Fuel filter very hard to loosen?

[Maxhouse97]

As the title says, I put breaker breaker bars on both of the below and couldn’t get it off. Currently sprayed some penetrating oil and am waiting. Trying to loosen counter clockwise. Am I missing something?

[mrgizmo04]

Use a crescent wrench on the square body of the fuel pressure regulator (to basically hold it still) and then another 19mm on the nut. Yes turn the nut ccw when looking at front of the car. Should not be that tight, there should be a copper crush washer there.

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[Slideways]

The filter threads into the pressure regulator block. Here is what the fuel filter threaded male end looks like:

[Maxhouse97]

Thanks for the quick replies. That’s why I like this forum.

Yep that’s what I’m doing, don’t understand why it’s so tight. 140k miles on the car, must be the original. Will try again.

[TexaZ3]

Did you relive the pressure at the pressure regulator side?

[heinzboehmer]

Make sure to grab the regulator body from the square flange at the end of it and not from the body itself. Squeezing the body can danage it and cause fuel leaks.

[Maxhouse97]

Ah no did not release the pressure - could that be it? How do you do that?

[Cubieman]

Ah no did not release the pressure - could that be it? How do you do that?

Unscrew that little cap you can see in your photo and press the middle with a small screwdriver.

[Maxhouse97]

Ok great thanks for the quick reply. I rewatched the video on YouTube and saw that I missed the part where he pulled the fuse and ran the engine. That might have done the same thing.

[Slideways]

Ah no did not release the pressure - could that be it? How do you do that?

Before starting fuel filter replacement, usually it's a good idea to pull the fuel pump fuse and let the engine run until it stalls. IIRC, there should also be a pressure relief valve on the regulator block.

[gabylonfive]

i ran into the same issue when I replaced mine a couple years ago - releasing pressure and a bigger crescent wrench did the trick.

[Maxhouse97]

Got it. I had to use a breaker bar on the wrench, but I finally loosened it. Is there anything I should know about tightening considering how hard this was when I put the new filter on?

[simonnim]

Tighten it, start the car to see if it leaks. If it does, tighten some more. Took me like 3 tries.

[Maxhouse97]

Awesome thanks

[ac427]

Fuse 54 is the fuel pump fuse for reference. Remove it and spin the engine over a few times, to get rid of the majority of the fuel in the line to the engine.