fuel filter change

[toolie]

I'm going to change my fuel filter for the first time since I bought my car. Going through the Bentley manual I notice these vw's don't require the filter to be primed before starting.........do they?

My 85 6.2 diesel requires a pink power lead be disconnected from the injection pump. An air bleed screw at the filter is open then the motor can be cranked until fuel comes out the air bleed screw. Close the screw hook-up the lead and done.

I guess I'm just concerned about airlocking this thing..........should I be?

Bill

[watsongs]

Fill the filter up with ATF, pop her on, and go.  You'll have to crank for a bit, or loosen the injector nuts to bleed the air.

I made up a remote starter switch using a light switch - that way I can crank while standing over the engine.  Just make sure to use thick wire - I used 8 guage.

[NOTORIOUS VR]

Fill the filter up with ATF

I'm curious... Why ATF?

I juse filled my filter up with some fresh diesel, and was good to go after that... It started on the first crank!

[dieselweasel]

WTF would anyone fill a fuel filter with ATF?   That stuff is for transmissions!

[jtanguay]

WTF would anyone fill a fuel filter with ATF?   That stuff is for transmissions!

it supposedly cleans out the pump and or other parts...  the diesel we put into our cars is pretty dirty...  either way diesel or atf, the dirty diesel is still going to get into the motor eventually.

does anyone have a better explanation as to why putting atf in the filter would be a good idea???  Maybe it soaks into the filter providing better filtering???

[toolie]

Filling the entire filter with atf sounds kind of extreme, maybe a smaller dose would be enough. Although I already use a fuel conditioner so I doubt the aft thing is going to make much of a difference.

Thanks for the info.

[jtanguay]

actually come to think of it atf is probably easier to clean if spilled.  doesnt smell as bad and is less toxic if spilled on skin.   all i can think of

[zyewdall]

Well, I just started my 1.6NA for the first time today since buying the engine 9 months ago.  Just cranking the engine, it didn't seem to want to self prime (I just had the end of the hose in a liter bottle of biodiesel).  So I put a electric fuel pump (for a carbureated gas car) in line and ran that till fuel started coming out of the return line from the injector pump.  Started right up after that.  This implies that it might not self prime after changing the filter.  My truck has a hand primer pump on the fuel filter for refilling it after changing it.

I always use biodiesel when fooling around with the fuel system -- I hate the smell of diesel on my hands for days afterwards.  Biodiesel doesn't smell too bad (I actually use it to remove grease from my hands because it's a good solvent, and supposedly isn't toxic).

Zeke

[mortskeg]

I figured I'd post up a old post of mine from the caddyforum since this solution has worked great for me:

I don't have a primer on my filter housing, and I've had good luck just filling the new filter with diesel and cranking for no more than 20sec before the engine runs fine.  However, when I put my 1.5 d in I put in an inline primer bulb (outboard boat motor style) just before the filter and used it to prime the system (cracked the fuel-going-in line at the pump).  When I first cranked the engine it started right up even though it hadn't been run in months.

I think it was Dr. C who also had one of the primer bulbs inline, I haven't heard any ill effects.
Hope this helps.

http://vwcaddyforum.com/showthread.php?t=4479

[tylernt]

I think it was Dr. C who also had one of the primer bulbs inline, I haven't heard any ill effects.

Clever. Also, ultralight pilots often use primer bulbs on  their little aircraft engines, so that may be an alternate source.

[zyewdall]

I think it was Dr. C who also had one of the primer bulbs inline, I haven't heard any ill effects.

Clever. Also, ultralight pilots often use primer bulbs on  their little aircraft engines, so that may be an alternate source.

I've bought those at the hardware store for about $7.  Autoparts stores often have them too, for siphoning gas.

Remember when all cars had a hand primer pump to prime the carbureator before starting it first thing in the morning?

[mortskeg]

Remember when all cars had a hand primer pump to prime the carbureator before starting it first thing in the morning?

No.   Sorry, I couldn't resist.  I've driven some older cars but I haven't seen this yet.  Only on the outboard boats.  What did you used to have to hand prime?  Hopefully you didn't have to then hand-crank it.

[zyewdall]

Remember when all cars had a hand primer pump to prime the carbureator before starting it first thing in the morning?

No.   Sorry, I couldn't resist.  I've driven some older cars but I haven't seen this yet.  Only on the outboard boats.  What did you used to have to hand prime?  Hopefully you didn't have to then hand-crank it.

My dad's 1961 series IIA Landrover.  And yes, you could hand crank it too if you wanted to -- I did a few times when the battery was dead.  Actually, it only needed priming if it sat for more than two or three weeks, not every morning.  It was the car I learned to drive in.  No synchros on the transmission -- caused some swearing from my dad till I figured it out....

[fatmobile]

Somewhere, someone mentioned using a snowmobile primer bulb because they are less prone to cracking in cold weather, compared to the marine primer bulbs.
 In this case it was something they left installed on the car

[GTD.]

ATF is the Automotive wonder cleaner, next time tou do an oil change dropo a pint of oil out the sump and replace with atf a copule of hundered miles before you change the oil, flushes the engine out really well, as ATF has strong detergents in it