Yes will do.
Some more characters…
I was thinking about these, Aristides,
but never got to buying them. Are these the ones you found flimsy?
I’m just using transparent throw-away plastic Mahle filters similar to this one
Every once in a year I open the fuel pump compartment, check for their looks and am happy not to have to replace them.
Best
Jochen
75 XJ6L 4.2 auto (UK spec)
1 Like
Yes, very similar.
Also very hard to find for 12mm hose.
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There is some merit to robust filters, Jochen - if they break/leak there is no stopping the content of the tank emptying into the boot…
Not that there is any great danger, they are well protected - but inspections, as you do, are certainly warranted for frail ones…
Frank
xj6 85 Sov Europe (UK/NZ)
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I think he was referring to the fact that they are transparent. He looks to see if they’ve collected too much dirt.
Which is the inherent advantage of see-through filters, of course, Kirbert - but plastics tend to deteriorate over time…
Frank
xj6 85 Sov Europe (UK/NZ)
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Pardon my doubt.
Is it Brand B vs brand X in snake oils ?
Carl…
Not quite Carl, as fuel filters are generally accepted to serve a good purpose in our cars - too many series Jags have fallen victim to fuel issues in the past, and many could have been avoided, had the pumps not been clogged up or simply a developing rust issue in the tanks been noticed.
But I agree, the discussion is a bit like “which tooth brush is the best?” if you brush three times a day anyhow 
Best
Jochen
XJ6L 4.2 auto (UK spec)
Carl wasn’t talking about filters.
Here are some pictures of the said filters.
.
All aluminium.
The filter screen is a thick hard bronze-like material and very easy to clean.
The washer is a magnet and comes with the filter, an added bonus.
1 Like
Thanks! I once owned an Oldsmobile with a glass bowl fuel filter containing an element like that. We ran that car out of gas twice, it was dreadfully hard to get it going again, apparently the pump wouldn’t prime – dunno if that had anything to do with that element or not. Had to pour gas down the intake to get it to fire up for a few seconds before it would start pumping its own fuel.
I do wonder if this filter has the flow capacity one would expect of a 1/2" fuel line.
Thanks, Kirbert … failed to notice the addressee of Carl’s posting.
Sorry, Carl! And you’re totally right of course!
Enjoy the week end
Jochen
75 XJ6L 4.2 auto (UK spec)
Sintered bronze. I would be dubious to put it in a suction line, regardless of volume. The ~2.7 liter Corvair 6 uses one of these at each of 2-4 carbies. I don’t think the surface area is enough to reliably supply 4.2 liters, even on the output side of the pump. IMHO.
IIRC, those sintered bronze filter elements allow fuel to pass right through but get obstructed by water. Anyone else heard something like that? Like, the water gets stuck in the pores. Easy enough to test if you have one in your hand, I guess. Once you let it dry out, it goes back to working fine.
Thing is, any restriction to flow here would be disastrous. If it causes the engine to stall, that’s bad enough. If it doesn’t cause the engine to stall but just to run a bit lean at WOT, that would be much worse, as the pistons would suffer. All of this is why I strenuously recommend getting that OEM pickup screen outta there, as you can never be sure it’s not getting partially obstructed by rust particles or whatnot in the surge tank.
But the point of getting that pickup screen outta there would be defeated if you replace it with something worse! Just to be sure, I think I’d disconnect the fuel line in the engine compartment somewhere, direct it into a gas can, and hotwire the pump and measure the flow. If the flow is within spec, the filter has enough capacity, just keep it clean and no worries.
I’m sure there’s a spec somewhere on how much fuel flow this car should have.
Disastrous it would be to say the least.
The car is running like this for some years now.
When I had briefly installed an aftermarket el-cheapo pump I had problems with slight cavitation.
The original Bosch pump I had before and and the Turbine Bosch I installed later seam to be working fine though, never had problems of fuel starvation, albeit hard to detect at WOT.
I will see what kind of test I could devise to test the flow and report back.
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Bear in mind the difference in fuel flow with carbs versus EFI, Kirbert. With the first the fuel flow through the pump varies with engine consumption - with EFI the pump is always working at full capacity, only the return varies with engine load. No return; insufficient capacity/delivery or faulty fuel pressure regulator - minimal pump flow variations with engine consumption. An since clogging filters will restrict flow the in-tank filter with its large area is less susceptible to clogging it will add little to resistance - and will protect the in-line filters against clogging…
As an aside; carbs are more sensitive to water ingress, and I suspect the main fuel filter in the EFI takes care of water…
Frank
xj6 85 Sov Europe (UK/NZ)
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If only they actually succeeded in doing so. Unfortunately, my own '83 suffered this very problem, and I replaced the fuel pump before I found the cause.
Ok, I’ve done some semi-scientific tests with the fuel filters.
As I didn’t want to mess wit gasoline I did them with water, plenty around and it doesn’t stink!
I’ve set up the garden hose.
By a quirk of fate the orifice of the hose connector is 9mm, exactly the same diameter as the filter hole.
So, pressure being equal, hole diameter the same, it would be easy to see the difference with and without the filter.
.
As you can see the flow is impresive.
The distance that the water got injected (same angle):
Without the filter: 4.9m
With the filter: 4.1m
There was a reduction of about 15%
I measured the flow of the garden hose set-up, it took 26sec to fill a bucket of about 14Lt, which, if my math is correct, translates to approximately 1.900 Lt/hour.
The flow with the filter fell to about 1.500Lt/hour.
I don’t know the exact pressure of the water system, but considering that the fuel pump specs are 195Lt/hour at 3 bar me thinks that those filters can handle that very easily.
Out of curiosity I also tested the glass filters that I had before.
These filters have a 5mm hole, they were meant for 10mm hose, and had them in the car for some time with no obvious problems.
As you can see, the flow is pathetic compared to the other filters, the water distance was a meagre 2.2m and the pressure build up was so great the water was spewing from all joints…
Still debating though if I should install both filters, and if only one then which one?
Any comments are welcome.
7 Likes
Aristides, you’re just great!
Anynone else with a similarly fun and creative Sun afternoon? - I highly doubt it!
You might get used to watering your lawn with filtered water now - btw, do we have any evidence about the filtering capacity of the various types? … Maybe next week end!
Best
Jochen
75 XJ6L 4.2 auto (UK spec)
1 Like
I don’t understand this. One is obviously restrictive, don’t use it! And even if it weren’t restrictive, why use two?