Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Ugly Fuel Filter

[KPhillips]

I replaced my fuel filter for the first time since I've owned the truck this weekend..... The truck was bought used and I've put about 10k on it,,,,,Well I pulled the old filter out and it was black, and the filter housing had black dirt or whatever it was floating around in the bottom... ... are the diesel fuel filters always this dirty??



I had the stealership replace a bad lift pump about 3-4k miles ago, and I thought maybe they had changed the filter out at the same time, but apparently not, I guess thats not necessary after a lift pump change...



T used my flash light and looked into the center of the filter and it was still white, so the filter was doing its job, which is a good thing... .



I just cleaned up the goop in the housing and put the new filter in, and keyed the ignition twice to fill the reservoir back up and it started on the third keying and ran like a champ... ... can't believe they charge like $70 to change a fuel filter...



kerryp

 

[OL RATLR]

fuel filter

Kerry sounds like your filter is working. But also sounds

like your filter hasn't been changed for a while.

mine never has been that dirty. Oo. OL Ratlr

 

[TPCDrafting]

I changed mine a few weeks back also. I won't say how long it's been. It was jet black on the outside as well. I was worried about getting it re-primed right, but had no problems. I'll never pay to have that done. I snaked my arm down and pushed the primer for a long time till I had fuel coming out the loosened return line and not any air/bubbles. R. Ebel showed me the broomstick handle trick, much better than snakin' the arm down. Got my filters at Geno's.

 

[EMDDIESEL]

I change mine every 10k miles and they always are a shade of black.

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by EMDDIESEL

I change mine every 10k miles and they always are a shade of black.

Do mine at 12K and mine are the same

 

[TXCTD]

Re-priming

I saw a buddy change his filter out the other day and filled the resevoir up with atf fluid to ensure the lack of air bubbles in the lines. It started right up. Is this an accepted procedure or did he just get lucky?

 

[EMDDIESEL]

PUT THE ATF DOWN!!!. The ATF trick is NOT reccomended for an electronic injection pump. All you need to do is bump the starter after you have installed the new filter and wait about 20 seconds and then start it up, i do this every times and it works perfectly.

 

[Big_Daddy_T]

It has been stated that the friction modifiers in atf can damage the injection pump. If I felt that stanadyne or similar was too expensive I might use 2 cycle.

I discovered that if you buy in bulk. The additives designed for injection pumps is relatively inexpensive.

 

[WTBurke]

The first change I performed was at 8k miles... the truck was new and I drove it from Billings MT to Paradise CA. I had been in five states before I had even done the first oil change. The condition of the fuel filter was very dirty. I now change the fuel filter every 5 to 6K miles, it's always clean and has never looked as bad as the first break-in filter was.

Prime up after filter change is one turn of the key... the lift pump is so fast it takes no time at all.

I read of these methods performed after a filter change... I think perhaps some of our fellow members may have lift pump errors if it takes more than 3 seconds to "top-off" the filter bowl.

From a stand still to key-on this stock factory pump "buzz-runs" for less then 1. 8 seconds to feed stall-peak pressure and then comes to parade rest RIGHT NOW. Opening the "puke" valve will validate that you have a loaded fuel delivery system. Do this at rest... not when the ISB is awake



William

 

[KD7GYJ]

Went to drain the fuel from the filter housing and replace my first fuel filter on the new truck. Crawled under the truck to get the cup under the hose and reached into the engine to flip the lever over to drain the filter. Nothing... nothing came out, not even a drop. So I grabbed a wrench and slowly turned the cap off to find the filter dirty and I could see dirt on the bottom of the well. The cup was half full with diesel, so I gingerly put a new filter back in place and slowly screwed the cap on. I didn't want to raise any particles sitting on the bottom of the cup.

Stopped by the dealer and said the filter wouldn't drain. The guy looked at me a said, did you remove the particles from the bottom of the cup. I told him I couldn't drain the fuel and didn't want to draw the fuel out to have the particles start to migrate into the engine pump. That's all I need, grit in the fuel injection. Then he looked at me and asked again if I took a rag to remove the dirt in the bottom of the bowl. I told him I couldn't remove the fuel from the bowl because the drain didn't work. He just looked at me and said he would call with a diagnosis. About an hour later, he called and said the drain didn't work, they didn't have one in stock, they would order it and I would have to return to have it replaced.



I just hope I don't have any fuel problems between now and the repair date. The filter was gray that came out. I bumped the starter and could hear the pump pushing the fuel to the filter. After about 30 seconds, the truck fired right up.



I use to really like this dealership, but I am finding they have lost that 5 STAR rating that I really enjoyed. I will have to start looking elsewhere.



Blair

 

[dsldoug]

my '02 is the same way, nothing comes out of the drain unless you bump the key with it open, or the top is loose then it comes a gushing



-Doug

 

[KD7GYJ]

Doug,



I'll keep you posted about the filter change. Mine didn't work with the cap off or on. So, maybe yours is similar.



Blair

 

[EMDDIESEL]

My drain in my 01' works fine, just lift it up and out comes the fuel. It got stuck once (Long story) and i drove about 6 miles with it open. 8 months later, you can still see my trail. Make SURE it is closed when you start the truck. Even the the lever is done, the valve may be stuck open.

 

[BillGotthelf]

That black stuff you see is actually microrobes that grow in diesal fuel. The older the fuel is the more there are in the fuel. One really bad tank can cause the filter to plug up solid. There are additives which prevent these from growing in the fuel but most suppliers don't use them. Adding them to your tank won't help either as if they are already there the only thing thats gonna remove them is the filter.

 

[CharlieMiller]

I have the same problem with my 02 - I thought it was just me. I even asked on the forumn a while back about no fuel coming from drain when I opened it. I tried it numerous times all I could hear was some air being sucked in but no fuel coming from drain hose. I finally thought hey why not try it with the engine running. It worked spitting out fuel no problems. I shut her down and tried to open the drain valve again to see if something was blocking it and if fuel would now flow out. But nothing but the sound of air being sucked in. So whats up with this? Doesn't seem like I am the only one experiencing this problem. Does DC have some bad valves on the drain? Does the fuel drain valve have to be replaced?

 

[Pit Bull]

I found on mine that I have to open and close the valve a couple of times before it flows (I only do this once every couple of months). I use a biocide in the humid months and I use Rotella DFA all of the time. Might be over kill but it makes me feel good.

 

[georgej]

Guys, moving the lever up & down sometimes works, but usually I must take the cap off the shrader valve on the topside of the housing and use a small screwdriver to bump the valve to break the vacuum and then it'll drain! Wurkz for me!

 

[georgej]

Guys, moving the lever up & down sometimes works, but usually I must take the cap off the shrader valve on the topside of the housing and use a small screwdriver to bump the valve to break the vacuum and then it'll drain! Wurkz for me!

 

[Ladders]

Filter Prob...

Just did my fuel filter (and oil) this weekend and had to open/close valve quite a few times to get it to drain. Then it wouldn't close and dumped quite a bit on ground (should have left bucket under it). When pulling the filter, the center post came out with the filter and had to screw it back in (be aware of this). Will check it for tightness every time now.



Also found the cap for the drain valve loose. Has anyone replaced/repaired/cleaned this valve for the "no close" problem? Do we need to have any "o" rings, etc avail if its taken off for cleaning/rebuilding (or is it NOT possible to 'repair')?



Need to do a little more research on this "new" problem - like whats the torque for the center post and how much are the valves?



My fuel filter gets changed every other oil chg (15k) and the air filter on the opposite ones. This time was the 2nd time it was about 1/2 black with a good gray color on the rest. Always use an additive (usually CD4).



Just another comment - for what its worth - about 0. 015$ (as usual).



SOTSU!!

\\BF//

 

[JCoffey]

I also have had the no water / no fuel from the drain valve problem. I posted a question on this about a month ago and could not arrive at a general consensus about it from the replies. I have noticed that on the '02 the drain lever moves side to side to drain rather than up and down as on '01 and earlier models. I have a friend with a '99 and he gets fuel out when we move his lever . Another '00 or '01 dually from another friend yields no fluids. i have not tried it with the engine running or trying to loosen the cap to see if it is just a vacuum problem keeping it from draining or not. Maybe DC is just trying to cost reduce this item also and there actually is no drain valve in there ( let's just put a fake lever on there; the consumer will never know). I am a little concerned that I get nothing but I have also never had the water in fuel light come on either. Thank God!!!!!!!!

James