Fuel Filter Replacement
An article written and kindly provided by Brett Allison
Note that this was written using a 1997 S600 as the subject car. It may or may not apply to other years!
It’s about a 15 minute job to change your fuel filter once you have your car lifted. Most other W140’s are probably very similar if not identical. I have a low-rise lift making the job really easy, but putting the rear up on ramps should be enough. You need to crawl all the way underneath the rear to access the fuel filter.
DO NOT WORK UNDER YOUR CAR WITHOUT PROPER SUPPORT!AT A MINIMUM, USE SUITABLY RATED JACK STANDS OR RAMPS!
Special Tools needed:
· Flat jaw clamps
The fuel filter is located under and just aft of the rear passenger seat. It is concealed along with the fuel pump under a protective plastic cover. This pic shows the cover and the location of the three nuts that you must remove to remove the cover. Simply remove the nuts and work the cover off of the studs.
The fuel filter and fuel pump are clamped into a bracket together, and the bracket is suspended from the bottom of the car using rubber grommets. Check the condition of the grommets. If they are in bad shape, replace them. You may need to release the bracket from the grommets to make access easier.
First, clamp off the fuel lines on either side of the filter. Loosen the screw that holds the filter in the bracket, and loosen the hose clamps holding the fuel lines on the filter. Before you remove the filter, note the direction of fuel flow indicated by the arrow on the filter. Be sure to install the new filter with the arrow pointing in the same direction. Have a drain pan ready, and pull the lines off the old filter. About 1-2 cups of fuel will spill out. Remove the old filter, and put the new one in place (arrow in the proper direction). Put the fuel lines on the new filter, and tighten the hose clamps. If the clamps are in bad shape, replace them. You definitely don‘t want a fuel line popping off. Tighten the screw to clamp the filter in place. Replace the cover and tighten the nuts holding it in place. That’s it.
Many Thanks go to Brett for this fine write up!
Click here to e-mail Brett
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