I had the distinct pleasure of changing the fuel filter on my 1995 Ford Explorer and of course it began by not being able to get it off!!! There are no clamps to it, but instead you are left to stare at a bell shaped metal fitting over the ends of the filter which give no clue as to how they come off, no clamp,clip,screw threads, gum, no nuthin. So you give the book a look, the web a look and google groups a look with the search words " remove fuel filter" "ford explorer" and so on and so forth. Armed with all this new found info of which I saved in a little file I slowly got the picture "I thought" as to how this filter and fitting removal works. A good hour or so after crawling under the vehicle I am a raving lunatic swearing I'll find the engineer that did this to me and PINCH his head off his body!!! Of all the info I gathered it failed to put emphasis on one particular fact in the process of disconnecting the hose from the filter which I WILL emphasize. To get the filter off you need a special tool to do it. The two I came across were metal and shaped a bit like a auto battery cable end clamp spreader/cleaner. This device is smaller and spreads in a scissor fashion to allow it to slip over the fuel filter pipe end and between the filter body and the fitting end. It then closes over the filter pipe and the 'hands" or "leaves" slide along the pipe away from the filter body and into the end of the bell shaped fitting till it bottoms out. At this point you can do two things, one of which is a mistake you will regret and the other will dissconnect the hose from the filter. The way to dissconnect the hose is to leave the tool alone (don't move it,don't touch it) after it is inserted and pull the hose or fitting away from the filter body which will come off easily and much faster that any other connection type. The thing that is the great mistake I made was after the tool is inserted to push it (the tool) and the hose away from the body of the filter at the same time, this wont work. The tool must remain at the same position after it is inserted and the hose must do the moving which makes a great deal of sense because the filter "pipe" outlet has a raised lip that the tool butts up against while inserted and stops it from moving any further anyways. The only thing that can possibly move after the tool has done it's job after being inserted is the FUEL LINE and THATS WHAT WE WANT. A few other pointers, let the car sit over night, this will cool it down and relieve fuel pressure at the filter and to make sure, find the fuel pressure check valve about the center of the engine compartment to the left next to the intake manifold which looks like a bicycle tire inflation valve and with a rag under it to catch any fuel depress the end of it. Use a catch pan for fuel coming out of the filter and lines. Wear sfety glasses and move your face out from under the filter while doing this. Also when re-connecting the fuel line to your new filter make sure you hear a snap as it clamps down for a positive connection. I hope this helps someone as I sure needed a little more detail in this process and a lot less aggravation.
- posted
17 years ago