I brought the car to Jiffy Lube today to have the fuel filter replaced that I already purchased. They said it was too difficult to get to and they could not do it without pulling multiple parts off. I was under the car the other day and located it next to the passanger cat. I was able to fit my hand by it but it is a very tight space. Does anyone have some advice on how to change it? Do any other parts need to be removed? Is there a special small rench that would work better? Why couldnt GM have put it in a more accessable location.

Thanks

 

Remove the inner wheel well to get at the top nut or you can disconnect the top pipe and remove it with the filter then reinstall it on the new one and put it in that way.
the bottom nut is easy to reach from underneath the car.

 

On my coupe, I have to pull 2) 8mm bolts that drop the protective shield. On your car, I believe you must pull the factory cross brace off to access it and also for transmission pan access when servicing it.

 

First mistake I really wouldn't trust Jiffy Lube or any of the drive-thru quick oil change places to do much of anything.

The X-brace under the car would have to be removed and that's where Jiffy Lube probably balked. The brace does have to be removed so be prepared to jack the car up and pull the brace off. I'ts not real heavy but be careful when dropping it.

You should have a pair of line wrenches to remove the filter. Open-end wrenches will work but if you round off the edges of the nuts, you have a problem.

You also have to relieve fuel pressure in the lines. To do this, remove the fuel pump fuse and start the engine. When the engine dies, that will have released the pressure so you should only get a small amount of gas dripping out. It helps to have a nearly empty tank or jack the front of the car up as high as possible. Have a catch can handy and don't do this anywhere near a flame like a gas hot water heater or gas furnace!!

 

Thanks to all for the info. That leads me to my next question. Where is the best location to jack up the front end or the rear end for that matter. I have a 3 ton floor jack with the round piece on top. I plan on looking for some wide low profile ramps eventually. Know of any?

 

I took my car to Jiffy Lube and they offered to change the fuel filter. Took them about 15 minutes to put in a new one.

 

I did mine myself yesterday from underneath and took nothing off except the top line nut bottom line nut and mounting bolt. It took 15 minutes

 

To replace the fuel filter on a convertible is a PITA. First go to a GM dealer and buy a filter made in the USA. You will need a 20mm wrench for the filter and a 5/8 line wrench for the gas line. Get good quality wrenches, cheap narrow wrenches will just round off the nuts. Make sure you are working in a well vented area, no one smoking. You will have gas dripping down, have a drain pan handy. You must remove the x-frame to get at the filter. The bottom line nut isn't too bad, but the top nut is a bear. To get to the top nut remove the right side fender panel, place a line wrench on the nut, then try to break the filter lose by using the 20mm wrench on the bottom of the filter. The tuff part is replacing the filter and getting the top line tight. The hard part is trying to hold the filter while tighting the top nut. I have never removed the whole top fuel line to the motor, but I sure thought about replacing the filter that way.

Don

 

All good and true info My experience was that when I got the wrenches on the top of the fuel filter, I just could not loosen it because of the angle as you all know. The botton fiting, no problem. Kept that filer on the shelf for nearly a year. When the starter went bad, thats when I did the fuel filter with no problem. Easy to get at, gives you the extra room. And the starter ended up being an easy replaceement which I did'n expect. So if all fails, this could be your alternative solution.

 

Might be a good idea to pull the fuel pump fuse and run the car dry first - get rid of that fuel pressure before you crack open any fuel lines. Esp if your schrader valve is a PITA to get to, ala LT1.

 

If you do a search, Bogus(I think) has a way of doing it by just taking of the lower line into the filter and pulling it up through the top of the engine.

 

I had that exact same thought, pull the line and filter right up. But I could not get the fitting apart on the top and did not think I knew the correct procedure either. So since it was not leaking and I had no problem, I decided to leave it alone and not break it. Since then I have read that there is a special tool to get the fiting apart on the top. If I could see it done once or get the tool, I might be more confident next time. That just happens to be on my list of things I want to learn, but that's just me.

 

Anyone??

 

There is a disconnect for the braided fuel line that is mfg. by Lisle and is available in a kit for about $10.00 at auto store or Sears. It consists of plastic grommet-like inserts of varying sizes for different fuel lines. Peel the rubber sleeve off of the supply line and clip the insert in place and slide it into the fitting while pushing the supply line back and forth, it comes right apart. My '94 coupe has a bracket/sleeve just above the filter that holds the supply/return hoses in place with a single nut that also must be removed. After removing the bottom fitting,the whole assy. will now lift straight up and out.

 

If that Lisle tool works as good as you say,, that would be great. Is there a shield between the fuel filter and the cat? My 1995 convertible has the fuel filter about 3 inches from the cat.

 

This is the procedure I used on my '94 and I found it after doing a search on the forum. It seemed the easiest after reading several threads. If I remember correctly there didn't seem to be enough room to snake the filter and fuel line out the top of the engine compartment. I think it is important (and safer) to have an assistant do the top nut while I was underneath. To tighten the top nut my helper held the top nut while I tightened (and loosened) from underneath with 5/8 socket on an extention. We also bled the pressure at the fuel rail Shrader valve.

 

convertible fuel filter replacement

Replaced the fuel filter yesterday. It took less that two hours. With the proper tools and knowledge it could be done in about an hour or so. I pulled the car up on some plastic Rhino ramps I picked up from Autozone for $30. I then pulled the FP1 fuse and ran the engine till it died. Next I tried to start it a few more times to clear out all the fuel. Then I removed the fuel line in the engine compartment with one of those plastic Lisle tools from Pep-boys. (Be carefull some fuel will still shoot out under pressure. Then I completely removed one side of the x-brace (14 bolts). Next I unbolted the circular bracket that holds in the fuel filter. I then unbolted the bottom line with a 19 wrench to hold the filter and a 5/8 wrench to unscrew the line bolt. There is also a factory rubber peice with a tie wrap around it that must be removed to seperate the incoming and return fuel lines. After all these connections are loose the fuel filter slips out easily from below. Install the new fuel filter once the old one and the upper line have been removed. To reinstall simply reverse the steps.

 

I have no shield between my filter and the cat on my coupe. Assume there would be none on the vert. Even so, all you need to access is the lower fitting which should not be a problem. The disconnect tool makes the job very simple. It can also be used on some a/c lines as well. Bought mine at Sears for 10.00 there are 6 different sizes as part of the kit. Good luck.

p.s. I remove the wheel on that corner to make things easier.