Diesel owners Question

[Dr_Holiday]

I've owned my 2012 Ram w/ Cummins since it had 24k miles on it in late 2013. Since then I've done all of the maintenance myself expect the EGR cleaning (dealer did that)

I replace my fuel filter / fuel water separator every 10k miles and drain it about once a month.

Do most of you have your fuel filters changed? I was talking to a group of Diesel truck owners over the weekend at a camp ground and none of the 8 of them ever heard of changing fuel filter, or draining the fuel water separator.

[goducks10]

DownTheAvenue wrote:

Dr_Holiday wrote:
I've owned my 2012 Ram w/ Cummins since it had 24k miles on it in late 2013. Since then I've done all of the maintenance myself expect the EGR cleaning (dealer did that)

I replace my fuel filter / fuel water separator every 10k miles and drain it about once a month.

Do most of you have your fuel filters changed? I was talking to a group of Diesel truck owners over the weekend at a camp ground and none of the 8 of them ever heard of changing fuel filter, or draining the fuel water separator.

In all probability, your truck has an owner's manual. You would be very wise to read it and follow the service recommendations specified in it. After all, it was written by the people who designed and built your truck. They know best.

By doing that you can give your buddies a ride home when theirs breakdown.

[Trackrig]

Yes, once a year which is usually less than 10,000 miles though I just did a trip to the states and back that was a little over 10,000 miles - time to change the fuel filters again.

Bill

[DownTheAvenue]

Dr_Holiday wrote:
I've owned my 2012 Ram w/ Cummins since it had 24k miles on it in late 2013. Since then I've done all of the maintenance myself expect the EGR cleaning (dealer did that)

I replace my fuel filter / fuel water separator every 10k miles and drain it about once a month.

Do most of you have your fuel filters changed? I was talking to a group of Diesel truck owners over the weekend at a camp ground and none of the 8 of them ever heard of changing fuel filter, or draining the fuel water separator.

In all probability, your truck has an owner's manual. You would be very wise to read it and follow the service recommendations specified in it. After all, it was written by the people who designed and built your truck. They know best.

[spoon059]

scootsk wrote:
Just changed mine today. Second time in 14k miles. Once every 15k or 12 months.

Where does it say 15K miles OR 12 months? I think you might be mistaken on that time frame. There is nothing to go bad within a set time period with fuel filters. They simply filter out debris and water within the fuel, its metered for a certain amount of fuel (15K miles worth of fuel to be specific) and not a time period.

Oil changes are mileage/time based because combustion properties can foul up the oil in the crankcase over time, regardless of mileage. There should not be anything to cause a time constraint on fuel filter though.

I think you might be throwing away money on that deal...

OP, I think fuel filters and oil changes are the most important maintenance you can do. Failing to properly monitor and service your fuel filters can cause reduced power/mileage at best or catastrophic engine failure at worst. For $100 you can change both yourself and not have to worry about it.

[agesilaus]

filrupmark wrote:
Dirty filters and water kill injectors. Injectors kill pocketbooks.

It's a lot worse than that on the newer trucks, water kills the fuel system period in these new 30,000 psi fuel systems. You could be looking at $13-15,000 for repairs.

[filrupmark]

Dirty filters and water kill injectors. Injectors kill pocketbooks.

[Dr_Holiday]

I'm really glad I'm not alone of this one. I was dumbfounded when I talked to them.. Then I started to think, what do other owners do.

[BB_TX]

My 2012 F350 6.7 maintenance schedule specifies every 22,500 miles.

[goducks10]

I change mine every 10,000 miles. Used to drain the water separator but got tired of seeing nothing so I don't do that anymore.
12 Ram CTD

[FishOnOne]

I change my fuel filters about every 22k miles and takes ~30 minutes from start to finish. It's so easy and quick I would never consider having a shop perform this task.

[GTO66]

They all must have new trucks and have never own a diesel before. I also carry a spare filter with me.

[scootsk]

Just changed mine today. Second time in 14k miles. Once every 15k or 12 months.

[IdaD]

I changed mine out at 1 year and will continue to do so per the maintenance schedule. I paid $110 or so for both filters but the Amazon price for the set has since dropped to $80. You'll get some diesel on you changing out the chassis filter and you need to make sure you have a big enough socket for the engine mounted filter, but beyond that it's a simple maintenance item. About akin to changing the oil in terms of difficulty.

Definitely an important item to keep up on, imo.

[HuckleberryHunt]

I just got my first diesel and not only is that an important section in the manual, the onboard computer makes you aware of it as well. Seems like more and more people these days are mechanically ignorant. Cars are not designed to be worked on by the home mechanic anymore, so people just don't have a need to learn. I'd rather have the knowledge and not need it than need it and not have it.

[KD4UPL]

If they've never heard of changing the fuel filter then they've never read the manual or looked at the dash board. Eventually the filter will clog and the truck will have no power. Then they will wonder what in the world happened.
I change mine about 10,000 to 15,000 or whenever the Chevy dash display tells me too. I carry an extra with me at all times. Once when I was really busy with work the display came on and said to change. I didn't think I had the time and kept putting it off. Sure enough, the truck's power dropped all the sudden and I pulled off the road. I put the new filter on and all was good.