How many fuel filters is too many?

[ProbablyNotIan]

Long story short:

Tank has needed resealed the entire 7+ years I’ve owned the van. I did it earlier this summer.

2 full tanks through and it clogged the fuel filter.

Replaced it and within a day the next fuel filter (fresh tank of gas) appears to also be clogged.

Going to pick up another in the morning and validate…but did I miss a step somewhere? Do I need to just run more gas though or do I dump the tank and start over?
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The Brown Van

Senior Platform Engineer | USSF Grassroots Educator | USSF National C License

[Stinky123]

I built a rail oncst....the gas tank was out of Freon tanks. It clogged the inline fuel filter and clogged a low-point in the line. I changed the filter and it seemed to run fine.

The line ran, Tank, Inline Filter, Pump, Carb's filter. The next time I took the carb apart, it had rust flakes in the carb....hmm. The carb had a filter that screwed on to the inlet. IOW, the flakes went through 2 filters to get inside the carb.

I don't remember it needing more filters, or not. But, I remember that a bunch of junk came out of them. It was reuse them, or put it back on the trailer. We ran the dunes that day.

On my Suburban....somehow it got sand inside the tank. Coming back from a 800 mile trip, I changed the filter in Phoenix in an Autozone parking lot. Then, when we got home, it needed it again, and then I think again....so, 3 filters in no time at all. I pulled the tank and that cured it.

[syncrodoka]

Q= How many filters per mile is too many?
Time for a new tank

[AndyBees]

OP, have you dissected the filters to see what's inside?

If the tank is rusty inside, well, the best action is to replace the tank.

Generally road debris that's kicked-up from rain that enters the tank with bad seals will settle and gradually be filtered out as it is stirred-up each time you fill-up at the service station.

So, what are you seeing inside those filters?
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'84 Vanagon Tin-top, ALH TDI, two trips to Alaska, 2014 & 16. 1989 Tin-top unmolested.
1983 Air-cool, 225k miles, 180k miles mine, seven trips to Alaska from 1986 thru 2003. 1975 Bay hopeful.

[DanHoug]

if the tank sealant hasn't covered up the fine mesh screen over the tank outlet, then it probably hasn't covered other areas too. best to go to a new tank and chalk this one up for tuition to the School of Hard Knocks. i still haven't earned my own degree yet.
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-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[dobryan]

New tanks are cheap. Go with a new tank.
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2010 Subaru EJ25 (Vanaru) and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[Abscate]

If you have three, you have two, too many.

-Charles Bronson
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[MayorMcCheese]

Are they clogged with rust or are they clogged with "sealant"?

[ProbablyNotIan]

[ProbablyNotIan]

[?Waldo?]

I've replaced several Vanagon fuel tanks without the use of a lift and on a gravel driveway. A lift is not remotely a sine qua non for fuel tank replacement.

Come to think of it, I have done pretty much every possible 2WD Vanagon repair procedure (including engine conversions) without the use of a lift. Lifts are nice, but it can all be done without one.

[ProbablyNotIan]

[MarkWard]

This step is often missed, but when I have a vehicle with contaminated fuel, I leave the return disconnected so that any bad fuel remaining in the system is not returned to the tank. Once the fuel is clean returning, I connect the return at the tank.

Also, the most common entry point for contamination that you really can't see is the fuel expansion tanks in the top of the front fender wells on a 2wd. If you haven't dropped them and resealed them recently, likely dirt and water are getting into the fuel tank from them. You can wash them out once removed.

How many fuel filters? One on the inlet and one on the outlet of the pump should be more than adequate as long as you have the contamination under control, which it sounds like you don't at this point. A new tank should be squeaky clean and remain that way.

Don't use the trust gas can you have in the shed for your lawn mower, chainsaw, weedeater or your neighbor's can. I've seen more than one person contaminate their fuel system off of a dirty fuel can.

[dobryan]

I have done two tank replacements. Neither with a lift. It can be done, and it was not too painful.

You may need a friend with long skinny arms...
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2010 Subaru EJ25 (Vanaru) and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[?Waldo?]

Dunno... My arms aren't skinny but never found it particularly difficult.

[AndyBees]

Now we know that you're talking about the vent seals (not internal coating/sealing).

What Mark Ward said relating to the expansion tanks above each front wheel is definitely worth looking into.

Since I have a garage with a concrete floor, I put my Van on jack stands and use a motorcycle jack to lower and/or remove the fuel tank.

I do agree, long skinny arms can get the job done without removing the tank. Vaseline makes putting the vent pipes back in place much easier.

Side note: many of you know, in 1992, I coated the inside of the tank in my 83 Vanagon. At the time, I had no clue there were screens inside. It did just fine until I mothballed it in 2005. I did my 8N Ford tractor fuel tank at the same time... still coated nice inside (over 30 years ago).
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'84 Vanagon Tin-top, ALH TDI, two trips to Alaska, 2014 & 16. 1989 Tin-top unmolested.
1983 Air-cool, 225k miles, 180k miles mine, seven trips to Alaska from 1986 thru 2003. 1975 Bay hopeful.

[ProbablyNotIan]

[jlrftype7]

[Wildthings]

We need to know what filter you have, the early Vanagons used to small cube filter that was badly undersized and clogged easily and for my 83 1/2 that meant carrying a box full of them when we traveled very far from home. The later Vanagons used a much larger filter after the pump that in normal operation seldom needs to be replaced, like once ever 100K miles or even more. It's not hard to swap from the early style filter to the later one. WIX sells a filter screen that can be used as a prefilter for the pump if you go to the later style filter. The part number is hidden on some 5'ish year old Samba post.

[MarkWard]

I may not have been clear above. 1 fuel filter is stock. Early vans had the filter before the pump. Later vans had the filter after the pump.

If I had a contaminated fuel system and my filter was after the pump stock, I’d temporarily add one in front of the pump to avoid running crap through the pump while you clean the contamination.

The goal is to have a system with clean fuel. I don’t know the reason VW changed the design. I suppose they wanted to catch metal particles from the pump wearing out vs preserving the pump by filtering fuel before the pump. The after filter had quite a bit more surface area than the pre filter which could extend the service life.