Out of curiosity I checked my fuel filter today and it was BLACK, at 6,000 miles so I changed it. Does this mean my fuel quality is poor, or should I change it at the regular 12,000 mile.

Thanks Jamie

 

Here's what I had at 8800, to me they need it a little more than every 12k. For 13 bucks and 20 minutes to myself. I think it's a small price to pay.
Tom
Picture of filter at 8800 miles, I can't get the insert image to work

 

So is it the general idea to change it once it gets dirty looking, and disreguard the mileage interval.

jamie

 

It would be my guess that if you changed it at 2000 miles it would look just the same. Diesel is oily. These are paper filters, I wouldn't argue with engineers that say; change the filter at 12K miles, but my money says I can't do any harm to do it a little sooner than that.
Not sure I answered your question, but if your filter looked like mine(Whitch looks like others at 8K miles) Your doing fine, stay away from the small Ma and Pa fuel stations unless they are REALLY busy and your fuel should be fine.
Tom

 

Thanks Tom, I'm probably going to change it every 6,000 or so from now on.

Jamie

 

Where did you get your last filter at?
I go to Cummins here localy and they only cost me about 13 bucks. That's cheap insurance far as I can tell...

I only ask because the De******ip wanted 43 stinking dollars for the exact same filter....

 

I changed my oil and my fuel filter at the dealership after hours. I have friends that work there. With only 3k miles, the cummins tech sat there and basically called me an idiot for wasting my money on changing something that didn't need to be done yet. The oil he was kinda ok with, but the fuel filter got under his skin. I told him to worry about his own money.
I think he was a bit surprised to see how dirty the fuel filter was. I think I gave $33 for the filter which is a rip off, but as far as I know, there isn't a cummins store anywhere in this area.

 

Diesel fuel isn't crystal clear to begin with; so the filter will start to discolor immediately. As far as its being black (the only criteria used to make a decision to change it) - I wouldn't worry about it. If the engine is running good without any fuel starvation symptoms, I wouldn't change it out too soon.

That being said, you could change the filters out every day, but you could also just as easily toss cash out the window on the highway.

 

I change my fuel filters every 15k miles. I followed this same schedule on my Gen II and have never had a fuel starvation problem. I order all of my filters from Geno's Garage. I get the 4-2-1 kit. I think the fuel filters are appx. $12.00 if ordered separately.

 

I've seen many reports of fuel filters turning black at low mileage - I wouldn't be too sure that this is abnormal or indicates that the filter is not serviceable. Filter performance is actually at its lowest when the filter is brand new so I also wouldn't be too sure that changing them at very frequent intervals is necessarily a good idea.

Cummins and Dodge have a lot of experienced engineers on staff who have access to a lot of information... why not follow their advice?

 

That's a good point but, I change my fuel filter every 5000 miles when I change my oil.
My theory is I go to Cummins to pick up a oil filter so why not get a fuel filter too ($11.31 for the fuel filter)??
I'm right there by the filter when I add the oil so why not change the fuel filter while I'm there?

Really though I'll probably start changing it every other oil change now, (10,000 miles), as you can see the filter doesn't look bad at all after 5000 miles.

 

The filter looks black because as someone else said, it's oily; it's wet. Remove the filter, and leave it dry in the sun for a few days. It will return to a nearly white color as the fuel evaporates. It certainly doesn't hurt to change it at the interval you intend on doing, but there's probably 2-3 times the mileage left on it.

 

when changing it do i need to fill the holder with diesel or will the fuel pump take care of that?

 

I would allow the lift pump fill the bowl for you. Guaranteed, filtered fuel that way. Do you 3rd gen. guys have to bump the starter the way we have to on the 2nd gens to get the pump to fill the bowl?

 

When the truck seems sluggish and doesn't get up to speed like it use to it's been either the fuel or air filter. So far I seem to be changing at about half the suggested interval.