Replacing the fuel filter

P

Peter-man99

Guest
I have to change the fuel filter on my 99 disco 1. I have looked up all the steps on the Rave CD but can seem to find the fuel pump relay. I pulled what I thought was the correct relay but after 5-10 minutes of just letting the car idle I decided to give up.
The manual also suggests "clamping" the hoses going in and out of the fuel filter. Are vice-grips the best for this? Any other tips would be great to make this a quick job, my wife gets upset when I spend more time on the car than I do watching the kids.

Peter

peter_ingebrigtsen@hotmail.com
 

Hoot

Well-known member
Apr 19, 2004
234
0
52
Bloomfield twp, MI
peter, why asre you trying to fin the fuel pump relay? sre you trying to depressurize the system? all yo uneed to do to do that is unscrew the gas cap and release the pressure. this dpressurizies the tank, then to be safe go to the fuel rail on top of the engine and release the pressure via the shrader valve. wrap the valve with a bunch of rags before you release the pressure that way it will soak up what ever gas comes out of it, and keep form making your driveway and the engine more dirty that it alredy is.

I think the manual suggests that you disonnect the negative battery lead so as to prevent any sparking and subsequent gas-fire explosions.

and it is a pretty good idea to clamp both sides of the fuel line that connect to the filter. yo uwan tto do this so that the gas in the fuel line doenst run all over your arms and drip off at your elbo onto the driveway and your brakes and hubs. (guess how i know that will happen)

you can buy fuel line clamps at any of the kraggen/autozone type places. they are like 3.99 a piece and look like crappy childrens toy pliers and come in various neon green and yellow colors. i only had one fuel clamp so i improvised by using a set of vise grips with rags wrapped around the fuel line to prevent the grips from cutting or crimping the hose.

it is an easy job to do, but you definately want to remove the rear wheel. somoe folks say they can do it with the real wheel on in like 15 mins. but even with the wheel off the filter is in a pretty akward location to get to so take the extra 5 minutes and remove the wheel, it will make your life easier.

one last thing to mention is that if that is the original filter then the fittins will most likely be rusted/corroded and covered in dirt. get your self some PD or wd-40 or whatever flavor you like to use and spray the hell of the fittings 2 or 3 times a day for a few days. When i changed mine i would spray it with PB before work, at lunch and after i got home from work. i did it for like 3 days and the fittings came loose with relative ease.

you will need to use 2 wrenches at a time to remove the filter from the hoses. be gentle and careful and take your time or you will screw up the threads on the hose part of your fuel lines and then you will be screwed becasue they will then need to be replaced. you more than likely do not have replacement fittings on hand and i think that they need to be ordered form landrover as a special retro fitted part. you will not be able to drive the truck for 3 days until you get that part and your wife will be pissed. so dont strip the threads!

lastly the filter has a flow direction on it so make sure you orient it properly when reinstalling.

good luck.
 

Porter

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
124
0
To release pressure, you can also go to the fuel rail and press the schrader valve to release fuel - with the car off of course. Just wrap a rag around the valve and it'll help keep the gas from spraying all over the place.

After doing that, I've never had any problems with pressure at the fuel filter.
 

95.D1.Rick

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
402
0
Cumberland Co., ME
Using tubing wrenches is better also, kinder to the banjo nut. Box ended wrenches work, but tubing wrenches were designed for the job, and make it harder to round off the nut. Also keep in mind to minimize any possible source of ignition in the area, gasoline has a flash point of -40 F !!! :eek:
 
P

Peter-man99

Guest
Its done! Thanks for the help with the shrader valve, I don't know why they "Rave" tells me to disconnect the fuel pump relay. I think everything that could have been a challend was a challenge. First the lug nuts on the rear tire were WAY too tight. I acutally bent my lug wrench and they still wouldn't budge. I had to go the the nearby tire shop to get those loosend. Then the fittings were a bit rusted and it took forever to get those things to budge, there may acutally be more WD-40 on my garge floor than there is gas from the filter!

Next project: Automatic Transmission fluid filter and gasket, not looking forward to that one!

Peter