How often should the fuel filter be changed?

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Apollo Williams

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Just curious? It had been about 10K miles and I just got the fuel filter changed this weekend, along with the oil and rear differential serviced. My gas mileage was getting pretty bad so I thought it might be time to change the fuel filter. Tire pressure was good and right now I am averaging 250-300 mostly highway miles on a full tank (before the servicing this weekend).
 
30K

Todd Z
 
FYI - I have changed mine three or four times. I check the contents of the old filter and the first one had the filthiest garbage in it.
 
If you have fuel filter that really needs replacing, is it something you will know right away? Would there be a considerable decrease in something like MPG?
 
I don't see how a plugged fuel filter would hurt mpg. If it's starting to plug up the car will miss or hesitate a little and before too long it will quit running altogether. Book says every 30k which is what I do. One of those ounce of prevention vs. pound of cure things. New fuel filter is a lot cheaper than breaking down and/or a towing bill.
 
I changed mine at 30K and was astounded at what ran out of the inlet side. The injector nozzle holes are very small and I can see how a good filter is needed because there is a lot of fine crud in gas that, over time, would degade the injectors.
 
The filter is located along the driver side frame, on the inside near the front door hinge. It’s a silver canister, about 4" long and 2.5" in diameter. You'll need a tool to disconnect the line from the filter. There are metal and plastic, both work well enough. The plastic is about $8.00 for a set of five or six different sizes for fuel and air conditioning lines. It's pretty easy, but it takes a bit of fumbling, as there is considerable friction between the line and filter. On both sides of the filter, disconnect the safety clips, snap the tool on to the line, insert it firmly into the fitting, press and pull until the line comes free. Note: wear safety glasses, close your eyes or turn your head – whatever works for you – as considerable amount of fuel will come out. Once off, simply attach the new filter, clip it into place, re-connect the safety clips and have a beer.



Before you purchase the filter, check to see how many lines are on the current filter. The early ones have two (an inlet and an outlet), later model filters had three (an inlet and two outlets).



You won't know it right away. It'll be clogged more than you want before there will be signs, that's why there is a mileage specification (a guesstimate) for change frequency.

 
Ignoring book schedule for just a minute - do y'all think the folks that let their tanks run low/empty have more fuel filter related problems and therefore should probably replace more often?? And conversely, never letting the tank get less than say, 1/4 in your opinions, does it still need to be replaced as often?? But, we have plastic tanks (yes?) so maybe no diff in the amount of junk picked up from the bottom? Just thoughts...



grump
 
I typically refill the tank when I have to go somewhere that I don't think I have enough fuel to get (pretty smart, huh?). What I mean is that I do this, and sometimes I refill at half tank, sometimes on fumes. I have no problem running the tank down, and have had no fuel system related problems (’01 Job 1, 135,000 mi.). I think if the tank isn't run near empty ever, there will be all sorts of junk concentrated in the bottom and, sometime, you're going to be away from a fuel source and will be forced to pump all that (concentrated) junk through in 80 miles, or so. I think it's better a little bit at a time.



I haven't really studied the tank material, but, at a glance, it appears to be metal. Metal or plastic, I don't think that the junk in the tank comes from the tank itself.



All that spewed, I figure that whatever it is that is in the tank gets there from one of three sources: simply removing the cap, whatever is in the fuel, and whatever may come from other parts of the fuel system (although, I can't think of a source). Whatever the case, unless there is junk growing in the tank, or related fuel system components, it seems to me that the total amount of junk is related the amount of fuel run through the system (assuming folks don’t remove the gas cap just for fun). If this is the case, the life of the filter should be unaffected by refueling habits, only mileage (indirectly related to the amount of fuel run through the system).

 
A plugged filter will make the engine lean, especially under load. If your Ttac fuels like its bucking a head wind a highway speeds, its probably the filter. Unless totally clogged, it would not affect engine performance at an idle or very low load.
 
I change my filter once a year and I run my tank almost empty just before I fill up. I would run it bare dry if I knew it would go dry pulling it into the station.



I really hate getting gas.





Tom
 

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