Hey, bought a new fuel filter, the one down at the frame, I aint stupid but dont want to screw something up. what kind of wierd hose clamps are those and how do they work? Can I pull the hose straight off the end or do I need to do something different? Any help

 

You need the plastic collar release tools... They slip over the line, and disengage little fingers inside the ends of the fuel lines.

Push the fuel line towards the filter, and push the plastic tool into the end of the fuel line, when while holding the plastic tool and the fuel line together, pull away from the fuel filter.

 

Thanks, I knew there had to be something I needed to release the line,

 

Like this:

 

just another example of how badly Ford likes screwing the "do-it-your-selfer". Think of all the engineering effort they put into punishing anyone who tries to service their own car. Obviously, without the (expensive) Ford shop manual, how in hell would the average guys like us know how to do that without damaging the thing ?

Here's another example - similar situation - I never forget how amazed I was at the clutch "slave cyl" situation in Ford products. For those who dont know, a clutch "slave cylinder" is a "service" part, meaning sooner or later you have to change its internal rubber parts. In most cars, it is a simple ten minute job. Ford went to great pains to put the thing INSIDE the bell housing, so you cant even get at it without the time consuming and expensive process of "pulling" the transmission.

Needless to say, Ford put a great deal of design effort into developing "prprietory" connections on the hydraulic system, so that if you try and service anything yourself, the damage you do will be horrific.

It is my understanding that virtually all public gasoline stations, for obvious liability reasons, now have good fuel filter/water separators on their pumps. I would be very curious to know what you find (if anything) if you choose to cut the old fuel filter open on your V-10.

If you find much crud in there, let us know for sure, so we can all start adding the fuel filter change to our list of routine maintainence efforts.

 

Yep, gotta go to the parts store and spend $5-6 hard earned dollars for plastic rings of various sizes. I hate ford. It is a much more secure method then the old plastic push in clips they used in the past that liked to get brittle over time though. Granted the newer design with the spring can be a lil of a pain to work with if it hasnt been broken loose in a while, but a lil shot of penetrating oil helps free things up quickly usually. Damn ford and their crazy ideas to make safer more secure lines at my expense!

GM also hides slave cylinders in the bellhousing on many vehicles. I had to drp my trans twice on my camaro recently actually.

Those fancy, non-proprietary connections are actually common on many things nowadays.

I'd bet a fuel filter with 30K on it will have noticable slight layer of dust across the leading edge of the filter surface. Vehicles with metal tanks get much more crud in them, especially if you like to keep your tank low on fuel.


6686L, you seem to know some stuff, but your stuck in teh old school times too much man. These fancy new vehicles with the great new features and improved gas mileage comes with this new technology. You will have to contiunue learning as the new technology comes out. You would be amazed how much new stuff a good tech has to learn every few months. As technology evolves, so must back yard mechanics,

 

Baloney ! Horse feathers ! Of COURSE new technology brings us better cars and all kinds of benefits. But dont try and tell me that DELIBERATELY designing a product to discourage maintainence is a good, fair, or reasonable idea.

There are all kinds of "off the shelf" fasteners that would probably be cheaper for them to use. They KNOW what they are doing. They WANT you to be so afraid of keeping your vehicle beyond the warranty, that to avoid catastrophic cost to keep an older vehicle operating, you will keep buying newer ones.

One look at how the clutch master-cylinder line connects to the bell housing on Ford products with hydraulic clutches says EVERYTHING about what these corrupt rotten *******s are trying to "pull" on the consumer. Be ASSURED that, or those goofy special fuel line clamps.... dosnt improve fuel economy at ALL !

 

I will get the tool and replace it, never thought about cutting it open but I think I will just to see whats inside. The X has 117,000 miles on it and I bought it with 75,000. It has a NAPA filter on it now so it had been changed at some point in its life, be nice to know what it looks like after at the very least 45,000 miles. I will cut it open and let you know. 45000 miles times about 10 miles to the gallon is at least a semi tanker load of fuel thats been pumped through it.

 

Who said they deliberately designed it that way to discourage do-it-yourselfers?

Factory assembly is quick. They lock on and do not come off. They don't leak.

What's not to like?

I'd rather buy a small plastic tool to do the job than have a flare fitting that leaks after I take it apart 3 times, rusts together and I round the nut off, and then have to replace the line because I can't get it apart without ruining it.

And that plastic tool is cheaper than a flare-nut wrench

 

TELL ME HOW THAT PLASTIC TOOL CAN ASSIST IN THE SERVICING OF THE CLUTCH 'SLAVE' CYLINDER.

POINT IS - THERE ARE MANY EXAMPLES WHERE, ON EXAMINATION OF THE PART, IT IS HARD NOT TO COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THEY WANT TO DISCOURAGE US POOR FOLK FROM WORKING ON OUR OWN VEHICLES.

 

I have been around or worked in a Ford dealership most of my life both in parts and service. I have sold hundreds of slave cylinders and not once have I ever had someone complain they had a problem getting the line off. You may say I never saw the people that I sold them to but most of these customers were regulars. If you want to complain about something complain about the system because it used to be a piece of crap and even my technicians had fits with the hydraulic clutch system. I'm not at a dealership anymore so I don't now if Ford has improved it. The amount of pressure in that line requires a very secure fit.

 

I bought a metal tool that swings around the pipe from checker . Absolute piece of cake. Ford has used these connectors for years and they are slick! No leaks & no trying to tighten up a clamp under there.

 

IN FAIRNESS, I SHOULD HAVE EXPLAINED THAT MY LAST EXPERIENCE WITH FORD HYDRAULIC CLUTCH LINE CONNECTIONS WAS WITH MY '93 EXPLORER. I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT CHANGES, IF ANY, HAVE BEEN MADE. IF ALL THESE GUYS FIGURED OUT WHAT I WAS CONFRONTED WITH, THERE ARE OBVIOUSLY A LOT OF MUCH SMARTER GUYS THAN ME.

HMMM..SOLD HUNDREDS...EH....SO, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A 'SERVICE PART', AFTER ALL. NOW WANT TO EXPLAIN WHY THEY PUT EM INSIDE THE BELL HOUSING, INSTEAD OF THE TRADITIONAL POSITION OUTSIDE, WHERE YOU CAN GET AT IT WITHOUT HAVING TO PULL THE TRANSMISSION AND TRANSFER CASE ( or pay to have this done, in which case the dealer will insist on selling you a new pressure plate and clutch assembly)

 

I am guessing the slave is inside the bellhousing as honestly it is a better design all around in my opinion. Maybe with the extra power vehicles are making today they needed heavier clutches that could hold the power, and a hydraulic system makes for a better clutch pedal feel.

You must remember the dealers are in the buisness of selling NEW cars. Most people buying brand new cars buy one every few years. They remain under warranty to these buyers and are sold before parts like slave cylinders start going bad typically. Now you dont want to make the cars junk, as it will hurt their image over the long run. They do cater more to John Doe buying teh shiny new car, more then they do to Billy Bob Doe thats the third owner looking to fix his 10+ year old car in the backyard with duct tape and a hammer. If that car will feel better when new, they will go with that idea, even if in the future repairs may be more costly. Just look at the fancy air, valved, or now even magnetic suspensions! Ever price shocks or system components for those cars? lol

Bottom line, you need to stop trying to fix your car with pliers, a hammer, and duct tape.

 

You and I are talking about different animals. I am talking about super duties which has/had the slave cylinder mounted in the bell housing but not on the input shaft. Can't explain that, I do big trucks.