Here's a summary of my last two days...

I purchased a fuel filter for my Evo a while back; of course Part Source did not have an '98 Evo 5 in their database, i decided to buy the fuel filter for the '98 Eclipse Turbo, seeing as they both share the 4G63T.

So yesterday i finally found some time to replace the filter. After some digging i located the fuel pump relay, did all the necessaries, and went on to remove the old filter. With a lot of grunting, curse words, and fuel in my engine bay, i undid the bolts and removed the old filter.

I noticed the new filter (GKI GF6001) was a little longer than the original but i didn't think much of it. After tightening everything down, i plugged in the pump relay and started the car. What i saw was fuel coming out of the banjo bolt like it was a garden hose on the "flat" setting, spraying premium all over my engine bay. I scratched my head and couldn't find a solution no matter how much tightening i did. I had a mechanic friend come over and he suggested that i probably had the wrong fuel filter as even the smallest discrepancies will cause a leak due to the pressurized fuel.

So a restless night, a driveway full of gas, and a trip to Part Source later, i bought a new filter. I gave them the part number "MR204132" [the correct part number (Mitsu Canada did not have any in the city)]. They sold me the "GKI GF6504" which looked just like my old filter. However i noticed that this filter only came with 2 crush washers-both to be used for the banjo bolt. The other filter came with 4 washers, 2 of which were smaller and looked like to be for the "fuel in" side of the filter. I should mention that i did not notice a smaller washer on the "fuel in" side when i removed the old filter. I could've just overlooked it and lost it somewhere, but i don't think that's the case...i could be wrong.

I scoured the internet for guidance, i couldn't find any mention of the smaller washer. I thought the washer took up too much room on the bottom which may cause a leak so i did not use it, i only used the two larger washers for the banjo bolt. So with the strength of Hercules, I tightened everything that could be tightened. Good news is the top (fuel out) is fuel tight but there is a noticeable drip coming out of the bottom (fuel in).

So if you're still with me, my question is: DO I NEED THE SMALL CRUSH WASHER ON THE FUEL-IN SIDE?

pics related:

Top, skinning end is fuel out. Bottom, fat end is fuel in.

 

I replaced mine a few weeks ago with the correct fuel filter there was a small washer or the side of the filter that leads to the injectors and the larger ones are for the in side of the filter