6.5 Fuel Filter

[Jochen Woern]

How do you exchange the fuel filter on a 6.5L turbo diesel?

- Can I do this myself or do I need to take it to the shop?
- What is the cost of a fuel filter?

Thanks in advance.

[93GMCSierra]

Filter is anywhere from $16.00 at napa to $25, really depends on where you buy
under the plastic turbo power cover at the rear of the intake there is a black plastic ring that spins off then the filter pulls straight up an out drop a new one in matching the "tabs" on the housing and put the ring on and tighten. thats it no trip to the shop needed, this is a simple 3 min job.

[Jochen Woern]

Thank you very much 93GMCSierra.

How often do you recommend to change this filter????

[Hubert]

Its a simple job but you should follow good shop practices and do it better than GM instructions. The procedure is in the owners manual but I don't like the directions leaves the possibilty of bad fuel mixing on clean side of filter. It probably should take a few more minutes if you take your time and clean out bowl completely. Lots of little tips on the forum for the reading. But again its pretty simple and easy to do.

You should change the filter every year or 15,000 - 30,000 miles depending on source of fuel and usage etc (I can't remember owners manual say 45K miles?). Change it anytime you suspect a fuel related issue (poor performance or drivability issue). Its one of those things you only hurt your wallet changing more often but good for the truck kind of like the air filter. A dirty one is bad. I would not recommend inspecting it either just change it regularly.

[JohnC]

Couple more points:

There is a filter screen around the standpipe ath the bottom of the housing. Occasionally it gets stuck inside the filter and accidentally discarded. It's purpose is to keep dirty fuel in the bowl from getting into the system during filter changes. Try not to dislodge it and replace it if missing.

Some folks like to blow into the filter bleed fitting to expell the fuel in the bowl out the water drain. This prevents the probnlem mentioned above.

Occasionally the old filter gasket will stick to the housing, preventing the new one from sealing correctly.

The filters used to be marked "front" to aid in aligning the tabs correctly. don't know for sure if they still are.

There used to be only one filter manufacturer, Stanadyne. Don't know for sure if this is still true, either. If so, buy the cheapest one you can find.

[chickenhunterbob]

Couple more points:

The filters used to be marked "front" to aid in aligning the tabs correctly. don't know for sure if they still are.

There used to be only one filter manufacturer, Stanadyne. Don't know for sure if this is still true, either. If so, buy the cheapest one you can find.

The last one I got from NAPA did not have "front" marked on it. But it is easy enough to line up, there are several slots in the bottom of the top sealing ring, which seat on the corresponding cogs on top of the filter bowl.

One slot is considerably longer than the rest, and only that long slot will seat on the longest cog.

It is easy to see, harder to describe.