Oppo PSA: Change your fuel filter!

"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678) 05/11/2017 at 07:39 • Filed to: None

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Yesterday, I finally got around to replacing my fuel filter. I had been meaning to do it for weeks but I couldn’t figure out how to get the darn fuel line clamps off the first time I tried. Once I got access to a lift and applied some small vice grips, I was in business and got the darn thing off of the car.

Fun fact, fuel will burn your skin so try to avoid that part. I had properly depressurized my system but gravity still had firestarter pouring down my arm as I worked to quickly swap in the new filter. Once it was all buttoned up and I drove around the block, it was immediately apparent how worth it this was!

Sure, you might not notice a couple horsepower in your 9,700 HP rocketship but in a Miata those ponies definitely count. The difference was not really crazy but it was apparent. The car just immediately accelerated and did so with more haste than before. The book said change the fuel filter ever 40k and I had driven at least 60k since buying the car. Plus, who knows when (if ever) it was changed in the previous 125k miles!

Anyways, this is your PSA to change your fuel filter to stop robbing yourself of power. I’m sure it was like my car was sipping a very frozen Wendy’s frosty through a straw.

Oh, and fuck this tool! I couldn’t figure out how it could possibly help get the fuel line off. Vice grips were way easier.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/11/2017 at 07:46

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benefits of an in tank filter, once every 100k km

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/11/2017 at 08:01

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I replaced my inline filter when I bought my car, but my car also has a pick up filter in the tank do that on probably needs to be done as well.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/11/2017 at 08:05

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My fuel doesn’t burn your skin and my fuel filter is replaced every other oil change.

#ItsADieselThing

nerd_racing > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/11/2017 at 08:17

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The worst part about changing the fuel filter in the FB RX7... Fuel in your arm pit. Apparently it is a problem among owners. I bought a fuel filter yesterday for it, hoping I can avoid that volatile situation in my arm pit lol.

Frenchlicker > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/11/2017 at 08:22

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I had an old Taurus that decided not to work properly one day. It clearly wasn’t getting fuel. Naturally I think it needs a new fuel pump. Put that on outside when it was cold as shit after having let it sit for weeks. Super excited to start it once everything was done... it did the same thing. Flipped the on of switch. It was off but it still did the same thing. Replaced the filter. Bingo. I hated myself.

syaieya > nerd_racing 05/11/2017 at 08:31

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If its honestly that problematic id almost consider tying something around my arm to keep it from dripping lower. Like a shower cap or something

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > nerd_racing 05/11/2017 at 08:32

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Thankfully I was wearing long sleeves so my shirt absorbed the fuel before it got there. Although then I was wearing a fuel rag at that point, but a change of clothes and a shower afterwards solved that one.

syaieya > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/11/2017 at 08:35

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Once every 40k miles? Well im due up for certain. My E320 hit 300000 a few months back and the general maintenance items are prolly going to be tackled in a weekend power stint. Oil, brakes, transmission check, fuel filter, maybe air filters, ac compressor. What else to add to the pile?

LongbowMkII > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/11/2017 at 08:36

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Mine’s with the pump in the tank. I’ll worry about it when it needs worrying about.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > pip bip - choose Corrour 05/11/2017 at 08:37

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But does that mean the tank needs to be dropped and taken apart in order to change it? Or is it just in the filler neck?

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 05/11/2017 at 08:37

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So does that mean I can bathe in diesel?

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > syaieya 05/11/2017 at 08:41

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Well I just pulled that number from my Haynes manual, I am assuming it could change with different cars. Plus it’s probably fine for much more than that, but I know with somewhere between 60k and 185k it makes a difference lol.

Dont forget about spark plugs and wires, bearings/tire rods/suspension components, hoses/belts, and the coolant system in general.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/11/2017 at 08:41

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lift up back seat base and go in from the top

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > LongbowMkII 05/11/2017 at 08:43

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Also known as “when the car doesnt start” or “never”

nermal > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 05/11/2017 at 09:18

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Samesies, but mine is every oil change, not every other. #threehundreddollaoilchangeclub

404 - User No Longer Available > LongbowMkII 05/11/2017 at 09:26

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I think for some newer cars, the fuel pump IS the filter. “Lifetime” filter they say...

Urambo Tauro > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/11/2017 at 10:09

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My truck’s fuel filter is one of those where you have to unscrew the line nuts, and that’s always a problem up here in the rust belt. Here’s a pic I found online of what it looks like before it’s all rusted to hell:

But my tank was leaking, and the rusty lines had been replaced with rubber hose and hose clamps by the previous owner. So while I was overhauling the fuel system, I went ahead and put some quick connects on the new fuel line so that I could use a different filter. It’s the same size diameter, and shortly after taking the pic below, I was able to find a stock bracket to secure the new filter and lines in place.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Urambo Tauro 05/11/2017 at 11:00

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Neat. I would have thought that a line nut would be 1000x better since then I could just put a wrench on there and off it goes. But yeah mine would have been just as rusted for sure. I should have considered using different clamps like you did, surprised I didnt break mine during removal or install.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/11/2017 at 11:00

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It won’t burn your skin.

Gasoline is a strong solvent, which is why it burns when you leave it on your skin. Diesel fuel is a much weaker solvent, so it will just take a lot longer to have an effect.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/11/2017 at 11:11

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That tool isn’t for Miatas, lol. It’s for quick-disconnect style fuel line ends like the ones on my Mustang.

Urambo Tauro > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/11/2017 at 11:11

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Maybe line nuts wouldn’t be so hard to crack loose if everybody just changed the filters at the proper intervals instead of letting that rust accumulate? For my truck, that’s like every 2-3 years.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 05/11/2017 at 11:42

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There’s a book I have which is the memoirs of a British tanker in North Africa during WWII. At one point he is advised to eliminate a case of crabs (contracted from some silk pajamas recovered in the field, dumb) by pouring avgas on his nads. It goes as horribly as you would expect.

Scary__goongala! > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/11/2017 at 11:53

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I think I bought a fuel filter and never bothered installing it. Without looking at records I have no idea when it may have been changed last. Do you have to drop the fuel tank or anything super crazy?

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 05/11/2017 at 12:08

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Well that would be a good explanation as to why it didnt work lol. Damn advance auto guy telling me how much easier the plastic tools would be versus the one I had originally wanted. I shouldnt listen to trained monkeys.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Scary__goongala! 05/11/2017 at 12:09

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In my Miata, it was located under the car behind a panel. Pain in the ass to access without a lift but it wasnt too bad once I had the car in the air. Was even easier in my past Civic. Was right there in the engine bay.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Urambo Tauro 05/11/2017 at 12:17

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I’ve had exhaust hardware rusted in place after only 3 months. So I generally have no faith in anything on the bottom of my car surviving rust that long lol.

LongbowMkII > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/12/2017 at 08:59

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Pretty much.