fj62 fuel filter - bolts stuck, advice?

[nw_fj62]

fj62 fuel filter & fule system , advice?

I'm working to bring back an Fj62 to life - it was in an accident and has been parked outside by PO for previous four years. Body now whole, some trim, exhaust work and some paint still ahead...

It starts and idles well. Compression confirmed good. But she stumbles under acceleration. I drained off most of the old fuel with a pump. Added a gallon of fresh. Still stumbles. So I bought and working to install a new fuel filter - but the bolts won't give at all...

I could use some advice on how to break these 17mm bolts. Not a lot of leverage into this space and don't want to break anything important. I held the filter body in place with channel lock and tried both a socket and a 17mm wrench - but no movement. I put some PB Blast on it...

If anyone in Seattle (North end - Ballard) has time / interest to swing by, I'd be happy to share a beverage or cup a' joe in exchange for consultation...

Thanks for any ideas...

Pictures: before, current (opposite side - but picture the body whole), and the fuel filter...

 

[hjdca]

spray it with liquid wrench real goo and let it sit overnight. That always works for me..

 

[ray6]

Just changed mine last week, I had similar hard to get off issue. I used PB Blaster and let it sit for a few and tapped to vibrate it in there. Then I used a breaker bar and channel locks to smoothly break it free for one side. The other side that was tighter to get into, closer to the front if I remember correctly, I used a 6 point 17mm wrench, and lightly tapped on the open end with a ball peen hammer. You only risk breaking the bracket that holds the filter on the truck. Tap it while using a wrench to counter. Quick blows in the right direction didn't break mine.

 

[nw_fj62]

Thanks. Glad to hear this is a shared experience Ray. I'll try the path you outline and let some additional PB sit on bolts this morning. I'll keep at it with more effort....

 

[austinmark]

don't take this as an insult to your intelligence, but are you trying to loosen the correct bolt? in the photo above, the bolt to loosen on the right side of the pump is the farthest out bolt, the skinnier of the two bolts on both sides of the fuel line. the bolt that is between the pump and the fuel line on the right -- the thick and black bolt -- doesn't loosen. while the line on the other side of the pump -- the side not as clearly pictured -- is basically the same, if i remember correctly.

another thing, if your pump didn't come with new copper or aluminum washers and you'll be reusing the old ones, be sure to remove the lines gently. they're bent pretty good in their current setup, so they'll wanna spring off of the pump, and you might lose the washers in the process.

 

[nw_fj62]

epilogue

austinmark & ray - after sunday I was definately questioning my own intelligence and sanity... neither my fsm nor the aussie book (Gregory's?) gave much fidelity of detail of the fuel pump. The dusty third reference provided the detail of the pump with banjo bolts - so I did figure out the exterior bolts early on the process. For a 17mm bolt, the FSM showed approx 83ft lbs of torque - so if applied here, I see why this was so tight. Ultimately PB Blast, hammer taps, and cordless impact tool did the trick...the new toy filter was installed...

So the truck idled great for 10min, drove around the block ok for 10min, and then when I tried to go up a slight hill to home, more gas pedal did not equate to more forward momentum. She stalled. She doesn't have much of a charge (and hasn't had any mileage to recharge the battery) so I will jump her to start.

My read of the situation, is that any remaining fuel at the bottom of the tank must be junk - and re-clogged the new fuel filter. So my next step is to buy another 5gal gas can and fully empty the tank from the plug. I'm attaching a picture of the "fuel" that I poured out of the old fuel filter. Lot of particles and haze...

I'm hoping that draining the tank, adding some fresh and let it run a bit will let the fuel filter flush off some of the crap. But I'm open to a different diagnosis.

 

[austinmark]

fine detective work. tell me, what is this drain plug of which you speak? is it in the FSM?

 

[nw_fj62]

There is a diagram on page "FI-64" half way through the fsm. Funny, when I was looking for that reference I found the fuel filter cutaway on FI-60 (second diagram)... I clearly don't think like a toyota mechanic (yet)...

 

[ray6]

thats some pretty dirty fuel, but I bet that some of that was back-washed from the filter into your cup. I'm still going to guess its the fuel pump. It's dying and can't provide enough pressure for the higher RPMs required to go faster.

 

[nw_fj62]

Ray6 - Interesting - I'll have to read a bit more on the fuel pump consideration. Didn't realize it would die gradually.

Perhaps related. I have to jump the car to start it now (could the dying fuel pump be pulling juice from the battery?). And once jumped it won't idle for long before dying. O'Reily premium battery new on 27 April, but hasn't seen a lot of miles to recharge it.

I assumed bad fuel was the root of these problems.

So tonight I towed the mighty cruiser back home 2 blocks (the ignominy - behind the family mini-van) and drained out the tank (wow 9+ gallons drained out - glad I had a spare can). Picture below. So I'm "airing out" the tank tonight and plan to put the plug back in tomorrow am.

My original plan was to put in a gallon of fresh fuel and see how the truck responds (after jumping it again).

Is there anyway to test the fuel pump theory? I'll read up in the fsm later tonight but welcome any inputs.

I'm well beyond my understanding of the vehicle (which is kind of fun) so very open to ideas.

Thanks from Seattle/Ballard

 

[ray6]

In the FSM you'll find that you can at least by-pass the relay switch to confirm that the pump is getting juice. The real test would be to test fuel pressure, but to do that the truck needs to be running. A rough and possibly dangerous if there is a lot of pressure coming from the fuel pump, way to test is to get her started. Then after it shuts down to see how much residual pressure is in the fuel lines by cracking open the very same lines that you had difficulty getting off of the fuel filters. I noticed that people mentioned that they'd get a spray of fuel across the driveway when they opened up a pressurized fuel line. When I cracked mine open, I got a little sputter and then a trickle down the fuel filter. After the pump was pulled, I bench tested it and got next to nothing for a stream. I could basically plug it with my finger to stop the stream. So yeah, I guess they can still pump but just not enough all the time.

As for the battery, I don't think the pump will draw any more power then a good working one. When you do get it going, double check that you're getting around 14 volts at the battery terminal to ensure that it's charging. The battery shouldn't do anything but start the car, then the altenator should do all the work. Maybe that could be part of your problem?

Check your ground connections to the battery and to the body next to the battery. Take the terminals off and sand them down to bare metal to rule out a bad ground before you dive into the fuel pump. Pumps aren't cheap and the back breaking labor to get it out is no fun.