fuel filter

I had a heck of a time trying to do mine. The bottom nut is a bear, as I've heard from others too. Dan the Man suggests a good kroil soaking first. Better access and leverage (with your flare nut wrenches)if you remove the air filter assembly and the charcoal cannister. I would either leave it alone or take it to a dealer. Best wishes.

Stevie, If your only going to change it because Chiltons says to then its uneccessary. My Haynes says I should replace mine at 30k.[2000 Camry] I went to the Dealer to buy one and the parts guy says you might want to reconsider since Toyota says they'll last lifetime of the car.Can you imagine that, turning down money! Anyway, reading past posts here pretty much verifies it. I saw one where a guy with 150k decided to go ahead and replace it and he cut up the old one and it was fine and could have stayed in service. I dont know why Haynes calls for 30k replacement.Toyota maintenaince guide never even mentions fuel filter.If something got in your gas I suppose it could become neccessary.But for just routine maintenance I dont think so.

thanks for those replies.

i was just going to do this as a maintenance item, but i may hold off, at least for now.

It's not about the filter you have in the car, its the gas that passes through it. Unless you are sure every tank of gas you ever got was without contaminants, change it every 30K miles.

The fuel filter is very easy to replace. If you haven't changed it since 96 I'll say do it. Fuel filters are cheaper than fuel pumps.

One way to make sure if you need it is to measure the current draw on your fuel pump. I don't recall what numbers you should look for, but for example if you measured 150mA instead of 30mA, then it's long overdue.

stevie wrote:

Sorry John,

The fuel filter is often a rotten b---d to replace. The bottom nut is very often overtight, and is placed so that leverage cannot be easily applied. You might have had an easy time, but that cannot be generalised unfortunately.

Despite approaching mine with a good flare nut wrench and every other precaution listed here, like Penetrol soaking etc, the bottom nut on mine is now rounded, and the next step is to decide whether to remove the whole fuel line with it, or just leave it.

Geoff

Put some anti-sieze on the fuel line threads. Be careful not to get any inside the fuel line. This should help things next time.

Geoff - same situation with mine. It's been about a year with no adverse effects, and I'm keeping the car, not selling, so unless some money floats my way, that's how it'll stay.

Didn't have time to reply earlier, but here's how I did my 1994 4 cylinder. Had read about how difficult they can be, and checked with the dealer for replacement fuel line in case I needed one after damaging the lower flare nut fitting - said they sell quite a few. ~~~~~~ I digress slightly into the realm of metaphysics: Once tried removing an extremely stubborn fastener on a lavatory faucet

- had applied all my strength with no result, then with eyes closed, twisting as hard as possible _thought_ about seeing it loosen, and it did. Similar experience with ancient air conditioning lines on my 1977 Toyota pick up truck - a/c service company refused to touch them not wanting to be responsible for additional work if the condenser were damaged during removal. I learned on that vehicle to apply Toyota rust penetrant before attempting to loosen anything, the very large combination wrench on that fitting "broke it loose" without any adverse affect, and without much effort. ~~~~~~ Back to the Camry fuel filter. While Toyota has no official recommendation for replacement interval - "a lifetime" part, their definition of lifetime could be 100,000 miles. I don't believe they have listed service intervals for parts anticipated to last over 100,000 miles. I suspect the Haynes people have used some generic information in their book that apply in a general automotive sense but not necessarily to Toyota. For example their spark plug pictures are not the platinum plugs required for the Camry. My best guess, based on Toyota tech recommendations, is to change it at

120,000 miles, so that is what I did. Saw on another auto group, discussing flare nut wrenches, that they usually flex. Someone suggested routinely clamping the jaws with vice grip pliers to overcome this tendency. Another mentioned a flare nut crow foot wrench that "even worked on Toyota fuel filters" so I ordered a set from JC Whitney. Turned out they were from China and of fairly poor quality, though I imagine they might have worked OK. Instead, when ordering other tools online, like the special tool to remove the cam seal with limited strut tower clearance (toolsource.com), the customer service person on the phone mentioned they could sell a single size SK brand crow foot flare wrench (17mm - I think it was), and I like the SK tools, so I ordered one. Quality tools are a joy forever. The quality of this single attachment for a 3/8" drive extension, was exceptional. Vastly superior to the other set in finish and fit. Somehow the crow foot configuration is just made stronger so there is no possible flex when in use. Nice chrome on the SK, opening properly centered between the jaws. Read about Kroil in this group and others as being the best rust penetrant. They've been in business for decades and are suppliers to many major corporations. So also ordered Kroil aerosol and sprayed that lower fuel filter fitting when I began major servicing on the car. As it turned out (no pun intended), it was two days before I got to the fuel filter, and I think I sprayed it another once or twice. That lower fitting came off so easily, I couldn't believe all the difficult stories I'd read. Took less than three seconds, nearly effortless - and I'm quite sure that was the original 10 year old never changed original fuel filter judging from the exterior appearance. Oddly, I had a lot more difficulty with the upper banjo bolt. Had to use my 1/2" breaker bar, with a "cheater pipe" extension slipped over the handle, brace myself against an engine component and pry really, really, hard before it broke loose with a bang sound. No damage though. And plenty of working room above. Plus, not a flare nut. So that is my fuel filter experience. I did remove the air filter box for easier access.