Does anyone know why Mazda decided not to give the 8 an in-line fuel filter?

The reason I ask, I had to have $3200.00 in work done to resolve the damage caused by a load of bad fuel. I'm sure glad my insurance covered it.

On the bright side, my 8 is running better than new.

 

Can we have some details, DosGuy?

How was the fuel 'bad'? Water? Gunk? Rust?

What was the damage?

And, of course, which oil company?
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It was some sort of gunk with metallic powder/slag. It was able to get past the pump to the injectors so I had the pump and all the injectors replaced. I had just fueled from a new fuel tank and must have picked up something left behind from manufacture. I guess I'm lucky it didn't toast the motor. It just seemed odd to me that there is not a filter upstream from the fuel pump.

Edit: Rest easy, the fuel came from a non-commercial source.

 

What you talkin' about? The Owner's Manual and Service Manual both refer to a fuel filter that needs to be replaced at 100k miles.

 

According to the dealer that fixed my car the only filter is on the fuel pump. Is he wrong? There appears to be nothing in-line that possibly could have prevented the particles from reaching the injectors.

 

The only fuel filter on the 8 is an IN TANK fuel filter element that is associated with the in tank fuel pump and fuel level sensor. It is a 100,000 mile unit, and I would assume that as part of the 3,200 bucks that you paid, they went into your tank and popped in a new fuel filter because it was obviously overloaded to the point of breakthrough. If not you need to have a new fuel filter put in since it is broken through with contaminants, and that won't be cheap. (Break through only means that the element has contaminants all the way to the engine side of the filter and is letting them pass).

Just as an aside, I doubt if having an in-line fuel filter would have helped you. WIth the type of intensive fouling that you are talking about, an in-line filter would most likely have reached breakthrough as well as the in tank filter so that just is what it is, and sorry for you. I'm glad that your car was easily repaired.

 

Thanks, it just seems odd not to have an in-line as on other vehicles I have owned.

 

The 8 has a strainer on the bottom of the fuel pump, and a filter that wraps all the way around it. The filter is moulded into the pump housing plastic, which is why it must be replaced as an assembly (I would guess it has a much larger surface area than an in line filter). The Mazda6 had the same style filter, but after complaints about the cost of replacement there is now a replacable one available. The 8 should follow suit in the near future...I hope!

 

There are 2 filters, both in the tank...one a hi pressure filter, and one a low pressure one. They are built into the fuel pump which also houses a fuel pressure regulator and a jet pump assy which syphons fuel from the auxillary tank into the main one. The fuel system differs from most EFI cars in that it has no return line for excess fuel return to the tank....the idea being that if you do not return heated fuel from the engine compartment back to the tank, you reduce fuel evaporation and save the environment!

Thats why it costs so much.....the whole lot has to be replaced as the assy can not be serviced.....

Just be happy you're not in Australia...we have to change it at the 35000 mile service.

Gomez.