1990 Ford Bronco

Typically they become plugged and the engine starves for fuel. It could run smoothly but not fast enough. Usually the fuel pressure will drop and the engine will misfire and run rough. The engine will normally start fine. On many cars with a pressure regulator up front on the engine, a lot of fuel circulates back to the tank and just a little is bled off to go into the engine. More fuel volume actually flows through the filter during coasting so a stalling problem can occur if enough fuel can't get through the filter. That problem is actually more common when the pickup screen in the tank collapses or becomes plugged. Some cars are notorious for never needing a new filter. Chryslers in particular will never solve a running problem with a new one except on the diesel trucks. In fact there is so little call to replace them that they're actually located inside the gas tank now.