overKILL

The haynes manual said under the chasis,... where under the chasis!!!

TDiddy

Look along the inside of the frame rail on the drivers side, just behind the door. Its in that general area on 4Runners, so I'm guessing for the Tacos too.

platform389

6 cylinder or 4 cylinder engine?

The 4 cylinder filter is located on the driver's side of the engine block. Under the intake manifold and very difficult to reach.

Have a good selection of tools before starting and expect it to take while, most especially the first time.

overKILL

Yo,... the mech at the dealer said I didnt have to replace the filter. The filter is designed to live way past the life of the vehicle.

platform389

Yo...your dealer wants badly to sell you a fuel pump and installation. When the filter clogs up, the fuel pump can't pump fuel. Since the pump gets it's lube via flowing fuel, it seizes and must be replaced.

Fuel pump $400 NOT installed. Gas tank must be dropped to do so.

If this sounds like fun to you, don't change the filter.

overKILL

Well,... I hae the extented warranty,.. not my money So the why would he tell me this is he knew that they would be paying for it? He also said the manual says what he said about the filter.

MTL_4runner

.....because the dealer doesn't pay for it.....Toytota does.....hence the dealer makes money.

overKILL

LOL. But its so hard to get to,........

platform389

Errr...I have the 2001 Tacoma Toyota RM835RU Service Manual here. On page SF-3 in Volume 2, it talks about...

...how to change the fuel filter.

By the way, when the filter clogs up and the pump fails, there will be no "idiot light" to warn you. The truck will just...

...stop...

...wherever you happen to be. The middle of the Interstate should provide an interesting experience.

Nic

Extremely hard to get to. I have bought a filter, but haven't changed it yet. I put it off when I found out where it was. I think it must be a cruel joke by Toytota.

I have asked others here how to do it. Advice was to go through the fender well.

I plan to try it when fair weather arrives.


1997 Tacoma 4X4 2.7L

Mike Murrell

Dont' ever believe that any part will last the life of the car unless you are only interested in driving the car 3-4 yrs. tops.

If you plan on driving 'til the wheels fall off, ignore "never needs changing" non-sense.

Mercedes is doing this to newer car owners so they can sell them or the next owner a new $10k tranny at 150k miles.

Change your fuel filter at least every 30k. I change mine once a yr. regardless of mileage and I don't care how hard it is to get to.

MTL_4runner

If you are leasing for 2-3 years then drive it into the ground.
If you are planning on ever owning the truck....always do the maintenance!!!
Fuel filter should last about 50-60k before a change.

platform389

Here is some more advice. Use either magnetic sockets or stuff the regular socket full of grease to hold the mounting bolts after you remove them. Drop them and they become VERY difficult to find in all the crooks and crannies of the engine compartment.

Watch out for those thin steel washers that have to be replaced as well. VERY easy to drop as you reinstall the union bolts on each end of the filter.

I prefer to take the fuel lines loose before removing the filter from the side of the block. Then concentrate on taking the mounting bolts loose.

LOTS of patience required.

overKILL

Well,... after rebuilding the top end of my old 944S,... I learned that ther eis a way for everything,... I remember the oil problem I had with that car,... I had to remove the oil coller housing several times to find out where this leak was coming from,... I kept removing the exhaust headers to get this damn thing out when all I had to do was just turn it the right way then slip it out. If the easies way to get the the filter is through the wheel well then so be it,... BUT,... you have to be kidding me!!!! Through the wheel well? All that for a fuel filter??? DAMN!