How do you change a fuel filter Ford Escape?

Answer 1

start the engine

open the hood and remove the system fuse

the engine will stall, the pressure is now relieved

the fuel filter is in front of the fuel tank, driver side

wear gloves/saftey glasses and have a fire extinguisher available (who knows!) the filter will have 2 hoses attached at either end. white/yellowish clips attach these hoses. feel for the top of the clip and push the 2 ends in and down. you may have to use a screw driver to pry the bottom of the clip as well. pull the bottom of the clip down, it will not come out of the coupling completely. repeat for both lines, pull lines firmly off of filter. unscrew filter from hose clamp. approc 6-10 oz of fuel will spill from lines and filter. you should use a pan. install new filter, in same direction as last. insert new clips into coupling, discard old. clip on "out" side may be reused if an R clip. tighten clamp on filter, attach hoses. push in clips to lock. inspect for leaks, wipe entire area clean of fuel. insert fuse and attempt to start. may take a few cranks to get system started.

Answer 2 (2006 Ford Escape XLS 2.3L I4 - MT)The fuel line will likely remain pressurized, so you will need to dissipate this residual pressure in the fuel line by first removing the R3 relay in the fuse box under the hood. The fuse box is located on the far left of the engine compartment when looking out from the driver's seat, adjacent to the Air Filter Box. See your Owner's manual for the exact location of the R3 relay, which is the Fuel Pump relay. It will require a good tug straight upwards to pull this relay out - wiggle it slightly as you pull, if you have to.

Once the R3 relay is out try starting your car, it should run until all fuel presently stored between the output of the fuel pump and fuel nozzles has become depleted. Be sure to turn the key back to OFF. Now you have removed any residual pressure and can safely de-clip the fuel filter lines for removal of the fuel filter. You must be in a well ventilated area, open the garage door or work outside - fuel vapors can collect and present the risk of an explosion. Avoid getting fuel on your skin or eyes, wear gloves and safety glasses if you have them. The filter canister itself is clamped down by a single hose clamp which can be loosened by a flat-head screwdriver. Be sure to notice the orientation of the fuel filter, to avoid installing it backwards. The filters themselves should have a little arrow, so make sure the little arrow points away from the fuel tank (rear of the car) when it comes time to install the new one. After that, you almost have to squeeze it out of its retaining bracket, just be careful not to splatter yourself with fuel as you wiggle the fuel filter out of the retaining bracket.

After the fuel filter is replaced, clamped down, & fuel lines re-clipped, the R3 relay may be pushed back into its place in the engine compartment fuse box. Insert your key in the ignition and turn it to the FIRST POSITION, this is to turn on all accessories, including the fuel pump which is now energized because the R3 relay has been re-installed. Now turn the key back to OFF, then back to the FIRST POSITION once again. You are doing this to send fuel back through the emptied fuel lines, including your newly installed filter. Do this one more time, OFF and then back to the FIRST POSITION. By the third time you would have built up the fuel system pressure of approximately 39 PSI. At this point, before you try to actually start the engine, take a good look under the car at everything you disturbed while changing the fuel filter, you are looking for the lack of leaks and for part security.

Turn the ignition to START. It should continue to run, but should it stall, it's ok because it just wasn't primed up well enough. Try turning the ignition to START once again. After the engine has stabilized, take a final good look under the car to make sure that there are no leaks with a running engine. That's all there is to it. See Owner's manual for recommended fuel filter replacement intervals. This task is quick and easy and can be done by just about anyone, so do yourself a favor and save some money, change it yourself.

- clutchnshift