Today I changed the fuel filter on my 2004 Dale Jr with 88,400 miles on it. I'm thinking it had the original filter in it but I'm not sure since it was a brand I had never heard of. The filter was called a "Service Champ" and it was made in Canada. I know these cars were made in Canada and was wondering if maybe they ran out of AC-Delco filters and I got a local filter installed.

Has anyone here heard of this brand of fuel filter? What brand was on your car when you changed it? There is no recommended changing intervel on these filters so how often do you guys change the filter? Thanks.

Wayne

 

Well, after some research I discovered that this is an American company which has warehouses in several states, none which are close to where I live. On their website there is a reference that Jiffy Lube gave their products some award or something. I imagine the original owner had it installed at a Jiffy Lube shop since she told me that she her oil changed there occasionally and she had the coolant flushed and installed there.

I looked in the one end with a flashlight and it didn't appear to be very well made. There was big glue globs in several places as well as one area that had a wide space between pleats.

At least it appears that she had the fuel filter changed at some point. I replaced this filter with an AC-Delco one.

Wayne

 

wayne, have you put any pics of your 70 monte up yet, would love to see them, thanks

 

i tried changing my fuel filter a couple months ago and almost rounded it out with my line wrench. after letting it soak with pb blaster for a few hours it still wouldn't budge. a reputable mechanic friend told me to not even worry about changing the filter unless you have problems.

 

I have not put up any pictures of either cars yet. I will try to do that soon.

My fuel filter connections came apart with no problem. I did spray some penetrant on the one side connection though. Plus mine probably was changed in the past. The connection did not look messed up so it must have come apart pretty easy the first time.

Years ago when my ex-wife and I had a 98 Grand Prix GT, I went to change the fuel filter on it. I ended up messing up the connections before I got it off. It was on super tight.

The inside of the filter I just took off looked pretty dirty and I don't understand why for years they had you change fuel filters and now you just change them when there is a problem.

Wayne

 

This is absolutely not true. A dirty fuel filter will significantly impact performance on L67 cars. L67's are prone to knock, and a reduction in available fueling due to a dirty fuel filter can and will cause knock due to a lean condition. Your car will get slower and slower as your PCM pulls timing due to the knock. Your average mechanic will have no grasp of this.

Most L67 dude's advocate changing the fuel filter once a year.

They can be a pain to remove the first time, but with the right size wrenches and a thorough (like, 2 days) soaking in PB Blast or Liquid Wrench, they will come off.

 

Plus it'll make changing them next time easier.

 

I usually change fuel filters every 15,000 miles or so. I'm glad mine came off easy. I would have hated to ruined the connector.

Wayne