How ofte should I replace the fuel filter

[bigdog76]

It has been just about 35,000 40,000 since I replaced my fuel filter

How many miles should I go in between fuel filter changes.My co-worker has 110,000 on his ford taurus and never changed it.

The car seems like all is ok but I said what the hell ill it since i was replacing the air filter and the shipping was the same price.

[oldmako]

Not really an answer...but here's an opinion.

When in doubt, replace. I'd never let a fuel filter go more than 12 months on a car which was being regularly driven. If it was a show car in the garage which ran less than 5k annually then perhaps I'd let it slide.

Consider that a fuel filter is pretty darn cheap and easy to replace. Then think about the garbage gas that we are burning these days. Lastly consider how much fuel injection maintenance costs on one of these mothers and it doesn't make any sense to shove gas through a dirty filter. Injectors are around 80 bucks or so each???? ANYTHING I can do to prevent messing with them is money well spent in my opinion.

I have no idea what the Infin recommended interval is but I'd bet it's less than 40K.

[qship96]

In my 96Q manual, they dont advise ANY interval to change fuel filter,except say if it gets clogged to replace it, pretty lame! I change every 25-30K-probobly would be ok to do at 60k intervals?

[Victor]

I changed the fuel filter on my 1988 GMC van for the first time in 20 years at 82,000 miles and it didn't make any difference and probably didn't need to be changed even after 20 years.

However my Toyota pickup truck and Infiniti G20 were different stories. The fuel filters would trap water and kill my engine. Usually I would just take the filter off and drain the water out and reinstall the old filter. I think it is a design defect for a fuel filter to trap water, it should let it through, unless they would put a drain with a petcock on it like some diesel fuel filters.

[konatown]

My Q has the original fuel filter - at last inspection it was clean (151,000 miles now).

In the last 24months, 225 cars average per day, 5days a week at Toyota dealership we've sold 1 fuel filter and it was for a customer that submerged their vehicle.

[maxnix]

Depends on your fuel quallity.

Annually at the minimum since it is so cheap and doesn't hold very much contamination. One bad tank could overload it. Someone posted recently on the goo that came out of their filter.

[Q45tech]

Many fuel filter don't filter below 20 microns so all depends on your dirt size.How much dirt is in 22 gallons [160 pounds] of gasoline? 30,000 miles might consume 12,000 pounds of gasoline.

It appear my gasoline is > 99.99% dirt free how is yours?

Whenever I change mine I reverse blow out fuel to dry and weigh the up to a POUND of dirt it might contain compared to a new unit.

Luckily the dirt in gasoline settles to the bottom and only gets stirred up just after the service station gets a refill.

[elwesso]

I replace my air and fuel filter every year.. Usually right before the driving season hits...

[jonseyq45]

All,

The other thing to consider is all the junk washed up by oxygenated fuel. Up here in the northwest during the summer we have regular gas. All the crap mixed with the water settles at the bottom of the stations tank. Along comes Oct and the alk/gas mix comes out and all that crap with the water gets blended back in. The fuel filter takes the brunt of it and what ever gets by is in turn trapped by the fine mesh filters at the top of the injectors. When I was in the repair buisiness every Oct people started complaining about no power and slow acceleration. If you don't have the fuel type cycles than this is not much of an issue. The other item is as the filter gets restricted the fuel pump works harder and harder to push the fuel through. When I got my 90 the fuel pump was howling in the back. After replacing the filter, nice and quiet. The filter pluging up is like one of your kids growing up. It happens so gradually, unless your away for a while, you don't notice it.

Jonsey....

[Gater]

I change mine every 30K