I just purchased an 86 Suburban and it leaks fuel

[phatcyclist]

It seems to be coming out from the bottom of the filter housing. I checked the two screws and those seem fine, this is coming straight out of the center of the bottom. I even put o-rings around the fuel barbs that stick into the fuel filter and still nothing.

I'm thinking about a filter conversion, but there being 4 barbs I question that. What does the drain barb do? Also, there's a hose that comes straight out the bottom of the filter block that just seems to dump fuel out when the vehicle is running or has just run. I guess the fuel return to the tank comes straight out of the pump?

[chevytuff]

The filter base you speak of (Stanadyne Model ?80?) is notorious for leaking, If you are sure the drain petcock is closed all the way and it is not leaking from there than I believe most have problems with the gasket on the Water in fuel sensor leaking. This part is rather hard to source. I went to a junk yard and got filter setup off an 83 that uses the traditional style screw on filters. One mounts on the firewall where your square filter is and the other one bolts to the back of the intake manifold. I dont have a light to tell me if my fuel is contaminated with water but it hasnt ever been a problem. Usually every couple fill ups ill open drain petcock on the bottom of the filter base and make sure there is no water in it.

Someone will probably chime in with a better explanation of what goes wrong with the Model 80 filters.

(The drain barb is for draining water out of your filter as it has a built in water seperator.)

Just did a quick search here is a good thread that has different part numbers and seals it may help you out.

http://www.thedieselpageforums.com/tdpforum/showthread.php?t=25078&highlight=model+leaking

[phatcyclist]

I pulled the filter off and disabled the water sensor, I also went to a local shop and got a grommet for the round sensor behind the filter. As far as the drain plug, I guess I'm going to plug the hose and see if that stops all the leaks. I'm going to try sourcing a filter from another diesel vehicle at a later time, I like the Racor setup but the expense and lack of locally availible filters is a bit of a downside.