Leaking fuel filter!

[fasair]

Hey Guys, this is the worst question, I just did marine injectors and had no problems, today I went to replace my fuel filter (behind the manifold) and can not get it to seat! Very embarrasing! Anyone ever had this problem and is there a trick to it or am I just lame?

[TedReminder]

Look real close at the slots it fits into. Only fits one way.
Ted

[Goob G.]

Check your injection lines on back of pump! I had a fuel leaking problem I thought it was the filter but turned out it was a line spraying under the air intake back to the fuel filter! This happened after I had the injectors out and moved lines!

[fasair]

Thanks, but I know the injector lines are ok. Is there only supposed to be the one rubber gasket on the new filter itself? I had it changed at Midas the last time (I was on a business trip) and when I removed this filter there were two rubber ring gaskets. One on the old filter and one around the filter housing. How many should there be besides the one on the filter itself. I have a chilton but it doesn't say or show anything about the rubber ring gaskets.

Thanks guys for all your help in advance.

Mike

[6.5 on da bayou]

Hey Mike, If you look really close at the rubber gasket on the filter, there is a metal ring on the inside that holds the gasket to the filter. I dont know how, but one time i was changing my filter and that ring somehow stayed on the filter housing. When i installed the new filter it WOULD NOT go back on. Untill i spotted that metal ring on the filter housing.

Floyd

[fasair]

Floyd,

Thanks! I was working on it today and I saw that metal ring, I took the new filter gasket apart and saw the metal ring and reinstalled it into the new filter. I then saw what looked like an identical ring arond the filter housing. I had had enough at that point as the wife was home with dinner so I called it quits for the day. I will "extract" that ring tomorrow and re-install the filter.

Floyd, there should be a round rubber gasket ring around the housing (outside) and one on the filter, correct? Or only the one rubber ring gasket gasket on the filter itself please?

Thanks for your help!

Mike

[6.5 on da bayou]

Hey Mike,
My truck is a 95 3500 4 door dually and my filter housing has absolutely no rubber anything on it. Strickly metal. Only thing plastic is the srew-on cap. My filters come with one rubber gasket and one metal "retainer" ring.
Good Luck.
Floyd

[fasair]

Thanks Floyd, Ted & Goob!

I will assault this thing today and resolve this problem. Just want to say thanks again to ya'll. This forum is the best thing since sliced bread!

Floyd you were correct! Thank you again to all of the answers and to Walt for this excellent resouce!

Hope everone has a great, SAFE healthy, happy and prosperous New Year and May God Please continue to bless our nation!

Thanks Guys,

Mike

[fasair]

Has anyone changed the seal and hose on the fuel filter housing? I have run alot of bio-diesel before getting into running SVO and think I will change mine tomorrow, are there also rubber lines under the intake manifold that you know of? Might as well change them all at once.

I like biodiesel but I think SVO is better and alot of 6.5 owners running on veg say the 6.5 does very well on vegoil.:cool:

[6.5 on da bayou]

Hey mike,
I'm pretty new to the whole "alternative fuel" thing. I thought biodiesel was vegoil. Regardless of that, What is SVO?

[fasair]

Hey Floyd:

SVO is heated (Straight Vegetable Oil) the only difference between it and bio-diesel is that bio-d is veggie oil as well but chemically treated to reduce its viscosity before entering the injector pump. The chemicals used in the process are Lye and methanol and the process called transesterification.

Bio-diesel is actually good for the engine and fuel system as it is a cleaner however it can have negative effect on the rubber components of that system. Many folks are talking about a rubber fuel line called viton to replace fuel lines (when running bio-diesel) but it is very expensive (I think about $3.00 and inch!)

The other route to go is to run a separate tank, heat and filter cleaned used or new veggie oil (just as you would to make bio-diesel) to accomplish the same reduction in the viscosity before it enters the injector pump. This is done by tapping into your engine coolant system to heat the fuel through a tank heater, heated fuel filters etc. With this set-up, you start the engine on your normal diesel tank and after the engine is warm it is switched over to the heated veggie tank and before shutdown must be switched back to the normal diesel tank in what is called the purging process. This is done for ease of restarting the engine.

My wife and I are just starting to sell allot of the components for gathering of veggie oil, filtering supplies etc as well as some of the components to do the actual conversions. We do small solar power things and sell small diesel gensets as well. I even have a way to run used cooking oil in an air-cooled 6.5 KW diesel genset! I found as I got into this, it becomes an obsession to be off the grid! So be careful not to get bitten!

By the way Floyd, I'm going to check and change all of my rubber fuel lines, have you ever removed your manifold to change them and if so how difficult a job is it?

Thanks,

Mike

[6.5 on da bayou]

Hey Mike,
I have removed my intake manifold before but only to replace my pmd harness. I have only burned diesel in my dually and the 2 fuel lines under the intake still looked o.k. I guess I should have replaced them anyway but ol well.

If you are only interested in replacing those fuel lines, you may be able to fish them out without removing the intake manifold. If you unbolt the filter housing from the IM you may be able to stretch it out far enough to get to the hose clamps. The left hose goes to the top of the IP and the right hose goes to the drain valve by the thermostat housing. If not, removing the IM should take about 2 hours

[fasair]

Thanks Floyd,

I am gonna remove the manifold and replace the lines and get a new filter housing from Walt. Then my fuel system will be complete and hopefully headache free for a while. Gonna do new gasket on the IM and do the valve cover gaskets too. Im thinking of a remote oild filter too, got any insight to one Floyd? I'd like to mount it somewhere up under the hood

[6.5 on da bayou]

Mike,
I never gave that any thought. My brother-in-law owns a service station and their shop changes my oil for free. I just bring my oil and filter. I never have to deal with the mess.

[edycam]

Thanks Floyd,

I am gonna remove the manifold and replace the lines and get a new filter housing from Walt. Then my fuel system will be complete and hopefully headache free for a while. Gonna do new gasket on the IM and do the valve cover gaskets too. Im thinking of a remote oild filter too, got any insight to one Floyd? I'd like to mount it somewhere up under the hood
__________________
97 2500 4x4, SSD Heat Sink, SSD Marine Injectors, New Water Pump, 143,000 Miles


Hey Mike,

Noticed you had a 97 2500. Didn't GM go to all Vitron lines from 95+. I've been running Bio-D (b100) for a while now in my 96 2500 with no problems (knock on wood). Should I look into replacing the fuel lines? I'm also interested in running SVO. Do you know of any good systems out there?

Thanks,
Edison
96 2500 , SSD Heat Sink 75000 miles.

[christja]

You are fine in a 96 with biodiesel. I was looking into making my own biodiesel and or running SVO. I dont have a place as of right now that i can really do it...and im not sure exactly how. What are some good systems?

[edycam]

I use the Fuel Meister from BiodieselSolutions to make the biodiesel. Kind of pricy but saves you time in buying all the parts separately. I've ran about 20% on homemade and 80% at the pump for 15000 miles. So far no major issuses except for decreased milage and power. I'm thinking about switching to SVO. I'm using Lovecraftbiofuels svo kit on an old mercedes and its working great (even in low temps). The car starts and drives w/ SVO. No seperate tank. Unfortunately, my Suburban will need a kit w/ additional tank for starting and purging. Are the marine injectors better for SVO?

Edison.
96 Suburban 2500 / B100 / FSD

[6.5SmokeStack]

wow, im not the only one with the little metal ring problem after all, i got a new fuel filter for christmas and installed it, it was leaking for a while, so i asked my dad to look at it and he found the little metal ring that kept it from sitting correctly!

[gregie998]

changed out today, now i wished i changed out all three rubber hoses, but in order to do that, looks like intake manifold has to come off, also bought new fuel lines from lift pump forward, havent changed those yet, but need to say, wish i had smaller hands, and a cooler lead light, burned the wits out of my hands trying to see fuel filter hoses...........greg

[gregie998]

you will notice on the filter, if you turn it over has slots in the outer housing, the bigest one goes to the front always, I put mine in and slowly turn it right and left, and it will cluck down and will sit tight, dont do what i did, i used a oil filter tool to tighten plastic nut on fuel filter, crushed the rubber washer and had a huge fuel leak...............