FUEL FILTER REPLACEMENT

[MADMIKE]

Why do most auto manufacturers no longer recommend replacement of the fuel filter? I noticed that this once common maintenance practice is falling by the wayside and it appears that most manufacturers are now equipping their cars with ful filters that are intended to last for the life of the car. Comments?

 

[Jonny Z]

Too many people sprayed fuel and set something on fire?

 

[Jonny Z]

I like it lifetime but I wish it is serviceable - my car has two in the tank, and one in the engine, none of which is user serviceable.

 

[rjundi]

My experience from our two Civic's that had a lifetime filter (under the hood) is that we never encountered a single problem in the 10 years/200,000 miles we owned each car.

 

[mechtech]

Fuel injection filters are WAY bigger than carbureted filters. There is a lot of surface area.

 

[Ben Boyle]

VW specs that it's lifetime in my NB. However, 6 years later and 100k miles is enough for me. I paid the $15 for one at the auto parts store and replaced it. In my case it's not in the tank which is good

 

[VelociRacer]

In my 1999 Civic EX, I took it out at 125k miles (6 yrs) because I was not comfortable going longer on it. Manual does NOT have a change interval, so YMMV. I cut it open and the cardboard (brown) paper element looked like it was lightly dusted with grey/silver on the dirty side compared to the clean side. Hard to say by looking at it whether pores are plugged or not. Certainly no big chunks. Service manual had a pressure test to determine if filter is OK or not. But for the $15 you spend, and the 1/2hr time it takes to replace this, why not do it? 100k miles is a good time for a new one IMO (if it is serviceable). Anything shorter would be an OVERKILL for sure. Until then, don't sweat it.