lifetime fuel filters?

[surfstar]

Honda claims that the fuel filter on the 1996 Civic (amoung other cars) is a lifetime unit. Car has 105k miles on it. No symptoms of a bad filter. Should I change it?

 

[JTK]

Is it a sock type filter in the gas tank? More & more vehicles are built this way these days. Under normal conditions, you'd only need to address it during a fuel pump/sending unit replacement.
G/luck
Joel

 

[surfstar]

no, its a standard looking filter:

 

[JTK]

Cool. If it's easy to replace and inexpensive, why not replace it. It looks to be fairly small & may not have much dirt holding capacity.
G/luck
Joel

 

[TomH]

If it has a filter on it like the one in your picture, I'd absolutely change it, especially after 105K miles!

 

[Palut]

My '95 Accord claims a lifetime fuel filter too. I had it replaced at about 130k miles (it was the factory original), and my mechanic said I might notice more power while in V-TEC. It was a night and day difference! From now on, I'm replacing it every 30k miles.

 

[moribundman]

I got almost 140k miles on my Coke can-sized OEM fuel filter without any issues so far. *knocks on oak desk*

 

[drm7]

I have a Mazda MPV (2003) and the filter is in the tank. No service interval listed. I hope it lasts as long as the sending unit. I hate to see the labor costs to replace it.

 

[PandaBear]

My corolla suggest replacing every 90k-120k if driving in non-california, and lifetime in california.

Maybe due to the gas station here all have fuel filter in the pump?

 

[2003TRD]

I say change them every 30-40K. Cant go wrong. Especially if it is somewhat clogged it can cause your pump to overwork/heat. A new filter is usually less than 30.00 while fuel pumps are a couple hundred

 

[surfstar]

changed it with an OEM honda filter. i think they say lifetime just because its such a pain to change. even with it right on the firewall, man it was a pain - i know those bolts were not at factory specs, although it was installed at the factory.

cut open the old filter (looked like good quality) and all the pleats were quite dirty and there was a fine grity material at the bottom of the filter. definately worth doing.

 

[kloppilt]

Try changing the fuel filter on a 96 Accord

It's a major PIA.

 

[ex_MGB]

I bought a used '89 Accord at 135K miles and changed the filter. Yes indeed, the factory does not spare the torque in bolting down the banjo connections.

 

[dkryan]

Ditto the 2001 Infiniti I30 for a "lifetime" fuel filter. I may change mine out (more like have someone else do it) when I do the major fluid changes at 60K.

 

[Jim 5]

I have to say that this trend towards "lifetime" this and "lifetime" that seems like crazy talk to me.

I had to replace a fuel pump because a fuel filter on one of my vehicles was nearly clogged. The fuel pump "couldn't take it no more!"

Change that filter on reasonable intervals. Same thing that goes for "Lifetime" transmission fluids.

"Lifetime" anything is manufacturer's code for "won't fail during the 'lifetime' of the warranty on your car".

 

[WDP]

Another "lifetime" filter load of stuff. How long does a fuel filter last?? Till your next tank of really crappy gas, and that's the truth.

WDP

 

[dkryan]

I'm curious as to the size difference and more importantly, the difference in the filter media between the old "change them at 30k-60k" and the new "lifetime" fuel filters.

Does anyone have the answer?

 

[kingrob]

Or till your gas tank starts corroding. It's rare, but it does happen.

My brother in law had a mid-80's Mazda pick-up and around 50k his carb started screwing up (so he thought). After a lot of hassle he found out that the gas tank was rusting from the inside out. Had to buy a new tank every few years and run four filters at once as one or more invariably failed.