Okay first of all I'm
no mechanic and I take no responsibility if your car blows up or sets alight
or family members & pets set alight in the process of following my instructions!
Theres probably a dozen much better ways to do any of this stuff anyway
and its meant mainly for entertainment purposes, because it gives me something
to do as opposed to sitting about in my pants all day and finally it gives
me a further thing to do which is type some nonsense about it all!
Reet - first of all,
pop bonnet - this bits fairly easy and I wont go into the complexities of
aforementioned task.. Locating the fuel filter to the right of the plenum
just near the strut brace. I stuffed a towel beneath the fuel filter as
when I took the fuel filter off me last one fuel went all over the shop.
Lesson learnt and applied forthwith :)
I also took the fuel
cap off as I heard this helps release some pressure on the hoses when removing
them from the fuel filter. Dont know how much truth there is in that but
I didn't think it the most taxing of tasks and taking this picture below
was probably more complicated!
Here
I'm unplugging the little plug off the brake fluid reservoir(I think thats
what it is). My reason for doing this is I find these plugs quite brittle,
my hand was gonna be fidgeting about down that gap with the fuel filter
and I didn't want to snap it or owt like that so unplugged and tucked out
the way.
I'm showing this pic
again but my focus is on the PCM valve in the foreground here - theres a plug
on that too very similar to the one in the previous pic and I unclipped that
also to provide a bit more accessibility, but mostly because I didn't want
to snap that one either as I'm pretty sure my caveman dexterity would probably
have done!
Next up is removal of
the hoses off the fuel filter and here is the magic ingredient! Its hot water
(hand hot) and a cloth. After loosening the screws that hold the hoses onto
the fuel filter, I soaked the cloth in the hot water and held it around the
bit of the hose that was connected up to the fuel filter for about 30 seconds.
After that I just held the fuel filter tightly and pulled on the hose gently
which had expanded slightly from the heat off the cloth. The hoses come off
sooooo easy with this method! Prior to this I was cursing and swearing at
their stubborn-ness!
Ta da! Hose came off no
problem.. I did the bottom hose first (bit of a schlepp but made the next
one easier!) and slipped the fuel filter out the bracket making sure fuel
didn't spill everywhere by covering it with my finger as soon as the hose
slipped off. Empty the excess fuel from the filter - you may want to drain
it off into a tumbler or something. I just poured this fuel back into the
tank (not sure if I should have done that but hey ho and fuel aint cheap in
Britain so every drop counts!)
Okay - putting the new
fuel filter on was easy enough - if you warm the hose ends back up again with
the hot water on the cloth they slip onto the fuel filter really easily. Nip
up the clips and tighten the screws but not too tightly. Start with the bottom
hose first and pop the fuel filter into the bracket again. Then the top hose
is alot easier.
Remember the plugs too!
And that fuel tank cap.. oh and that towel!!! :p
