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Fuel Filter Change Intervals

60437 Views 56 Replies 31 Participants Last post by  Goat08, 
B
Why is it so necessary to have such short intervals on these fuel filters...especially since they are so expensive?? I have about 4800 miles on mine and the EVIC is reading 50% life remaining on the fuel filter already. That's not even 10,000 miles on a set of filters. That's pretty excessive considering the oil filters are good for 15,000 miles. I was talking to my dad this weekend. He has a 2003 Cummins with 110,000 miles on it and he says he has never changed the fuel filter. And I've had cars with high mileage that never had the fuel filter changed. Heck, my Jeep had over 170,000 miles and I don't know that it was ever changed. Yeah I know gasoline is different, but still...these diesels are supposed to be good for huge mileage.
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camperman
Diesels are known for getting many, many miles. They do require more maintenance thou. You dad is extremely fortunate to not have had problems, not changing filters. Changing the fuel filters is very cheap insurance for what these engines cost. Do you drain the fuel/water separator? Another good practice to do. Any vehicle, gas or diesel needs to be maintained. Sig truck fuel filter is, change every 15,000 miles, or yearly, which ever comes first.

This is from a sticky awhile back on 2010-2012 trucks:

Fuel Filter Service: Replace fuel filter every 15,000 miles or 12 months using MOPAR Fuel Filter or equivalent. *Must meet 5 micron rating. Using a fuel filter that does not meet the manufacturers filtration and water separating requirements can severely impact fuel system life and reliability.
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gsbrockman
If you look around, one can find some deals on the MOPAR fuel filters for the 2013 & up CTD's. The last two I purchased ran me $86.35 for the underhood and frame mounted units. If $86.35 is going to put a serious dent in your budget every 10k to 15k miles....along with other basic, routine maintenance...perhaps a diesel is not for you. Your dad is lucky to even have the truck running IMO.....he needs to buy a lottery ticket.
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Ram3500Dually
I have 7100 miles on my truck and oil filter is at 53% and fuel filter is at 55%.
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Chris77
How often does the fuel/water separator need to be drained?
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5001craig
Chris77 said:
How often does the fuel/water separator need to be drained?
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Starting on page 112 of the Diesel Supplement, drain it whenever the water in fuel light comes on on the dash.

Ram3500Dually said:
I have 7100 miles on my truck and oil filter is at 53% and fuel filter is at 55%.
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WFT? I got something like 8,200 miles and my fuel filter gauge was at zero. On track to be pretty much at that number on set #2.
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M
I believe it goes by gallons burned, not miles. So, if hauling loads, will need changing in less miles. There may be other parameters too.
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kscumminsdriver
Fuel quality at the injector is of utmost importance with these injectors...

and as was stated, your dad is extremely lucky...
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HoustonRider
I wouldn't take my maintenance habits from him if I were you.

It's just filters, cost of owning a diesel. It keeps your fuel system under warranty too.

Don't change anything. You may go 110,000 miles. Or you may not. This is why I only buy new vehicles, too many "a filter is expensive, forget that" people allowed to buy em new. Lol.




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camperman
Chris77 said:
How often does the fuel/water separator need to be drained?
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Everyone will have a what is best. I'm sure many will say what I do is overkill. I drain mine every 2 months. I'm confident that every 3-4 months would be adequate also. I do it for peace of mind that I am doing my part to help prevent issues later. Hence, the saying. An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure. I use a clear 2 liter plastic soda bottle. I put the drain hose in the bottle and start the drain process. Hose could be a bit longer, but oh well. Best wishes.:thumbsup:
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Dae
I keep asking myself why these new trucks need to have the fuel filters changed so frequent too. In my past '04, I use to change it @ 20K miles. Funny thing was, I don't feel it was needed... Whenever I drained it for possible water, I never got water, and the filter always looked good... But with the expense of possible injector replacement, I did it at 20K... I can't lie... Sometimes I did it @ 25K.. It just depended on if I remember to do it on my 20K interval....

As for checking/draining... I use to do it periodically... Usually about once a month... And I never found water in my fuel...
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gsbrockman
camperman said:
Everyone will have a what is best. I'm sure many will say what I do is overkill. I drain mine every 2 months.
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Every 4th fuel fillup for me.
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camperman
^^^ With the amount of driving your truck gets, probably not a bad idea. Like the old commercial on maintenance, you can pay me now, or you can pay me later. Later is generally LOTS more expensive.
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ranchertx
I know the times I ran them too long, the truck let you know, it would starve for fuel at high RPM's.

I did mine at 15,500 and the filters looked clean, no water in the separator. It could have gone another 5-10 k easily.
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gsbrockman
I know what 5001craig posted is per the supplement......but the goobers that write / wrote supplements apparently don't agree with me. Is it not better to periodically drain the filters as a pre-emptive strike potentially eliminating a WIF light to come on??? Is it not a little late to worry about draining them AFTER the WIF light comes on???
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camperman
gsbrockman said:
I know what 5001craig posted is per the supplement......but the goobers that write / wrote supplements apparently don't agree with me. Is it not better to periodically drain the filters as a pre-emptive strike potentially eliminating a WIF light to come on??? Is it not a little late to worry about draining them AFTER the WIF light comes on???
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I wish I could remember the poster who made the statement, "if you wait for the water in fuel message or light to come on, its to late". That statement prompted me to be diligent about doing this. However, everyone has their own way of doing things. These engines cost to much to not do this IMO.
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TWR
Alot has to do with where you live cilmate wise and what gets into the under ground tank and if their is filters on them and where you buy your fuel. Fuel filters are cheap compared to the price of injectors and fuel pump. I change mine at 10000 to 12000 miles. I see enough problems with injectors/ pumps at work and we have are own fuel tanks and we change fuel filters twice a year as a rule. Better to be safe than sorry.
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G
i think Im somewhere around 10,600 miles and my FF meter still shows about 30% so its on track for the 15k interval. Mostly towing, and if I'm not towing I'm usually loaded pretty good, burning lots of diesel. So, gallons of diesel spent may not be the criteria either,
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Como4076
I was talking to my dad this weekend. He has a 2003 Cummins with 110,000 miles on it and he says he has never changed the fuel filter.

WOW and it STILL STARTS ????:shock: Man I could not let it go that long !! I change mine out every 6 months no matter what !! Cheap insurance to me.
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ranchertx
If you buy your fuel from place that have small micron filtering on their pumps, you could run it a long time without changing. Problem is, you dont know about every fuel stop. Some of them dont even filter their fuel.
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