.

Stokedxiv and I just changed my fuel filter a couple of days ago. It wasn't really that hard at all. We just put golf Tee's in the fuel lines to make sure no extra gas spilled out. I removed the gas cap and then started the car without the relay in and let it die. When removing the clamps on the fuel lines DO NOT use a pair of ROBO GRIP pliers. If it slipps off it may create a spark and scare the shit out of you. well thats what heppened to us at least. After that I wraped a pair of needle nose pliers in electrical tape just to be safe. Even if you depressurize the fuel system there will still be some fuel in the filter so that will probally spill out, just have a rag handy. Burning arm pits is like the worst case scenario. If you do it right you shouldn't get more then a little gas on your hands or on the ground.

i am just removing the secondaries. thanks. kevin

Yeah, the shop manual explains how to depressurize the system, but forgets to tell you to unscrew the gas cap. I took a gas-shower recently too.

It's amazing how much gas burns your skin when your whole shirt is soaked in it ;)