Bibo1985

In another thread, I was asked to do a pictorial on this. So I decided to make sure I could do it first...
Whole process takes 5 minutes (sorry, no pics. my ol' lady said she'd shoot me if I got gas on her camera )
1) loosen gas caps
2) on mine, I have a 3 position switch on the tank selector, middle position is no gas, so I sat it there and ran the gas out of the lines for the most part
3) fuel fiter is on the frame rail, drivers side just behind the door
4) put on your big boy britches, and push the front clip off, much easier if you get the long side first then the short side.
5) simply pull the fuel line off *WILL LEAK FUEL, NEED RAGS AND/OR CATCH CONTAINER* And don't get directly up under it.
6) repeat process for the rear clip. It's a booger to get to, between the fuel tank and frame rail but you can maneuver it around with the front hose loose
7) make sure you put the filter in correctly (flow to the front) and reverse the order of removal; rear hose, rear clip, front hose, front clip

Bibo1985

There will be some slide room with the filter due to the mounting style. Word of advice, save your lunch money and buy a new pack of clips at your local Oreilly's, they come in a 4 pack, cheap, and well worth the extra peace of mind
Hope this helps!

djhives

Thanks for this...

I dont quite get the 'clips' and how they go on (or come off) -- on my other cars just normal hose clamps were used... but as you say I can buy extra clips from the store in case I molest my old ones? Thats helpful info.

Thanks for the write up - hope you truck runs better too!

fordtrucknut

on a note if all you had to do was open the fuel caps on your truck then your fuel flow valves are bad/going bad!!! they are built into the pumps and cannot be replaced with out replaceing the whole pump..

the correct way is to depressureize the system from the schrader valve on the fuel rail up in the engine bay, just push it in with a small screw driver ( BUT LOOK AWAY WHEN YOU DO) it is the same type of valve that is used for your tires.

Nitehawkjr

I agree with fordtrucknut if that’s all you had to do to get the pressure off there's something going on. You should have to bleed it off at the Schrader valve to get all the pressure off the system. You can also pull the pump relay and crank the motor and run it till it dies but that usually won't relieve all the pressure.

djhives

Isint some of this hype though?

When I changed the fuel filters on my miatas I undid the gas cap and then took a hunting knife to the fuel lines. LOL! I know... I know... but there was relatively little to no 'pressure' to worry about. (I cut the fuel hoses with a knife cause I was going to replace them anyway..)


But in all the fuel filters I've changed over the years I've never run into a gas surprise (yet). The pressure was always low/marginal with just the gas cap off.

I don't know if these fords are any different - but im just curious about the whole 'depressurizing' thing.

Disclaimer: I am the type who opens hot radiator caps too because I 'dont think their under that much pressure' to be a 'big deal' ...so perhaps I'm biased

Nitehawkjr

The main reason I like to bleed of the pressure and fuel off as much as possible is I've found it easier to change then with the minimum amount of gas running down my arms and taking the chance of getting a face full of gas, and I‘m one of those “if it can it will happen‘ types. Hey I’ve done the radiator cap thing too. Lol

djhives

the first time I ever did a fuel filter I had the cat-brained notion that once I depressurised the system and un-hooked the fuel lines that the gas would magically stop pouring out of the line. I dont know why - I just did. So I sat there collecting gas puring out of my car in slow motion in a oil catch pan for about 1 hour - it was nerve-racking! thinking I was going to blow something up handling all that spilling gas...

Needless to say I figured out AFTER I was all done that all I needed was to have someone place their finger over the leaking gas line. DOH! I hear a golf-tee works as well...

Bibo1985

You are right, but note that I also cut the fuel off and ran it "out of gas" Which neither of these methods COMPLETELY depressurize the system, just enough that once you break it loose it isn't like a gas hose to the face. What leaks out does so under very little pressure. Only reason I opted not to use the schrader valve was hot exhaust manifols and gas make me nervous
Oh, and O'reillys doesn't have MY clips after all, at some point someone replaced my stock fuel lines with braided lines... or so says O'reillys...

dhonnoll

This all works great if you have the plastic tips (my 94 ranger had them) when you have the metal quick connects you will shove a special tool in it. Basically it will take the part that locks the connector around the ring of the filter and pinch them open while you pull the hose off. Trouble is, when you live on a gravel road and never changed it. Go muddin´ or in general get rust, mud, sand grit, blah in there. IN that case you will pull and pull and tug and tug.
My jacked up 4wd Explorer had these. I couldn´t get them off. I bought dual exhaust and conned the shop into changing the fuel filter for free. They spent more time screwing with that filter than installing my dual exhaust. When they were done they had kinked ever so slightly the aluminum tip of the quick connect. IT RAN LIKE CRAPOLA. when the tip of the filter is ever so slightly mal aligned with the aluminum quick connect, you WILL have a flow problem.
To remedy said flow problem, I wasn´t about to spend mega $$ for a special hose. SOooooo.... I went to AZ and bought 3 ft of High pressure fuel injection fuel line. It exists and holds up to 50 psi or something like that. 4 small hose clamps and a tubing cutter. With the tubing cutter I cut the solid metal part, and with 2 hose clamps on each end, I clamped it down. Looks like this is the approach I am going to have to take on teh F-150 because whoever had it never washed the underbelly and probably hardly washed it. It has rust but not yankee rust southern mud rust.