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60k Mile: Replace Fuel FilterReplace Fuel Filter. Tools needed:
10mm socket Flat head screw driver for the hose clamp. Stupidly I forgot to write down the size of the socket you can use instead, but I had better luck with the screw driver. Parts needed: 996-110-253-01 Fuel Filter The fuel filter is located under the vehicle in the center of the car. To access it you need to lift the car and remove the center panel. With a little bit of encouragement and bending, it can be removed without removing any other panels. It is held in place by 10 plastic 10mm hex nuts. The fuel filter is located above tubing and is awkward to reach. It is held in place by a hose clamp which also slides on a bracket. This bracket also supports the tubes. The fuel filter has a tube coming out the front, a connection for a tube in the rear, and a ground wire in the rear.  In the picture above, the foam insulation is already removed. You need to remove the foam insulation to the rear of the fuel filter. This allows you to pull the fuel filter out where the tunnel gets wider. The insulation is held in place on top by a plastic clip and everywhere else it is held in place just by fit. Bend and cajole it out, without ripping it. It's pretty sturdy, but don't press your luck. It pulls out of the clip, and the clip may fall out once in a while, but is easily replaced.  The above picture is the only one I have of the insulation, and it only shows a little part of it. It's about a foot wide on bottom and maybe 6 to 8 inches wide on top. Essentially it spans the width of the tunnel and has holes for the tubing.  Once the foam is out of the way, you need to disconnect the fuel lines and the ground wire. I've done this job twice now, and the first time I only had a few drops of fuel come out. The second time a lot more came out, it made a bit of a mess that I wasn't expecting. I suggest you put a drip pan underneath to catch the fuel. And don't be stupid and have an open flame or other ignition source nearby. Gasoline fumes can ignite from a long way away. In the post script I note that I had about a half pint of fuel drip the first time too. The ground wire attaches to the fuel filter with a bayonet connector. I suggest you examine your new filter to see how it and the fuel lines connect before trying to remove the old one. See the post script for more on this. Note the fuel lines. The filter comes with a fuel line in the forward end and a fuel line nipple on the other. The two are of the same type. You should be able to see how you can squeeze the tab on the fuel line and pull it off the nipple. When connecting a fuel line, just press it on until you hear or feel a click. The trickiest part of the entire process is the hose clamp that secures the fuel filter to the bracket. I could never see how it attached, let alone get a picture, I had to work by feel. You can see the screw to loosen it, do that first. Then if the fuel lines and ground wire are disconnected you should be able to pull the filter to the rear and out the back where the tunnel widens. It's awkward, to say the least, but not too hard. To install the fuel filter, first loosen that clamp as far as you can. Then slip it over the new filter and push it forward through the tunnel to the bracket that holds it. The clamp slides into the bracket from the rear. Once it is on, and the filter is still inside the clamp, tighten it up snug. Easier said than done, but not impossible. Make sure the fuel lines are attached correctly, and the ground wire is inserted onto the bayonet stud on the rear of the fuel filter. Then replace the foam and the underbody panel and you're done. POST SCRIPT: I failed to remember that the first time I removed the fuel filter, I had a devil of a time getting the grounding wire disconnected. Here's what I wrote back then: I'm stuck now on removing the grounding
strap. The ground wire is attached with a blade connection and mine won't come
off for anything. I've wrenched something in my shoulder so I'm taking a rest
for a little bit.
I'm also reminded that I had about a half pint of fuel come out the first time too. Thanks to Joe King for giving my memory a swift kick from May 2002 and from September 2003. Note that this entry is being made in January of 2007. Joe adds the following: Amazingly, one of the most difficult
aspects of replacing the fuel filter is disconnecting the ground wire from the
fuel filter. The plastic spade lug cover makes it hard to see why it is so hard
to disconnect. There is a pin on the lug that fits into the hole in the spade.
You have to push the pin out of the hole which then allows the lug to slip off
easily. My 2 cents.
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