Every summer, I jump in the truck and drive down the road to the Autozone and pick up a new set of Motorcraft fuel filters for my 2005 F350. This summer was different because I was leaving town for a few months so I decided to wait until I got back.

When the time came, the Autozone dude talked me into Duralast filters, insisting that they are OEM replacement. So I went home with my Duralast filters in hand and got to work. As usual, getting the cap off the HCFM was a pain in the keester. I love getting just one click of the ratchet every time. I even thought about getting my impact wrench out and firing up the compressor. I have this argument with myself every single time, but my smart side wins because I'm too cheap to risk breaking the cap.

All goes well with the replacement and there were no problems noted during my long test drive which encompassed a 100 foot drive from my garage to my parking spot on the street. The next day, I jump in the truck bright and early and start my jaunt through Houston traffic to work. When I get out of my neighborhood, I noticed that the truck was running like crap. I'm thinking "great...my 6 oh luck has come to a crashing halt." I turn around and go back home so I can jump in my Freestyle and get to work. While I'm backing out of the driveway in the Freestyle, I notice a little bit of metal on metal brake grinding. Awesome!!

The next day (or maybe it was the next week...it's all a blur) I decide to take a look at the Duralast filters. Of course, I start with the secondary filter because I'm lazy and there's absolutely no chance that filter is the problem. So why not check it first? When my suspicions that I wasted 5 minutes of my time are confirmed, I decide to torque the fuel filer cap back on because I had just used my torque wrench to fix the brakes on the Freestyle.

Having never used a 150 ft/lb torque wrench to torque a whopping 10 ft/lbs, it must have clicked right away but the message was never received by my redneck brain and I continued to torque that bad boy down until the cap gave way, the socket fell off the wrench and then wedged itself somewhere between the EGR cooler and purgatory. Once I retrieved the socket through an intricate process that involved a wire hanger and a few words not fit for family consumption, I tried to remove the cap. There's no way that thing is ever going to come off in one piece. But it's on there now so I guess I have a year to worry about it.

Then I get the creeper out and slide under the truck to the most fantastically located component on the truck, the HFCM. I immediately notice there is an 1/8th inch gap between the cap and the housing. I suppose air was getting in to the fuel causing me to think my 6.0 was about to go the way of the Yugo.

I got my ratchet out, along with my gigantic 36 mm socket and tighten that thing down, 1 little click at a time, until it's actually where it's supposed to be. I fired the truck up and took it around the neighborhood in great haste. The fact that it is still running great makes up for the fact that all of the lug studs on one wheel of the Freestyle got stripped somehow, and of course, no one has them in stock so I had to leave an unfinished project in the garage for a few days.

Moral of the story? Don't be an idiot like me and do the job right the first time.

 

I made the same exact mistake on the upper filter and used a 1/2" torque wrench and never heard it click. Stripped the cap 9,000 miles ago and am now dreading the next 1,000 miles until I need to find a way to get it off.

 

You want an easy way to change the cap on the HFCM?

Here is what you do get your socket and a very long extension
and go to the back side of the skid plate and up the fram rail
reach up to the cap with the other hand ones the extension is
near the cap and place it on and turn the wrench from way back
there. Very easy. You don't always have to be on top of the cap.

As for the torque wrench. Don't use one BUT do use a 1/4" drive
and don't crank the thing down. The O-ring is what does the sealing
not the amount of squish you put on it. So just snug + a bit and
if you use the smaller 1/4" drive you won't be as tempted to over do things.
Just because you are using a torque wrench does not mean you park your
common sense in your tool box. You know that 10 Ft/Lb is not that much and
you can feel it. Using a large tool in place of a small one will also
increase your risk of this happening.

Sean

 

Ive gotta say I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, the sentence that started with the 150 pound torque wrench gave me a belly laugh because i could see where you were going with it. Made my day thanks for sharing it with us.

 

Why not just drive a couple big screws in the cap,, opposite of each other and spin it off with a bar or something. The cap is trash ne ways. I actually just put the socket (short well) directly on one of those 150ftlb torque wrenches (hfcm that is) and after draining the housing using the updated plug, then I take about 7 blue shop towels (off the roll) and shove em under the housing. It catches all of it. I promise I do it all the time and don't get a drop on me. Twice a month is my fuel filter schedule. That's how I do it. It's a breeze

 

to get the caps off i have had to use an air hammer. thers some skill involved in that.
you can also find a 4 prong scocket for hub nuts and drill 4 holes in the cap and use the sockect

 

Great story! makes me laugh..at least Im not the only one who occasionally leaves my common sense outside the garage! LOL!!

Thanks for the laughs!!

 

Run6.0run, you seriously do fuel filters twice a month? On the same vehicle? Why? I do them every 15K just like the manual says, and that's about once a year, usually.

Here is a funny, to me anyway, filter story. I just changed the oil on my wife's Mercedes B200 (little four cylinder hatchback you don't get in the States) for the first time, having gotten tired of $600 for a basic oil/filter/look-over at the dealer. That was fine when I had a job, now that I am unemployed/retired I do my own oil changes... So I look it up on the Internet and there is a picture of the oil filter. It is identical to our oil filter, same element, same cap, totally the same - in the picture. I go get one at the dealer, he says $11.95, so I am thinking this is a deal compared to what I pay at Walmart for my F250 filters. It comes out, and it is literally 1/4 scale! it's only about 3" tall! So tiny, so cute. Every thing the same but the size.

Brian

 

Double post

 

He changes filters that often because he puts that many miles on a month. What was it He had? 500,000 + miles on his truck? ( I might be wrong, but he was up there!) Now, ask him how many times a month and where he changes his oil at!!!!!!!!

Here is what he has been doing lately:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...oval-pics.html

He is a long haul trucker, in a Ford 6.0L.

 

We've all had those days better served on a barstool then a creeper. Chit happens.
Mike

 

Torque wrenches are normally tested/rated at 20+% of full scale, meaning yours probably has a 4-6% accuracy over 30 ft-lbs. Under that, no idea; theoretically it would work but there's no assurance of accuracy. A 25-250ish in-lb torque wrench was what you needed, and a 15-100ish ft-lb wrench is pretty much required for serious engine work on a 6.0 if you care about accurate torque values. I'm not saying go buy a $388 snap on techwrench, but even a $70 Craftsman microtork is better than guessing.

 

Lots of people don't trust em, but harbor freight has a 1/4" drive inlb, a 3/8" drive ftlb, and a 1/2" drive ftlb, and they go on sale all the time for $9.99,,, take ur pick. And they all have cases. Lifetime warranty,,, I wouldn't trust em with my life, but they aren't bad as long as you pay attention with them.

Btw, my chassis has 583300 mi right now,,, my clutch, lifters, pistons, valve train, n all bearings have just over 600 mi. I change filters every 10k,, every other oil change.

 

That would be cool to have a cap that calls for the hub socket. Great idea.

 

Ok the best torque wrench for this type of job is the old type that
uses a bean to point to the scale. In face there are times where this type
or the type that has a dial on it is the one you have to use. One place that
comes to mind is steering gear boxes and the other is differentials.
You use it for setting the preload on the bearings.

Sean