Fuel & Air Filter

[munruss]

My car, 2002 Pontiac Grand AM GT, is due for the 15,000 miles service at Pontiac. Pontiac wants $180 to rotate the tires, checks the fluid levels, change the oil, and change the fuel filter. The hell with that! I will bring the car to Pontiac for the oil change because they charge about teh same price compared to any service station.

I'm going to purchase a fuel and air filter today. What are good brands that will meet or exceed the original manufacturers parts (AC Delco)? I was thinking about Hastings.

 

[miken]

Fram if you want good.

Get a K&N air filter if you want the best, you'll make your money back with a car that new since it never needs to be replaced.

$180 is reasonable if the fuel filter is in the gas tank, i'd check that out first.

 

[iamwiz82]

fuel filter probably doesnt need to be changed. My father, who has worked for Chrsyler for almost 40 years and has been buying cars longer than that has never changed one in all the cars he has owned. I have had 2 vehicles over 100000 miles, neither required me to change the fuel filter.

 

[blahblah99]

I usually go with factory oil filter, mobile 1 10-40 or 20-50 depending on my driving habits and weather. As for fuel filter, also get the factory one. There's no improvement between an aftermarket one and a stock one if your car is bone stock. But there may be quality differences.

 

[bunker]

Cost me $280 to have my the fuel filter changed in my wife's Sunfire 3 years ago. They had to pull the gas tank to get to it. Needless to say, we no longer own that POS.

 

[munruss]

i would like to stick with the OE parts, but since the car is leased, I'm not going all out. However, I will do all the necessary maintenance that is required. I've called a bunch of local stores and no one sells AC Delco fuel and air filters, just oil. I'm bringing the car back to Pontiac for the oil change and I'll change the air and fuel filter myself.

 

[munruss]

Originally posted by: miken
Fram if you want good.

Get a K&N air filter if you want the best, you'll make your money back with a car that new since it never needs to be replaced.

$180 is reasonable if the fuel filter is in the gas tank, i'd check that out first.

no no, the entire service is $180. I called Pontiac and they want $65 to change the fuel filter. The part costs $10.

 

[db]

WHY would the fuel filter need changing?! That's BS.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: bunker
Cost me $280 to have my the fuel filter changed in my wife's Sunfire 3 years ago. They had to pull the gas tank to get to it. Needless to say, we no longer own that POS.

$280 for a Fuel Filter on a sunfire, you got taken HARD!!!!

But the Air filter probably does not need to be changed, they are good from 30-60K

As for fuel filter it is good to chnage them every 10-15K depending on the quality of gas(and higher price does not mean better gas, a updated station is the difference)

And don't use Fram oil filters. The quality has gone down greatly on them. Go to AutoZone and get their STP filter. It is made by Champion industries, very good filter.

This what I do to my cars and truck and tell my customers to follow, and as there Mechanic they listen and have very few problems with there cars.

 

[munruss]

Originally posted by: db
WHY would the fuel filter need changing?! That's BS.

like any filter it gets clogged after awhile, therefore your performance decreases along with your gas mileage. In addition, a dirty fuel filter puts strain on your gas pump which has to maintain a constant pressure (fuel injection vehicles). If that pressure can not be maintained, your pump will begin the failing process.

 

[munruss]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: bunker
Cost me $280 to have my the fuel filter changed in my wife's Sunfire 3 years ago. They had to pull the gas tank to get to it. Needless to say, we no longer own that POS.

$280 for a Fuel Filter on a sunfire, you got taken HARD!!!!

But the Air filter probably does not need to be changed, they are good from 30-60K

As for fuel filter it is good to chnage them every 10-15K depending on the quality of gas(and higher price does not mean better gas, a updated station is the difference)

And don't use Fram oil filters. The quality has gone down greatly on them. Go to AutoZone and get their STP filter. It is made by Champion industries, very good filter.

This what I do to my cars and truck and tell my customers to follow, and as there Mechanic they listen and have very few problems with there cars.

i heard about STP filters. I was also told that Hastings puts out a quality filter.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: munruss

Originally posted by: db
WHY would the fuel filter need changing?! That's BS.

like any filter it gets clogged after awhile, therefore your performance decreases along with your gas mileage. In addition, a dirty fuel filter puts strain on your gas pump which has to maintain a constant pressure (fuel injection vehicles). If that pressure can not be maintained, your pump will begin the failing process.

Thats right, if the fuel filter gets to dirty it can do damage to the Fuel Pump, which cost a lot more to change than a fuel filter does

 

[munruss]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: munruss

Originally posted by: db
WHY would the fuel filter need changing?! That's BS.

like any filter it gets clogged after awhile, therefore your performance decreases along with your gas mileage. In addition, a dirty fuel filter puts strain on your gas pump which has to maintain a constant pressure (fuel injection vehicles). If that pressure can not be maintained, your pump will begin the failing process.

Thats right, if the fuel filter gets to dirty it can do damage to the Fuel Pump, which cost a lot more to change than a fuel filter does

i had an '88 dodge daytona with 133,000 miles on it. i had many problems with that POS, but needless to say, i never had fuel problems because i changed the filter once a year, regardless of the mileage i put on the car.

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: munruss
i would like to stick with the OE parts, but since the car is leased, I'm not going all out. However, I will do all the necessary maintenance that is required. I've called a bunch of local stores and no one sells AC Delco fuel and air filters, just oil. I'm bringing the car back to Pontiac for the oil change and I'll change the air and fuel filter myself.

I guess you never thought to call up your local pontiac dealer's parts department?

 

[munruss]

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: munruss
i would like to stick with the OE parts, but since the car is leased, I'm not going all out. However, I will do all the necessary maintenance that is required. I've called a bunch of local stores and no one sells AC Delco fuel and air filters, just oil. I'm bringing the car back to Pontiac for the oil change and I'll change the air and fuel filter myself.

I guess you never thought to call up your local pontiac dealer's parts department?

I did and they want around $40 for the parts. I could do that, but I'd rather buy Hasting's products, which are probably better, at a lower cost. In fact, Hastings manufactures some of AC Delco's parts.

 

[notfred]

Unless you've been filling your gas tank with sludge, you shouldn't need to change the fuel filter yet, anyway. Air filter is probably fine too, but you could look at it.

 

[vegetation]

Actually, you'll be amazed at the gunk that comes out of a used fuel filter.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: miken
Fram if you want good.

Get a K&N air filter if you want the best, you'll make your money back with a car that new since it never needs to be replaced.

$180 is reasonable if the fuel filter is in the gas tank, i'd check that out first.

Fram is OK for air filters, not sure about fuel filters, but do NOT, under any circumstances use a Fram Oil Filter. Fram's oil filters have terrible internal leaks and they have a tendency to backflow. Not only that, but Fram filters use cardboard endplates instead of plastic or metal. Fram oil filters are terrible, I wouldn't use one on my lawnmower.

ZV