Hey guys... at work and getting the run around on the phone with the dealer.... wants me to bring the car in..

I dont have the patience, room or will to replace the fuel filter myself, its gonna be a bitch.. the quick connect doesnt look like its going to cooperate...

Can someone give me a ballpark figure for what they'd charge to do the fuel filter at a GM dealer? (99 cav z24)

I dont know any good garages (new to area) and my buddy is busy and sorta hinted he doesnt want to do it... so if its somewhat reasonable, i'll just let them deal with it...

Thanks again guys!

Well, the dealer in my area wanted 1100 to change my fuel filter and fuel pump.




Your car may do 13 sec @ 103 mph, but my car does 146db @ 35 hz.

good lord..... lol... My pump is fine.. just wondering how bad it would be just for the filter... I know the filter itself is only like $20 but if the labour is enough that i dont want to do it, i can only imagine what they'd charge..haha

damn dealers...

I didnt do mine, It costed me $20 @ local mechanic to do it.

i dont trust random strangers around my fuel system... lol.. not after crappy tire cut a line on my parents car and tried to say it wasnt them..

i shouldnt blame everyone for what CT does tho... maybe i'll swing by a local shop after work.. i'll just be sure to check their work before i leave! lol

I did mine. Took me 10 mins.

do it yourself. a garage can charge you an hour of labor plus parts if they want to. so like 100 bucks for a 15 dollar part and 5 mins of work. you dont even have to jack the car up.

Heh... I remember thinking that about fuel filters... then I ran into a few tough ones. A few hours later, a lot of broken stuff and many scrapes and bleeding knuckles.

If you're not confident enough to do it... suck it up and take it to a dealer. It's probably going to be over $100... if there's rusted or seized parts there.

thats been my thinking on it..

I am mechanically inclined and can figure anything out.. a little research and common sense can accomplish anything! lol

That being said... I have never tried doing a fuel filter before.. it looks simple enough, but thats usually where the trouble begins.. From what i have heard and read, this can be either a simple 20min job or a 4 hour nightmare with no way of knowing which until its too late..

So im going to pressure my buddy/mechanic to do it, he just said he doesnt LIKE doing them.. But being a ex-GM mechanic, im sure he's done enough to hate them... I'd still attempt it myself before i fork out $100+ to GM...

It's pretty simple. Get that big black evap. canister out of the way first. I think it's only one 10mm bolt and then just let it hang by the lines. The tough part is borrowing a LINE WRENCH from someone to get the fuel line out of the filter. Whatever you do, don't try to use a regular wrench unless you consider yourself a veteran in the mechanic world. If you try to use a regular open-end wrench you'll most likely round the line fitting and then you've got trouble. Sometimes those bad boys rust on there pretty hard. Get some PB blaster (I think it's much better than WD40) if it looks rusted. Hold the nut welded to the filter with the appropriate wrench and break it loose. Then if memory serves me right you take out another 10mm bolt that releases the filter itself and mess with the other end to get it off. There may not even be a bolt there; I don't remember. Hard to describe but I think the clip has a type of "flap" that pulls up first, then it looks like a U that just pushes out (away from) the line perpendicularly.


"In Oldskool we trust"

If there is any rust on the threaded fuel fitting, then I would recommend several doses of PB Blaster as mentioned above, but do them once or twice a day for a few days to help loosen things up. It makes a world of difference on the rusted fittings.

wanted to note that i had more luck with a screwdriver on mine than the quick connect tool. i have had stubborn ones b4 but with persistance i always got it done. i have had approx. 13 different cars in the last 6 years and have done fuel and air filter along with oil changes on most of them and its just not worth it to pay someone to do it

i hear ya.. I would feel alot better about doing if i had some room in the garage.. Doing it in the cold driveway is putting me off it..

My mechanic does his work on the side, he'll only charge me like $50 or so.. so if he can, i'll let him handle it...

i dont think its really urgent.. the car is running fine, shows lean on my etest tho so thats prompted the tune-up.. it could wait until spring if i had to, i dont drive the car very much, maybe 10km a day to work..