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How to replace a ep3 fuel filter

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11
Today I changed the fuel filter on my ep3 and as it's an area which doesn't seem to be much information floating about on, I have created a bit of
a "how to".

First of all, get your fuel filter. As far as I can tell its available from Honda only and here is their part number. All the stuff passing
itself off as a fuel filter online on ebay and the likes are the charcoal canister.

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Here's what's in the box.

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The filter itself and a couple of o-rings in a bag.

Before you start disassembly, its recommended that you de-pressurising the fuel system. I didn't, I made sure that the key was out of the ignition and not turned on at point during the work. To what level you take this is entirely up to you. The Honda recommendations are overkill in the extreme in my opinion.
The safety stuff done, on with the change.

First job is to remove the rear seat.

You need to remove one bolt that is positioned on join between the seat upright and the lower section. Its located about 50mm to the right of
the left hand seat belt clip.

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With the bolt out you can now lift the rear seat. You need to get a bit phyiscal with it. On the under side of the rear seat is a clip that
attaches to the car floor. Each of these is located about 25cm in from each end. Pull hard upwards to disengage.

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Undo the four screws retaining the cover and remove

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Remove the wiring from the top of the filter. I found it easier to work in the area if I removed the top cover from the harness.

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Remove the fuel pipe from the top of the filter by pinching the clip and pulling it off. There will be a little fuel spilled at this time which you can mop up with rags.

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Now the awkward bit, removing the large nut on the top. I made up a very basic tool using a bit of steel plate with some square section bar g-clamped to it. This engaged into the castllations in the top of the nut and made light work of removing it. You could tap it around with a hammer and drift if you used a lot of care. It wasn't as tight as I thought it would be.

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Nut off!

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The filter is attached to the fuel pump and they come out together. As you lift the filter, twist lighty at the the same time. The fuel pump starts off at about a 90 degree angle to the filter to start with it but as you lift it starts to straighten. The twisting action helps the rear of the cradle to stop catching on the main access hole on the way out. As the filter clears the tank, to withdraw the pump you will not be able to pull it straight out. The fuel sender float is mounted on the left hand side of it and will need to be coaxed out with damage.

Once out you can work on it on a bench.

First off detach the pivot points of the pump from the filter assembly.

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Remove the electrical plugs from the filter

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Remove the pressure regulator from the pump. This has to be unclipped in two places on the top and the underside of the pump. Once both clips have been released the regulator and pipe can be pulled off of the end of the pump unit. Take care unclipping the fuel sender wiring.

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Once off, there is another clip which holds regulator/metal pipe to the fuel filter hose. Remove this and remove the fuel filter hose.
The other hose unclips in a straight-forward manor.

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On the underside of the new filter is a black plug and on the underside of the old one is the same plug, but with wire coming out of it. I wasn't entierly sure what the best approach was here so I uplugged the one from the old filter and replaced it with the blank one in the new filter. I think this is a earthing strap of some kind.

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The clip that retains the fuel hose on top of the filter now needs to be swapped over. A bit tight of Honda not to supply that, but there you are. Lift the clips that retain it gentle and withdraw from the end.

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Fit to new filter.

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Remember that bag of o-rings in the box, you will need them now. Replace the o-ring on the pressure regulator/metal pipe, the tube pointing upwards in the photo. The other o-ring fits inside the filter pipe that attaches to the pump directly below the filter itself.

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Attach the new filter to the pump at its pivot points

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Re-connect wiring to the filter.

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Attach the filter hoses to the pump. I found applying a little oil to the new o-rings helped ease them into position. The u-clip on my pump which holds the hose to the pressure regulator was weak so I gave it a bit of a helping hand with a cable tie. Once those two are connected they can be pushed back on to the pump from the end, sliding back towards the filter. Clip the wiring for the fuel sender back in position.

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The other pipe is a straight forward press fit, remembering to make sure that the new o-ring is fitted in the end of it.

There you go, one filter pump assembly ready for re-fitting.

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Thread the pump back into the tank, taking care with the fuel sender.

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Once the pump is in the tank but before the filter is inserted, re-fit the tank/filter seal. This fits in the top of the tank rather than fits on the filter. Once in place correctly, push the filter home.

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Replace retaining nut, fuel hose and wiring. Now start the car and check for fuel leaks around the filter/hose joint. If all is good, remove wiring from pump and re-thread through cover and re-seat grommet.

Replace cover plate and rear seat.

Job done
 
Great little post on the ep3 tank fuel filter. Was very handy while replacing mine. Thanks!
 
Great write-up! Don't suppose you autopsied your old filter? Was there much crap in it out of interest?
 
I didn't open it up but you could tell from the entry gauze it was still very clean. I guess it depends on the quality of the fuel you put in it. That was at 40000 miles or there abouts.
 
Just now changed the fuel filter
It is a fiddly job but all goes well in taking your time and patience
Boy I feel dizzy now need to put my head down
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I had a go on this worked my way with a drill and put has many holes on the sides and break it apart
The top layer of the filter had something like cotton wool type of material but compressed
And the second layer type of material was hard paper rolled up













 
That's the vent to air filter that is there for environmental compliance. It's not on the service schedule.
 
That's the vent to air filter that is there for environmental compliance. It's not on the service schedule.

What does it do does it relate to the fuel system
Just had a look on Lings Honda parts and description of a Filter Canister
 
What does it do does it relate to the fuel system
Just had a look on Lings Honda parts and description of a Filter Canister

The fuel tank has a vent to air to stop it exploding if the temperature of the tank increases and the fuel and gas inside expands. These vented fumes go through a carbon filter (the one you pictured) to stop petrol fumes from filling up garages and basically stinking up the highways and byways with petrol fumes.

They've been a standard fit requirement on cars for decades IIRC.

http://www.samarins.com/glossary/vent-valve.html
 
The fuel tank has a vent to air to stop it exploding if the temperature of the tank increases and the fuel and gas inside expands. These vented fumes go through a carbon filter (the one you pictured) to stop petrol fumes from filling up garages and basically stinking up the highways and byways with petrol fumes.

They've been a standard fit requirement on cars for decades IIRC.

http://www.samarins.com/glossary/vent-valve.html

Good information that Loxy
Is this something that never needs changing
 
It can need, but it isn't on the service schedule. It is an "as and when" item.
 
I used this guide to change my fuel filter today. Although a messy job with the pertrol it was really quite easy to do and took about an hour taking my time.
 
Changed mine today using this, thanks for the detail.

Small addenda:
The seat clips at the front are little metal loops, not the regular plastic clips I was expecting, it took ages to work this out. The easiest way I found to lift/unclip was to use both hands to get one hand under the outside edge, then tuck my hand from the middle of the seat until it was close and on the other side of the clip so that I could pull with both, they were stuck tight.
The other issue was the earth clips, these don't just pull out (I was expecting it to be some kind of spade connector), they're a barb. The one on the pressure regulator was semi-easy because you can poke the barb in with a knife and the clip slides out. The one on the filter is easiest if you just outright destroy the old filter where the black plastic bit's retaining clips sit so you can slide it out easily.

Now I'm just left hoping I haven't bent/broken anything to do with the fuel float/sensor/arm. :)
 
Any reason for changing yours Mike? Symptoms or choice?

Partly because it's over 85,000Mi now and hasn't been done, partly piece of mind (and it's quite cheap to buy one). Also a little bit of curiosity; seeing if it makes a difference, granted unlikely, but for thirty or so quid it's not too bad a deal.

Of course now the towels I'd used to prevent things in the house getting damaged all reek of petrol, as does the washing machine I washed them in, and I had to leave all the windows open, but that's an entirely different problem :D

I took a decent-length drive with it after I'd finished. I think the fuel-gauge still reads okay and the engine feels fine. So at least I didn't ruin anything.

The fuel-filter is apparently a 75,000 mile thing according to various service schedules I've seen. I've not seen too many following that though (for good reason, it's "amusing" to get to).

https://type-r-owners.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?87157-EP3-FN2-service-schedule
 
I did mine too a few months ago, just as it hit 105k, can't say that it's made any difference but the old one had some dirty fuel come out out of it. Peace of mind as others say.
 
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