TomH
New Member
- Joined
- September 13, 2011
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Deltona, FL
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1998 Explorer Limited
This morning, I crawled under my 1998 Limited (225K miles, engine replaced about a year ago) to change the fuel filter using one of the plastic tools to quick-disconnect the lines. That part went okay and I managed to avoid a drenching. The lines have metal clips tethered onto them that were easy enough to them and they were in pretty good shape. The filter I was replacing the old one with is a Fram.
The filter itself was a challenge to remove, but with a bit of a struggle and a string of colorful metaphors it came out. The new one was even harder to put back in. I lined it up correctly with the convex side toward the gas tank and the concave side toward the engine.
I put the quick connects on front and back and heard a click each time. I tried to pull them off (not too hard) and both were firmly attached. I reattached the clips although I don't really believe they do much good.
Once that was finished, I applied some gas pedal and was rewarded by fuel leaking from the fuel tank side. I removed it again and re-installed the fitting and the clip, but the leaking happened again. Finally, I took a closer look and it appears that there is some stuff inside the quick connect on the engine side that I'm not seeing on the fuel tank side. The missing "stuff" makes the read fitting loose and causes it to leak.
Is there a way to repair the quick connect fitting, or am I looking at having to replace that 9-12" of flexible fuel line between the steel line and the filter? Is that even realistic for an amateur repair?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
The filter itself was a challenge to remove, but with a bit of a struggle and a string of colorful metaphors it came out. The new one was even harder to put back in. I lined it up correctly with the convex side toward the gas tank and the concave side toward the engine.
I put the quick connects on front and back and heard a click each time. I tried to pull them off (not too hard) and both were firmly attached. I reattached the clips although I don't really believe they do much good.
Once that was finished, I applied some gas pedal and was rewarded by fuel leaking from the fuel tank side. I removed it again and re-installed the fitting and the clip, but the leaking happened again. Finally, I took a closer look and it appears that there is some stuff inside the quick connect on the engine side that I'm not seeing on the fuel tank side. The missing "stuff" makes the read fitting loose and causes it to leak.
Is there a way to repair the quick connect fitting, or am I looking at having to replace that 9-12" of flexible fuel line between the steel line and the filter? Is that even realistic for an amateur repair?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
