Greetings Cruisers. I hope the following tip is not too trivial … I figured it out over several days while rough riding at the FJ Summit in Ouray. Looking back, I now realize that while managing the steep descent of the Black Bear trail into Telluride, my gas tank let some sludge into my fuel filter and partially plugged it. At first I thought that maybe I had water in my gas or something like that. The engine ran fine the next morning after topping off the tank, and it always ran well at low rpm. However, at highway speeds and on some hill climbs, once the tank was below ¾ full, there would be hesitation. I actually managed to pull Woody out of a wedding event in a swanky hotel to get his opinion on what to do. I had an original engine manual with me (which doesn't mention the filter) (and the original tool kit), however, in the near dark, we could not spot the filter. Keeping the tank near full and using the extra fuel can to top it off was enough to get me to Glenwood Springs on my return where I immediately stopped in the morning light to purchase a fuel filter at a Napa store. They had an exact match. It was an easy and inexpensive fix that solved the problem completely.
Looking back, I think that a short-term off-road wilderness fix would have been to remove the plugged filter and clean it with the extra gas in the jerry can and to have blown it out with my ARB air compressor. Any doubts about that?
A fuel filter replacement has worked magic for me two other times rather recently, once on a boat and once on a BobCat.
(will add more photos and some high res links soon)
Looking back, I think that a short-term off-road wilderness fix would have been to remove the plugged filter and clean it with the extra gas in the jerry can and to have blown it out with my ARB air compressor. Any doubts about that?
A fuel filter replacement has worked magic for me two other times rather recently, once on a boat and once on a BobCat.
(will add more photos and some high res links soon)

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