I have replaced my fuel filter and have followed the instructions. I have coated the O-ring and the housing seal with diesel and tightened it down so that it won't go any more. After a day of running it I was able to tighten it down a bit more. It is still leaking! Does anyone have a "procedure" for installing these fuel filters/caps that works? Please Help.
I had asimilar problem a year ago. It turned out that my cap had a hairline crack in it which was very hard to see. I replaced the cap and have had no roblem since. If you can, don't buy the cap from the dealership, I didn't have that luxury, and they got me for $54. I believe Napa carry's them and some of the sponsors of this site.
check to make sure the O-Ring is on the filter cap. Then check to make sure it is installed correctly. the O-Ring is tapered to fit in the groove of the fuel bowl. if you have installed this O-Ring Upside down it will leak every time.
Also make sure that your fuel bowl is not cracked,because the tighter you think you are getting the cap, the farther apart the sides of the crack in the bowl become, and the more fuel you will leak.
Last time I changes mine I had to put a great deal of torque on the cap to stop it from spraying fuel. I also found out that the gasket must be on there exactly right.
This all started when I discovered a small diesel leak underneath the truck. It was the factory filter cannister cap with the factory fuel filter element leaking from where the cap meets the cannister.. I decided I would replace the filter element along with the cannister cap which included a new O-ring for the element and a new gasket for the cannister cap. I went to NAPA and purchased the element and the cap. ( seperate items, there is a element/cap all in one out there). The cannister cap has threads on it that are used to "align" the cap to the cannister lip which is really a small surface area for the cap to align with. The NAPA filter that I bought had such sloppy threads on the lid that it allowed the lid to sit off to one side when tightening it down. THIS is the lid that has the nut incorporated into the lid so you can get a 1" socket on it. When tightening the lid down, it will want to go off center every time. I went outside this morning to go to work and just turned on the key to the truck and smelled diesel fuel. I exited the truck and looked underneath and the diesel was pouring out the bottom of the truck and spraying out the lid. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif I ended up putting the original lid back on with new O-ring and lid gasket (flat side of LID gasket down on cannister edge) and so far so good as of this morning. The only challenge with the factory lid is getting something on there to tighten it sufficiently. I used fully extended channel locks to grap the segments in the lid and it seems to have seated alright. Thanks everyone for their input and I hope this helps someone...don't buy the NAPA lid with the nut incorporated on the lid! Sloppy threads = massive fuel leaks! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I change my fuel filter every time I change the oil. Every 5K miles. As far as tightening... I use the fully extended channel locks, but I don't use the jaws. I stick the the handle in the cap and tighten. Once I used another pair of pliers to grasp the channel locks, but usually I can get it tight enough with one channel locks.
To each his own but changing the fuel filter every 5K seems a bit extreme, and expensive. I've never changed mine in less than 15K and never had a problem with 2 different trucks.
What type of oil filter wrench are you using? The band type? It would seem difficult to get the band type oil filter wrench in the space provided. Let me know.
Thanks for this thread... replaced my drain valve o-rings and must have flipped the triangle profile o-ring upside down.
Fuel leaking everywhere around the top. Watching near the end of Ford Tech Malluco’s(?) video on 7.3 fuel filter service, he shows that the largest flat face goes down on the bowl in the “channel” around the inside of the rim, and the steep bevel on top, should be inward toward the filter, and the shallower sloped bevel outward.
Hope that info helps anyone doing their first filter change on one of these, or someone like me, who got it right on the filter change but forgot the orientation and didn’t look close enough when taking it off to work on other issues.
I've never needed one. I use the handles on a channellock pliers and a large screwdriver.
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