Fuel Filter? 56 series 62

[hawkfan]

Was doing some under coating and came across what appears to be a fuel filter?  its located underneath the rear passengers seat on the right side of the vehicle.  What has my curiosity is there is a ground wire and what appears to be a sensor wire that heads back up to the engine compartment?  Is this the fuel filter?  What would the sensor wire be for?  The wire appears to be green in color.

Thanks
Hawkfan

[Omarine]

That looks like an electric fuel pump and then a filter...it might be pumping straight up to your mechanical fuel pump. Here in fl heat, i chose to bypass the mech fuel pump to avoid extra heating of the fuel.
Cheers

[hawkfan]

Seems strange to have an electric and a mechanical fuel pump.  I wonder if that configuration was original?  The rubber fuel lines in this set up were all dry rotted and I believe I was sucking air into the fuel delivery system.  When I made an effort to dissemble this configuration it didn't take much movement and the fuel started dripping out of the dry rotted cracks in the lines.
I learned a hard lesson on changing the rubber hoses and the fuel filter.  As soon as I broke the rubber from the metal lines, fuel from the gas tank came pouring through.  I expected some residual fuel but this was a full flow stream.

[Cadman-iac]

 Yes that's definitely a fuel pump.  I hav several exactly like it. I refer to them as an electric fuel filter because they look just like that.
And no, it's not an original equipment piece. Neither of mine had any sort of pump on it other than the mechanical one on the engine.
  Someone added it probably because of a hard start issue after it sat for a while.
As for the fuel running out of the line, that's in a lower position where the fuel line will siphon from the tank. If you use a small puff of air on the line to push the fuel over the axle and back down to the tank, it won't run out freely, at least not until you draw more fuel forward over the axle and back down to the pump location again.

Rick

[hawkfan]

Thanks again Rick!  I thought about putting some compressed air on the line back to the tank but I thought it would just continue to siphon.  I placed a section of rubber fuel line on the steel line and clamped the other end to stop the hemorrhage.
Reminded me of the days when I grew up on a mushroom farm and after a day of working on the equipment with grease up to the elbows my dad would soak a rag with gas for me to clean up with.  It beat any soap out there!  Times have changed.

[Cadman-iac]

Brian,
Just a very very small, short puff of air is all you need or want. Too much and you may blow the in tank filter off the end of the pickup tube. I'm not positive that there even is a filter/sock in there, but if there is,  you can ruin it with too much air.
Please be careful.

Rick

And yes, gas works great for removing grease,but not very safe. Be careful with that too.

[hawkfan]

I replaced the fuel filter and hoses and took it for a ride and all is well!  Thanks Rick!

[novetti]

Get rid of that plastic filter, please.

There are filters in metal casings you could replace. But in saying that, I would eliminate all this extras and try to re-establish the original setup from Factory.

Cheers

Julio

[hawkfan]

I'm thinking of tearing out that fuel pump and filter and installing a metal encased filter up in the engine compartment in the near future.  All in due time.

[Lexi]

If blowing compressed air in fuel line that is still connected to the tank, remember to remove the filler cap. Also, if too much gas in the fuel tank then a ton of it can blow out onto your driveway & create quite a mess   Yes looks like an electric fuel pump. In my opinion best to have it's own separate fuel line to by-pass the mechanical pump. That way you can have both operational, with the electric switched so you can shut it off when not needed. Clay/Lexi

[hawkfan]

Thanks Lexi

[Cadman-iac]

Yes, thanks Clay,
I forgot about removing the gas cap. The last couple of tanks I had to do that with had a vent line on them too, so it wasn't as critical if you didn't take the cap off.

Blowing into a non vented tank with fuel still in it and the cap still on turns it into a great big squirt gun! Or flame thrower if you're not careful.

Rick

[hawkfan]

I work in a refinery and know all to well what blowing down a line with compressed air will do and conversely, what pulling a vacuum on an un-vented tank or rail car will do. Thanks again Clay & Rick!

[Hillbillycat]

Keep that electric pump if it´s working. And trace the wire to the switch somewhere under the dash. It will come in handy when your ´56 develops vapor lock one hot day. As you might already know the ´56 engines are hot running. I´m a big fan of keeping things factory original, but am glad I kept this little pump on my ´56. Helps you to prime your line after the car sat over winter or some other longer time in case you have mild winters without salt in your location - we don´t in Germany :-)

[hawkfan]

Good suggestion Hillbillycat!  I'll have to trace the wire down and verify the electric pump is actually working.