I haven't changed my fuel filter since the summer I bought the car (05?) and I was just wondering if maybe a dirty one could cause this feeling I get in the car.

Generally in low rpms when trying to maintain a speed I will get a constant *but very silght* bucking through the car.

Kind of like if you pull away from a stop and you'd just learned how to drive a stick...and you buck a bit...

It's not nearly that violent but you can definitely feel it.

Goes away with throttle or maintaining a higher rpm.

Just curious...

 

Change it (which it needs doing anyway) and see
Cheap enough

 

You should change it when you get a chance.

I don't know what else would cause that. Maybe fuel pump is going out? I doubt that, but I think if you replace the fuel filter it won't do that anymore. Being in the car for five years is a long time...usually 'they' recommend replacing the fuel filter annually or every two years IIRC.

 

no kidding? every two years?

hmm, guess Im a bit over due

but it's such a daunting task..I have to buy one.. psssh, that's expensive

then I have to get on my back, spill gas *which is liquid gold* and then put it back together...

sigh...have to make this a 3 day weekend project

 

I can tell you its probably not your fuel filter. My car does the same thing in low rpms, and I just changed my filter no more then 4000 miles ago.

no idea what it could be. However I do have cams and feel that its pretty much just how cams act in low rpms, very rough until high rpms (you can tell this by just listening to how choppy idle is... giving it 1k rpms wont change it THAT much, and even if you are 1.5k on the road it could be "slow" enough to encounter some of that bucking by the cams)

 

I'm going to take this as a joke, because thats the way I read it.

But this should take you no more then 2 hours tops. look up on american muscles web site fuel filters and try to find the video a kid posted on there. Its a lot easier then you think.

 

Yea man, definitely a joke...notthe four years overdue part... But everything else.

Two hours is a bit generous, I'd say more along the lines of 5 minutes.

And 0949er, I don't 'think' we are describing the same thing....

I get the feeling you are describing a 'miss'-like surge under acceleration or light throttle (maybe not) but this is only when I'm cruising very slowly....

I had a miss at a certain rpm range back before replacing the cylinder head and this is definitely different...

I'll change the filter and see what happens... Next thing will be to check the plugs (though as I mentioned it didn't feel like a missfire surge) and then maybe the maf?

(by the way.. Off topic but not... Can you clean a maf? Or tell if it's 'dirty' just from visual inspection?)

 

I think you can clean the MAF sensor with some electrical parts cleaner. You will need some special screw driver bit to remove the screws in order to pull the MAF off the air intake.

 

Thanks, my moms 99F150 is throwing a code for the mass air flow sensor and seeing as my dad knows little to nothing about electric stuff on cars I figured I'd ask.

Can't hurt to spray hers and mine off just to see if it helps her code, or my throttle feeling.