Jump to content
Do Not Sell My Personal Information


Petrol/fuel Filter


SF695
 Share

Recommended Posts

Just wondering, how often do you guys change the fuel filter on your car, if at all? Except on my first car, which had a carburator, i have always been told that it didn't need changing. Anyway, my present car is on it's 12. year and i never had the filter changed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi there, I have had 3 toyota's, a carina two and carina e and now an avensis. On the old carinaII I changed the fuel filter a few times over the life of the car (every 50,000miles) because it started to misfire once and I thought it was ignition lead trouble. Turned out it was fuel stravation due to dirty filter. On my E i changed it once at 150,000mls again due to a mis but this time it turned out that the injectors were the problem. I haven't changed it on my avensis yet and there is 92,000k on the clock. For fuel injection models of carinas and avensis I wouldn't bother. but if you do decide to change one on then make sure you get very good spanners that are tight fitting. Proper pipe spanners are the best as lines/connection are very tight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a general rule external fuel filters on petrol engines should be changed every 60,000 miles or 5 years whichever comes first.:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a general rule external fuel filters on petrol engines should be changed every 60,000 miles or 5 years whichever comes first.:)

External fuel filters meaning?

Like ToyotaDomo, my first car was a Carina II, with a 1.6 carburated engine. Think it was just called the 4A and on one i had my filter changed once. All my following cars, another Carina II 2.0(3S-FE), Camry 2.0(2S-E) and Avensis 2.0(3S-FE) had EFI and on all 3 i was told, that changing the filter wasn't necessary. I bought the Avensis as new, so i'm sure it wasn't changed. Now the car seems sluggish at times and sometimes it feels less powerful, so i wonder. Ofcourse, it could be a number of other things. EGR valve has never been cleened, ingnition cables have never been changed and then ofcourse there are the injectors, the cat and number of sensors that never have been cleened. Only service the engine has got is oilchange, oilfilterchange and sparkplugs change.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a general rule external fuel filters on petrol engines should be changed every 60,000 miles or 5 years whichever comes first.:)

External fuel filters meaning?

Many cars (not all) will have two fuel filters - one inside the fuel tank and one in-line unit. The one inside the tank only needs replacement if it is giving problems. Dirty or blocked filters tend to cause the engine to misfire especially at times of high demand. Is the engine running on all cylinders for instance?

Like you say there could be other numerous possibilities which may need attention.:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites


As a general rule external fuel filters on petrol engines should be changed every 60,000 miles or 5 years whichever comes first.:)

External fuel filters meaning?

Many cars (not all) will have two fuel filters - one inside the fuel tank and one in-line unit. The one inside the tank only needs replacement if it is giving problems. Dirty or blocked filters tend to cause the engine to misfire especially at times of high demand. Is the engine running on all cylinders for instance?

Like you say there could be other numerous possibilities which may need attention.:)

So, internal as opposed to external means in the fuel tank? One mechanic told me to use anti condensator as the filter might suffer from condence built up and caused rough idle when cold. Turned out, that the problem was a stuck IAC valve, which is the only repair i have had done on the engine, except regular oilchanges and sparkplugs. How often do you change ignition cables for example? The car has 144.000 km on the clock, which is about 90.000 miles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Forget about additives - many are just expensive placebos. If a fuel tank gets dirt or water inside then there's either a fuel supply problem or filling issue. Depending on climatic conditions sometimes condensation can be a problem but shoving an additive in won't cure what after all is an envorinmental problem. If there is likely to be a serious issue regarding water ingress in the fuel then fitting an additional water trap type filter will be much more effective. Dealing with the problem rather than the symptoms is the route to follow as no doubt you have discovered.

Ignition cables tend to deteriorate more with age rather than mileage - the usually signs of failure being misfiring whereby the lead starts to break down internally or the outer insulation starts to crack or become hard. If neither of these aspects are present replacing the leads is unlikely to show any benefit. If a car is expected to perform regularly in a wet environment it may be worth treating the leads with a dewaterng agent tus reducing the risk of the leads shorting out.

I tend to take the view - "if it ain't broke don't fix it" Yet we seem to find many motorists who take the view "I'm gonna keep fixing it till it's broke."

Good regular servicing in accordance with the manufacturers guidelines is the best option and should a problem arise don't delay in having it sorted.

Good Luck and happy motoring.:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What if disconnect them, one by one, while the engine is running?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Strange. I don't know if it's my imagination, but could swear the engine runs smoother when it's raining or foggy. Does that make any sense?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What if disconnect them, one by one, while the engine is running?

The plug leads should never be disconnected whilst the engine is running. Unburnt fuel is passed into the catalytic convertor and can cause serious damage to it.

Fitter

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What if disconnect them, one by one, while the engine is running?

The plug leads should never be disconnected whilst the engine is running. Unburnt fuel is passed into the catalytic convertor and can cause serious damage to it.

Fitter

Ehm, it does so anyway if one of them isn't working as it should.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share





×
×
  • Create New...




Forums


News


Membership