Where's the 126 fuel filter?
 

My 1991 420SSEL sometimes loses, then regains power at highway speed. It loses power, then needs to be restarted at slow speed. I bought a fuel filter, thinking I'd be able to easily find and replace it like on my 1969 Lincoln. Not so easy. Where is it? I found a similar looking cylinder flanked by two smaller cylinders by the passenger side rear axle shaft. I don't want to start disassembling things until I know what I'm looking at. Is that the fuel filter or is that part of the air suspension system?

flixbiz,

You've found it! These cars have two fuel pumps and a filter all hung there under the right rear. I don't recall from memory and it's raining right now so I'm not going out to crawl under my car to determine which is the filter. :D

If you have the service CD for the car, the R&R procedure is well detailed there. I did it a few months ago in about an hour. My one piece of advice is to soak all the screws and bolts with Liquid Wrench or the like a day or two before you plan on doing the work. Given the under body location, things get a bit corroded and the last thing you want is to twist a metal fuel line and spring a leak.

jlc

The filter sits above the two fuel pumps. You might find it necessary to pull the main feed line (from the tank) to gain space to remove the filter element. If you find you cannot get the old filter out without pulling the main feed, you will have to have a plug readily available. I use a large bolt, which I stab into the line quickly. Even working fast, there is a fair amount of fuel that will gush out. Oh well, it happens. Just let the fuel dry before swapping the filters, and expect another spill when trying to reconnect the main feed.

Great! Thanks guys!

I plan to change the filter in my E320. It looks like my sealing washers (part 62 on the CD-ROM) are black rubber, but the dealers say they are copper. Can anyone explain? Also, the short fuel line after the filter has badly corroded connections and I ordered a replacement. How long do the other rubber fuel lines last?