Until someone flow tests a "dirty" looking filter (and a clean one for comparison) and can prove with utmost fact that is does NOT hurt to have it "dirty", then I will change my viewpoint. Prior to that a dirty filter is just that, a dirty filter that is a restriction.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And the one or so hours it took me to do this years ago DID recapture about ~2 miles per gallon. And it was at 3x,xxx miles. Performance, who knows what it did/didnt do there. But for hard fact miles per gallon it DID make a difference.

 

Octane = different AKI (Anti Knock Index).
Dirty fuel = dirty fuel, no matter what the octane rating is (AKI)

 

sure do, while not in my maxima, in my jeep the fuel filter was always getting clogged up every 20k or so, when i uprgaded to premium gas the filter lasted 40k easily, although there were no noticable gains or losses as far as gas milage and hp go, this is something i noticed with the fuel filter

 

Did you use the same gas station? Same Pumps? There HAS to be a different variable here. Octane does NOT equate to cleanliness.

 

Premium fuel = regular fuel with additives added.

So essentially the 3 types of gas: 87,89, and 92 are originally the same base, just additives are added to increase the octane.

Also gas stations are required to have the tanks tested and maintained on a regular basis.

 

Fair enough and I do respect your experience, but there is still nothing that tells me how the octane rating is directly related to a clogged/dirty fuel filter.

 

Interesting, but I was under the impression that only applied to leaded gasoline.

Time for me to hit up some .

 

agreed.... cant explain it...just speaking from personal experience
it wasnt the same gas station or the same pump, it was 100% shell gasoline though

 

Its hard to make that statement then. Seeing as different stations care for their stuff differently since most are independently owned. I have gotten bad gas at Shell, but only at a specific station in town. I never visited it after that time and never had issues.

I think you are running into this same phenomena.

 

youre probably right, lets get back on topic though

id like to see if there is a gas milage increase because of this mod

 

Not a mod...its maintenance.

 

Thanks Orgullo.

Assuming you did this, you might add to depressurize the system to the write up.

 

you are wrong...octane level has NOTHING to do with cleanliness of the gas.
regular has lower octane...not "more particles"

 

puppetmaster and i disccussed this already above, and moved on

 

well ive been gone all day and wanted to reply since you replied to me

now we can move on

 

That's definitely true. A Mobil station near my house was caught watering down the gas in their tanks about ten years ago.

Is there anyone in or near Albany NY who would like to change the filter in my 2002 Max for a fair price if I buy the parts?

 

If anyone is in the Jax, FL. area or close by I'll do the maintenance for you at a fair price providing you buy the parts before hand.

 

Just a few additions as I did the change this weekend: Car currently has 55k miles.

1)Unplug fuse from driver side (interior) fuse panel. Although I let the car run until it died (signifying no pressure) I had a blast of fuel come out once the filter was disconnected. Be sure to keep lots of towels handy in that area once you disconnect the fuel filter line. Don't worry to much, the gas will run down the tank and under the car. Be sure to clean this area up before closing!!! I sprayed the area down with degreaser and poured water around the area to clean off the excess gas while the old filter and ring were still in place.


2)I did this on a 1/4 tank of gas. The housing for the fuel filter stays full of gas once removed from the car. Tip it over into a cup to empty this area. Note: This apparently allows some "wicking" of the fuel while in the tank. Once everything was back together I got some sputtering when I restarted the car and while driving down the road to the gas station. Once the tank was full again it went back to normal.







And the question: Does this need to be done at 60k miles or is it truly a "lifetime filter"? You be the judge.



I'll be doing mine every 60k miles.

 

Wow! Now i am absolutely convinced that i need to do it on my 2003 Maxima SE. I have 85k miles on the car.

How long approx. did it take you to do the whole thing...including clean up?
Did you have bad gasoline smell in the car after that?

Thanks!

 

It took app an hour, but I was being very thorough/**** (separate bag for sets of screws, layed out all my tools, cleaned the area around the opening three times, etc). There was a surprising amount of black crap from all the road dust. I thought the top of the gas tank was black, but after cleaning it is a silver/metal color.

No, there is no smell of gasoline. I did not allow the gas to spray into the car, it just drained down on the outside of the gas tank then down onto the garage floor. I did make sure to clean up the metal surface and sound deadening material under the seat just in case any got there from moving the unit in and out of the car.

 

Thank you, "2002 Maxima SE". Doeen't sound like a very time consuming procedure. I'll try to do mine tomorrow.

So, do you also notice improvement in car behavior, after the new filter??

 

did you even read the whole thread and what some of the other people said?

http://forums.maxima.org/showpost.ph...4&postcount=32

 

I took a test drive right after filling up on my normal route to work (albeit without much traffic for a Saturday). The MPG never dropped below 30mpg (was infact 33mpg all the way out). I'm going to reserve judgement until I do a full weeks worth of driving. I average about 250 miles to 300 miles (on a good light foot) for two weeks worth of driving to the 1/4 mark. We shall see.

 

Done. I just replaced my fuel filter. It was not hard at all. It took me a little less than one hour. I haven't driven the car much, so i don't know if there are any improvements or not. One thing i know for sure - the old filter was super dirty. I cut it in half and this is what i found. See pictures. This is from a 2003 Maxima with 85k miles on it. You can see that this is not meant to be a "lifetime" item in the car. It is very very dirty.

 

Replacing the fuel filter for a 2K2-2K3 seems to be easier than the 2k-2k1 filter.

Has anyone out in the Bay area, CA who done this before on their 2K-2K1 maximas. I intend to do it in the near future and knowing someone to ping helps, incase something goes wrong mid-way into the replacement of the filter.

 

I am in the Bay Area but i have a 2003.

 

Great Job fellas it's good to see things are paying off on this thread. Let me know if you get the same effects that I got from doing this maintenance. I personally think this should be a must do for all.

 

Is it best to only have 1/4 tank of gas when doing this or can it be done with more gas in the tank?? I have almost a full tank of gas right now. Damn I guess I have to wait.

 

I just replaced mine about 3 weeks ago. I wish I wouldve cut my filter open to see how dirty it was. The write-up was perfect. I had help with me, but really didnt need it. It took me a little less than 1 hour also, and I took my time. As far as the amount of gas is concerned, Id go with what it says (1/4 tank), any more and you'll probably make a mess and waste more precious gas than you want. Great thread!

 

can't help but notice that there might be some pictures in this how-to...

but for some reason, i can't see no pictures.

i'd love to do this for my car, any help here?

 

He's hosting the pics using Cardomain, which seems to be acting up today. You can copy the direct URLs and open the pictures one by one on your browser or maybe try back again later.

 

Well, after seeing those before and after pictures, I'm convinced enough to tackle this now. Hell, for $20 it's a no brainer! I am nervous about that plastic breaking though.

 

The plastic is not that brittle. The upper "clamps" are actually quite easy to move without the use of a flathead. I actually checked them 2 or 3 times to make sure they were all caught on the male piece of the filter as they didn't have an authorotative "snap" when put it back together..

The lower half was a bit stiffer and did require a flathead. As Orgullo says, make sure to pry just a bit on one side then try to gently pull it down over the male part...then do the same on the other side. You'll do this a few times before it is far enough to come down. Make sure not to remove the bottom all the way, the pump and wires are inside and still connected!!!

 

I can find the filter at EverythingNissan, but I can't find the seal. Even when I put the part # in the search field it comes up blank.

 

i just did this, took about 15 minutes

we'll see if we i can get any kind of milage imporvement

 

why would this improve anyone's mileage?

 

Will be doing mine next weekend... Thanks for the write up.

 

This link takes you straight to where you put the part number in. Hope this helps you out.

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...gOEM&siteid=55

part # 17342-01A00 Those are zero's not letters.

 

Just got my parts in yesterday and it took me about 30-40 minutes. It's all pretty self explainatory once you get a look at it. My filter looked a lot like the pictures posted by dansmax2003....dirty as hell! With the new filter in the throttle seems more responsive and I don't get that hesitation I used to when I press the throttle from a roll. results>cost/effort

 

Did you notice anything different after it was done?
Performance or MPG changes?