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740 - fuel filter replacement - sucks!

W

Wolfman

Guest
Ok, first of all the chilton manual is lame! Second, I have tried everything in my power to remove my fuel filter. I did everything that the faq says. For example, remove the 1 fuse while car is running to remove most of the gas in the line. And how to remove the the fuel lines. I dropped the protective grate, removed the electrical connections, and removed the filter holder. Although, I don't think the filter on my car has ever been changed. I can not get any of the nuts holding the filter in place to move. I tried to remove the fuel line connection. Where the fuel line from the pump goes to the car, although I cannot get that to move, when I use two open ended wrenches on each nut. If I can get this line to separate then I could take the pump/filter/grate off of the car and make it easier to work on. Although with this darn line still connected, it makes things rather difficult. I just decided to give up on it for the day. I put everything back in its place. What the heck, at least I can still get to work tomarrow. I thought that this was going to be a piece of cake. If someone could please give me some advice on how to remove this darn thing that would be great!
Thank you guys very much! You guys and gals are always a bid help!
 
I tried it a month or two back. I tried everything I could throw at it and still couldn't budge it. I hate when I can't do something myself, but I ended up taking it to my friendly local mechanix who were also amazed at how stuck it was. They ended up using air impact wrenches and viola.

They charged me $10. Sometimes it's better to save yourself the frustration.

AND now I have an excuse to buy some new tools.
 
I was looking at the chilton manual, it is shows how to remove the fuel filter on the 940, I think. The connections for that seem so much easier to remove then the ones that I have on my 740. After I get the shop to remove the filter, can I upgrade the connections so that they will be easier to remove next time?
 
Impact cool, thanks for the heads up! How about upgrading the connectors to the fuel filter. Is it possible? I like to do things the easy way. From the pictures I have seen, it seems like the fuel filters on some of the other volvos are a lot easier to remove the the one on my 740.
 
Three Fat Tigers said:
I use a cordless impact, makes short work of it, still a job I'd rather pay someone else to do.
Click to expand...
+1, tho I just use ye olde air impact now.
It is totally possible to do with hand tools however, and I did my minnesota car and mom's wisconsin car a few times now.
It is also a job i'd rather get a bosch filter and pay to have someone rattle it off.
I leave the filter very tightly clamped in the cage when using hand tools and leave the cage as much secured to the car as possible. If necessary, I undo the inboard fastener on the cage and bend it down a little. A good set of large vice grips, a few large 6-pt sockets go a long way.
What I do is use two 6-pt sockets attached to long breaker bars on either end of the filter attached to each banjo bolt with the filter secured in the cage as best as possible.. One banjo fitting will probably break loose before the other. I remove the one that breaks loose and then use a large 6-pt very tight fitting socket on the hex on the filter body so as not to break up the filter as I wail on the banjo bolt. Re-assembly is the reverse of removal. Try not to deform or kink the line coming off of the front part of the filter.
Having said all this, about 1 in 10 filters I do leak..even with proper methods and using air. Another set of crush washers and trying again usually fixes it.
 
Update: I put a new fuel filter on! Ok, I did not use an air impact. It was too expensive to rent one. And, anyway, I live in a college dorm and have no where to put one if I purchased one. Anyhow, I took the whole thing off of the car, which includes the fuel pump/filter/grate. Once I got it off, I used two open ended wrenches on each bolt to get the leverage to losen one of them. Then I removed the lines and separated the filter from the pump. This is where I was kind of punked. I got one of the bolts off and then I did not have any leverage to get the other one off. After some consideration, I jacked up my car and lowered it on the filter. I'm not going to use the filter again anyway. So, who cares if it gets a little smashed :) This and the addition of a bar expansion on my wrench provided enough leverage to get the bolt to break free. I know its getto, but I grew up in the projects so what do you expect?
 
I have had the dubious pleasure of doing 3. It is not my favorite job, but it isn't too bad when you get the hang of it.

1) disconnect the battery - you might set off the air bag (sensor under seat)
2) disconnect the connections to the main pump
3) hose down the banjo bolts with P Blaster
4) put a c-clamp on the supply line from the tank to prevent siphoning
5) disconnect the supply line - you may need to cut and replace the clamp (if in rust belt)
6) undo the 3 nuts/bolts/screws holding the cassette in place
7) carefully lower it onto the ground
8) use a large adjustable or (20mm?) open end to hold the filter end
9) using a 17 or 19mm on the banjo bolt make a loosening V shape and keep the wrences parallel to each other, and use the force of your hand to separate the line to the rail. Make a note of the angle on the outbound line and duplicate it on reassembly.
10) Remove the cassette to a convenient location and work the other banjo bolt which connects the pump to the filter.

Use P Blaster on the clamp bolt, anti-seize on the fasteners holding the cassette to the floor.

Make sure you do not twist the plastic tube between the pump and filter.

The last one I did was the worst. It took an hour. I had to wire wheel the banjo bolts to get the scale off.

This was when it dawned on me that pros do it standing up, and shade tree mechanics do it on their backs.
 
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Changed mine first time last week, not bad. Disconnected battery. Took out bolts for cage and let filter and pump hang down about 3 inches. That gave me room to loosen the bolt for the band holding the filter to the cage. Used an adjustable wrence on one end, positioned so it would brace against the underside of the car to provent filter from turning. Then a 19mm? wrench to loosen the banjo bolt. Did same to other end, using a 18mm wrench to brace and a 17mm? to lossen banjo. The only problem I had was the copper washer that can with the bosch filter leaked and I ended up using my old ones, which work like a charm.
 
If I get a leak on re-assembly and I don't have any more crush washers I just unassemble and turn the crush washers over and try again.
 
Had to put mine in a vice to get the banjos off. Impact wrench purchase is probably one of the best investments if you are going to be a DIYer on the car, I bit the bullett and apent a $100 for one at lowes and now I use it all the time.
 
fuel filter tip.

When reassembling the filter and connecting the fittings. Coat the sealing washers and the fitting threads and sealing surfaces with Loctite 565 or 592. This is an anaerobic thread sealer that works great for sealing up the fuel filter fittings. It won't completely harden and acts like an anti seize so it will be easier to take apart next time. Use gloves because you do get it everywhere. Works great! The 592 version is the higher temp version.
 
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