Maintaining fuel filter can save thousands of dollars

Your fuel filter is one of those engine components that may only cost $10 or $20, but can protect your engine from thousands of dollars in damage if you change it regularly.

All of the fuel that enters your car's engine must first pass through the fuel filter. It protects some of the very delicate parts of your engine.

If your fuel filter starts to get clogged up, the fuel trying to flow through the filter to your engine gets stuck in line like rush-hour traffic.

Fuel filters are essential in helping to protect fuel-system components from contaminants that may be in the fuel. These contaminants can plug fuel injectors or carburetors, causing engine malfunction and deterioration. Dirt, rust, scale and water are the major impurities present in fuel. These impurities can originate from dirty and rusty service-station storage tanks and, as the vehicle ages, from corrosion within the fuel-system components.

A completely plugged fuel filter will stop your engine cold by choking off the flow of fuel to the carburetor or injectors. The engine may not start, or it may start, then stall and die.

A partially restricted filter usually will pass enough fuel to keep the engine running at idle or low speed, but may starve the engine for fuel at higher speeds or loads. So your engine may run fine putting around town, but sputter and lack power when you try to drive at highway speeds or pass someone.

Maintenance of the fuel filter should be part of your car's regular maintenance schedule. It should be replaced once a year and it'll only take a few minutes for you or your technician to complete the task. Want more information on fuel filters? Visit www.wixfilters.com.

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