car won't start after replacing fuel filter
 

hey guys, i found this this DIY about how to change the fuel filter and i thought i should give it a try because my car is 101k+ mileage. i followed the instruction and everything went smooth step by step and when it got time to turn car...

primed the car 6-7 times, i checked the fuel gauge and it's between 1/4 and 1/2. i turned ignition on, but didn't start, instead it made this strange noise:




i heard the fuel go through the fuel hose means the fuel pump is working but the car still can't start...any ideas guys, or anyone has came across this?
:confused::sad:

Hummm that is strange..I changed mine and it was fine...did the same thing you did and primed the system a few times by cycling the fuel pump.. It almost acts like the battery is not completely charged...lol..

Your batteries dead it sounds like to me....mine did the same thing and replaced the battery, I jumped it and it started right off but I had a bad cell in the orginal battery and mine was fresh after a clutch install I had just performed...imagine pushing the clutch in and hearing this lol

I watched the video a few times now.. I would check to make sure your battery is completely charged...or if it is a stick have someone give yah a push..lol.. That's the same sound my mini made when the battery was bad.. If you had your doors open a lot while working on it ..it might just have drained your battery just enough...

i would be very happy if it's just the battery. For a 10 year old car with it's original battery, i would guess it would go out i heard the warranty go to 6-8 years so it's time ha.

i actually had the radio running while the car was off for i say longer than 30min and forgot to turn the interior lights off because i left the doors and the boot open. i find it so weird for it to go out at this time because i had the radio run longer before and the car worked fine immediately.

oh well, i will go grab a battery first thing tomorrow morning and hope it works :/
thanks for input guys

jump start it? See if it starts

And let us know, I am curious now, but almost positive its the battery now that there is some causes for it to go dead

yeah, i will jump start it first better, if it ran, then we know it's the battery, if not...could it be the alternator?

This is an excerpt from Pelican's filter DIY:
UPON INSTALLING NEW FILTER,
Take the upper cover and carefully line up the tabs on it (it can only go in one way) with the tabs on the lower filter housing. Take care to make sure the upper cover is directly seated on the filter element. If it isn’t, the car WON'T START. We found this out the hard way after re-assembling the fuel system. Once the upper cover is seated, rotate it clockwise until it stops. This will lock it in place.

I followed these instructions carefully when I did mine & had no issues. Hope this helps.

I am curious also...But if your battery is 10 years old I would say you got your life out of it.. But if you had the radio playing all doors open..that would be just enough to drain it pass the point to where it wouldn't start.. Give it a jump or charge it.. that way you know forsure..But either way it is probably time for a new battery.. Good luck!!

Let us know if you can jump it cause this might not be a good thing if its not seated

hi minsanity; i double checked the cap and it sits flush with bottom part, gaskets and o-rings are sitting in place after second time i did it. the first time i did it, one of the gaskets was not sitting right, so it did not prime because no pressure is building to push the fuel through. the second time i opened it, i made sure the gaskets in place, and the cap is sitting in place, and i had no problem locking it in place. it's very weird situation :confused:

i will jump start it first thing tomorrow morning because its getting dark, and hope for it to work. if not, ill open the fuel filter again and go with the stock gaskets(they looked fine, not hard) because the new gaskets had hard time fitting in because of the thickness. i doubt it would make a difference but wth.

i will post tomorrow's results, wish me luck guys.

Good luck....sure it will bust right off when you jump start it tho, battery being that old and running the radio and lights being on

its aliveeee :)

it turned out the battery was bad. so i went to autozone and grabbed a duralast gold (5year warranty) which is $20 cheaper than oem mini battery for $170 and 2 year warranty. after that i found out that 1/3 tank wasnt enough so i went and grabbed some fuel and now the tank at 3/4. first try to turn on...second try i tried to run it and voela, its running.

For anyone reading this thread, may I suggest that, for safety's sake, when you're working on the fuel system, especially the fuel filter, please disconnect the negative connection at the battery and cover the negative battery post. One spark and the car, you and the garage it's in would be "toast". Still a good idea to have a fire extinguisher close by.

i agree with you. guys its a good idea to disconnect the battery terminal when working with gas. always exercise safe caution.

Glad to hear that you got it going... And I also agree about the disconnecting the battery terminal... Sometimes we get caught up on fixing something with out thinking of a few safety things like that.. Things can happen and they can happen fast!!

Cheers :)