FUEL FILTER

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WENT TO TOYOTA DEALER ASKED THEY CHANGE FUEL FILTER ON 2003 SEQUOIA, 45,000 MILES. THEY TOLD ME "IT'S A TOYOTA YOU DON'T NEED TO CHANGE THE FUEL FILTER". THE MAINTENACE MANUAL DOES NOT STATE TO CHANGE FUEL FILTER AT ANY TIME. BUT I WOULD THINK IT WOULD BE GOOD PREVENTIVE MAINT. WHAT DO YOU THINK ?
 
If it is in the tank, there is a sock and a filter. They say it only needs to be changed when clogged, but by then it is too late. It is a PIA to change the filter if it is in the tank. I am thinking about getting it changed every 90K miles.
 
Seems the same morons write Toyota owner's manuals that also write GM's truck manuals. They don't mention it either in several year models equipped with external filters.
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
I change mine every 40,000-50,000 miles.

There's always crud that drains out of them after this long.


I'm surprised your 04 Silverado has one. My 04 Avalanche is the first year in which the filter is in the tank and not on the frame-rail. I was a little worried about this, not being able to change it, but what can you do?
 
By the way, the failure to change my fuel filter on my '98 Chev K1500 (I was doing it every 60k miles) took out my fuel pump at around 120k miles. It was totally clogged at 60k miles on the filter.

This is an easy job if it's mounted to the frame-rail. It's worthwhile to get a cheap chinese set of pressure fitting wrenches to make sure you don't damage the nuts on the fuel lines when you take off the filter. Don't use an SAE on a metric or vice-versa. Damaging these nuts would be a total disaster and could turn a quick job into an expensive dealership visit/tow.

What I concluded from my experience was that the worse fuel economy you get, the more often you should change the filter. I noticed that the fuel filter for my K1500 was no bigger than anything else hanging on the wall at the auto parts store. But, when I thought about how many gallons of gas went through that fuel filter (at around 17mpg, at best) to get that truck to its 60k interval, I wasn't surprised it clogged at 60k. My thought is that if I had one on my framerail and was driving a thirsty v6 or v8, I'd be changing it every 30k miles.
 
most japanese manufacturers believe that fuel filters don't need to be serviced. that doesn't mean that the filter doesn't need to be changed but it explains the dealer's attitude.
 
If it is easily accessable,I would change it 30-40,000 miles. It is my understanding, that the " in the tank filters, that are like socks" get washed clean with a full tank of gas. the larger bits of dirt settle to the bottom of the tank. That is why the in the tank filters do not need servicing. they stay clean enough for fuel to pass.
 
Originally Posted By: kazual
If it is easily accessable,I would change it 30-40,000 miles. It is my understanding, that the " in the tank filters, that are like socks" get washed clean with a full tank of gas. the larger bits of dirt settle to the bottom of the tank. That is why the in the tank filters do not need servicing. they stay clean enough for fuel to pass.


Thanks, that makes me feel a little more confident in my existing set-up. That's the first time I've every read a common-sense explanation of why in-tank filters shouldn't need to be changed.
 
I just changed my 2004 Impala fuel filter today @ 24,000 miles. Supposedly GM pumps can fail with a partially clogged filter, so I'm not taking any chances. About every 25 or so thousand miles for me. Most filters are only a 15 minute job anyway. FWIW a NAPA Gold (Wix) filter was $14.50.
 
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