My '04 FX4 SCREW is coming up on 15,000 miles. I see that part of that service is changing the fuel filter. I'm a cheap ******* and don't want to pay the difference at the dealer. (For $40, I can have the lube/oil/filter/rotate/inspect service done, and for $120, the only thing it seems to add is cleaning battery terminals and replacing the fuel filter). So, about what could I expect to pay for the filter from an auto parts store, where is it, and how much time could I expect to need if I were to replace it myself? Any tips/warnings?

Thanks,

Tim

 

You need a special tool to remove it, it's less than $10 at the auto parts store.
Relieve the pressure in the lines before changing the filter, there are several ways to to this. The filter is under the drivers seat against the frame.

 

is that the same as the tool used on the old fords?

 

Before changing read this thread.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=377884

 

Thanks, that was helpful. One screw-up like that and I would have cut down the shade tree. :-)

 

I just called my service dept and they wanted 49.95 to change the fuel filter. Seems pretty cheap compared to me screwing something up, which I probably would.

 

I changed the fuel filter on my '93 F-150 many times myself. Used a nylon type of slip tool that slides over the in/out gas lines and releases the pressure of the holding teeth onto the gas line. I released the tank pressure the first few times, but noticed that approx the same amount of fuel dribble occured with or without fuel pressure.

I see on my '04 F-150 the fuel filter is in the same place, just aft of the drivers door, inside the body. There is a tool on the market I have yet to need that upgraded the nylon slip over tool to relax the holding teeth. I have a drawing of the tool, but do not know where I took the drawing from. The tool looks like a pair of pliers with the axle rivet in the middle with semi-cirlcles at each end of the tool with flares that are used to slip over the gas line. I see I have a number K-D3321 written by the tool. Possible part #?

Safety hint. Keep your eyes away and directly from under the fuel filter. There will be dribble, however small, that could drip into your eyes. My memory tells me I paid approx $15.00 for a fuel filter from a parts store. When I purchased one from the Ford Dealer I passed out when I heard the price.

 

i work for the city of oklahoma city at a water treatment
plant it only takes one gal of gas to render 75,000 gal of water undrinkable so any amount of gas is very bad for the environment you know when it starts to rain that film on the water as it flows down the road its gas an oil guess where its going? it ends up at your faucet the same water we drink is the same water that the dinosaurs peed in there's no new water being made so be careful with that gas and oil. i remember as a kid my dad pouring his used oil on the fence line to kill the grass we didn't know any better back then now you can go to jail for that kind of thing.

 

15,000 miles??? Where or who has told you to do this? I have never heard of a fuel filter being replaced after 15,000 miles. In the maintenance guide that came with my truck, it says 30k.

 

mw
A vehicle owner must realize that a fuel filter is no better than the last tank full of gas received. One contaminated fill up and the fuel filter should be changed. So changing the fuel filter well inside the recommended mileage does not have an adverse effect upon the vehicle in question.

I also change my oil well within the limits of my Owner Manual. One must realize that the Owners Manual is written to not only offer maintenance guidance, but also to expand on the Ford's low maintenance needs, thus making Ford appear as a low cost, low attention vehicle.

I do maintenance on my vehicles as my experience tells me. As a High Schooler I worked my way through school working in a Wholesale-Retail Gas and Oil terminal. This gave me a whole lot of knowledge about maintenance products and where along the line the product may not get the necessary quality control called for to keep the product contamination free; this is from the time the oil comes out of the ground, through the tanker ships, through the refinery, through the wholesaler, right down to the pump that squirts the fuel into my tank.....I have owned vehicles since 1945.

There is no such thing as Over-Maintenance on a well run vehicle.

 

You are correct. I was going off a flyer received from the dealer advertising some service specials. In their "15K" service they listed replacing the fuel filter. I only just noticed the other day that this is not listed in the owner's manual until 30K. I was looking in the manual to see what else was involved in the 15K service that would justify the price difference.

I'm glad I double-checked, because I'm going back to the $37 lube/oil/filter/rotate/inspect service. Man, I tell you, I'm lovin' the maintenance on this truck. Three trips to the dealer cost me less than half of one trip to an indie on my european car.