I suspect that I need to replace the fuel filter on my '05 Ram & would like to know the procedure. When I still farmed, some of our diesel equipment required nothing when doing a change while some of them you had to open a bleed screw & manually pump the air out. There's no info in the owner's manual other than the part number. I'm guessing this doesn't require anything special but before I mess with it I would like to hear from someone with experience. Thanks.

I've never had to do it myself but I know when they change mine they cycle the ignition switch 3 or 4 times after its back together to prime it before they start it. Usually one guy checks for leaks while another cycle's it.

Thanks for that info, anyone else?

Go to cumminsforums.com and check out a previous section called 3rd gen popular fuel filter data. There are some filter brands to stay away from as they don't do a very good job. You must keep that system clean or you are going to be spending 3k plus for injectors.

nothing special on my 03. unscrew the lid. out w/ the old and in with the new. put the new o-ring on and re-install the lid. start truck and check for leaks.

Thanks all

Lots of videos on the internet....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HNfa6vV1yk


Easy job, take your time if it's your first time.

Hardest part is collecting the diesel fuel you drain out of the filter housing, not much fuel is lost.

Be careful when re-installing the plastic lid, it has fine threads that can cross-thread easily damaging the fragile plastic threads.
Make sure the lid is flat on the housing and start tightening the lid very slowly by hand and make sure it's going on correctly.

Make sure you close the drain valve on the filter housing when your finished and BEFORE trying to start your truck.

When restarting your truck I cycle the key forward a few times, you can hear the fuel pump running.
After cycling it my truck usually starts right up and runs for about 30 seconds then stalls.
I cycle the ignition a few more times and then turn the truck over.
Usually takes about a minute of turning the truck over and releasing until the truck starts for good.

One more thing on the filter change. Even though it looks like you could stick in a 3/8 drive ratchet into the lid, DON'T! You will break the lid at that area. Use only a wrench or socket on the outside hex to unscrew the lid. 1 1/8 if I remember correctly.

The mechanics of changing it are no big deal, I've worked with farm equipment all my life. Our last combine had the fuel filter & water separator located on the right side of the transverse-mounted block, out of sight, out of reach. You had to lean over the engine, peering upside down with a shop light to get to them. Not as simple as it may sound.

It was just the priming that I was concerned with, since, as stated in my first post, some of our equipment needed extra work to get the air out.

But the Cumminsforums.com site was a nice revelation, don't know why I hadn't thought to search for something like that! Seeing the unanimous acclaim for the Baldwin filter convinced me to go that route instead of NAPA or the factory filter from the dealer. Bad part is I had to order it & now gotta wait, no place local carries 'em.

But I appreciate everyone here who weighed in, always can find good info here.

Baldwin pf7977

If you are going to run a Wix, Get the 33585XE instead of the plain old 33585. They are a 5 micron filter instead of 7. Your injectors will thank you. Better yet, an aftermarket 2 micron filter setup is worth the money on a common rail. They will NOT put up with dirty fuel. Run cheap filters with todays trash fuel and you WILL have problems. They are nothing like your 60s model John Deere tractor that runs fine on fuel pumped out of some old rusty tank.

FYI the Wix 33585 XE is available at O'Reilly's for $23.99.