i know this is a stupid questions but i am new to the diesel world. i have a 2001 2500 CTD and am about to undertake my first oil and filter chang on it. As far as i can tell the oil chance will be no different than my gas trucks. My question is what are the exact procedures for chancging the fuel filter on my truck (from the location of the filter to changing and priming the filter and what filters to use) Thanks

 

What year is your truck? I have an '05 and just did my filter and oil for the first time yesterday. Actually VERY easy!! I used an adjustable wrench to loosen the filter cap, but first drain the fuel from the filter housing using the drain hose attached. What I did because that hose is too short is used a piece of garden hose , put it over the fuel filter hose and into a bottle...worked great. Loosen the cap pull straight up, work it out of the engine compartment, unclip the filter from the cap, take off the O-Ring, clip on new filter, put on new O-Ring (lube with some diesel fuel, I just squeezed my old filter and got the diesel on my fingers and lubed the O-Ring with that)....put filter and cap back on and tighten...that's it...takes all of 5-10 minutes....I was amazed how BLACK the filter was compared to the brandy new white one from Gino's Garage. As for oil change that was easy as well. I also put on the quick change valve from Gino's to make the rest of the oil changes even easier. This is the one I put on http://www.genosgarage.com/prodinfo....er=FTP-F104N-A will make things very easy and also makes getting an oil sample easy for analysis if you want. The only thing that took me a bit of time was putting the new filter on...they don't make it easy, but I finally got it....

Only thing I haven't done is lube it....not sure how or what I need, so any info on doing a lube job will be GREATLY APPRECIATED....

 

Basically you need a 1-1/8" socket to remove the black plastic lid on the fuel filter container. When you pull the lid up the filter comes with it. The filter only snaps inside the lid. Replace both the filter and the O-Ring on the lid. Now drain the old fuel from the fuel filter container. This removes any water, dirt or junk in the filter container. Now fill it back up with fresh fuel. Install the new filter and tighten. Bump your starter and let the LP run a cycle ot two. Then start.

FUEL FILTER should be changed every other oil change or 15K miles
You might wan to get a fuel pressure gauge to if you don't have one... Mine is plumbed post filter so if the pressure starts to fall I know the filter could be to blame.

 

I know this gets asked a lot too, but BUMP the starter means to turn the key to Start for a split second (don't start the stuck) and leave the key in the ON position. What this does is the ECM thinks it was a failed start and engages the lift pump for ~25 seconds to try to prime the fuel system. Whenever I change the filter I usually bump the starter 3 times and then start. I have never had it fail to start that way. The engine may stumble a wee bit but that is normal as any remaining air is purged out.

 

Here's an oft quoted link for fuel filter changes.
http://dodgeram.org/tech/dsl/filter/00fuel_filter.htm


phox