Exactly When Fuel Is Near A Davco Filter Top Do You Actually Need To Change It???

[Aufgeblassen]

The fuel level in my Davco filter varies tremendously.

The other day, after engine was HOT but had been shut off for a few minutes, I found the fuel level to be right at the "change line".

This weekend I went to change said filter, but found fuel level to be at the very bottom. So I fired up engine, idled for a few minutes, and level STAYED at the very bottom.

So I shut off engine, and the level creeped up to near the middle of the filter. So I did not change it.

So under which condition do you actually read fuel filter level?

Note: My old Volvo truck had no Davco filter. The main filter dashboard light would come on when it needed to be change. But I would routinely run a few weeks past that point before changing, and eventually I would notice a drop in power due to restricted fuel flow.

My current Volvo truck currently has NO noticeable drop in power.

Thanks for your advise!

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

I change mine once a month. It only costs about $30 to have them do it at the T/A or Petro, and at below freezing, I have no problems letting them do it LOL..... but I also get my oil changed once a month too (about 10,000 miles) so it's included. But before I did that, I did the fuel once a month and that's prob what kept my injectors going for over a million miles w/o a problem too.

[Aufgeblassen]

I change mine once a month. .

That's rediculous! The whole point of the see-through dome is to change it when it actually needs to be changed, rather than at some arbitrary time or mileage interval. Once I went 100's of 1,000's of miles on an air filter, and my air filter looked dirty, but the little vacuum gauge only read 1/2 way. I changed my filter anyways, but it made absolutely no difference on either power or MPG's, so now I don't change it until gauge reads FULL.

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

That's rediculous! The whole point of the see-through dome is to change it when it actually needs to be changed, rather than at some arbitrary time or mileage interval. Once I went 100's of 1,000's of miles on an air filter, and my air filter looked dirty, but the little vacuum gauge only read 1/2 way. I changed my filter anyways, but it made absolutely no difference on either power or MPG's, so now I don't change it until gauge reads FULL.

It's not rediculous at all, it's just what I do. Why would you want to run a fuel filter with ALMOST clogged passages? thats what it is when it's 1/2way up..... it's 1/2 way plugged LOL
Also, my rig only has 1 fuel filter on it, not the dual set-up like most. I think if I had 2 filters I'd be more likely to skip a month. Also, I have been finding out that IL uses 20% bio-diesel and thats another reason I have been changing it more often. For the 1st few months it was clogging up every 5k miles do to the bio cleaning out my tanks (you should see the slime that was in the filter, nasty stuff) But it's just my choice....

As far as power and MPG it doesn't make a difference anyways, I just like to be preventive rather than fix a bad injector due to poor fuel quality. I seriously think if $30 a month is CRAZY to you, then maybe you should NOT be running your own truck, or take another look at your budget. Thats a drop in the bucket man, and if you skipped 1 buffet a week you could afford it. Not saying you even eat at them, but that would give you $30 LOL

It does seem to me that you are running on a VERY tight budget tho according to all your previous posts. Maybe things aren't working out the way they should be??

If you wait till your motor ACTUALLY needs rebuilt, you would be down for a few weeks and prob cost more due to some internal damage from something breaking..... same goes with everyother part on your truck. My truck is a 99 model and it's time to replace just about everything. I started with the front axle and am working my way back. Only thing I have left now to replace is the clutch and rebuild the motor, everything else is now new.

[Aufgeblassen]

It's not rediculous at all, it's just what I do. Why would you want to run a fuel filter with ALMOST clogged passages? thats what it is when it's 1/2way up..... it's 1/2 way plugged LOL
Also, my rig only has 1 fuel filter on it, not the dual set-up like most. I think if I had 2 filters I'd be more likely to skip a month. Also, I have been finding out that IL uses 20% bio-diesel and thats another reason I have been changing it more often. For the 1st few months it was clogging up every 5k miles do to the bio cleaning out my tanks (you should see the slime that was in the filter, nasty stuff) But it's just my choice....

As far as power and MPG it doesn't make a difference anyways, I just like to be preventive rather than fix a bad injector due to poor fuel quality. I seriously think if $30 a month is CRAZY to you, then maybe you should NOT be running your own truck, or take another look at your budget. Thats a drop in the bucket man, and if you skipped 1 buffet a week you could afford it. Not saying you even eat at them, but that would give you $30 LOL

It does seem to me that you are running on a VERY tight budget tho according to all your previous posts. Maybe things aren't working out the way they should be??

If you wait till your motor ACTUALLY needs rebuilt, you would be down for a few weeks and prob cost more due to some internal damage from something breaking..... same goes with everyother part on your truck. My truck is a 99 model and it's time to replace just about everything. I started with the front axle and am working my way back. Only thing I have left now to replace is the clutch and rebuild the motor, everything else is now new.

(A) A dirty fuel filter will virtually NEVER cause an injector to go bad. Just the opposite; a dirty fuel fiter filters better than a brand new one, because the dirt "already collected" actually aids in filtering of future dirt!!!

(B) If your filter is only 50% dirty when you change it, then that means you have 100% more life in it!!!

(C) WHY spend $30 a month, when you can spend $30 every TWO months!!! Completely illogical! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


(D) It does not matter how many filters you have; if it has 50% life left in it - USE IT!!!

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

(A) A dirty fuel filter will virtually NEVER cause an injector to go bad. Just the opposite; a dirty fuel fiter filters better than a brand new one, because the dirt "already collected" actually aids in filtering of future dirt!!!

(B) If your filter is only 50% dirty when you change it, then that means you have 100% more life in it!!!

(C) WHY spend $30 a month, when you can spend $30 every TWO months!!! Completely illogical! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


(D) It does not matter how many filters you have; if it has 50% life left in it - USE IT!!!

HAHA... well your reason (A) contradicts itself.. Virtually and never??? LOL

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

And to actually answer your question.... you are supposed to read the filter WHILE the truck is running, not while it is shut off. At least according to CAT and DETROIT manuals I just looked at.

[Aufgeblassen]

And to actually answer your question.... you are supposed to read the filter WHILE the truck is running, not while it is shut off. At least according to CAT and DETROIT manuals I just looked at.

Thanks! That is what I shall do. After all, it does seem like it currently has far to few miles (maybe 20,000?) to need changing yet.

BTW: My VW diesel recommends a 20,000 mile fuel filter change interval. After one filter change, I cut the metal filter casing in two, to see how dirty it really was inside. I was surprised to find out that approx. 50% of the filter pleats were pristine white clean, and the other 1/2 were dirty. So since then, I've always change my filter every 40,000 miles, instead of 20,000, to great success.

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

Thanks! That is what I shall do. After all, it does seem like it currently has far to few miles (maybe 20,000?) to need changing yet.

BTW: My VW diesel recommends a 20,000 mile fuel filter change interval. After one filter change, I cut the metal filter casing in two, to see how dirty it really was inside. I was surprised to find out that approx. 50% of the filter pleats were pristine white clean, and the other 1/2 were dirty. So since then, I've always change my filter every 40,000 miles, instead of 20,000, to great success.

Yeah, like I said, for some reason whenever I fuel in IL ONLY I always get a plugged filter. The guys at Inland Power said it's due to the fact Bio-Diesel is like a cleaner and it pulls all the carbon and scale out of the tanks and lines that the old LSD and some ULSD causes. FOr the heck of it, I ran my tanks to empty and then pulled the pulg on the bottom and to my suprise there was a slimy black goop that came dripping out. I then steamed cleaned the inside of the tanks and the crap that came out was NASTY!!!!! Thats what you get with a 12yr old truck I guess. I havent had the problem since I did this, but like i said, I was getting about 3-4k miles PER filter. I ran 10k last month and it's still at about 1/4 the way up. I don't have the filter changed once a month, I have a PM oil service done once a month and they just chage it during. I have found that the detroit factory filters work a TON better than the Fleetguard ones do.

[RostyC]

I change my fuel filters when I change my oil, every 10 to 11,000 miles. I do my own oil changes. It costs me $22.65 to put on two new filters. I don't have one of those see through filter casings that others may have. I also change the coolant filter every oil change, that cost me $8.63. So all together for two fuel and one coolant filter it costs me $31.28. That's a cheap piece of mind.

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

I change my fuel filters when I change my oil, every 10 to 11,000 miles. I do my own oil changes. It costs me $22.65 to put on two new filters. I don't have one of those see through filter casings that others may have. I also change the coolant filter every oil change, that cost me $8.63. So all together for two fuel and one coolant filter it costs me $31.28. That's a cheap piece of mind.

And how much did the oil cost you????? I did the math, and 2 oil filters, a fuel filter and 44 quarts of oil are about $125-135 for me. It's still cheaper, but I'd rather pay the extra $50 and have someone else get all dirty and freeze their ass' off

[RostyC]

And how much did the oil cost you????? I did the math, and 2 oil filters, a fuel filter and 44 quarts of oil are about $125-135 for me. It's still cheaper, but I'd rather pay the extra $50 and have someone else get all dirty and freeze their ass' off

I thought we were just talking about fuel filters so that's all I was referencing. I didn't include the oil filter or the oil because that gets changed at 10 to 11,000 miles regardless. What I'm saying is that instead of changing the fuel filters every other oil change it costs me 22.65 to change them at every oil change.

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

I thought we were just talking about fuel filters so that's all I was referencing. I didn't include the oil filter or the oil because that gets changed at 10 to 11,000 miles regardless. What I'm saying is that instead of changing the fuel filters every other oil change it costs me 22.65 to change them at every oil change.

Ahh, i see now. I thought you were saying the oil, fuel and water filters were under $40. I was just wanting to know where you got them at such a good price was all. I'd buy em too.

[RostyC]

Ahh, i see now. I thought you were saying the oil, fuel and water filters were under $40. I was just wanting to know where you got them at such a good price was all. I'd buy em too.

I wish. Here's my cost for all, you're doing damn good if you're getting your oil and filters for 125 to 135.00.

Oil Filter............. 21.30 (CAT)
Fuel filters (2)......22.65 (CAT for the big filter, Donaldson for the small filter)
Coolant filter........8.63 (Donaldson)
Oil (10 gallons).....119.40 (11.94 per gal) Shell Rotella

Total............171.98

[solo379]

Rosty, i don't know what kind of coolant filter you got, but if it's with SCA, you may be overdoing it. Too much SCA is not good for the engine. Also i suggest you try DELO....

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

I wish. Here's my cost for all, you're doing damn good if you're getting your oil and filters for 125 to 135.00.

Oil Filter............. 21.30 (CAT)
Fuel filters (2)......22.65 (CAT for the big filter, Donaldson for the small filter)
Coolant filter........8.63 (Donaldson)
Oil (10 gallons).....119.40 (11.94 per gal) Shell Rotella

Total............171.98

Shouldn't your CAT have 2 oil filters?????? Mine does, and so does the S60....

Thats why I said, for the $190 I pay at the TA for an Untimate PM, I think it's a good deal seeing I don't have to dispose of the oil and get all dirty. Plus they lube the truck too

[RostyC]

Rosty, i don't know what kind of coolant filter you got, but if it's with SCA, you may be overdoing it. Too much SCA is not good for the engine. Also i suggest you try DELO....

I'll check into it, thanks solo. Did you notice a difference in the DELO versus Shell?

[RostyC]

Shouldn't your CAT have 2 oil filters?????? Mine does, and so does the S60....

Thats why I said, for the $190 I pay at the TA for an Untimate PM, I think it's a good deal seeing I don't have to dispose of the oil and get all dirty. Plus they lube the truck too

No, mine only has one. Two fuel filters, one oil filter. I'm a little leery of a truck stop doing a PM on my truck, I'm sure it's safe it just a mental thing. Besides, I like to get all dirty and greasy, then hit the beer fridge to cool off. (In the summer time at least)

[solo379]

Did you notice a difference in the DELO versus Shell?

Well, i actually switch from rotella to delvac, and than to delo. There is no huge difference, but i liked it best.....

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

No, mine only has one. Two fuel filters, one oil filter. I'm a little leery of a truck stop doing a PM on my truck, I'm sure it's safe it just a mental thing. Besides, I like to get all dirty and greasy, then hit the beer fridge to cool off. (In the summer time at least)

What motor you got??? My C-15, both my 3406's and my 3408B had 2 oil filters??

Maybe a C-13?