Changing the fuel filter, part 2
Friday, September 5th, 2008 |
This morning I dove right in, expecting to be done before the sun hit me around noon. Wrong! But, now I know how to do it and next time it will be a snap.You can do this at the side of the road as long as you have your tools – regular screw driver; torx 25, 27 and 30, and split ring pliers |
| The new filter (different number than the one replaced) comes with 0-rings to replace those on the WIF sensor. | |
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Disconnect the WIF (water in fuel) sensor electrical connector (connected to flat part on top) – just slides apart.Remove the in and out hoses. (careful – you’ll bust a knuckle here). You can reuse the clamps if you take them off carefully or use the Mercedes tool #9539. I used a small screw driver to release and split-ring pliers to replace. Be sure to have some back-ups hose clamps available.You can also remove the screws holding the WIF sensor in place. |
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Loosen this bolt but do not remove it. You can put your finger behind it and tell when you have loosened it all the way. (You can remove but it is just another thing to put back – you’ll see the filter is in a great spot to loose bolts, clips, small tools, etc.) |
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Slide the filter up and in doing so you will have to lean it towards the WIF tube as it is very tight. Place some rags around as you will spill diesel.Now you can remove the WIF Sensor. It just pulls out – it is tight because of an o-ring holding it in place. |
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Here the filter is out and you can see the WIF Sensor. If you want, you can reroute it now over the tube behind it instead of underneath. This will give you more slack.Replace the o-rings (put some diesel on the new ones before sliding them on). |
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Put the WIF Sensor into the new filter and slide the filter into it’s bracket. Replace the hose clamps, the screws for the sensor, tighten the bracket bolt, and plug in the WIF Sensor electric connection. |
| I did not prime the filter with fuel. I knew I’d spill most of it getting the filter in and I don’t have any fuel stored anyway (although I intend to take care of that soon).Leaving all the other parts off, I got into the Sprinter and turned the key on to the position where all the warning lights show. Listen – you can hear the filter being primed. Turn the key off for a couple of seconds and then back on. Listen – you can hear the filter being primed. I did this a third time and heard nothing. I started the Sprinter – started just like normal – and checked for leaks.No leaks so after turning the engine off, I put the rest of the parts back on as shown in part 1. | |
