roving sprinter
Member
I just changed the fuel filter for the very first time as I've just purchased my Sprinter over a month ago now, a 2003 T1N 118". From the service history I got with the van, I haven't seen a diesel fuel filter change for many many miles so I'm afraid it might not have been done for a few years. I had a very hard time removing the middle hose, the one with the plastic retaining "c" clip and oops... I cracked the black ring which the retaining clip snaps into. After filling the filter with diesel and re-installing it, I had to crank the van over quite a few times as expected, but then it finally started around the 4th try. I don't see any fuel seeping from the hose retaining clip which I cracked but do see some air bubbles going through the clear fuel line. My question is this; could the air bubbles be coming from that hose fitting even if I am not getting seepage, or is this simply air clearing itself from the new filter? I only ran it about 5 minutes and it idled just fine, the bubbles seemed to diminish but I do still see some tinny bubbles going through the line towards the injection pump. Is there enough pressure in the filter, if any, which cause the fuel line to pop out since the clip isn't really retaining anymore? Should I not worry about it if it runs fine and don't see any leaks? I just don't want to be driving and have that hose pop off the filter and suck up some major air, that would be a bad day indeed!