Disconnecting fuel filter - Honda Forum / Acura Forum

Curufin · 08-23-2004, 01:35 PM

I have a 94 Integra LS. I am trying to replace my fuel filter and the manual I have says I need to relieve the pressure in the fuel lines first. In order to do this, the manual says to disconnect the electrical connector to the fuel pump, and allow the engine to stall out, thereby emptying the lines, or so I assume. I have found the fuel pump/fuel lvl access cover, and once it was removed, I found a single electrical connector that controls the fuel level gauge. BUT, I have been unable to remove this from its housing, thereby allowing me to gain access to the electrical connector to the fuel pump. Just to double check that the connector I removed was not also for the fuel pump, I allowed the engine to run, and kept it up at 3k for 20-30 sec. just to see if it would stall out, and it did not.

Am I on the right track?? And if so, how do I remove the top cover that is just below the surface of the body, the cover that is under the access cover??? Thx for the help guys.

Curufin · 08-23-2004, 03:16 PM

I found it... The access cover I located which is directly behind the rear seats on the floor is for the fuel lvl sensor ONLY. The access cover for the fuel pump is directly below the rear seats, requiring one to remove both the back of the seats, as well as the bottom. Not too difficult when all said and done. I will post a full walkthru of what I did to replace my fuel filter when finished.

jon · 08-23-2004, 04:23 PM

to relieve pressure in the fuel lines all u really need to do is take off your gas cap. the fuel filter is really easy to change out. you dont need to unhook the fuel pump

Curufin · 08-23-2004, 04:49 PM

I figured as much, but with the pressure in the lines being up to 40 psi, I didnt want to take the chance the the pump keeps the lines under pressure constantly and then have to deal with gas spraying everywhere... *grin

White98LS · 08-23-2004, 09:52 PM

Yeah opening the gas cap is all you really need to do, you'd leak a little gas but not much. After a few minutes of sitting the fuel pressure drops to zero anyway, at least in my car.

Curufin · 08-24-2004, 10:50 AM

Yeah, you guys are probably correct.. I went WAY above and beyond the call of duty on this one.. But now I know how to get get to my fuel pump and when I want to get the interior redone, I dont have to pay someone $$$ to do it, I know how... *grin

For the sake of completeness, im gonna give a walkthru of what I did, maybe this will help someone else down the road....

*** NOTE***
This walkthru is only good for a 94 Integra LS. I cannot garrantee that this will be the same for any other make/model/year, but it is probably close. I cannot accept any responsibility for someone who follows this guide and something goes wrong. Before performing any maintenance work, one should refer to a professional source for completely accurate details on maintenance work. This walkthru is intended for people who are familiar not only with their vehicle, but mechanic work in general.Also, in other posts to this walkthru, it has been stated and verified that to relieve pressure in the fuel system, all you need to do is open the gas tank. I will include the walkthru the process I went thru for the sake of being accurate. Steps 2-6 can be replaced by just removing your gas cap apparently and disconnecting your negative terminal from your battery.

1: Make sure car is cold, makes working on components easy, and safe. Usually allow 2-3 hrs for cool-down, to be sure. Also, anyone who smokes should refrain from smoking around the vehicle for obvious reasons.

.2: Removing the back seats. This is done by pulling off the seatback cover, which is held in place by plastic tabs that press into retaining holes. Just pull on the tabs to remove them. NOTE: dont pull on the cover itself, pull on the tabs. You will damage the cover if you dont. The cover is the cloth that covers the back of the backseats and lays over the panel that is over the spare tire.

3: Push the backseats forward( by pulling up on the latches on the top of the seats, near where they touch the side of the car, it looks like a round tab). This will allow you to get to the retaining clips on the bottom of the seat. These clips sit on the dowel/rod that allows the backseat to pivot. The clips need to be rotated so you can pull them off. At this point, you can "slide" the back of the seat on this rod. Just slide it to one side, and you will see it will fall off one of the two rods that it sits on. Repeat for the other side of the back seat.

4: The bottom of the rear seat is held in by bolt on the backside of the seat. Remove this bolt and lift the bottom of the seat out. There are two tabs in front of the seat that hold it in, when removing, lift the seat out at an angle so you do not damage these tabs.

5: Now you are looking at the bare bottom of the backseat and trunk(if you removed the spare and its particle board cover). There will be two access covers with a electrical connector feeding into the center of the cover. One is smaller than the other. The smaller of the two will be located under some sort of cross-member looking brace that sits directly behind the rear seats. The other one, larger of the two, sits directly below the rear seats. The smaller one gives you access to the fuel lvl gauge. Removing this cover and disconnecting it disables your fuel meter. Dont mess with this cover. The one you want to mess with the larger one located directly under the rear seats. Remove the cover. Inside, you will see where the electrical connecter plugs into, along with 2 fuel lines. This is your fuel pump. Disconnect the fuel pump electrical connector.

6: Turn car on. It will stumble and stall within 20 sec. If not, allow it to run until it does. If the car runs at idle without any noticable change in performance, you have done something wrong. Once it stalls out, disconnect the negative terminal from the battery

7: The fuel filter is located on the firewall, directly next to the battery and a bit behind the intake assembly.

8: On top of the fuel filter is a a series of bolts and a fuel line. The smaller bolt that is threaded into the larger bolt is the service bolt. Its purpose is only for relieving pressure in the fuel system. With a wrench or socket, loosen this bolt to relieve residual pressure. **NOTE** Gas WILL come out of this bolt when you loosen it, so have rags wrapped around the area to catch the fuel.

9: Once the fuel stops flowing, remove the bolt. Next, the larger bolt that houses the service bolt is called a banjo bolt ( apparently, I dunno why). This is what holds the fuel out line to the filter. Remove it along with the fuel line it holds in place. Move the fuel line off to the side. To remove the banjo bolt, use one wrench to hold the top of the filter and another to remove the bolt.

10: The bracket the holds the filter in place is held in place by 3 bolts, all on the firewall. Remove these.

11: Once the bracket is loose, you can now get to the bold that clamps the fuel filter to the bracket. This thing is a pain in the ass to get to, so be prepared for a lot of cramped quarters work. ***NOTE*** The only thing holding the fuel filter to the car at this point is your fuel-in line. If you are too rough with the filter you risk bending this fuel-in line and turning a 30$, 2hr project into much, much more. Be gentle, fuel lines can be fragile.

12: With the clamp removed, the bracket should release from the filter. Now, all thats left to do is remove the fuel-in line. With a flare nut wrench, if available, hold the bolt on the fuel line. With ANOTHER wrench, twist off the filter from the fuel line.

13: Fuel filter should now be free from the car. Installation is in the reverse order.

**NOTES** Make sure that when you buy the new filter, it has 3 washers, 1 smaller, and the other 2 exactly the same. The two that are the same go inbetween the fuel line and the filter, and then inbetween the top of the banjo bolt and the fuel line. This prevents leaks. The last one goes inbetween the service bolt and the banjo bolt.

There ya have it, thats what I did to replace my filter. Big ole' pain in the butt, though it can save you $$$ depending on how much your mechanic wants to charge ya. All in all, took me about 4 hrs from start to finish ( have not put the seats back in yet though) and this is with me stumbling thru it.

If anyone has something to add, correct, or berrate me about, feel free.

References: Haynes Repair Manual Honda Civic & CR-V Acura Integra by Larry Haynes, Alan Ahlstrand, and John H. Haynes. cc - Haynes North America Inc. 2001. Publisher - Haynes Publishing Group.
pgs: 1-29, 1-30, 4-4, 4-7, 4-8, 11-19, 11-20

White98LS · 08-24-2004, 11:42 AM

Awesome, thanks a lot for writing that up! You get rep points.

Curufin · 08-24-2004, 12:10 PM

Woot! Thx man..

Cautela · 08-29-2004, 03:29 AM

I don't remember it being that hard, it took me like 30min and it was my first time...
All you gotta do is:
1.unscrew the gas cap
2.disconnect the battery
3.carefully disasemble the fuel line bolts on top of the filter
4.loosen the fuel pipe bolt under the filter
5.remove the 1 clamp bolt to losen the filter (no need to remove clamp)
6.remove old filter
7.reverse for installation
One thing I would like to add to this procedure is that when you go to turn your car on wait for the system check to run (turn ignition to position 2), some people don't do this and could have problems, doing this pressurizes the fuel system.

Nice thechnical walkthru though.

CRVTEC0WNZJ00 · 08-29-2004, 03:53 AM

I'll stick it for all the poor other people that need the help so they don't have to search. Anyway...props, thought you were changing out the fuel pump I was gonna say have fun dropping the gas tank.

Curufin · 08-29-2004, 04:24 PM

Yeah, in hind-sight, I did this about the longest way one could... But, in all honesty, if I were to go back thru it now that I have done it, it wouldnt take me but 1 hr do it... its really simple, even with the procedure I used.. I was mostly stumbling in the dark for most of it....

As for the clamp bolt, I was unable to access my bolt because the head of it was hidden by the bracket and the firewall, making it necessary to pull the bracket off first.. This might just be a aftermarket bracket someone installed on this car at one point, im not sure.. Again, this is also only for a 94 LS, I cant garrantee it would/will be the same for another make/year of Integra...

Cautela · 08-29-2004, 09:43 PM

Yeah I have a '94 LS as well, this procedure is the same/similar for all Integras 94-00, Civics 96-00, and CR-Vs 97-00...

acuradriva · 12-26-2004, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRVTEC0WNZJ00

I'll stick it for all the poor other people that need the help so they don't have to search. Anyway...props, thought you were changing out the fuel pump I was gonna say have fun dropping the gas tank.

You don't have to drop the tank on a gen 3 to change the fuel pump. Just another reason gen 3's > gen 2's

CRVTEC0WNZJ00 · 12-28-2004, 12:34 AM

You're right they have an access panel under the seat. Didn't find that out until a few months ago. EG's also have this good quality.

95db8 · 12-22-2005, 11:04 AM

i just replaced my fuel filter for the first time on any car, took me about 20 mins and i still made it in time for my dentist appointment even who i smelled like gasoline.