Hey guys,

Need some advice/suggestions.  Currently I have a fuel filter that I think is for a car and would like to replace it. It's mounted between the petcock and carb. Usually the filter only gets half filled up with fuel, but the line going into the carb is always full.  (Right now the lines are empty as I ran the engine with tank off.)


Just bought a couple of these replacement fuel filters and am a little confused as there's no directional arrows on them and air can be blown freely through it in both directions. 
So, which way should I mount it? Also can this style filter be mounted horizontally?




Thanks for any feedback.

The side you are holding goes to the carbs.Really it doesn't matter because it's only a screen inside.

Ditto Ben and some even have an arrow...

The paper type filter you had there before does a better job, ie. it'll filter out finer particles. The screen type that you just bought will do about the same as the filter that's in the tank. The fact that the old filter did not fill with fuel is because of the angle its sitting at, but it doesn't matter.

Not a car filter. Seen on your better quality lawnmowers and snowblowers - and motorcycles. Just a basic inline filter, and the mole is quite right - the pleated paper filter will do a lot more for you than that screen will. I also think you might be about due for some new hoses, based on the picture, but perhaps not - sort of depends if they were once clear and have yellowed, or if they started yellow. The color is nothing to care about, it's just the aging/stiffness that usually goes with the color change I'm concerned about.

Thought I read somewhere that the car filters required too much vacuum to operate properly on the GS.   Well I just finished swapping it out and will end up putting the old one back when it comes time to clean the lunchbox air filter which should be very soon.

Those fuel lines are starting to look fugly aren't they. They're the clear type and where just replaced 2 months ago/ less than 500 miles. 

Thanks much for the feedback.

What I tried to say, and evidently failed to communicate well enough, is that the paper filter is not (to my eye) a "car filter" intended for pressurized fuel supply - it certainly looks like a typical lawnmower/snowblower filter, and those are typically operating on the same "minimal gravity feed" that the GS and most other bikes (all bikes without fuel pumps) are - so that's a Good Thing.

that paper filter looks like the same filter i run on my VWs.

I pulled up the part# and it's used on EFI fuel injected VW's and some other apps.  If it's rated for FI then it's filtering out waaay finer particles than the one I just popped in.

Car filters need pressure from the fuel pump to push the fuel through the filter element.