Hey folks.

Well I bit the bullet and got under the car this morning.

The Haynes wasn't lying when it said access was poor.

Well got the old one off and lets just say that I'm glad no-body had a lighted match near me! More came dribbling out that I thought! lol

After looking at the arrow on the old one and comparing with the picture in the haynes it turns out whoever put the last one on put it the wrong way round!

So got the new one on ok and seems to be running great now!

Phil

Congrats. I looked where it was and decided not to bother :-D I believe the arrow is supposed to point in direction of flow - therefore towards the pipe heading to the engine bay.

Yep thats right and on the old filter the arrow was pointing in the opposite direction! lol

Whoever had done it looks like they had used on of the old pinch type clips and then a new jubilee clip that way too big! lol

Phil

for others seeking help here, replacing fuel filter is very easy,

1 remove fuel pump fuse

2 start and run car til it stops

3 take off outgoing clip on fuel filter from under car, it is under left hand rear seat, there will be some fuel spill,

4 take out rear seats, undo mat, pop away 20cm dia round plate undo outgoing clip (arrows on fuel pump)

5 undo screw securing clamp around filter

6 pull filter out

reverse... takes around 20 minutes in all, excluding jacking car up

How the hell did you get yours off?

I bought one but it's still in the box at the moment. I managed to get the pipe off that goes to the engine but I just could NOT get the pipe off that goes to the tank. I could have just pulled the filter off but I was scared of losing the pipe behind the tank and then having to drop the tank to get it back. I just couldn't get my hand in there....

take out the rear seats completely, both seat and backrest, it's in the normal manual howto

then look under the right side rear seat, undo the mat, there is a circular "lid" unpop it with a flat screwdriver look arrows undo outgoing clip (same type as on filter)

with philips screwdriver (between heatshield and footwell) undo the clamp holding filter

pull filter out together with 20cm long and 10cm short rubber tubing

Aah haa. I'll try that on Saturday. NiCE.

Thanks Tolvman. Found the removable panel and managed to fit the new fuel filter.

Note to self: Inspect and replace knackered spring retaining hose clip before starting up and losing about a tenner's worth of petrol from a dodgy connection.