vtdog wrote:
I think I am missing the point on the extra filtration. The oem filter is certainly more than adequate for the CRD. I realize that the micron size passage is larger than some would like, but clearly with the volume of fuel in the system, very small particles will have a hard time accumulating to cause problems. If they are not dislodged it will be a very long time (mileage wise) before there are problems with the fuel system.
In addition, if problems occur from bad fuel, or air in line, etc. it is easy to spin off the OEM and replace, or tighten down to seat the gasket, etc.
So, as I said, I guess I'm missing the point. As I have said before, and will continue to say: its just a car. If you think you have to baby it by buying special oil, special filters, and making sure its bottom is powdered then you should get another car. Its a Jeeep for gods sake. Drive it, get rid of it, but don't whine about it
If you're in an area where you're always sure of getting good fuel, you're right, it should be more than adequate. But since last September, I've had 2 clogged fuel filters from fuel I've bought WITHIN 10 MILES OF HOME. And we also seem to have a local problem with water, possibly because this area is supplied by one or more pipelines from the Gulf that were contaminated because of last year's weather, or perhaps just old underground tanks.
If you only have one very fine filter in the system, and you get a bad tank of fuel, I'll tell you what happens - you're stopped butt cold on the side of the road when that filter clogs. And unless you have a spare filter and the tools in the back to change it out, you're going to be calling a tow truck.
Easy to change the OEM filter?
What planet are you from? Maybe if you're sitting inside a nice warm dry garage with all the necessary equipment at hand and have an hour or so to kill, but I'd sure as hell hate to try doing it on a cold rainy night at a rest area, or worse yet on the shoulder of a busy road. It was fun enough doing it in my driveway on a warm sunny day, $35 for the filter and $50 worth of swearing. Even if all I wanted to do was to drain it down and check for water, I have to crawl underneath the beast just so I can see to unplug the blasted harness from the water sensor. I had to disconnect both fuel lines and both electrical harnesses to get enough room to swing a strap wrench to get the bloody thing off. I'd hate to see your definition of "hard".
The problem isn't that the filter is too coarse and lets small particles thru. Just the opposite. The problem is that you only have ONE filter with very small openings (ie, a fine filter) that will clog in a heartbeat if you get a tank of fuel with a lot of crap in it, and is a PITA to replace and expensive to boot.
The idea is to have a coarse, cheap, easy to replace filter upstream of the OEM filter, to stop the large chunks and prolong the life of that fine, expensive, PITA OEM filter, letting it concentrate on stopping the small particles. If you'd read thru the article in the one link, you would have seen that such an arrangement could easily double the service life of the OEM filter, not to mention prolong the life of the injectors, fuel pump, and other components.
In my case, I didn't buy a "special" filter. This was one I already had sitting on the shelf for eventual install on another vehicle. After seeing what a joy it was to change out the factory filter, on the spur of the moment I grabbed this aftermarket filter and added it in. Now it takes all of 10 minutes to drain/change out the aftermarket filter, reprime the fuel system, and be ready to roll again, not to mention that a replacement only costs $12 compared to $35 or better for the factory filter. In addition, the aftermarket filter has a nice solid metal old style radiator type drain valve on the bottom, compared to the plastic disc and thin rubber gasket on the factory filter.
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Do our filters have a drain in the bottom of the filter for water? Some late 80's vw's had water seperators under the car back by the tank but they stopped putting them on.