Fuel Filter Changed After 15 years...

awpsome

awpsome

New member
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..
9718b048.jpg~original


Used a hacksaw and vice to open it up.
3f80ea46.jpg~original


To my amazement, it really wasn't that bad at all.. HAHA
b71e519f.jpg~original


Close up.
34aa2d89.jpg~original


New Filter
c01b5f35.jpg~original


Part number for those who need.
f75480f6.jpg~original


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..
 
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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.
 
awpsome said:
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?
Click to expand...

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.
 
96743runner said:
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.
Click to expand...

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

JasetheDamager said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
TegoXR said:
Hoping my install is easy, been soaking it for the past 5 days in PB BLASTER.
Click to expand...
Haha don't worry to much! It'll be fine! Just remember to use a good flare nut wrench and with one hand on your wrench and your hand pulling the opposite way on the fuel filter helps. Things are a little flimsy down there so just pulling on the wrench end will cause to much flex resulting in. Bent lines or less strength against opening that nut.
Good luck!!

jmildoc said:
Plan on changing mine this weekend, along with the diff fluids and breather
Click to expand...

It's a good and cheap mod to do that can save you big bucks.

Gerdo said:
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.
Click to expand...
That's actually really smart. Never thought of it like that.
Nice!
 
So I went in to my local Toyota dealership asking to buy a fuel filter with the exact part number. The two service guys told me they don't normally carry that in stock since I shouldn't ever have to change my fuel filter. I emphasized that I plan on keeping my 2000 4runner until it literally falls apart on the side of the road hopefully on some cool outdoor adventure. And again they said I really don't need to change my fuel filter.

Do you guys agree with this? I feel like I do, but then again, 2 Toyota service guys said I do not. So I just decided not to do it. But I still have that feeling that I should especially after reading through this thread.
 
Don't believe those grease monkeys! Change the fuel filter every 100k and everything will be much happier. That's the same nonsense that they try and say about transmission fluid. It needs changed. Fluids have come a long way but it still needs changed.
 
Yea that's just dumb to not change it. And it's also weird that they actually tried to "not" sell you the product. That's a first..
But yea as a filter that "filters" fuel I would change it because to me it's like changing any filter. They get ****tier at filtering things over time. All filters need to be change. It's the way of life.
 
Sure, a filter MAY last the life of the car. But in 15 min, you re giving yourself piece of mind and a cheap maintenance upgrade
 
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