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DIY: Fuel Filter Change

189K views 186 replies 131 participants last post by  tritron 
#1 ·
#128 ·
Changed my fuel filter yesterday, along with spark plugs, cabin air filter and fuel injectors. Took me about 4.5 hrs.
I also pulled the fuse 54 out, the car ran for about 2 min then started to spatter. There was still pressurized fuel left in the lines, so when I took the first hose out I got sprayed in my face. So im thinking for the next time I'd cover the connection of the hose and filter area with a piece of clothe so it will contain the spray. Otherwise the rest of the diy went great.
Thanks for all the input and the OP for the great DIY
 
#129 ·
I'll be doing this this weekend and was wondering what is the point of running the car out of gas? I mean, I know its so no fuel runs out but I also know it isn't that good on your motor to run it out of gas. I'm just planning on using hose compressors to clamp down on the fuel lines so no fuel runs out...
 
#131 ·
Hi All,

Does anyone know if an 06 330ci ZHP Fuel filter should include the pressure regulator? I just bought a MANN Part # WK5321 and i'm having a hard time finding out if it includes a pressure regulator on it or not. What brand fuel filter has everyone been using? Thanks!
 
#134 ·
Just changed my fuel filter and it went smoothly. Although, when I took out the old fuel filter a foam insulator piece came out and I never put it back in because I thought that it wasn't crucial. After reading through my Bentley Manual it says under the replacement of the fuel filter:

"Note: When installing fuel filter cover, take care to reinstall foam rubber seal in front of cover correctly to prevent flooding of filter with rain splash water."

Does anyone else know anything about this foam piece?
 
#135 ·
I just did the fuel filter change on my car this past Friday, it was a whole lot easier then I thought, I read that if your not careful you can blow yourself up.. I laughed but was worried a bit but everything went smooth as ice, Just unbolt the 3 bolts on the shield that is covering the filter and bend the shield back a bit and I believe it's 10mm socket to loosen the filter off the frame the car and use a pair of pliers to get the clamps off that rubber looking thing and make sure you have a bucket near by, filter is going to have a lot gas in it... my filter was completely dirty as F**K and the gas was black as shiiiiiit. Easy job. For me was 3 out of 10. Recommend anyone to do this. Felt bit difference in power afterwards.
 
#136 · (Edited)
Just did this today as part of the Inspection II kit from ECS. Most things have been covered but I wanted to just pull together some tips that worked for me which are spread across a few threads. I did not pull any fuses or "purge" the system by running/starting the engine until it wouldn't run etc... and spilled very little gas.

I did this just jacking up the left side and putting it on a jack stand. I removed the shield completely, I didn't find the front two nuts that hard to get to. The key to getting them is to have enough room to get both your hands in there. For me this meant ditching the creeper and just laying on the ground which gave me the 2 or 3 extra inches of room to lay more on my side and get in there with both hands.

Once the shield was out of the way and the clamp holding the filter was removed I loosened all the hose clamps and worked them up the hoses until they were completely past the nipple underneath so that they wouldn't bind when I was trying to remove the hoses.

On the front (engine side) of the filter I loosened the clamp closest to the filter, and on the rear I loosened the clamps closest to the hard fuel lines.

I used a pair of hose pinching pliers very similar to these which made gripping and twisting the hoses quite easy.

Make sure you have the plastic caps from the new filter handy. I removed the vacuum line and fuel hose from the front of the filter first, immediately capping the nipple from the filter with one of the plastic caps so that the filter didn't drain yet. The hose pinching pliers allowed me to pinch off the fuel line from the car while I got my pan into position at which point I let the fuel line from the car drain into a pan. Hardly anything came out even though I hadn't run it dry. Couple ounces at the most.

Before working on the rear of the filter I positioned the drain pan and then removed the cap from the front of the filter to drain most of the fuel before removing the lines at the rear of the filter. When the draining slowed I put the cap back on the front nipple so that it wouldn't continue to trickle.

Then I disconnected each of the rear hoses one at a time leaving the hose connected to the filter. As I disconnected each hose I capped the hard fuel line with my finger immediately as the hose slid off and then slid my finger off while capping with one of the plastic caps from the new filter.

After swapping the fuel hose stubs from the rear of the old filter to the new one I installed the new filter front end first. Then moved to the rear hoses.

Uncap one of the rear hard lines and cover with your finger, then slide your finger out of the way as you push the fuel hose over the hard line. Tighten clamp and repeat for second fuel line.

Doing it this way I spilled VERY little gas on me or the floor. No fuse pulling and running engine dry etc....
 
#138 ·
I tried to do this yesterday and failed horribly.
First: couldn't get the front 2 screws of the shield out so I just bent it away to access the filter.
Second: Couldn't get the filter clamp 10mm nut out, the bolt snapped when tried too hard.
Third: Almost stripped all the clamps.

My issue I guess was because I had very less room under there because I was only using 2 jack stands and working under the car in a parking lot.

So I gave up and put it back together with the broken filter clamp just being held by the shield.

My questions,

1)can I just go to the autozone/advanced auto and get regular fuel lines and small clamps? What size and specs? I plan to cut the hoses on the old one, and also what size is the vacuum hose? I would buy that too.


2)Can I clamp the new hose tight on the nipples of the filter before going under the car and only tighten the clamps that are on the fuel lines only when I actually go under the car?

3)what can I do of the broken 10mm bolt still stuck under the car?

4)The new filter(Kayser) I bought doesn't have that rubber tubing around it, Can I re-use the one from the old one(if I can get it off there) or is there anything else I can use there?
 
#142 ·
:hi:

trj,

since it's been a few months since you tried this I assume you got the job done?

I'm a little worried about your fuel filter bracket tho. Were you able to secure it?

I think it's there to prevent the filter from moving around when driving over bumps, etc. If it moves, the lines could come loose or crack and spill fuel. The car could catch on fire!

I would recommend having a pro address that problem if you can't remove the old bolt. Maybe it can be drilled out and another bolt put in. It's a very critical part that is there for a good reason.

GL

-Daniel
 
#139 ·
Dirty job !

Very good DIY. just did it yesterday. Very difficult to reach the top two nuts to remove the shield. no slack on the front fuel lines, decided to cut the three hoses, was very difficult to remove them, replaced with brand new 8x13mm BMW hose for $18 for 3ft. Also replaced the clamps, the old ones were really easy to strip the heads, replace with european style clamps.

its a messy/dirty job, i hate working/dealing with car fluids!
 
#141 · (Edited)
Fuel Filter - my experience

Overall this wasn't a bad DIY. Just a few pointers that I missed when reading/watching how to do this.

1. You MUST buy a new pack of small hose clamps. The ones on the car are NOT reusable.

2. Our cars have a 1/4" rubber vacuum tubing attached to the filter. Mine was brittle and cracked as soon as I touched it. You will need only about 6 inches of it. Buy 1 foot.

3. You should replace the rubber fuel lines also. If I remember there's less than 1 foot of it. Buy the good stuff. Don't be cheap.

4. A lot of gas will pour out of the line. Have a catch can ready.

5. Use rubber/latex gloves, eye protection, and a headlamp. Makes it easier.

6. If you have anywhere near 100k miles check for leaks while you are under there. No one else will (including the guy you pay to change your oil).

7. The rest is on YouTube (FCPGroton has a nice video) or written on this site. Watch/read and learn. It will go smooth.

.02 HTH and GL!

BTW, I noticed smoother acceleration and smoother shifting (Auto trans). I was definitely overdue for this one (115k). Fuel that came out of filter was black. Not sure the recommended interval but 115k miles was way too long.


-Daniel
 
#144 · (Edited)
trj,

I can't remember if the bracket bolt is attached to the frame or not. I wasn't under there long enough. But I think the filter needs to be secured some how to the frame/body. The reason I say that is that the bracket is very sturdy when it's bolted on but when it's released the filter has some play. So I assume the filter is designed to be held rigidly in place.

If it's not, it seems to me that it could wiggle loose and put stress on the fuel lines. Maybe a shop could just drill and tap another bolt and secure the bracket that way. Or even weld one onto the correct spot.

Talk to them. I'm sure they could come up with an easy solution.

GL
-Daniel
 
#146 ·
Yup, will do it soon. Its not my daily right now. I am driving a beater mazda 626 right now for sometime till I get the RTABs, RSM, OFHG and the CCV done. Once I DIY those, I am going to take it to a shop who can get that bolt out. And see what I can do to secure that bracket there.

It snapped clean right on the surface where it emerges from. So, I don't have any room to use any tools to get hold of it. I don't have a drill on hand while I was trying it :(
 
#145 ·
Ha, someone else with the same issue! I, too, broke that post (what you guys are calling a screw).

In my case, I wound up cold-welding (ie. epoxy) the nut and half the post to the stub of what was left on the car. It'll be a pain to get off the next time the filter needs to be changed, but that will probably be another 100k miles (someone will probably have to dremel it or drill it or something).

I certainly wouldn't go with only the shield.

My bigger issue is that, since I changed the filter, I've had an issue where in extremely heavy rain, I get a weird engine noise when I step on the throttle. No noise at all when my foot's not on the gas. I'm wondering if I somehow replaced that foam splash shield incorrectly, and if that could be causing it somehow (no idea exactly how... water getting into my gas? Gas not properly getting to the engine?0.
 
#148 ·
Regarding the rain issue: I remember reading somewhere (can't remember where) that the foam shield is there to prevent water touching the filter. Maybe it was the Bentley manual.

Anyway, I live in Vegas and it never rains here! So I'll never know if I reinstalled min correctly. Lol

:woot:
 
#151 ·
Out of curiosity did I get the wrong fuel Filter? I have a 2004 325Ci but I thought it needs a regulator in it? I haven't taken mine off the car since I'm working 10-8, but I just had the part delivered to my work, and this is what I got:
The regulators are built inside the filter. I got Kayser fuel filter, I cant see the brand name on yours. But it looks like it is the correct one, but it has to have 2 hoses on each side. I can see one on each side from the angle of the picture.
 
#155 ·
Too bad, but that code may be from the fuel pump. The fuel level senders are in the pump. There is a test in hidden OBD menu, search for the same and check the units.
There are a couple of threads here and bimmerforums about this code. Check them out.

Although replacing the fuel filter is always good, but it may not solve your issue if its sensor in the fuel pump.
 
#156 · (Edited)
I replaced the pump last night, went out and it threw it again. It is weird. If I baby it it won't throw the code, however if I stomp on it and it gets above 4k it'll throw it. Kinda sucks for climbing a hill or merging on the highway.

I did the hidden tests, and the left side read 1.7L in it with 3/4 fuel left.... which it should read all but 0 if not 0 itself. Haven't retried the test yet with the new pump.
 
#157 ·
Good DIY however a few things to note.

Pulling the fuse, does nothing. After I pulled the hose which was mounted closer to the engine, a HUGE load of gasoline squirted right into my head. Very high pressure.

Second, when you disconnect the hoses on the other end, fuel will non-stop come out of that end. I waited 5-10 mins and it never stopped, had to reinstall the new one to stop the flow. Lost of gas was wasted.

Third, you should buy 3 new hose clamps because those stocks one you can only lossen but can't retighten.

Fourth, sometimes putting the car from 2nd to 3rd in the ignition doesn't always help. I must of purged the system like 10 times, when started it ran like crap for 30 seconds before stabilising.
 
#160 ·
I replaced my filter last month and here are a couple tips that address some of the above.

1. after pulling the fuse, start the engine and let it run until it stalls. This will relieve the high pressure in the line.

2. the two hoses at the back of the fuel filter come from the two gas tanks. The reason fuel stops flowing from one hose but not the other is likely because you have less than 1/2 a tank of gas but not an empty tank. I would recommend performing this when the tank is nearly empty to reduce the flow.

hope this helps.
 
#161 ·
I replaced the fuel filter today. Had about one gallon in the tank so I thought this would be a good time to change the filter.

Removed the fuse and started the car. This didn't do much except to warm the car up.

Once car cooled down, removed the old filter. Didn't need any clamps and had minimal gas spill. Only about a 1/2 cup.

Reinstalled new filter. Reinstalled the fuse. Turn the key to #2 about five times with about a 5 second wait between each attempt, and then started up the car. Ran perfect.
Drove down to get a 1/2 of gas. All is good.
Over all took about 1 hour to complete this project.

Good DIY.
 
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