Should my inline fuel filter be full of fuel? - 1.8 carb.

I've heard conflicting things on this, but the fuel filter on my 1.8 carb is only half full when running, is this how it should be?

I read that since there is an fuel vapour separator later in the line, the this isn't a problem because the air is removed and sent back to the tank.
The car has been braking down recently, feels like fuel starvation, and I thought I was on to something with this, but maybe not.. cf_emoticons__BangHead:

My inline fuel filter is normally only 1/2 full same as your's.

1/2 for me too :-)

I guess that's good news and bad, now I'm back to square one, but at least that's not part of the problem..

Hi,
i've currently got a similar problem thought it was fuel starvation, checked tank thru inspection hole under back seat (nice and clean) although i changed the filler neck cos it was showing signs of rust. Changed fuel filter on end of sender unit and in-line filter in engine bay together with mechanical fuel pump to no avail. New plugs and weber conversion only carried out in January so brand new so is now booked in for a good old fashioned Crypton tune on Tuesday and hopefully if this sorts out the problem i will let you know and it might help you as well. By the way mine starts and idles perfectly but has an intermittent fault where on occasions it tries to splutters and stall when pulling away.

Cheers

Docc    

Now I'm no expert but I just had a 1.5 GX and it had the filler neck issues and rust in the tank, so sorted that first but the intermittent stalling was down to needing new points and condenser on the dizzy. £7 and it was fixed.

my 1.8 clipper hasn't got any points but i'm going to try a new rotor arm and condenser tomorrow and if that's a cheap fix, i will say cheers to you and cancel the Crypton tune.  

You won't have a condenser either, just get the rotor arm and new dizzy cap.

As I said I'm no expert just trying to help.

My mate who is an ex vw mechanic just got me to go through the ignition sys first.

Plugs, leads, dizzy, rotor, condenser and points if u have them, coil etc

Luckily the condenser and points were the answer.

It's worth taking the inspection cover off the fuel tank again and having a look at the brown plastic pickup tube on the end of the level sensor assembly. The holes in it are tiny and mine was clogged up with small bits of debris - since clearing it out it's been running fine.

Previously it was cutting out / losing power whenever the tank wasn't brim-full, so it's worth a try

Stone

mine to ( 89 clipper) but i have a similar intermittent problem; drives great most of the time then out of the blue the engine will just die and stop due to fuel starvation-inline fuel filter totally empty.
tank all cleaned out along with pick up filter. car fitted with weber carb.
on the times its happened ive filled fuel line to pump via a syringe reconnected line and the car runs fine again………

Have you tried fitting a restriction in the return line from the vapour separator to the fuel tank? Made a little difference to mine - the theory being that the fuel sees a lower-pressure path from the input to the separator straight to the return output, so takes that route and starves the carb. I stuck a 0.8mm welding tip in the return line to raise the pressure at that point and preferentially feed the carb.




Biggest difference for mine was in checking and tightening all the joints from the inlet manifold all the way to the air inlet pipe. A loose carb flange or adapter plate (on top of the carb) will give you a vacuum leak under load that will cause weird fuelling effects…

Stone

thanks for the reply but i dont have the return to tank(its plugged off), assumin it was done by previous owner  when carb was fitted.( or do you mean the unit under the rear o/s arch).fitted new carb flange previously so on the same wave length! just dont understand why i can drive 30+ miles sometimes with no issue the next problem occurs after a few miles.id say its only happened 5 times in the 4 years ive had the car…..