Changing the Fuel Filter

Evening,

I've heard that changing the fuel filter in my 2.5 N/A isn't as simple as just removing the filter and putting a new one in its place. What needs to be done first?

Thanks in advance
-Pos

you need to turn the little plastic thing under the filter to drain off any water 1st. undo union bolts and remove filter, replace rubber bits and make sure the rubber bits arnt still attached to the filter housing. with all new rubbers in place and the filter in, tighten up the union bolts.

you then have to bleed the fuel system as air will have gotten in. cant remember the procedure but its in the haynes manual. something like turn the ign to II and use the manual lift lever on the lift pump. pump it till its hard then i cant remember... but its all in there. you may need to bleed the system in diff places inc. ing. pump, nozzles, union bolts ontop of filter.

there is an old post of mine on here where someone gave me the order to do it in. try searching...

G

Cheers Griff,

Not as easy as it seems Needs doing none the less. Haynes to the ready...

Griffdowg said:

you need to turn the little plastic thing under the filter to drain off any water 1st. undo union bolts and remove filter, replace rubber bits and make sure the rubber bits arnt still attached to the filter housing. with all new rubbers in place and the filter in, tighten up the union bolts.

you then have to bleed the fuel system as air will have gotten in. cant remember the procedure but its in the haynes manual. something like turn the ign to II and use the manual lift lever on the lift pump. pump it till its hard then i cant remember... but its all in there. you may need to bleed the system in diff places inc. ing. pump, nozzles, union bolts ontop of filter.

there is an old post of mine on here where someone gave me the order to do it in. try searching...

G

Click to expand...

You should only need to bleed the new filter if everything is in good order and all the seals are working nicely - whatever you do don't try to start it without bleeding the filter or you'll get air more or less everywhere and need to bleed more or less everything.

If you put a freezer bag over the filter just before you take it off you'll save dropping any residual fuel in it all over the side of the engine and bulkhead.

You can pre-fill the new filter with fresh diesel before screwing it on - saves an awful lot of pumping of the priming handle on the lift pump that - just be careful you don't drop it while screwing it on, see note above about freezer bag

Mines a tdi though, so I can't absolutely guarantee you won't need to bleed air out of other bits - tdi is dead simple really.

Cheers,

What often happens with tdi's is that the lift pump has been failing without the driver noticing. When the filter is changed the pump does not have the power to prime the system. Often people say, 'how come the pump failed when I had the car serviced, it was fine yesterday'.

What's the symptoms of a failing lift pump then Jim? I've no idea what condition mine's in.

You may find that the engine will not run at high rpm, and that's about it. Many people do not rev their tdi's very high so they won't notice anything at all. You can try to pump using the lever on the side of the pump, but that is a bit dodgy because if the camshaft is in the wrong position nothing will happen anyway, even with a good pump. Keep flicking it over on the starter and sooner or later you should be able to feel it pump. If it never has any resistance on the lever, your pump has gone.

Watchya Pos
I did my filter on my 2.5 N/A a couple of weeks ago, easy peesy, the only problem I found was that I'd let a fair amount of air into the fuel system so I had to pump it by hand.

Oh and don't try pulling the fuel though by cranking the engine, I knackered the cells in my battery and had to fork out £70 for a new one

Cheers
Ade

Thanks for the advice! If I do get air in the fuel line and have to pump it manually, where do I look for the pump handle? I have an old CAV Lucas pump, not a newer Bosche one!

Cheers

It's a small handle about 6 inches above your oil filter

pos said:

where do I look for the pump handle? I have an old CAV Lucas pump, not a newer Bosche one!

Click to expand...

You could trace the fuel line. It should go from the fuel filter to the lift pump to the injection pump. the lever isn't that easy to spot (especially when everythings covered in ****e).

Cheers

It's probly in the same place as this.
http://www.landyzone.co.uk/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=7710
It's the lump middle left with the two pipes going to the top and the red lever on the bottom.

Oh Rite! Thank you very much
-Pos