So today while at school I decided to change my fuel filter. In the midst of almost lighting my car on fire. (Bare wires+spilled gas=bad idea) I almost pooped my self and I changed it. My fuel filter still had the glue on it from the factory to hold it into the bracket and this is what came OUT of my fuel filter.
http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u...0322071121.jpg
Shouldn't this have been changed on my 48k service? I was looking in the manual and that's when the first time it should have been changed. I'm gonna cut the filter apart to tomorrow and see truly how bad it is. Would I possibly be expecting to see a little better gas mileage or anything of that nature. I just need to know if I need to go biznatch at the dealership for not changing it under the scheduled service.

 

you could get better gas mileage for sure, not a huge amount, but slightly for sure.

i cant believe it lasted that long

 

You really don't know if you'll get better gas mileage after changing a 143k fuel filter? Just a hunch but I would say yes you will. I can't believe you wouldn't change it yourself for the $15.....

 

why would a fuel filter change affect MPG? the ECU will adjust fuel injector pulse duration to get the proper fuel trim, regardless of any junk trapped in the filter.

I am surprised to see how dirty the fuel is. for a '99 the fuel filter isn't even part of the normal maintenance -- it only says "replace if clogged" with no mileage interval for inspection or replacement.

 

Mine was good for 107k before I changed it, and it turns out it wasn't even bad.

 

It filters gas....if it hasn't been changed in 145k it fills with all that crap it was filtering and gas doesnt flow as well. And it is recommended to change the filter at certain intervals. I've had problems with gas mileage letting filters go unchanged after a lot of miles.

 

there is nothing about the fuel filter in my 97 manual, i will change it in the coming months just cause i am bored sometimes and i like to work on my car and plus its very cheap to buy and easy to do, but i dont think its that necessary. otherwise why would nissan leave it out of the manual ?

also they changed the design with the 5.5 gens (i think 5th gens were not affected because they used the same engine) by placing the fuel filter inside the gas tank (or somewhere in that visinity), thus making it a non-maintenance item.

 

haha thats funny, but dude seriously? a fuel filter is like an oil filter. you just dont forget about those kinds of things.

 

right, just like partially clogged injectors .... and when that happens the ECU will adjust injector pulse to maintain optimum A/F. so I'm still not seeing how this would hurt MPG.

now if they (filter & injectors) become too cloged and the ECU can't compensate enough the engine will run too lean (not too rich) and will throw a CEL. but this still wouldn't = low MPG.

nissan says nothing about change intervals...

 

you know what, I don't care if you don't change it. If you think it's best to run the filter as far as possible until you get **** into your injectors and clog everything, be my guest. I don't really care what Nissan says about changing fuel filters. The manufactures recommend changing them so I do it. I've had personal experience not changing them and having lowered mpg so that's the end of my story. Personal experience tells me to change the filter.

 

hey buddy, I'm just questioning your claims of big MPG gains - not the hygienic merits of changing a dirty filter (which are obviously shown in the above photo). my 20+ years of experience, and the theory behind ECU operation, do not support claims of MPG gains.

people on here make wild claims about MPG without even understanding how inaccurate their calculations are, or the myriad of variables that effect it. but if you want to believe that changing your fuel filter every 30k or 50k or whatever saves you big $$ at the pump, then go right ahead. you certainly aren't hurting anything by doing so.

but I guess I view these online forums as a search for truth. and in this case it might be valuable for people to understand what's really going on inside the engine.

 

ok pal. I didn't say anything about having a big difference in mpg. I said I've personally had experience with lost mpg. I love how people come on here, and I do not doubt your experience and knowledge, but they assume that everything is always the same. I'm telling you I did pay attention to mpg a lot since I'm a broke college student. Getting as many mpg as possible is a necessity to me. And yes I understand that the ECU changes fuel injection but thats not my point. And yes I know whats going on inside my engine. And if really want to argue that you know my engine better than me than thats fine.

 

That crap from your filter looks thick enough to heat up and put on your pancakes!

Seriously, You all know filters are supposed to be changed periodically, why else would they be there?

The manufacturers only care about getting you thru the warranty period as cheap as possible to everyone.

BTW, stop sniping at each other like a bunch of old men in a nursing home.

 

lmao sky jumper.

I was going to say something but didnt feel like arguing. fact is, you wont get better mileage. you wont get more power. you prob wont even feel the difference. The only way you would notice a difference is if it was so clogged that you actually began to restrict the filter and it choked off the engine during high fuel demands. It is funny to watch people get mad when he shows proof there are no gains.

 

It's probably like that for most of us...
Look at this one. This was changed about 110,000 miles after the last change...Look at all the debris in the fuel...
http://target.new.photos.yahoo.com/s...04013441936/42

http://target.new.photos.yahoo.com/s...04013442781/45

 

It is better to change the filter b/c the better the flow of fuel the less strain the fuel pump has. True the ECU tells it to send more pressure/fuel, so in turn the pump is working harder. Filter is cheaper than fuel pump. My 2 cents.

Oliver

 

After replacing the fuel filter, i would also run quality fuel injector cleaner like BG44k

 

Actually, I did get much better MPG and power out of replacing my fuel filter. No joke. About 6 months ago, my car quickly started losing power and MPG dropped down to 18 mpg. I tried a couple different things to fix the issue, finally it was the fuel filter that resolved my problems. After the fuel filter was replaced, my car's power was back to normal and MPG was back up to 23-24. I'm not saying everyone will experience similar results, this is just my story.

 

I replaced my fuel filter about six months ago. The old one was probably changed 60K miles ago (i now have 129K). All i can tell ya is that before the replacement, i'd get gas pedal vibration when going WOT (and some hesitation). After i replaced the fuel filter and ran a bottle of Techron injector cleaner, it went away.

 

I've only had the car for the last 25k. So I have no way of checking what was done to the car BEFORE I bought it. But Infiniti did do an inspection and they should have checked that it was the original fuel filter. And I have driven about 100 or so miles and my gas gauge has only gone down about 1/6 of a tank. So i'm not totally sure on the MPG yet I have to do a couple more tank fulls. But with a clogged fuel filter your fuel pump does have to work harder to push the fuel through the filter which could burn up your pump faster.

 

Well the gas gauge seems to stay at F forever and quickly drops from 3/4 all the way down to E. Let us know if your MPG improves tho.

 

I will. I keep write down my MPG and my miles and all that good stuff. SO i'll be sure to keep you guys updated.

 

Just go to fueleconomy.gov and set urself up a page..you can document everything there and it'll calculate your MPG for you...I've been doing it for a few months now...

 

thats one nasty fuel filter...

 

So i've been driving latley and i've gotten about 1 mpg better if that. But then again that's 1 mpg that I didn't have before.

 

u wanna see a nasty fuel filter check out what i pulled out of my car at 211000 KM

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=514308&page=2

 

So that seems to be some what normal for Maximas then?? I was getting kinda pissed when it was riding at F for a while then dropping much faster after a 1/4 tank..

 

yeah this is similar with my max as well, from F to half tank its takes a long time, then from half tank to 1/4 it just drops and then for the last 1/4 it takes a while again, its so predictable that i dont mind it anymore, i think its the way the thing is made

 

A long time ago there was story in Car & Driver that said the guages in most cars were actually engineered that way...can't remember the date or why....