Cat Filter Installation Instructions
(snip) Do not bend the banjo up they will work fine the way they are. (snip)
Greg
__. I don't mean to sound like I'm taking a contrary position here, but there's something going on. I've done two installation, my '02 Jetta sedan and MzLauraLee's '03 waggin.
__. Doing mine, I had some problems getting the banjo bolts tight enough so I put the baseplate in a vise, lubed the copper washers and central O-ring with mineral oil, and installed the banjos and filter while the baseplate was in the vise. Then I put the whole assembly in the car and slide the fuel lines onto the banjos (more mineral oil), installed the clips, filled the filter with diesel and put the T-valve in, and was good to go. Total time, about 25 minutes, no sweat.
__. OK, I know what I'm doing, no problem with MzLL's waggin, right? Well, no. Everything went well until I got to the fuel lines. They wouldn't go on -- the barbs on the banjos were touching the baseplate. So, I loosened the banjo bolts and slid the fuel lines on. Tightening the banjo bolts with the unit in the car was a pure b!tch and when I'd finished, I cound that the fuel lines were being pinched and there was no way to get the clips on. So, off again, the banjos in the vise with copper plates to protect the banjo faces, and a slight bend on the banjos; but I didn't want to bend the banjos too much because I was afraid of breaking the tubes or warping the faces. So, with bent banjos, reassembled the whole thing. This time, the lines slid on but there was still no room for the clips, so I loosened the banjo bolts again, installed the clips (which were now pinched between the fuel line, banjo, and base plate), said f*ck it it'll just have to work like this if it will, filled the filter and tried to start. Started fine, but quit after about 7 seconds. Refilled the filter and fuel line to the pump (banjo bolt off again, since I couldn't pull the line off the banjo to fill the line), and tried again. This time it ran for about 15 seconds. OK, let's fill the filter and fuel line again -- finally, the cars runs without stalling but it's coughing and rattling and obviously not running right and the clear fuel line is full of bubbles, large and small. After a couple of minutes of idling, I switched it off and refilled the filter through the T-valve hole, slowly dropping fuel in to ensure that all the filter medium is really saturated and all the air is out, and tried to tighten the banjo bolts again. OK, let's start again; this time, it sounds a little better but I can't send MzLL down the road in a car that I don't trust. But since it's sounding better, I tried driving around the block a few times and it did fine. I've now got about four hours into this second install and errands that I thought that I could get to easily that afternoon were becoming urgent, so I took her old filter in two plastic bags, tools and a can of diesel and did some running around. OK, the car seems to be running fine now, so I finally scrub the diesel off her key and steering wheel and my hands and go pick her up from work. Since then, it's been fine and she's done a few Interstate trips, etc. although -- no matter what I did -- I couldn't get much torque on the banjo bolts with the filter/baseplate assembly installed in the car.
__. Why did one install go easy as pie in 25 minutes and the other one take 4 hours (and scraped knuckles, blood, sweat, and desperation) of struggle? Dunno, except that the countersink at the banjo bold locations in the baseplate seemed deeper on the second one -- on my car, the tops of the copper washers are above the level of the baseplate - on the waggin, they's almost level with it.
__. So, except for that one difference, I'm not sure exactly what went on or what mechanical differences there were between the two installs -- all I know is that my experience between the two is night and day.
__. But, AF, if it appears that you really need to bend the banjos, it might be a good idea to give it a try. But be warned, they're really stiff and it's hard to get a bend on them and if you warp the sealing faces or crack the tube part, you're in deep water.
__. That's what I found. I really hope that everyone else's experience is like my first install.
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