HOW TO – CHANGE FUEL FILTER
Tools / equipment needed:
Correct filter**
15 and 19mm open ended spanners.
WD40 or equivalent lube
2 Small flat-bladed screwdrivers.
1. park car on flat concrete. Remove fuel pump relay from the fuse bank under the bonnet. Turn the car over for a few short bursts to get rid of excess juice from the line. (Thanks here to bodes-sh and TwistedEL)
2. Jack rear of car up and support on safety stands. I used the factory jack which works very well.
3. Spray nut and allow lube to penetrate. I couldn’t believe how tight the nut was done up!
4. Undo the nut end of the filter first, as this will allow you to pull the filter out of its holder/bracket, giving you the ability to move it around, helping you get it into a better position and enabling you to get a good hold of it. (Fuel will come out of the line, but not too much)
5. The clip can be undone using 2 small flat blade screwdrivers to prise back (gently though) the clips on the connector.
Basically what you have to do is gently insert the 2 screwdrivers into the connector along either side of the shaft of the filter to prise apart the plastic locking ring/o-ring type mechanism (demonstrated by the 2 thicker arrows on the diagram). This plastic locking ring grips the shaft and I think latches onto the part I’ve labelled stopper / ridge and so must be held back to allow the filter to be pulled out. Gently does it though, not much force is needed, but the force must be directed in the right area.
This crude diagram gives you a basic idea of how it all fits together. The connector snap fits onto the pipe of the filter, coming to a stop on the part I’ve labelled stopper/ridge. Actually the stopper is inside of the connector.
The bottom diagram is a rough cross section of the connector, which attempts to give an understanding of the o ring needing to be prised apart! It’s indicated by the arrows. Using the screwdrivers to gently pushing this inner plastic ring aside or prise it apart allows the filter to be pulled out.
And an actual pic of the filter and connector probably helps too!
If you think I've missed something or made an error, feel free to comment and I'll fix it up for the next edition to be posted on one of my workshop threads in a few days time.
Cheers,
GK