Bumpin' Yota

Well after 13yrs and 223,000 miles, I changed the fuel filter.

I swear the only harder place they could put the damn thing would be INSIDE the transmission or above the gas tank. SHEESH! (For those who dont know, 2nd gen 4Runner's have the fuel filter on the top inside frame rail above the transmission crossmember. The torsion rod and emergency brake lines are also conviently in the way as well.)

Took me about 3 hrs to do it as the fuel line nuts didnt want to thread in, but I kept working at it....

Results? The truck responds IMMEDIATELY when I hit the gas with no delay when starting from dead stop. On a lime rock road, it's sooooo easy to spin the tires from a dead stop. (I have an automatic not a 5speed.)

I'd highly recommend swapping the "lifetime" fuel filter pronto for those 3.slow owners who haven't already done so. It makes a BIG difference...



Steve

keisur

haha. my wife had the sr5 taco 4cyl (a 1999) and it was located below the exhaust manifold on the side of the engine. boy that was a biatch!! it took me about 4 hours!!! man it usually takes about 20 minutes. that was the last time I ever changed it. it just wasn't worth it. hahaha, especially since I knew it wouldn't be ours next time it needed to get done.

KING

Thanks.

I will do this the next chance I have.

az4x4runner

Thanks for the info, I'll do mine one of these weekends, can't hurt I guess. What brand of filter did you buy?

Robinhood150

Hmmm...I guess I just lucked out or something because my filter replacement went pretty smooth. The nuts came off fairly easily and went back on fairly easily. I didn't notice any performance improvement.

Bumpin' Yota

I used an Origional Equipment Plus filter part #FF-304 off of ebay.

0-60 may be a HAIR faster only because there is no longer any hesitation when leaving from a dead stop. My truck used to take upwards of a half second to react if I suddenly stomped it. It wouldnt miss or anything, it just would take about a half second to react. It no longer does that anymore.

SLC Punk

When I did it on my gen 3, it wasn't the placement of the filter, it was getting those nuts off of the filter!! I am suprised that I didn't break or pinch off my fuel line!!

Try changing a fuel filter on a toyota car!! Those are a PITA!! I need to do it to my Celica soon and am dreading it , they put it on the firewall under the brake booster, just out of reach from both the top and the bottom!!

keisur

I agree. I haven't touched mine {on the 3rd gen} since about 70k {I think} becuase each time I end up disconnecting it in the engine bay and in the rear of the filter and taking it to my vice and breaking it loose that way. I think next time I change it I'm going to end up having to replace that line and the nuts/fittings. I hate how week that mount is for those things, makes it almost impossible.

TDiddy

I did mine at around 79K or so, it wasn't bad at all. Were you guys using flare nut wrenches? I went and got a set before I attempted this fuel filter, as I've tried replacing them on other vehicles ('94 Integra to be specific) without using a flare nut wrench, and struggled with it.

SLC Punk

Yep I tried those but it didn't work. I finally used a crow's foot with a 3/8" ratchet

hilandfrog

I just changed my fuel filter a few weeks ago, thanks to the tech. section I was well informed on how much of a PITA this was going to be. After all was said and done this was much easier to do than all the reading said it was going to be on my truck. I did cut down a 14mm open end wrench for ease of turning the bolts, but no major hastles. sorry yours felt compelled to fight you the whole time.
I did not notice any performance gains

rimpainter.com

Toyota and Honda must have had an evil meeting on this one. Our 94 Accord sounds exactly the same as your Celica. Its under the master cyl and the intake manifold. And of course, the dealer wants $100 to put it in. Pulling the engine would be easier.

I wonder if this is a necessity on my 3rd gen? I dont remember seeing anything about it in the maintenance interval.

denverbikeguy

I thought our filters were the "lifetime" type, where you replace it only if you know you got some bad gas or something. So it won't officially be in the maintenence interval...

However I've also seen the amount of crap that comes out of a fuel filter, and if it isn't going into the engine, it's filling up in that filter - what happens when the filter can't hold any more crud? Where does that stuff go? Kinda makes you think.

In the interest of engine longevity and maintaining enough fuel pressure in the lines to ensure performance and economy, I do believe despite the "lifetime" claims, it should be replaced at some set interval. 50k? 80k? 100k? It's up to you.

Erich_870

whats a flare nut wrench, or a crows foot?

rimpainter.com

I think the only way to really know is to check the fuel pressure. Then, compare it to the specified range in the FSM.

I had a Fuel Press meter on my 95 SI, and it was handy when I was cranking the fuel pressure up and down on my Stillen Adjustable FPR. I am sure the same could be done on the 3.4.

Bumpin' Yota

Nope, I just used a normal cresent wrench for the whole damn install. 1/16th of a turn, flip the wrench and make another 1/16th of a turn, and repeat 10million freaking times....per nut! I was starting to think I was nuts....lol

At first those nuts didn't budge, so I took some liquid wrench and a tooth brush to the threads. After a little cleaning of the threads, the nuts came loose, but only to my wrench, not to my fingers....grrr.

Now to try swap my O2 sensor....this im dreading as the OEM bolts holding the cat on had to be cut off with an acetylene torch and I expect the same difficulty from the O2 sensor....

Steve

keisur

you should ask this question over at pirate4x4.

TDiddy

Hehehe....

Hey Erich,

Here's a pic of each style.

Flare Nut:




Crow's Foot:

Lucky

I wonder if you can do a conversion to use the fuel filter off the diesel or certainly the location using an aftermarket housing.

The filter on my diesel 2nd Gen Hilux Surf is on the bulkhead Passenger side (US Drive side) and is dead easy to get to. It's replaceable element type.

It is certainly easy to get to, only trouble is using the useless stock priming pump to get the fuel back up into the injection system. A mechanic I sometime use often has to use one of the drill powered pumps connected to the fuel line to pull the fuel through.

Cheers

PirateFins

I just replaced my fuel filter the other night when I was changing my oil. I thought I had it bad, but mine sounds like it might be an easy one. On my 92 22re it is located to the left of the oil filter above the starter, held to the block with 2 bolts. Plenty of room for wrenches/sockets to turn just not allot for hands. I also have noticed performance improvment both in accell. & mpg. The old one had about 175K on it. Also I used a purolator, when I compaired it to the old Toy filter the only thing different was the name stamped on it.
Just my half cent