installed the new fuel filter in my 97 and now i have to crank and crank and pump the gas to get it started, and it spits and spudders and runs like **** for about twenty seconds then goes back to running great? do i need to crack the injectors and crank it over and bleed it?

 

if it does it for the first 1-2 starts after change, you just have some air in the lines. If it does it still, after several starts/days. you have another problem.
Did you shut the water drain in the filter canister?
Possible air leaks else where.

 

If it continues, you have a new air leak; proly with one of those many seals the 97 canisters have. Get an air hose and pressurize the fuel tank to about 3-5 psi and see where the problem is. If you changed the pre-filter it's on the vacuum side of the fuel system and will not leak with the engine running but will cause a loss of prime when it sits. Good luck and let us know how it works out. cd

 

Did you prime it until you couldn't prime no more? You will get air in when you open the fuel system, but if you push the primer about 50-100 times, then there will be no more air left in the system and start like butter. Use a broom handle. I changed my fuel filter and cleaned my pre filter on two seperate occasions, primed it like a ****, and it started like I hadn't changed anything.

 

If you didn't fill up the fuel filter before installing it (which I don't recommend) and you didn't hand prime the lift pump to fill up the filter, then it will take forever to start right after a change. You can get an air bubble trapped in an injector line but since you said it runs great after 20 seconds, this doesn't sound like the case.