Fuel filter change intervals

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how often do you change them? i just changed the fuel filters on gf's Taurus and my Sable. very easy to do and may do it yearly.....filters were $6/each.
 
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These should - assuming you buy gas from stations that don't have excess sediment in their tanks - last at least 5 years. Most people never replace the fuel filter on cars made in the last 20 years. Not that any good BITOG member ever avoids doing more than required maintenance :o)
 
my dad waited 10 years and it was full of crud. car hesitation was bad until i changed it. I will do it every 2 years i think. cheap enough
 
You will get some warning when it is clogging up, and still be able to drive home if you don't floor it. If you're going to do pre-emptive changes anyway, once a year is way too often.
 
Just my 2 cents but with the ever-decreasing number of old steel tanks in service stations the frequency of fuel filter replacement decreases as well.

5 years is probably a good number. Dirt in fuel COULD be regionally encountered so 2 years might be a number for some people.

I looked up Ford Explorer fuel filter stories on the internet (so I know they're true) and "improved performance upon filter change" stories were there.

As stated above, cheap enough.

I wish my current car had one. Funny thing is that my car was built 2001-2007 and the 2007 ONLY changed to a steel tank (from plastic) and a non-serviceable filter.
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Many vehicles don't have a serviceable filter.


My 14 Mustang and my mom's 14 Fusion do not have serviceable fuel filters. My 95 Mustang does but I will be replacing the factory setup with something aftermarket when the new engine finally gets built.
 
A lot of newer cars with fuel pump modules that include both the tank strainer and main system filter have proven they can live the life of the fuel pump, some of them can be serviced if you have access to the fuel tank and feel comfortable taking apart the pump module.

If there's an externally-serviceable filter, I think 3 years is a good rule of thumb.
 
Yesterday I changed fuel filter out on my 2010 Ranger 2.3 w/71K miles. Cut it open....full of rust and gunk. OEM FoMoCo filter. Lil' thing runs noticeably stronger now. 30K miles will be next R&R.
 
Often, I've seen cars run a little better with a new filter. 30-40k miles seems to be a good interval.
 
One my cars that I can service without going into tank, I'm going to start at 100K intervals.

Just changed my 4Runner at 210K and second time on my LS400 at 257k (1st one was at 100k)
 
With external filter, every 30,000 miles (probably overkill).

Internal filters, only when fuel pump dies.

I had to change the fuel pump in my '02 F150 with 180,000 miles on in, and not a bit of visible sediment buildup in the metal tank. I had changed the fuel filter at 170,000 miles when I got it, a lot of fine sediment was in the filter then.
 
Modern service station pumps have filters in them.
Haven't looked inside a pump lately but wife & I operated a Shell station in the 1980s.
The pumps had a spin-on filter just like an oil filter but it was a 10 micron if I remember correctly.
I assume they are better filtered today ..
 
Between 12k and 100k. It seems 30k was the norm for awhile, then alot of 100k intervals for newish cars. Back in the 80s and prior I think 12k on carbs and new EFI was the way to go.


A question about filters I have is can they only filter out solids??? Say you have clear water and then add in solubles like food coloring and sugar, salt, etc....can a filter reduce those things in a solution or is it pretty much for dirt, crud and sand?
 
Two out of my three cars have (easily) replaceable fuel filters. It's not very hard to replace nor expensive so for peace of mind, I usually go 50k on them and replace. A little sooner on the Civic as it's right there in the engine bay.
 
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