“Improvement”

It took all morning to change fuel filter on the diesel. The vehicle is based on a Ford ES 350 one ton van. Van mounted engines are tight to work on at the best of times. The new filter was “improved.” Instead of being a cartridge type filter with a separate cover, the cover is now mounted on top of the filter.

The new configuration is much harder to install. Much more stuff had to be disconnected from the engine -wires, hoses, brackets, and the whole air filter assembly. I’m glad I did it in my driveway where I had access to my big toolbox.

All the extra tools needed to change the new filter has been moved to the vehicle toolbox. They will be there when I need them.

The auto parts store only had on filter in stock. I ordered another and that will be in tomorrow. I’m in the habit of keeping at least one replacement fuel filter handy. It would be a real annoyance to be stuck on the side of the road because of a simple plugged filter.

The old filter was bad enough that I don’t know how it worked at all. One of the things that happens when a diesel is converted to run on vegetable oil is that the veggie cleans a lot of crud out of the engine. That curd ends up in the diesel fuel filter. After a while everything is cleaned up and the fuel filters will last like they are supposed to.

-Sixbears