How often should you change a Fuel Filter?

How often should you change your fuel filter? Welcome to Mercie J Auto Care, where compassion and craftsmanship come together. I'm Rick Smith, master certified technician. That question can vary dramatically, and I would suggest you look in your owners manual because some diesels recommended quite frequently. Some gasoline vehicles don’t even have a replaceable fuel filter. It’s a lifetime filter located in the fuel tank. Then on some vehicles, the intervals vary. Here’s the deal, I’ll talk about gasoline engines for a moment. The fuel filter has fuel flowing through it, keeps it clean to protect your injectors and things like that. It’s under a fair amount of pressure so even if you get a fuel filter that’s almost plugged, the fuel pump will be strong enough to push through it. So one of the reasons if you have a Gasoline Engine and you need to replace that fuel filter regularly and on a diesel they have a lift pump that pumps through there, as that gets restricted it puts a lot of strain on the pump because the pump really has to push it through. The engine might run fine, but you’ll take out a fuel pump and those really aren't very wonderful on the pocketbook. So bottom line is you won’t necessarily notice a problem with the fuel filter but usually within 50,000 miles and should be replaced. Thanks for watching it until next time, safe travels and blessings to you.