Fuel Filter II

I last swapped a fuel filter up in Idaho Falls in September. You can click here to read all about that episode. Today was "the day" to swap one out for SuziQ. As I said in the post below about the Air Filter, I could win money betting that a stock Zuki would need a new fuel filter. It seems since they are out of sight, they are equally out of mind. Frankly, it's very annoying but it's reality when dealing with old stock Zukis.

I got a decent deal on a NAPA Gold filter. It's actually a WIX. The price was about $6.50 before tax. As noted in the slide show above, it seems that fuel filters are getting smaller and smaller as the years go by. Maybe that's how they maintain their price point--just shrink the filter. (Click here if you can't load the slideshow.)

Here's the good news and the bad news about today's episode. Good News: I got the new filter in place. Bad News: I destroyed my digital camera in the process. So, even though the filter cost was about seven bucks "out the door," the job cost me Big Bucks!

The nice thing about working on Zukis is that they keep you real honest and humble. They have a way of showing you just how stupid you really are. You might get to thinking how smart you are but a Zuki will never let you down--it will always find a way to point out your own shortcomings to you. That's just one of many reasons why I love the little buggers so danged much. THEY ROCK!

Well, anyway, I actually thought my way through a lot of stuff beforehand this time around and I didn't get covered with too much gas. The camera got the bulk of the free flowing fossil fuel. Also, I had a real "DUH" kind of moment today. Next time around I am going to clamp the incoming line. Gee, what a novel idea, eh? If I had a dunce cap, I would put it on now while I write this post and feel right smart proud of myself.

I am determined to get a LOT better at swapping fuel filters. Some day in the not too distant future, I wanna be able to swap one without getting spewed with gas or destroying my camera. Man, if I ever do, I'm gonna throw one helluva party!

Cheers, jp

PS--Since this post was written, we've learned a lot more about the right way to mess with fuel filters. Harbor Freight sells a fuel line removal tool as well as the right type of fuel line clamps.  We are definitely going to use those for now on.  Meanwhile, we learned on the Off Road forum about trick.  You put in a 6 mm stud in the frame nut.  Then you don't have to fiddle around trying to get the tiny 6mm bolt to thread into that small nut.  You simply slide on the filter flange and then throw on a lock washer and a nut.  I suppose I would double nut it just for grins.  Once we adopt these techniques, it would seem that swapping a fuel filter will be real casual.  But I'm gonna keep my camera out of the picture just in case!

Air filter

I almost always win money with this bet--"If you just bought a stock Zuki, I'll betcha yer air filter needs replaced."  Only one of the 5 running Zukis we've bought defied this bet.  I suspect the seller swapped out that filter to keep me from seeing things he wished I wouldn't know about.

Any used Zuki air filter can tell you a lot about an engine.  Luckily, the Zuki we just bought apparently hasn't been abused but it still needed a new air filter.  I'm guessing the last filter change was at least 20000 or more miles ago.  I like to change 'em at least once a year and, preferably twice.  If we've been driving in heavy, fine dust then I might swap out the air filter right after such a trip.  Engines need to breath clean air just like we do.

Normally, I'd pick up whatever's on the rack at Auto Zone, Checker or Wally World (AZ/C/WW).  This time around none of those three had a Zuki air filter in stock.  The Auto Zone guy even said they were no longer stock the item and it had to be ordered.  Well, I figured I could get one from NAPA.  Sure enough, I wuz right!  Surprise!  It was cheaper than they normally have been at AZ/C/WW.  The pre-tax price was $8.77.

It's an Altrom 360-3502 and it replaced a Carquest 88235.  The Korean Altrom is clearly built beefier than the USA Carquest model.  I like the metal rings on both top and bottom of the filter.  I did a little research on Altrom.  You can click here for their website.  It looks like they are based in Auburn, WA, and do biz with parts manufacturers 'round the globe.  Until today, I'd never heard of them.  You can access their Samurai parts catalog on their website.  I'm gonna do some checking into their reputation and report back what I find.

PS--If the slide show won't load, click here to see the pix one-by-one.

SuziQ

We got this one a couple days after Christmas 2010.  Picked it up in Maricopa, Arizona, for $2000.  It's a good bone stock rig.  We put it right out on the freeway and drove clean through the heart of Phoenix afternoon rush hour that day.  It ticked right nice at 60-65 mph the whole way.  It bogged down up by Sunset Point--I think the carb needs a high altitude adjustment but we still got 27 mpg for the 134 miles from Maricopa to Rimrock.