Fuel filter change

[EchoVictor]

Fuel filter replacement was due at a recent service. When I picked the car up from the Mits dealership, they said they couldn’t free up the filter from the tank so left it alone. So questions are: does this sound right? I’m slightly surprised how inaccessible the filter was made out to be. And is it a massive problem to not have this service item done long term? Most of my miles are on electric. Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[jaapv]

That does not sound right. Worth a complaint with Mitsubishi.

 

[greendwarf]

What service was this? I don't ever remember changing a fuel filter as being a regular service item on any car I have had over the past 50 years.

 

[DibbyDibbyDJ]

If you are/were in Australia it would be at 10 years or 150000 kms whichever is sooner

 

[AndyInOz]

And in my case, I also added an extra fuel filter under the bonnet (not on my PHEV) where I could easily see and change the cartridges.

(The filter body was transparent, so that you could see the cartridge from outside)

Having been caught a couple of times by fuel in country petrol stations that was full of crud.

 

[richr]

Ah the good old days when we had carburettors and metal fuel tanks. Used to change the fuel filter every 2 years on quite a lot of cars. But the pipe from the tank was generally low pressure, so just a couple of jubilee clips for a cylindrical filter usually under the car. No filter in the tank itself.

Modern cars have a large filter in the tank before the pump, which doesn't usually clog for 10 years or more due to the large surface area that fuel can enter through, rather than a small pipe on a low pressure system.

Back when I was at university I had a friend whose 1982 VW Polo would stutter and die at almost exactly 50 miles of driving due to the filter clogging. Leave it for an hour and all the dirt would get sucked back into the tank and you could do another 50 miles

 

[JohanvdH]

The fuel filter is located below the rear seats and the dealer charges quite a lot of money to replace it (every 160.000 kilometres).
Our Prius never got a new fuel filter in 265.000 kilometres so I think I will skip this replacement.

 

[greendwarf]

Ah, now I see why I've never come across this problem, if it is only required after such a high mileage - never been a travelling salesman :lol:

 

[richr]

Ah, now I see why I've never come across this problem, if it is only required after such a high mileage - never been a travelling salesman :lol:

Interval was every 2 years or 30,000 miles on most cars before the 1990s when fuel injection and high pressure in tank pumps started to replace the older carburettor or external pump injection systems.

 

[greendwarf]

Ah, now I see why I've never come across this problem, if it is only required after such a high mileage - never been a travelling salesman :lol:

Interval was every 2 years or 30,000 miles on most cars before the 1990s when fuel injection and high pressure in tank pumps started to replace the older carburettor or external pump injection systems.

Not on any of the old bangers I drove & did my own maintenance on from the mid 60s but perhaps I never had one as long as 2 years before they keeled over and died anyway (or I wrote them off ) Check the carb bowl for dirt, yes but no filter changes that I can remember, using workshop manuals. Of course, it could be just that my memory is failing like the rest of me :lol:

 

[jaapv]

AFAIK the glass bowl on the fuel pump was all the filter there was. At least, it is on my TR4. Reason that little plastic filters were available to fit in the fuel line. Not that those SUs and Strombergs were very sensitive to dirt, it simply blows through. The problems started with fuel injection...

 

[richr]

My Renault 5s (various models, 1.1, 1.7 and a couple of GT Turbos mainly) had the plastic filters in the engine bay before the cam driven fuel pump, apart from the GT Turbos which have electric pumps and metal cannister filters inconveniently located under the car in front of the fuel tank. And one of my GT Turbos was low enough that knocking the filter off on a speed bump was a very realistic possibility

Obviously on diesel cars the fuel filter is something you change regularly, and it's usually located prominently in the engine bay. My 1991 Mitsubishi Pajero had a heated fuel filter to prevent problems with fuel thickening at temperatures below -20C. Not that I really needed that much in the UK!

 

[greendwarf]

Aah! so having a fuel filter was for those over sensitive foreign types, whereas a "real man's" British car (like jaapv's TR) was tough enough to cope with a bit of dirt :lol:

I drove mostly Dagenham Dustbins - so no problem there :roll:

 

[Kesto]

Not a technical person , but don't you get fuel cleaner additives? Or use one full tank of Shell super fuel which contain additives to clean?

 

[richr]

Whilst it's true that petrol contains detergents and de-watering agents, the filters are designed to capture small bits of dirt (or on older cars with metal tanks and filler pipes, rust). For example if you fill up with petrol near the coast you're inevitably going to get the odd grain of sand in. Sand and bits of grit are insoluble so there's no additive that could get rid of them, but a physical filter (usually a woven felt type material) will collect them.