How do you change the fuel filter in a 5th Gen Maxima?

 

Same as the 4th gen... pain in the @$$. It's all the way in the back, so you're guaranteed to get scratches.

Take off the hose going from the top then take off the hose going out from the bottom (hardest part). Reinstall and you're done.

Looks harder than it sounds.

I wish you luck!

 

Thanks Kev. Have you actually changed your fuel filter? The reason I ask is because, according to Southpoint Nissan, the location of the 5th Gen filter is different than the 4th Gen. The 5th Gen filter appears to be (gasp!)INSIDE THE FUEL TANK !!! . . . or at least that's what it looks like in the diagram.

 

It IS inside the tank, guys- There is no conventional fuel filter on a 2000+ Maxima. BTW, y2kse, both of my Chevys, which will normally run on dirty dishwater, both ping on anything from Chevron! Go figure!
Regards, David Burnette

 

O crap... I thought the filter is in the same location as the 4th gens. I haven't changed mine, but I've watched a 4th gen being done. There were bets going on... if the installer got cut, he would treat the other person to dinner, and vice versa.

My bad for the wrong info.

 

I was wondering why Nissan didn't list fuel filter replacement on the 2000+ Maximas, apparently it's a maintenance-free item.

 

That's scary. I'm not familiar with too many filters that are maintenance-free. Does that mean that the filter has the ability to clean itself? If so, precisely how does it do that?

 

Maybe my choice of words was wrong, but you know what I meant. The owner's manual doesn't list a fuel filter replacement as part of the regular maintenance. If one is concerned, you could always add an auxiliary fuel filter (from the 4th gen.), I'm sure it won't hurt anything.

 

No problem. But it still doesn't answer my question. To the best of my knowledge, there is NO SUCH THING as a self-cleaning fuel filter. That being the case, no matter how many external filters you put on a 5th Gen Maxima, the internal fuel filter is going to filter the fuel first. And sooner or later, that filter will need to be replaced. So given that fact, I return to my original question:

How do you change the fuel filter in a 5th Gen Maxima?

 

As Green 2kSE correctly surmises, the fuel filter is not a maintenance item. I just received the fuel tank diagram from Dave Burnette at Southpoint Nissan and, as he indicated, the fuel filter is inside the fuel tank. Actually, it's incorporated into the fuel pump. The only way to replace the fuel filter is to remove the fuel pump from the fuel tank and partially disassemble the pump.

The fuel filter parts don't cost much -- $15.00 for the strainer and $6.00 for an O-ring. But there's about 2 hours of labor involved in removing and reinstalling the fuel pump, and that doesn't include the amount of time required to disassemble and reassemble the pump. I'd guess the total labor to be about 2.5 hours.

Guess I won't be replacing my fuel filter any time soon.

 

Don't the dealers replace it when going in for 15k or 30k miles services???

It lists as one of my maintenance items at 15k!

Tim

 

On what page of your Owner's Manual does it list replacing the fuel filter as one of your maintenance items, Wustylez? The reason I ask is because my car is currently at the dealership and I don't have access to my Owner's Manual.

 

It's not in my owner's manual, it's on the maintenance sheet paper that my dealer gave me when I asked for 15k miles service. It's under Fuel System, inspect fuel tanks, caps, lines and replace fuel filter!

Tim