I bought a billet fuel filter cap from Geno's Garage as an easy way to monitor my lift pump pressure. It is a beautiful piece. No problems until the last oil change when I had my Dodge dealer change the fuel filter. Within two days I started having the low fuel pressure light (also from Geno's) come on. After a couple more days it stayed on all the time. The engine was running fine, so I knew that I had "some" fuel pressure, but was pretty concerned, as this lift pump is my second one. I only have 25,000 miles on my 2003 Ram 2500. My first lift pump failed completely at 20,000 miles. (OK folks, no sneers at the low mileage. )
On of my friends works at an independent garage. He and I started looking at the fuel pressure problem. First we put a gauge on the billet cap 1/8 NPT outlet - zero, and I mean zero fuel pressure. I didn't have any spare washer gaskets for the fuel banjo bolts, so we decided to change the fuel filter to see if there was anything wrong there. We ended up having to pry the fuel filter out of the billet cap. The fuel filter itself was twisted 20 degrees and smashed shorter by about 1/4 inch. OK, maybe the Dodge dealer mechanic was a plumber is disguise. Not so, the new Mopar filter would not fit up into the billet cap. I put enough pressure on the filter that it started to crush, and it still would not go up into the cap. By chance I also had a Baldwin filter. It slipped right into the cap with no pressure needed. When I started the truck with the new filter, no more warning light.
Here is what I think happened. The filter change done at my oil change was crushed into place. Within a couple of days, the fuel pressure pulse at pump start finally succeeded in pressing the fuel filter top completely up into the billet head. It was such a good fit that it cut off the fuel pressure to the low fuel pressure sensor mounted to the billet cap. Bye the way, this was one of the new 7 micron fuel filters.
Geno's is aware that some Mopar and Fleetguard filters have problems fitting into the billet head. I have confirmed that Baldwin and Wix (which is carried by NAPA) are smaller on the top than Mopar and Fleetguard. They fit just fine. I don't believe that Mopar or Fleetguard will give a damn about this problem, so maybe Geno's will eventually have their billet fuel cap manufacturer cut the inside cavity of of their billet cap about 1 to 1. 5 millimeters larger in diameter. That will certainly solve the problem.
Bottom line - test the fit of your fuel filter into the billet cap. Notching the edge of the top of the cap will not help if the size is so large that it will crush the filter. Interim fix is Baldwin and Wix filters.
Bill Simons
On of my friends works at an independent garage. He and I started looking at the fuel pressure problem. First we put a gauge on the billet cap 1/8 NPT outlet - zero, and I mean zero fuel pressure. I didn't have any spare washer gaskets for the fuel banjo bolts, so we decided to change the fuel filter to see if there was anything wrong there. We ended up having to pry the fuel filter out of the billet cap. The fuel filter itself was twisted 20 degrees and smashed shorter by about 1/4 inch. OK, maybe the Dodge dealer mechanic was a plumber is disguise. Not so, the new Mopar filter would not fit up into the billet cap. I put enough pressure on the filter that it started to crush, and it still would not go up into the cap. By chance I also had a Baldwin filter. It slipped right into the cap with no pressure needed. When I started the truck with the new filter, no more warning light.
Here is what I think happened. The filter change done at my oil change was crushed into place. Within a couple of days, the fuel pressure pulse at pump start finally succeeded in pressing the fuel filter top completely up into the billet head. It was such a good fit that it cut off the fuel pressure to the low fuel pressure sensor mounted to the billet cap. Bye the way, this was one of the new 7 micron fuel filters.
Geno's is aware that some Mopar and Fleetguard filters have problems fitting into the billet head. I have confirmed that Baldwin and Wix (which is carried by NAPA) are smaller on the top than Mopar and Fleetguard. They fit just fine. I don't believe that Mopar or Fleetguard will give a damn about this problem, so maybe Geno's will eventually have their billet fuel cap manufacturer cut the inside cavity of of their billet cap about 1 to 1. 5 millimeters larger in diameter. That will certainly solve the problem.
Bottom line - test the fit of your fuel filter into the billet cap. Notching the edge of the top of the cap will not help if the size is so large that it will crush the filter. Interim fix is Baldwin and Wix filters.
Bill Simons