What is the deal with having the fuel filter attached to the fuel pump, all inside of the gas tank? That is how it is on the 1997 4.0L ZJ, right?

I want to run some Techron Complete Fuel System Cleaner through my ZJ in its gas tank. However, normally I run this cleaner twice in a used new to me vehicle, and then immediately replace the fuel filter afterwards, in case debris got cleaned up and dislodged from the gas tank lodging in the fuel filter. Remove the old fuel filter to put in a new one...

How do you do this? Drop the tank? Replace the whole fuel pump assembly? That's ridiculous if all the rest of the fuel pump and assembly is still fine..

 

Unfortunately you have to drop the tank. They say its a "life long" filter, but I don't buy that. Quadratec has a filter and regulator that you can swap out, so you don't have to replace the whole thing, but still a PITA to get to. I will likely do mine next summer.

https://www.quadratec.com/products/51304_0003.htm

 

That is just ridiculous.

Thanks. I thought it was something along those lines.

 

Don't you have to change the pump in order to use the external filter? That was my understanding.

 

Its cool. It is their 'lifelong' version.

 

A buddy of mine had a dodge dakota that he had got from his parents. It had the same setup on it with the fuel filter in the tank. If I remember correctly it had around 140k when the fuel pump went out. The filter looked like a black sock. It was filthy and nasty looking.

Terrible design if you ask me

 

The sock hanging on the end of the pump assembly is not the filter but a coarse strainer to prevent any big chunks from getting sucked up into the pump. The actual filter is inside the regulator on top of the pump assembly. Both the strainer sock and the regulator/filter can be replaced but, yeah, gotta drop the tank.

 

Got to drop the tank.

 

Actually Rockauto shows the filter as being mounted on top of the pump outside the tank or inline. Not inside the tank.

 

Hmm.. I am just going off from what I have heard. I should have looked for it by now already, but I just thought it was in the tank on the pump. I hope it is an in-line, and outside of the gas tank. That would be great!

 

Let me again clarify that the "filter" that is hanging on the end of the pump inside the tank is not the actual filter but a strainer to protect the pump.
While the regulator/filter unit is physically outside the tank, it is still part of the pump assembly. There is no way to access that without dropping the tank.

 

forget

 

Got to drop the tank.