Simple Fuel Filter Change How to. Pics Added
 

************PICS ADDED BELOW*****************
Ok so I changed the fuel filter. Nothing hard here, just a few things people should know.

1. Make sure you have less than half a tank of fuel before you start this. I was too excited to get to it, and had about a gallon of fuel on the garage floor.

2. Tools needed. A 10mm socket, an 8mm socket, and a flat head screwdriver.

3. Take off your rear seat bottom. You just yank on it on the driver side and passenger side.

4. The pump is on the drivers side, so take that 10mm and unscrew the 3 10mm plastic nuts that hold down the cover.

5. You will see a plastic plug, the easiest way to remove it, push on that plug release that faces the front of the car, and push the entire plug towards the back of the car.

6. You will see a metal tube going into the next cover. There is a yellow and white clip holding that tube in place. You take a flat head, and push the yellow part of the clip towards the passenger side, you need to take it out all the way. So when that clip gets stuck, you will need to take your screwdriver, and release each of the two arms on the clip. Don't just try prying it or something, it doesn't need much effort.

7. Take the 8mm socket, and unscrew the 9 bolts holding the pump assembly in there. Slowly pull out the entire thing.

8. There is a hose attached to the filter housing inside, just move the clamp down, and undo the hose.

9. Once inside, it is pretty simple to get the filter out, you will have to unplug the pump wire harness inside (you can use a pick, or just undo it after you unclip the top part), and the entire thing comes apart once you release all the clip tabs with your screwdriver.

10. You will think the pump is stuck, but there are rubber grommets everywhere, so just wiggle it while pulling it apart.

11. Assemble in the reverse.

Took be me 15 minutes, including cleaning up a gallon of fuel from the floor, and killing a bottle of Black and Tan.
Didn’t take any pics as I just wanted to button everything back up, the fuel fumes were owning my car and garage. Plus as usual, my cam battery is always dead.

P.S. Don't light anything up while doing this. I take no responsibility if you are mess anything up, or if you don't use common sense and blow yourself up.

mods - please move to the "how to" section

There is no how-to section. :P

Really why not? I was planning on taking pictures with my friends swap this weekend. We should get the mods to make a how to section.

Post a link to this DIY on the Hello all (Links to most DIYs for the GS) PLEASE LOOK HERE BEFORE YOU SEARCH!! "Sticky" thread and Nigel (nsf0607) will get it added to that insane list he created and maintains.

Nice work on the write up by the way. Pics will definitely add some value to this already useful DIY.

thats what i meant sorry the DIY section

Take pictures and pm nigel once you completed. I'd like to see the filter status (how clean or clogged it is and what mileage the car is at). Thanks for adding to DIY.

No problem at all. I will try to finish this soon. Thanks all.

Ill post up some pics i took when i changed my fuel filter

Under the rear seat, driver side w/ metal plate removed (held in place with 3 plastic 10mm bolts)
http://www.revscene.net/SorrGwa/Sony/DSC01704a.jpg

Fuel Pump Assembly
http://www.revscene.net/SorrGwa/Sony/DSC01693a.jpg

New Fuel Filter
http://www.revscene.net/SorrGwa/Sony/DSC01700a.jpg

cool. I actually did another swap and have a ton of pictures. I will do a writeup soon. Where do I host the pictures?

photobucket, i use.

looks like a pretty straight forward DIY. pics would be great!

subscribed

Nice DIY:thumbup:
How often should I change it?

well u shouldnt really need to change it often... unless your using dirty gas.. but i guess if u must change it.. change it with your timing belt service

OK, the how to that I have promised to do.

You will need some tools.
1. 10mm socket
2. At least a 3" extension
3. Ratchet
4. Flat head screw driver/pic
5. 8mm socket
6. New filters, there are two, the housing thing, and the mesh screen
7. Rags
8. Balls of steel, (fuel here)
9. Beer
10. Ventilated area, do not do this in your one car garage
11. Empty or nearly empty tank. (THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART AFTER BEER)

1. Start off by pulling the rear seat bottom out of the car. This is very easy. On both sides of the seat bottom there are clips holding the seat in. Take a seat in the rear on the pass side, grab the cushioun by your knees and yank up. Do the same on the driver side. Seat bottom comes out no problem.

You will see this on the driver’s side.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/mem...tom-is-off.jpg
Grab a 10mm socket with your ratchet, and unscrew those 3 plastic nuts, lift up the cover.

2. Unplug the harness. Pay attention, push on the tab in front, and pull up. Mine was a little tight, so i gave it a nudge with a screwdriver from the bottom.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/mem...ab-pull-up.jpg

3. Harness out, note the yellow clip behind.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/mem...o-the-tank.jpg

4. Push yellow clip toward the pass side, take it out completely.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/mem...ompletelly.jpg

5. Yellow clip out. Pull the fuel line up, it will come out easy. Get ready for some lovely gasolinage smellage. Sorry for the sideways pic.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/mem...e-smellage.jpg

6. Same picture as above, look at the perimeter of the circle cup. There are 8, 8mm screws that need to come out. Didn't take a pic of them, but you can see them in other pics. Take them out, if you drop a screw there, look under the car, it will fall through.

7. Pull the entire thing up, don't pull too hard, take off the hose that I am pointing too. You can squeeze that clamp with your fingers. Pull it down. Then pull gently on the pump assembly, and take it out, watch for the level lever.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/mem...re-to-take.jpg

8. Pump assy out. Peep the nasty looking filter, that is the mesh one, the white plastic thing, the body basically is the other filter.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/mem...ousing-out.jpg

9. Take apart the assembly. There are 4 tabs on the perimeter, use a pick, or a thin flat head. Note there is one wire harness in there, you can see it without taking anything apart and you can disconnect it with a pic while all is assembled.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/mem...nside-here.jpg

10. Notice the harness here. You need to unclip it. Also notice the black tube, that is connected to plastic, that is your regulator, remove it also, it needs a healthy wiggle to get out.

11. Assembly in pieces.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/mem...-in-pieces.jpg

12. ***********MAKE SURE THAT YOU ABSOLUTELLY HAVE ALL THE BLACK WASHER/SEALS OUT OF YOUR OLD PARTS, THE NEW PARTS DO NOT COME WITH REPLACEMENTS. YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE ALL GO INTO THE NEW FILTER ASSEMBLY OR YOUR CAR WILL NOT START. ****************

13. Use a pick to take off the clip here, this will take off the mesh filter from the pump.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/mem...place-clip.jpg

14. Put new filter on. Put back the clip (not shown), put back the rubber bushing (shown).
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/mem...mbled-here.jpg

15. Put everything back together, I note once more, that it is absolutely crucial that you replace all the black bushings / washers in their place or your car will not start.

Hope this helps someone.

this will def help. i have to do this. I thnk mine is clogged cuz it takes a couple turns to get my car started sum days. :(

is this the same for a 00' gs400?

yea most likely. The cars didn't really change in this area.

Very nice :thumbup:

Do you have to replace the oring as well, could cause gas leak...?

Which o-ring? The giant one? No i didn't do that. It is very thick, lines back up with the holes, and still has major compression once you bolt everything back down. You'll see once you take it off.

i got question to this filter change when i removed my there ware 2 rubber O rings and two plastic little like O rings also . did anyone know whee they go . i put them back but not sure if i put them in the right places

If your car started, you did it right. If you break, or misplace that O-ring, your car will not start.

thanks for this post

Hmmmmm... Bout to do my 90k service, should i have them change the filter while the car is there. Too scared to do this myself for risk of
1. spilling gas inside car
2. kaboom
3. misplace a seal
4. did i mention number 2

Don't worry, this has to be one of the easiest things I've done with my car. It's very straight forward. You just have to pay attention to where everything goes.

Smelling gas is not a big deal. Just roll down all the windows and open the sunroof before you go to work.

Adding this to my to do list.

Please read through the other threads on this subject:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/per...at-100k-8.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...-filter-2.html

If it's too long to read, my advice is to at least follow my tip to to a minimum READ THE SERVICE MANUAL'S STEPS on the procedure rather than relying on a fellow CL's member's writeup and pictures. Every writeup I've seen skips at least one step which may cause you trouble or causes you to guess.
Plus, I don't see the point in re-inventing the wheel when the manual is freely available(for the time being)

The SERVICE MANUAL is in the sticky.

thanks man been thinkin about doing this

I did this diy today. Great directions--no problems. Did not spill even one drop of fuel.

Anyone got a part number or are these filters available through an auto parts store?

Here's the order I placed with Sewell:

"Filters: Fuel Filter-Fuel Filter (sock) w/Clip
Pending $8.20 1 $8.20

Filters: Fuel Filter-Fuel Filter Assembly (2001-2005)
Pending $29.56 1 $29.56

Filters: Fuel Filter-O-Ring (fuel pump)
Pending $2.57 1 $2.57"

Part Numbers are not displayed above, but they are simple to get. Just go to the parts online store, and type the keywords.

Great DIY. Did it yesterday.

I just want to stress that you have to check the old filter, because O-rings can remain stuck in it. So if you're missing an O-ring, chances are it is still stuck in the old filter.

One thing though, I did this when I was very low on gas. When I put everything back together, I started to car to make sure everything was working properly.

Car started alright, but the fuel gauge indicates almost half a tank while there is much less in there.

I haven't driven the car yet. Do you think it'll come back down when I drive it?

You may have hooked the float on something.

+1,

at first i was like WTF im getting 350mpg + i was all gassed up after the change. then my car started dying mid way to work one day and i realized the the float was kinked on the side. luckily i had my tools on me and fixed it on the roadside. im still averaging 16.5 - 17 mpg on my gs3 after the maintenance.

Mmmmh, I guess I'll have to look into that...

Thanks for your help. ;)

if you replace the pump as well, how many o-rings total are needed for everything?

very helpful diy, i just changed out my fuel pump, strainer and filter :thumbup:

I'll do this soon...