The four hour fuel filter change

Tom239 said:
I understand that concept, but a wheel has a huge mass compared to a fuel filter. If it works in practice, that's great; no arguing with that. It's just counterintuitive to me that something as light as a fuel filter doesn't get spun around in the process.
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continuing on this concept, you can also tighten down the clamp that holds the filter in place. Although the fuel filter itself is light, you can tighten down the clamp just enough so that the initial force of the impact gun will loosen the bolt prior to the resistance of the clamp giving in.


HTH,
x
 
That's one reason why I changed the fuel line to a -6 AN teflon stainless steel unit. When I had the banjo out, I modified it to accept a male -6 AN fitting and now at least that connection comes apart easily. Hasn't leaked in 20,000 miles.
 
Just replaced my 1996 NSX fuel filter at 60,000 miles. I have an impact wrench, but used a 1/2 breaker bar, 17 mm deep socket, and 22 mm open end wrench. I used the open end wrench to hold the filter in place so it would not twist by fitting it to the 22 mm nuts welded to the filter body under each fuel line. I then wedged the free end of the open end wrench against the engine timing belt cover (fyi...a cloth in between the wrench and timing cover prevents scratching the cover), grabbed the breaker bar with the socket in place, and presto the 2 banjo bolts came loose. Refitting was the reverse.
 
I did mine last night & it was not a big deal. I loosened the 10mm bolt that tightens the fuel filter mounting clamp & the service bolt on top of the rear banjo. Took off the rear banjo bolt with a 6pt 15mm socket on ~ a 10 inch extension & 3/8 ratchet. This gets you up out of engine bay but below engine cover. Used about 16 inch long pipe on handle for more torque. It broke free right away. A second person to support the filter would've been nice. I had to torque with 1 hand while pressing socket down on nut & use other hand to support filter. I was wearing those gloves where the fingers & palms have been dipped in rough textured rubber (insert Hugh comment here) which definitely helped with grip.

For the front banjo bolt I used the box end of a 17mm combo wrench & it broke free. You definitely had to throw some serious muscle into it, but everything budged without stripping. I followed a tip someone else posted about unbolting the (2) 10mm bolts that hold the mounting bracket to the bulkhead/firewall & removed the filter & bracket as 1 piece. Put the new filter in the bracket and then reinstalled. It didn't even leak or catch fire (yet). :smile:
 
Daria said:
I didn't use an impact gun ... or a 24" breaker bar. I did finally get it off ... with blood all over my knuckles :mad:
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I did this on my integra with similar results, grazed the knuckles but man did it suck! Next time I am either paying someone or going to my friends house to use his impact wrench.
 
sorry to revive an old thread,

but this job is a piece of cake with an impact gun, I have a cheap electrical one and I pressed the trigger once and very lightly and boom, it was out. No shifting of the filter at all, this is a pretty heavy piece when it is full of fuel, so the momentum is easly overcome by the power of the impact gun. Please observe safety when you do this, disconnect battery.. also, i did not need to remove my fan.
 
Larry Bastanza said:
And if it is an earlier one with that useless fan in the way, it is even worse:):).

HTH,
LarryB
Click to expand...

It's not useless! It does a fine job of mincing small furry creatures sucked into the right side air intake so they easily disintegrate in the engine compartment.
 
Hmmm. Remember Jim Hall's Chaparral's (race cars from mid 1960's to early 1970's) with the fan that generated suction to increase downforce? Well, it ducted the air out the rear. One of that series car would do something like 15 mph with the engine turned off & the "sucker" fan turned on.

So, if someone directed the output of the NSX fan out the rear of the car, and beefed up the windings on the fan motor to increase its power, perhaps it would be possible to shave a few thousandths of a second off the 0 to 60 time?:rolleyes:

Of course, removing the fan to take a few pounds off the weight of the car might have the same effect. :biggrin:
 
After reading this and a couple of other threads on the joys of replacing the fuel filter, I decided to buy an electric 1/2" impact wrench before attempting this PITA job. Larry and others highly recommended using this tool to break the filter bolts. Boy am I glad I did. The fuel input bolt broke upon the second try. However, the other one with the banjo bolt took 5 attempts. I was using a Kobalt corded drill, all 8 amps of it. I would never have been able to loosen that damn bolt with hand tools. Like others have already mentioned, with those short fuel lines attached, you have little room to use anything big enough to apply enough torque. That and the risk of damaging your baby.

When I emptied the old filter, gas that looked like rusty water poured out. I've changed fuel filters before and have never seen filter contents that looked this bad. Looks like it has not been changed in some time. So, chalk-up one more DIY project.

Since buying my NSX almost one year ago, my DIY list includes engine oil change, transaxle oil change, brake fluid flush, O2 sensors, spark plugs, air filter, and fuel filter.
 
YellowHaze said:
When I emptied the old filter, gas that looked like rusty water poured out. I've changed fuel filters before and have never seen filter contents that looked this bad. Looks like it has not been changed in some time. So, chalk-up one more DIY project.
Click to expand...


There shouln't be rusty water. :eek: Maybe your fuel tank is rusting for some reason.
 
Recently done mine with an Air Impact Wrench. What a joy, just a quick tap and the banjos were out. My gas was just as clean as new, there was no history of filter chance car is a 1993.
 
goldNSX said:
There shouln't be rusty water. :eek: Maybe your fuel tank is rusting for some reason.
Click to expand...

LOL. Not water, just dirty residue that when poured out with the gas contents looked like rusty water.
 
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AR99NSX said:
Recently done mine with an Air Impact Wrench. What a joy, just a quick tap and the banjos were out. My gas was just as clean as new, there was no history of filter chance car is a 1993.
Click to expand...

What was your technique for tightening both bolts? I found that to be a bit tricky as well.
 
This series of posts had me laughing out loud this morning. I think it was when I got to the photos with the dual vise grips/rags/crushed filter. If you walked into your mechanics and saw that you'd probably consider a new mechanic was in order. I have been in so many simliar pickles myself.

One time I tried changing the fuel filter on a Delorean, which is tucked up underneath and had gas running down my arms. Unfortunately I had taken a very long motorcycle ride the day before in a T-shirt and had pretty good sunburn on my forearms. Boy did that gas hurt for days.

Another tangled mess I got into was trying to change a stubborn oil filter on a Toyota pickup and a series of various oil wrenches, screwdriver through the filter, pipe wrench tricks didn't work and finally had to have it towed out of my garage, bleeding oil down the driveway, to have a mechanic get it off. Cost over $100 for that beauty when $5 was a lot to me.

Yea, better living by doing it yourself (to paraphrase an old Bob and Ray routine).
 
where exactly is the fuel filter? Trying to think if mine was replace or not...
 
YellowHaze said:
What was your technique for tightening both bolts? I found that to be a bit tricky as well.
Click to expand...

Torque wrench to spec, I recall 20 ft. lbs. but check :smile:.

I use a small piece of wood to wedge between the filter flange and the diagonal brace in the engine bay. Quick and easy;).

Regards,
LarryB
 
First attempt = failure (even with an impact wrench the banjo bolt won't budge - 1991 w/118K miles). I usually don't give up (I have replaced WP/TB/TENSIONER, SUSPENSION, SPOOL VALVE GASKETS, Adjusted valves, ETC.) but thinking I could probably do more harm than good here. I am really tempted to cut the fittings off the hoses and mount an inline filter with hose clamps. Any input on this idea? Acura wants $123.00 for labor, maybe I'll try 1 more time??? :mad:
 
I did mine the old fashion way and fought it for a long time. It finally gave in but I don't look forward to the next one I will have to change. I changed my hose fitting using a male AN style -6 banjo bolt. I replaced the hard line with a -6 stainless/teflon hose. This allows me to remove the hose and get it out of the way for any future changes, and it also dresses up the engine compartment a little. The use of an impact gun is the trick and I'm surprised it didn't work for you. I'm not sure why those bolts seem to be so hard to break loose.

Al
 
pgilliam1 said:
First attempt = failure (even with an impact wrench the banjo bolt won't budge - 1991 w/118K miles). I usually don't give up (I have replaced WP/TB/TENSIONER, SUSPENSION, SPOOL VALVE GASKETS, Adjusted valves, ETC.) but thinking I could probably do more harm than good here. I am really tempted to cut the fittings off the hoses and mount an inline filter with hose clamps. Any input on this idea? Acura wants $123.00 for labor, maybe I'll try 1 more time??? :mad:
Click to expand...

Assuming your impact drill has a strong enough motor, try again and again if necessary. If the one you have uses a low amp motor or low volt battery, consider buying or borrowing a better one. For the price the dealership wants to replace the filter, you can buy a good drill. I purchased mine used from eBay for $50. The lowest price I've seen for a decent one (not Chicago tools or cheap stuff like that) is a corded one (Kobalt) at Lowe's for $139. That's the one I bought. Cordless is more convenient, but also more $.

This is a PITA job because of the poor design of how the filter is mounted. IMO, all filters should be mounted and designed for easy maintenance given the engine/car design constraints. I know, in a perfect world. :rolleyes:
 
I'm guessing you haven't changed many fuel filters before. I haven't either, but out of the 15 cars that I've changed, the NSX has one of the easiest location that I have dealt with.

It's an NSX not a civic. Designers assume NSX owners would take it to the dealer or a shop for maintenence. Almost all shops will have professional impact guns, not cheap drills they by from the $0.99 cent store.:biggrin:
 
pgilliam1 said:
First attempt = failure (even with an impact wrench the banjo bolt won't budge - 1991 w/118K miles). I usually don't give up (I have replaced WP/TB/TENSIONER, SUSPENSION, SPOOL VALVE GASKETS, Adjusted valves, ETC.) but thinking I could probably do more harm than good here. I am really tempted to cut the fittings off the hoses and mount an inline filter with hose clamps. Any input on this idea? Acura wants $123.00 for labor, maybe I'll try 1 more time??? :mad:
Click to expand...

What type of impact did you use? I can't imagine it not budging if you have a 1/2" impact gun w/ decent torque (whether electric or air). I finally got tired of bolts beating me due to insufficient torque so I bucked up for a larger compressor, 1/2" IR impact gun, and Snap On impact sockets. I know Snap On makes a 1/2" cordless that you may be able to find at a discount on Craigslist or Ebay. Last resort, you may be able to pull up to a shop and have them hit it with their impact...maybe even try a Jiffy Lube, tire shop or something of the sort. Tip the guy $20. Good luck.

Jeff
 
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My filter came off with 3/8" ratchet and a box end wrench. No impact tools required. It took me about an hour with clean up.
I am wondering why it was so tight for others? Mine was still the original filter after 17 years. (33,000 miles)
 

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