T/A Fuel & Fuel Filters

sweetbillebob · Jun 3, 2009

I am guessing that most in this forum get their fuel at T/A. I have been going thru fuel filters at a rapid rate since January. The current filter has 13K miles on it and it is very ready to be changed. Is anyone else drawing a correlation between dirty/watery fuel and T/A?

ATeam · Jun 3, 2009

We have been buying most of our fuel at TA. No fuel filter problems here.

layoutshooter · Jun 3, 2009

No problems here either. Fuel mileage still high.

sweetbillebob · Jun 3, 2009

We just put this truck purchased and put this truck in service last November. I wonder if I have inherited dirty tanks. I have been using meaner cleaner one week a month. Could be loosening things up

TeamCaffee · Jun 3, 2009

I would think more on something else going wrong as we have had no problems with fuel filters.

LDB · Jun 3, 2009

I'm almost an exclusive T/A buyer and have no problems either. Good luck with figuring it out.

Dreamer · Jun 3, 2009

billebob

My van is diesel, so I would assume similar principles apply... right after I got it, I ran some Cleaner thru it, thinking I was doing a good thing.. almost immediately the filter clogged.

According to what I was told by my mechanic, if it has not been regularly done, there will be a lot of 'crud' built up in the system, and the Cleaner makes it dump all at once. I ran it in the next several tanks after that, and it seems to have cleared out.

Apparently all we can do is deal with it til the leftover crud we were "gifted" with is gone.

Dale

ATeam · Jun 4, 2009

If you need to change fuel filters frequently until the loosened crud clears, it is not a high-tech, mechanic-only job. If you are so inclined, you can save yourself some money by doing it yourself. If you do not know how, see if a mechanic will let you watch the next time you have it done. Once you see it done, you can decide if you wish to do it yourself.

sweetbillebob · Jun 4, 2009

Thanks for all your feedback. There certainly is a high probability that it is long term crud build up and my use of "Meaner Cleaner" for one week every month is loosening things up.

I was at a Freightliner dealership yesterday getting some parts and queried the guy at the service desk and was given another possibility that I will pass on. Mercedes has put out a bulletin regarding after market fuel filters. Do not use, especially Baldwin. They do not seat properly and allow bypass. The service guy and subsequently a mechanic agreed that the bowl filter might fill up prematurely if the filter was not seated properly.

I have filters and the tools to do the job myself. Not that hard, just a little messy. I will be monitoring at each fill up using a magic marker to mark the level in the bowl each time I fill up. (Seems like there was a big jump in the level after filling in MO. on Monday.)

I also queried the service desk guy about Canadian speed limiter issues. (We have been in Canada since Tuesday night.) He gave me good info that I will pass on in a separate post.

Dreamer · Jun 5, 2009

Wish mine was easy to change

... the fuel filter on the 7.3 is near impossible to reach in a van. You have to come in thru the back, remove turbo shield, airbox, all kinds of crap... takes mechanic over an hr each time.. no way would I want to do it the side of the road.

Better to change it ahead of time.

Dale