Not as bad as i thought it would be...

living in Hawaii has its benefits with good weather and minimal rust if you stay away from the ocean..

everyone's horror stories of impossible fuel filter changes made me worried, and the whole depressurizing the system had me jumpy.

Here are my 2 cents

All i did was open the fuel cap and let that depressurize, then after letting the truck cool off, sat for about an hour, i started my fuel filter change.

I did NOT do anything else to depressurize the system other then the fuel cap and put some PB blaster on the fuel filter nuts.

Flare nut 14mm in hand, expecting an impossible opening, it actually opened without much force.

No fuel came shooting out under pressure, just what i expected just lots and lots of dripping from whatever was in the lines..
i just let to drop enough till it was a slow drip then cracked open the nuts all the way and continued with the change.

The nuts holding in the actual fuel filter itself are 10mm and those were cake.

Then change the fuel filter to the new and reinstall in reverse order.

10 minute job, TOPS.

First crank was slow as the fuel lines needed to be filled up
Second crank and was running smooth, checked underneath for any leaks and no leaks!
PERFECT.
FINISHED.
POST ON t4r.org

Pictures OF COURSE!

as everyone cracks open the fuel filter to see the 15 year damage..


Used a hacksaw and vice to open it up.


To my amazement, it really wasn't that bad at all.. HAHA


Close up.


New Filter


Part number for those who need.


At my toyota servco parts dealer the fuel filter was $45


Conclusion:
15 years with OEM filter, not bad at all. I have 136,xxx miles on my truck.
It was definitely dirty "looking" but no crud or crap or dirt or anything that didnt look like old fuel.
The fuel that drained out was clear as new and only the filter had some old dirty looking fuel. Meaning the fuel filter was still doing a good job and i am glad i went with an OEM filter. Knowing i got another 15 years to not worry about.

Performance Conclusion:
My butt monitor states it does feel a much smoother response from the truck. I did have the intentions of changing out my filter because it was feeling sluggish and it was the last piece to the puzzle for cheap maintenance.
Smoother response, a few more HP feeling, and the assurance of a new filter was all i needed to be COMPLETELY SATISFIED.

Next maintenance is valve cover gaskets, as i noticed today those were leaking.. and ill probably do at the same time the notorious rear axle seals.. my 3rd one now..

Great write up and congrats on avoiding a nightmarish job lol. Reckon mine is coming due, you give me hope for smooth job!

You got lucky!!!

Nice! Always good to do maintenance like this whenever you have the chance.

Have you checked/replaced your rear diff breather? Maybe that's why your axle seals keep leaking...my breather was actually clogged up but lucky I caught it before it blew the seals.

HAHA and yes i consider myself very lucky with that fuel filter.
must be hard with all the road salts and rust up in the mainland.


how can i "check" the rear diff breather?
i know where it is and what it does, but the top "cap" seems to move freely up and down?

A tip to add for those who plan to do it, once it's replaced, cycle the key a few times and let the fuel pump prime the lines, that way you don't have the extended crank like the OP described.

I was just going to look into see how much trouble it would take to pull the fuel pump out and check the pump filter. As I would imagine there's a lot better chance the fuel tank and pickup filter will be a lot dirtier than the forward fuel filter.

Funny mentioning the rear diff breather. I didn't know there was one either, until I switched to a full synthetic oil (probably a mistake with the old style seals... which have been redesigned) and both rear axle seals started leaking. That and my breather was completely seized closed with rust and debris. I ended up doing a whole outer axle rebuild since I had to take it all apart anyway! Yeah... replace your breather. It will save you a ton of money in the long run.

I pay like $11 a filter and change it yearly, i always notice a difference in power and smoothness, i believe it also helps get me my consistent 20mpg.

The top cap moved freely on my old breather too but it made a loud whoosh noise when I removed it from the axle. There must have been something clogged up inside enough to cause some pressure to build up.

Hey OP, thanks for the motivation. I have my fuel filter and a box of parts sitting in my livingroom, waiting for install. I'll finally get to it this week. I hope it goes as smoothly as your swap. This seems like one of those easy projects that turn into a time killer cuz of seized bolts.

interesting, im going to buy a replacement for it tomorrow. got quoted from toyota parts dealer locally for 10$. OEM replacement. better then "chancing" it, ill spend the 10$ HAHA

HAHA yup, dont sweat it man. its not as bad as it always makes it seem.
Just the night before, spray some PB blaster on the bolts and the next day right before your about to do the swap, hit it again with some PB blaster.

Best of luck! and dont worry once the bolts are off, its cake..

I changed my fuel filter a year or so ago expecting it to be ugly inside, and expecting a bump in fuel economy after replacement.

Neither was true! The original filter was pretty clean, and my MPGs stayed the same.

Quality of the gas you buy has more to do with the condition of gas you buy. I NEVER stop at a station that has a refueling truck there. As they dump fuel into the tanks, all of the dirt that settles in their tanks is stirred up and will be pumped out into your tank.

Plan on changing mine this weekend, along with the diff fluids and breather

Hoping my install is easy, been soaking it for the past 5 days in PB BLASTER.