How to clean your motorhome's fuel filter - expert advice from Practical Motorhome's Diamond Dave
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- Опубликовано: 6 фев 2025
- Watch for more technical advice from Practical Motorhome's expert Diamond Dave!
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Thank you so much for the detailed instructions and tips. Changing the diesel filter on my Boxer 2.2 was realy easy. Again, thanks,
William from Cape Town, SA.
Thanks to DD and others for their videos. As a first timer on this job, having done my RUclips research, took me 20 minutes end to end to fix. Yesterday evening I noticed my filter was leaking at the cap. Had a major "oh 5hit" moment as we are away in the motorhome soon.
There are some other foreign language videos that show more detail on how to remove the electrical clips and fuel hoses and I recommend also viewing these. Doing that right is key to an easy job. It requires no tools to get the filter canister from the vehicle and takes literally less than 2 minutes with correct technique. No need to remove the headlight, although it undoubtedly makes a better video :-).
You will at least need a bench vice/workmate to hold the canister while you undo the top cap. The shape of the canister means it can be held without turning without squeezing it in the vice. I padded it with some thick towelling. The cap on my filter was not at all tight and I undid it easily with my hands.
I don't own a torque wrench so I went the way of working out the correct amount to compress the seal for doing back up. Arguably this is also the correct engineering way to do it. The cap thread pitch I measured as 3mm and the seal also 3mm thick. Correct compression on seals is generally 15 - 40%. I decided to go for 33%. So having tightened the top until just beyond where the seal was catching I tightened the top another 120degrees (ok, plus a bit). I was able to do this with my hands and no tools apart from the vice to hold the canister. If you look carefully at DD's video you will see he also tightens a small amount beyond 120 degrees.
Refitting to the van was easy, just push in the hoses and electrical connectors and push forward the clip on the top electrical connector and I now have no leaks. Much easier than anticipated due entirely to the kind folk making helpful videos.
Result!
A couple of issues wiith this video, one, never use vaseline on rubber O rings. It destroys them. O rings should be lubricated with silicone grease only. Vaseline will slowly eat into the rubber and perish it causing leaks
Second point, if you lubricate the threads of the lock ring, this will alter the torque setting. Correct tightness is achieved by a certain torque value calculated to overcome the friction on the threads. If you then lubricate the threads you dont need as much torque to achieve the correct tightness. If you lubricate threads, reduce your torque figure by 25%. Or the ring will be over tight by a long way risking fracture, deformation and leaks.
Great video, very clear.
The pipes are easy enough to figure out if you're gentle and the same for the electrical clip underneath. Always be gentle! Then you probably won't break anything.
I used a strap wrench as I didn't fancy paying ≠£26 for the tool used here. Again, taking time and being careful meant I didn't damage or distort anything! Strap wrench worked fine.
Thanks for the video!
Thanks
Very nice of you to take the time .
Hola buenos días Dave
Un vídeo muy bueno a pesar de no hablar tú idioma lo entendí muy bien como cambiar el filtro de diésel de mi Ducato.
Gracias saludos cordiales de México
It took me some time to realise you don’t have to remove the housing of the fuel filter at all. After disconnecting the pipes which is very easy just pulling them out, the lid can be unscrew with the special tool, take the old filter out, put the new filter in, replace the seal and screw the lid back, put the pipes back, everything can be done without removing he filter housing from it’s location and without spilling diesel.
That was my first thought when seeing this video - and I have never changed the fuel filter!
wish mine started that easy, since day one, It takes a bit of cranking to get it to start.
I heard that torque wrench click another 90degrees!!! Musta gone about 50nm on that one.
Hi Dave, Great video, Please can you share the fuel filter part number and the special locking tool thanks.
Did you know that you should NEVER use a torque-wrench for opening stuff. It screws up the measuring system of the wrench.
Also you should always release the wrenche’s torque setting after use, so you wouldn’t strech out the spring that’s used for the measuring system
When you extract: I see the fuel pipes are those push pull ones I think? Ive not had hands on that type of fitment: bet they will break easy? Good clear video thanks.
Hi Dave, my "Elnagh" got a new filter according your video tips, thank you! My biggest problem was "where is that f... filter.." 🙂
Thanks very much for that excellent demo !
So Torque Wrench is set to 30nm. it clicks to say its 30nm once. so you tigheten again, click.... then a 3rd time and you can clearly see it still tightening with every turn.
Surely thats over tightened it??
Done loads of these you don’t need to take the headlamp out , bottom electrical connector has a spring clip just press to release to realise pipes pull the collars towards the centre of the filter housing , you can remove one of these in less than a minute with experience, you need to push the filter housing from 6 to 12 o’clock to remove it
Cheers for that, I will wait and buy a tool.
These filters are a right PITA, they break on there own accord and dump fuel everywhere, then leak when the filter is changed and leak even if you don't touch them for years. 💩💩🤒🤒. I now carry a complete spare assembly.
It's a good video, I just wish I could have seen how you removed the rapid and electrical connectors.
Hi DaveThanks for a very clear and informative instruction, but does anybody out there know where you can purchase the tool. Don't think I would try to strip the filter without one. Again thanks for all your service support.
ballochdubh use some multi grips, Just be gentle with them
Amazon £22.00
I damaged my connectors entering fuel filter any link to products for replacing
really helpful, cheers
Hi I have a Peugeot boxer 1.9 diesel motorhome,just noticed that when I switch the engine off there is a small leak coming from above the alternator when I have had a look.been looking to get it fixed,but no one wants to help.been looking around but nothing anywhere.i think it must be a pipe or seal that’s gone.can you point me in the right direction. Thanks Chris
Before removing the pipes and connection(s) to the fuel filter, do you need to relieve pressure from the pipes by disconnecting the battery and/or fuses? I’m no mechanic, and just want to double-check before doing this job.
silicone grease for rubber please
The torque wrench clicked 5 times which may imply that the housing has been over torqued. Should have been good after the first click. Otherwise good video.
I knackered the one of the quick fit connectors on the filter housing. Does this mean I need to buy a new filter housing? Thanks
is this procedure the same for a Iveco daily 50c 18 thanks
Cleanliness is of the upmost importance... except for the workbench
Thank your Sir!
good video , thanks
It’s not shown how to disconnect the pipes, which can be tricky. Also the torque wrench click is ignored when Re tightening the filter.
I have the metal fuel filter on my 2019 2.3 Ducato, doing 3000 miles per year, how often should I change it ..and do I just order the guts or have to replace the whole metal component?
Just the guts is sufficient long as there where no leaks
How did he turn off electric nr middle of engine?? When he put his hand right down
Hi Dave. Is that white plastic screw a drain plug on these filters? Ours has been sat on a site for a few months with half a tank and I'm thinking there may be some water that needs draining before we move again.
That was an excellent example of how NOT to use a torque wrench
I have the same motorhome but mine is a 2005 model which is different under the bonnet. my problem is i made a school boy error and ran out of diesel😵💫ive filled the tank up but it wont start, my guess is that theres air in the lines and i have not idea how to clear it, there isn't a bleeder on there that i can see, ive tried turning on the ignition and off a few times as i know this works in later models, but it dont work as far as i know on this model.can anyone suggest a cure or a link on here you can share, any help would be welcomed.
I am not sure if I have automatic bleeding on my Van (Citroen Jumper 29c 22HDI dc (2005))
How to bleed it if you don't have this or not sure, I have no manual for this model.
I got a ' check diesel filter for water' today, is it possible to drain the filter without removing it.
Very well explained Dave, just one point though, how do you remove the pipes from the filter in the first place, you say it's a bit difficult to get them off, please can you explain if there is a `knack' to get them off, Many Thanks.
Yes there is a knack. Push pipe fully home pinch the grey ring and pull the pipe out . Simple when you know how😁
When the torque torque wrench clicks stop pulling, you just overtightened the ring
Perhaps you can show us how to unclip the electric connection. I disconnected the pipes, I emptied the diesel in a jar while still connected to the electric and tried for about one hour to figure how to disconnect but I couldn’t.
How do you get the filter push fits apart?
Its a pity you never answer question's on your video regarding removing pipes!
One thing that doesn't seem to be shown is the drain screw and nozzle, I attach a small length of pipe put it into a bottle and open the drain screw to release the pressure within the filter housing, I then push the pipe in towards the filter head slide the grey locking ring toward the unit and pull the fuel pipe away.
What’s the point of setting your torque wrench and then ignoring the torque click three times? 🤷🏻♂️
i thought the sam.. Distracted by the camara person ?
He forgot to add Vaseline 😆
Gently pull it down until the torque wrench clicks, then tighten it another 3 times..?
you have over tightened it
no offence dave but the filter you removed and discarded looked as new as the replacement?
i change mine once a year on my camper approx. 6-9k miles an d its quite dirty by that stage lol
Had a real problem with my filter leaking 12 mnths after routine service by local garage. I then replaced the “O” ring with help of RAC which worked for 100 miles and then failed again so I then replaced the whole unit (£99 plus £20 for the handling tool demonstrated on the video). Think the square section “O” ring could be the issue and is not a particularly snug fit. The annoying thing about Dave’s video is the hardest part of servicing this filter is disconnecting the fuel pipes and electric connectors and Dave just jumps over this and spends most of the time showing us how to wipe clean the threads!!!!! The key part of these videos is the tricks and experience needed to make things easier so please over emphasise the hard bits and under play the obvious. Answering some questions wouldn’t go a miss either which has been mentioned by a few others.
Nice one Dave, but that tool looks expensive.
John Kirkwood £17 on ebay.
Even cheaper an old timing belt. It´s amazingly effective and cost 0.
On top it´s one less thing in the landfill. So it´s Eco. LOL ;-)
Cheers
Is that a Ducato? Would that be the same procedure und the Ducato x 290 150 mj? Very nicely explained thanks Sir
Hi and thanks for watching. Yes it is a Ducato, the X250 model from 2009. The later X290 uses a metal canister fuel filter that is much easier to replace, but is quite expensive. The filter shown in the video was used from around 2003/2004 until 2015/2016. We hope that helps!
Would have helped showin how to remove filter housing from vehicle
As video explains, don't forget to torque the living shit outa filter.
What's the point of watching someone change their filter when it is so far removed from what you have? Need a torque wrench? No. Fanatical cleaning? No. Vaseline? Do me a favour ...... er, don't. Self-bleed? No. All pointless. Another ego gone rogue.
Hello, congratulations on your videos.
But I ask you: could you put the translation into Italian?
the written one, like the subtitles.
Thank you!
learn eglish or go to school ( imparare l'inglese o andare a scuola) hahahaha!
hi
Good video spoilt by silly music getting in my brain 😬
:)
Vaseline on an o-ring, improper use of a torque wrench on more than 1 level. Yup, 'expert' at work here.