I just changed mine today, it took about an hour. I have read everyone else and all the problems they had, so I had to see for myself. Everyone was right, there is very little, and I mean little room for any wrenches. I have flare wrenches, which make the job a little easier. Anyway, I looked at the transfer case cross member, which was preventing me from almost no movement on the front nut on the filter/line. So I loosened all four of the bolts to the cross member on the passenger side, but didn’t take them out. Doing so dropped the trans-case a little lower giving just a little more room, which helped.

Other than that it wasn’t that bad. Just something I did that helped me. I don’t know if anyone else has tried it. Have fun if you plan on tackling this "little" job.

Mat

 

I'm working on this one right now, still wondering how the heck I'm going to do it with ease

 

If you completely remove the cross member - it's a piece of cake. I've got an Air Ratchet - took about 3 minutes.

 

I did this a few weeks ago on my 3.0...

Anyone figure out how to keep the tank from draining out while you do this?? If I would have known it would free flow I would have made sure it was nearly empty when I started I bet I was soaked in 3 gallons of fuel before I was done - stung like hell until I hit the shower!

Flare nut wrenches really do help and this is a PITA...but why does the tank free flow when the lines are open? Never seen this before on my other vehicles with similar in line filters...they would just drain some from the lines but nothing major like the 3.0 did.

 

Im very keen to know this as well, i will be doing mine tomorrow.

 

Anyone had alot of rust on theirs? Mine looks really rusty, I'm afraid to touch it for fear of destroying one of the lines... I've been hitting mine with PB.

 

The tank won't 'free flow' if you loosen the gas cap. Pressure differential causes the siphon effect, loosening the cap balances it out. It also helps to pinch off the pressure line going to the fuel rail by the firewall. This traps the fuel between the fuel rails and the regulator. Use a pair of vice grips and wrap the jaws with duct tape to keep the jaws from biting into the hose. I've done may of these and it's much easier to remove the crossmember. Support the xfer case with a jack and pull the crossmember out. With the line pinched and the gas cap open you should get no more than a cup of leakage. Use a good quality line wrench and always wear eye protection when you break the fuel filter fittings loose- gas in the eyes isn't much fun.

 

I wasn't so lucky when I did my fuel filter. I had to replace the forward fuel line since it was rusted right to fuel filter it wouldn't budge. It only cost me about $45 for the forward fuel line and took about 15 minutes to change. I didn't pull the crossmember or anything when I did mine it's tight but you can still get a wrench in there but it's easier when you have a body-lift. At least I didn't have to change the rear fuel line I heard it's a real pita to change.

 

I just did mine today...Lowered the crossmember as recommended. It was a fairly easy job. By the way, I poured some the the gas out of the 2year old filter and into my hand...lots of schmutz.

I also discovered it's easier to do the #6 sparkplug if you remove the vapor canister. Pretty easy...especially compared to the alternative.

 

i ended up having to hold a flare wrench on the front nut with a crow bar, and loosen the whole fileter (after loosening the shield on it of course) with a 20 mil ratchet. Yeah it was ˟˟˟˟ee, but it got the job done. I was afraid i might have to take out that whole front fuel line, thankfully that didnt happen.

 

If the runner's are anything like the P/U's I feel your pain. I had to use line wrenches to get the filter out, and then it rained gas on me. The good news is I had caps for the lines, so I didn't loose a whole lot.

 

I just did mine and it was a piece of cake compared to the one on my 85 22re. I never DID figure out how to do that one - I finally paid to have it done and the mech actually called me and said "thanks a LOT!".... stupid thing to put these in such poor locations.