Fuel Strainers
A fuel strainer, often known by the more practical name of fuel filter, is one of the most important elements in modern cars today. Like the dictionary word would suggest, fuel strainers help the car to keep away any solid impurities from the fuel pump, and help to maintain a constant flow of pure oil. Generally, fuel strainers contain filter paper like substances, which are finely blended in the form of cartridges. Fuel strainers are found in almost every internal combustion engines today.
In the extremely sensitive fuel injection system of modern cars today, fuel strainers help to keep both the longevity and effective functioning of the fuel pumps and the whole injection system. Contamination, such as rust from the tanks or simple paint scraps or dirt gathered during refilling the gas tank – all can result in formidable amount of damage, and can be contained within the unfiltered fuel. However, fuel strainers, usually located just before the oil enters the fuel pump, filters these particles and helps the injected oil to be free of any solid impurities. In the event of a faulty fuel filtration system, where solid pollutants are allowed to pass through to the fuel pump, these particles can harm the extremely sophisticated components, which make up bulk of the modern fuel injection systems. Fuel pumps and the injectors risk being irrevocably damaged, if the fuel strainers cannot filter out harmful solid particles which are being injected into the system.
Contrary to popular belief, fuel strainers can rapidly increase the performances of cars, and performance grade fuel strainers have known to make remarkable difference in how a car operates. The underlying reason behind such an impact is that, the fuel, without any solid impurities, can be more efficiently burnt – and thus, the pure form of fuel ultimately ensure a consistent combustion, and thus the pistons are displaced in a more streamlined manner. This means, the engine can deliver according to demand, and the driver can expect a more robust performance. Although, much of it is unnoticed in newer cars, it is the degradation of the fuel filters which effectively start major wear and tear in the whole injection system, which ultimately affects the piston chambers and the whole engine.
One of the most elementary tips for a long lasting fuel strainer system is to regularly change the cartridges. It is easier to compare the fuel strainer with a basic filtration system – and with an equally analogous behavior, the longevity of the fuel strainers can be easily increased by changing the container that holds the filter paper. In some legacy systems, the filter paper could itself be changed within the specified cartridges – however, with the modern systems, a complete replacement of the cartridges is more common.
There are a wide range of companies which are currently offering replacement fuel strainers specially tailored for particular car models or systems. Since, information sharing is very common for popular car systems, replacement fuel strainers do tend to perfectly replace the ones that are installed in the current model. Although prices might vary according to models, availability and sophistication - it is only the most common replacement filters that can be ideally replace by third-party vendors. Extremely sophisticated cars like BMW, Bentley, Mercedes-Benz or Ferraris can actually face rapid degradation of the system if unsuitable and non-compatible fuel strainers are being installed. In most of the cases not only the injection system are prone to imminent problems, the overall efficiency of the engine combustion and timing can face rapid deterioration. It is therefore, not uncommon for sophisticated car systems manufacturing companies to actually offer replacement cartridges under the default warranty - and it's often a case where extended warranties are promoted, with replaceable components like the fuel strainers being kept in retrospect.
