Since my stalling issue....is still an issue and the TPS / Spark Plugs failed to fix the problem, my next recourse was my PCV Valve and Fuel Filter. PCV's been replaced, and while attempting the Fuel Filter I decided short of removing my intake manifold there's no way I'm getting to the clamp on the bottom hose going into the filter.

Now, my only choice is to take it to a dealer, and yesterday my friend took his there to replace his rear brake pads ( I he would have come to me first) and they charged him $250, I'm afraid of a quote for a Fuel Filter.

Are there any tricks? Any magic button I can press to make the fuel filter rise out of the bay? Or should I just take everything off to get to it?

 

All you have to do is slide the fuel filter off of the holding bracket and turn the fuel filter and hose to where you can have acces to the screw to loosen the filter.

 

It's only turning so far, the top is conceivable for me to get off, but the bottom there's no way. I tried pulling it up but the bottom hose has it ***hered down, I already pulled it out of the bracket and the moving is nice but its only working for the top

 

Hmm, Ive never really had thatmcuh of an issue getting to the clamp. Getting the hose to release the filter yes, but loosening the clamp wasnt that big of a deal. Can you get to the clamp that is holding the rubber line to the hardline from underneath? If so, just loosen it from there and take out that whole assembly. It wouldnt be a bad idea to replace all of the rubber line any ways, with new rubber line you can give yourself some extra slack so that next time when you pull the filter out of its brace, there will be plenty of slack to acces both hose clamps.

 

I'll take a picture tomorrow and show you exactly what I'm talking about, there's literally no room, I can't fit my hand to even touch the bottom hose. What is the structure right in front of the fuel filter? it has a bunch of solid metal lines coming out of it.

Removing the breather hose and rubber hose from my CAI's midpipe -> IACV gave me some more room, but still very little. If I replaced the rubber hosing, how much do you think I'd need?

I'm also starting to think my problem is my fuel pump, I only get the stalling while out of gear (Fuel pump not active) and when I disconnected the 15amp fuse (#32 - Fuel Pump) and started the engine to release pressure from my fuel lines I noticed it acted the same way it did normally, maybe a little worse.

 

Most likely the ABS actuator, should sit right about there.

With mine, I had to use a 90 degree screwdriver (with phillips and flat head on opposite ends) to get the lower clamp loose.

 

Yeah I'm using a 90 degree screwdriver to get the top clamp loose

 

make sure to pull the fuel pump fuse and crank the car over a couple times to limit the amount of gas thats about to spray all over the engine bay. it shouldnt be hard work. i replaced mine when i first started school and didnt know sh*t about cars. took me about 15-20mins.

edit: nevermind. didnt see you said u did that.

im not sure for your case, but theres a car at my school w/ a bad fuel pump, and you can start it as long as youre holding the pedal down, but as soon as u let off to let it idle it dies. sound familiar to you?

 

nope it just sputters a lot and has an uneasy idle while the pedal's up. Basically it's like this:

If it's in gear it will never stall

If I push in the clutch or move it to neutral (i.e. take it out of gear) the RPM's will usually drop to about 400 and the lights will dim and it will catch itself and either:

1. After catching itself it will rev high to 1,500RPM's, then after 2 seconds it will drop to exactly 1,000RPM's, and then back to about 600.

or

2. hesitate around 4-500 and then drop and stall

or

3. Not even hesitate and just drop to around 650, normal idling

It's just REALLY AGGRAVATING and slightly dangerous when I'm tooling along and I take it out of gear in a turn and all of a sudden I lose my power steering. Also on a side note, is popping the clutch bad? Sometimes I get lazy with the key and just put it back in gear and let the clutch up and its a bit of a hard start but it starts right back up.

 

after taking out the intake, and even with abs i was able to get my arms down in there. i used a short screwdriver get the clamps undone. then its just a pain to hold onto the filter and pull the hoses off.

you can try taking a flathead screwdriver and put it between the filter and the hose and run it around to set it free, and/or use that flathead to stick between the hose and filter then try to pry it off, just to get it started.

if nothing works theres always cutting the hose. if i were to cut the hose, i would just trim a small amount on that is still over the filter barb, then pull, to see if that would set it free, so you still have slack in the hose, and not loosing like 2 inches by just completely cutting out the filter

 

I'm thinking about cutting the hoses and just re-doing the hosing, new hoses would give me more slack for next time anyway, as pointed out by flava.

But as for the symptoms up top, anyone else have this problem before/fix it? So far I've tried TPS, Spark Plugs, and PCV Valve. If the Fuel Filter doesn't work my next options are going to be ETS and KS. Then I'm out of ideas except for Fuel Pump and Fuel injectors.

 

if you mean ECTS by ETS, then you can test it using the method laid out in the FSM pg. EC-132 and beyond.

KS can also be checked with the method in the FSM pg. EC-240

i'm assuming you've pulled codes somewhere along the line, but KS and ECTS both can throw codes.

as of late seems like a couple people have had fuel delivery problems and have opened up the fuel tank when its just about empty and pulled up the "sock" filter for the fuel pump in the bottom of the tank and cleaned it out which has helped their problem. thats worth a look just to see if theres any thing on it. it wont cost you anything, unless you put a new gasket in, but i'm not sure if thats required when you open up the tank.

 

Have you considered that it may be the IACV? It wouldnt hurt to remove it and clean it out.

 

Did you de-pressurize the fuel system before trying to take the hoses off?

 

Does it make a difference to use a Z's fuel filter over a Maxima filter? Would that make any difference at all? They push the same engine, so I figured there had to be some advantage in that...

 

Yes, I meant ECTS sorry about that. I've already cleaned my IACV and my TB, I'm going replace my air filter as well, or at least check and clean it. I'll probably leave the ECTS for last since I'm doubting that's the problem, no real correlation to fuel delivery, right?


And yes I de-pressurized the fuel lines

 

No, and if it does the gain is so minute that it wouldn't even be recognized. Also note that 350z's don't have fuel filters.

 

Many people use the filter for the 300z, there quite larger and are believed to last longer.

 

No advantage to the Z filter. Just holds more crap. to remove the clamp, get a stubby flathead. loosen it until it is way down the line. to get the hose off, use the same flathea and break the seal at the start of the line where it mets the filter. put it on, and twist it to break the seal. after that, twist the filter to get it out. same goes for the top. a little tight to work it but its doable. just dont cut the line like others have suggested in the past. you will find yourself with a major headache the next time a filter change is due.

 

Being that the 300z filter is larger, would it fit into the bracket that suspends our filters? And there's already very little amount of room, so why would anyone use it?

 

Am I physically breaking something? Or just breaking it loose? The new fuel I have didn't come with any new seals, I presumed it was just hoses and clamps

 

the z filter will fit in the bracket but will probably pop loose if you hit a bump. you are breaking the seal between the rubber hose and the filter. you arent literally breaking anything.

 

I'll re-attempt removing this, this afternoon. Also when i remove pressure from the fuel lines, after removing the fuel pump fuse, should I crank the engine till it simply won't start? or just start it a couple times and let it die?

 

I popped the top hose off first cause it was easier to get at, then pulled the filter out of the bracket, twisted it until i could get the bottom clamp, pulled the bottom clamp down and twisted the filter until it free'd up

 

Just crank it a little to get the pressure out. Over 15 seconds total for cranking is bad for the starter. More time after 15 seconds you risk frying your starter. Crank it for a few seconds and it should be fine. Fuel filter is not a hard replace. If you still cant break the seal then cut the hose.

 

The Z32 filter requires changing out at 24K miles, A32 filter needs to be changed out at 15K.
http://forums.maxima.org/showpost.ph...37&postcount=2

My Z32 filter fit fine in the bracket, its tight but fits and I do not foresee it "popping out".

 

man i had the same problem when i replaced mine that s*** was hard *** hell for a simple little fuel filter the problem you are having is that the hoses are all seized on to the fuel filter so you have to cut the hose off it will be hard and you will get cuts. good luck.......... just dont blow your self up

 

It's not cranking so much because when ever I do it, it will just turn on and die. Doesn't crank at all, maybe 1-2 sec before it starts. But it consistently starts so I can't really have it crank to release pressure...

 

What are you talking about? With the correct fuse out the car should not start up. It will start and die and then you crank for a few seconds.

 

I found it easier to get to the filter after I removed the air box and MAF. Then I could get right to it. I did the top hose, then the bottom hose and broke the seal with a flathead screwdriver.

I would also recommend changing the ECTS if the fuel filter does not fix your stalling problems.

 

Aw, I failed then. I removed fuse #32, it's blue and a 15 amp fuse. According to the little diagram on the panel its for the fuel pump. Is it the wrong one?

 

its the fuse labeled fuel pump. Thats it. But once it's out the car will start and die. Then you crank and it should not restart. Not sure how that can be done wrong.

 

I've been having some trouble with fuel lately too. I think I may have gotten a bad tank of gas. Anyway about the fuel filter.....I ended up just cutting the hose and replacing it all. I left plenty of slack cause I'm running some injector cleaner through it and plan to open the tank and clean the "sock" this weekend. After that i'll probly run another tank of gas thru it and replace the filter again.

 

why would you spend more money to replace a new filter?

 

Good thinking. I did the same thing and ripped out the oem hose and filter and ran new lines from the metal supply line under the car up to the supply side fuel rail. I also bypassed the metal fuel lines running with the vacuum gallery because it was too hard to screw around with and it's not necessary.
Actually I bypassed all the short metal supply and return lines under the hood.

Now you can install a new fuel filter under the hood or near the tank under the car where the metal fuel line changes back to rubber and you can use any EFI type of fuel filter your heart desires!

 

What does the fuel filter affect ?

besides making sure there is no crap going into the engine

does it affect fuel economy or performance or something else ?

 

Mostly just fuel flow. A dirty filter will effect gas mileage but it will not effect power. A bigger filter doesn't give better power.

 

How exactly does it affect fuel economy ? when the filter is full of crap it slows down the fuel flow. Would that not increase fuel economy when compared to a clean fuel filter ?

 

Causes a loss in engine efficiency, therefore requiring more fuel in order to compensate.

 

im gona have my fuel filter replaced by a shop to ease the pain