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I bought a glass fuel filter from Summitt so I could see debris etc. I have seen many posts on the forum that say don't use them. What is the main kick against them?
The theory is- you throw a fan belt and it breaks the glass...or a rock flies up and hits it.. you have a wreck and the glass gets smashed or you drive off a cliff then hit the bottom of the canyon (only if you're in a movie) and gas goes spewing out and you have a fire....
The ones I have seen would take a hammer to break them!!!
They are GREAT for troubleshooting (is the fuel pump working? ) and also let you know if there's a bunch of trash coming from your tank or fuel line.
You can be extra safe -cut a short piece of 1" PVC or a section of heater hose to slide over the glass-just in case.
Glass filters tend to leak ... I've had several on old motorcycles and seen lots more ... they do tend to leak. They look good on a bike ... but nobody gonna see it on a car ... as richard says, great for troubleshoot ing ... otherwise a sealed can is best. Oh ... I still have OE type glass filter on an old diesel farm tractor ... it leaks too.
The rubber O-rings in the end caps can shrink and cause a leak. That is what happened to mine. It was parked for a few months and they dried out. I fired it back up and backed out of the garage as it started to leave a trail of gas out on to the floor. I was lucky to catch it before I drove away.
Get a sealed plastic one if you want to see the dirt. I ran those for years and never had a problem.
My insurance company indicates they are not happy with the glass ones due to problems of leakage, breakage etc. and will advise those that have had their cars apprased that they need to change them. No they didn't say they would not cover me if I had a gas fire and it was related to the glass filter but everyone knows how they work. It is a good enough reason for me.
I bought a glass fuel filter from Summitt so I could see debris etc. I have seen many posts on the forum that say don't use them. What is the main kick against them?
I had a glass filter break on my AC Cobra, im telling you, they are little Molotov cocktails. Avoid them like the devil. Thankfully i had a halon fire bottle installed, so other than being terrifying for a min, it was ok. Lot of smoke damage.