I changed the fuel filter on my Edition 30 today.
I've never done it before, and there were a number of threads on this forum that I found helpful when it came to replacing it, so I thought I'd share my experience.
Why did you change the fuel filter?The car is 15 years old, and I've owned it for 10 years, and there was no record of the fuel filter having been changed at any point.
The fuel filter is not a serviceable item according to Volkswagen. However, a number of people have said they experienced an improvement after replacing it, so I thought I'd give it a go.
How did you change the fuel filter?The fuel filter is just in front of the rear-right wheel underneath the car. It's a small metal cylinder. It's connected by 3 rubber hoses (2 at the back and 1 at the front), and it sits inside a plastic bracket. So removing it is just a matter of disconnecting the 3 hoses, and unscrewing a single screw for the bracket. Installing the new one is the reverse. Easy enough.
To get access to the fuel filter I jacked up the car at the rear-right wheel. Annoyingly the pinch weld is pretty much in line with the fuel filter, which means the axle stand gets in your way a bit, so for easier access I took the wheel off.
I started with the two hoses at the back of the filter. To remove them I pushed in the tabs, and then pulled the hoses off. This is easier said than done, as the tabs can be a little stiff. I pushed in the tabs with a flat-head screwdriver, then wiggled the hoses to get them off. A fair amount petrol came out when I disconnected the first hose, and it caught me off guard, but it wasn't an unmanageable amount and I decided to hold off on lighting a cigarette.
I then unscrewed the bracket holding the fuel filter. This was so that it could move freely and give me better access to the final hose. Strangely there was a small strip of plastic holding the bracket together, which prevented me from opening it up completely. I've not seen before on any tutorials, so I ended up just cutting it with a knife so that I could open the bracket up fully. I'm not going to miss it, as the screw does the job of holding the bracket together anyway.
Now on to disconnecting the last hose, which was the hardest part.
Basically, for the first two hoses, the tabs were on the bottom and facing me, which made it easy to push them in. But the tab for this last hose is on the opposite side (on the top). So to push it in you either need a strong, slender, dextrous finger, or some sort of curved tool that can loop around the line and push the tab in from the other side. I ended up using the coat-hanger-shaped hook on my plastic torch, which worked like a charm. Whilst the tab was pressed in, I pried the line of with the flat-head screwdriver and off it came, finally.
Note: As a tip, you can see if the tab is being pushed in by looking at the small square hole on the side of the connector -- you should be able to see the tab being depressed via this hole if you look carefully.
Anyway, getting this last connector off is probably going to be the difference between a 20-minute job and an 60-minute job. From my experience the key is finding the right tool to help you press in the top tab.
How long did it take?It took me about 90 minutes altogether.
However, I did take the wheel off to get better access to the fuel filter, and I was pretty leisurely with disconnecting the hoses.
I think if you're better at cars than me (so most people) I'm sure you could do it in 30 minutes or less.
Did replacing the fuel filter make a difference to how the car drives?Yes, I noticed the difference very quickly after taking it for a test drive.
The car felt a bit more "alive". It's not like I gained 100bhp out of nowhere or anything, but I felt like I "freed" the car up a little.
Either way, I'm glad I took the time to replace the fuel filter. For the sake of £20 and an hour of your time, I'd say it's worth it, especially if the fuel filter hasn't been replaced in a long time.
When was the fuel filter last replaced?Based on the date on the old fuel filter it looks like it was last replaced in 2014 for some reason. No idea why. Must have been during a service at the VW dealership, which would have been 7 years in to the car's life.
Tip: I wrote the current mileage and date on the new fuel filter.
So the old fuel filter was 9 years old and had roughly 90,000 miles worth of fuel put through it. Looking forward to putting 90,000 miles through this new one.
