Fuel Filter Design Change? - Or Did Dodge Dealer Screw Up?

[RFogarty]

I just discovered that Dodge installed a fuel filter last week that screws into the base of my stock fuel filter housing, and requires that you pry the cover off of a disc on the top of the filter before you can remove the cover and set it aside. Now, instead of simply lifting the filter element out of the canister, it has to be unscrewed as it has a 1/2" (?) plastic pipe thread nipple on the bottom of the filter and it screwed into the base of the filter housing.

I've never seen a filter like this designated for my Dodge, and the fact that there are threads that can possibly come away from this fitting and make it to my pump are bugging me. The only filter I've ever seen, including the new Baldwin I just received, simply clamps into the lid and is held by pressure against the outlet of the filter housing and the rubber gasket on the bottom of the filter.

Does anybody know if this is the new standard for fuel filters for the 2003 Dodge Cummins, or, did they manage to get the wrong part installed?

 

[Ozymandias]

Do you have a part# for this new filter?

 

[Wayne M.]

And maybe a picture?

 

[RFogarty]

Do you have a part# for this new filter?

The part number is: 68001914AB, cost $46.58.

I'm wondering if they modified this housing by taking out a threaded adapter with a smooth sleeve that the original filter fit over so I can only use Dodge supplied filters??

 

[RFogarty]

And maybe a picture?

I'll try to get a photo tomorrow. I'm also going to call the dealer to find out what they did to this housing. As I thought about it, I'm beginning to think they did some sort of mod so I have to buy my filters from them.

 

[mwilson]

The 68001914AB looks like the normal filter that dangles off of the cover when removed......how did you discover the change??

 

[RFogarty]

The 68001914AB looks like the normal filter that dangles off of the cover when removed......how did you discover the change??

I wanted to go to the Baldwin 5 micron filter so I went about unscrewing the cover off the housing. It didn't unscrew and come loose freely like it normally does, but felt like something was holding down the cover against the filter housing. I finally pried the cover off the filter and tried to pull it out of the housing. That's when I noticed that there was a thin disk about the diameter of the filter and there appeared to be a spacer between this disk and the top of the filter itself. I'm still focused on a stuck filter and I'm thinking, "Will my vice grips fit between the filter and the wall of the housing?" Thank God, I decided to see if I could get it to loosen up by hand and started with a counter clock-wise twist to work it loose. It twisted and as it did so, you could feel that it was on a thread that was loosening up. I just kept twisting to the left and it finally came out of the threaded base of the housing.

I can't remember if there used to be a pilot sleeve that the opening in the bottom of the filter slipped over to keep the gasket centered on the base as the cover was tightened and held the filter firmly against the base.

 

[Wayne M.]

The part number is: 68001914AB, cost $46.58.

I'm wondering if they modified this housing by taking out a threaded adapter with a smooth sleeve that the original filter fit over so I can only use Dodge supplied filters??

A search of that number showed what looks like the basic original filter- for a lot less $.

 

[RFogarty]

I finally found out what went wrong. I went back to the dealer and they found out that the first mechanic had installed the wrong filter. Seems the hole in the bottom of the the wrong filter was a few thousandths smaller than the riser tube that the filter opening slides over and instead of being a sliding fit, the mechanic must have had to force it down into the filter housing. When I tried to get the filter out by pulling it straight up which is the normal way it's removed, it wouldn't budge so that's when I tried to twist it a little and that's when the screw base of the riser tube loosened up and the whole thing came out when it was unscrewed all the way. Not being sure what was going on, I just screwed the whole thing back into the base of the filter canister and took it back to Dodge. Fortunately, the mechanic that looked at it when I took it back figured out what was going on and just pried the top of the filter up and it finally popped off the riser tube. Even he couldn't figure out what vehicle that filter fit as he'd never seen one like it before. They got the correct filter in and all's well. My apologies for the long delay in posting a followup as I had to deal with a family issue out of town.