# Gen 1 Diesel with Gen 2 fuel filter housing



## BlueTopaz (Aug 25, 2012)

Yeah, I have issues taking my filter bowl off. I don't torque it on very tight but it seems to not want to come off easy and scared that I will break something turning it. I need to look up the Gen 2 set up. I even thought about trying to put a CAT fuel filter setup on. Ease of a spin on filter for the main reason.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

Where is the fuel filter located and is there clearance to run a CAT filter adapter? Might get an aftermarket setup like that and switch to screw-on CAT filters.


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## pandrad61 (Jul 8, 2015)

Barry Allen said:


> Where is the fuel filter located and is there clearance to run a CAT filter adapter? Might get an aftermarket setup like that and switch to screw-on CAT filters.


If I recall gen 1 is passenger side about where under the rear seat would be by the frame frail. Could be totally off. It’s been a very long time since I’ve looked it up


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## Detrious (Jul 5, 2017)

Yea that's about where it is, it's mounted to the fuel tank right by the right rear tire/under the rear seat. The bracket it mounts to it plastic and very flimsy, which is probably why so many people have trouble as it likes to pop out of this bracket when you try and remove the cap. I don't think there is enough space to swap it with for one of those spin on style water separators, plus there is a sensor and I believe fuel heater built into the housing.

When I do my fuel filter I end up wedging a small piece of a 2x4 between the housing and the body beside it. It holds it well enough for me to break the cap loose.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

Detrious said:


> I don't think there is enough space to swap it with for one of those spin on style water separators, plus there is a sensor and I believe fuel heater built into the housing.


In the Gen2 there is not enough room for a big CAT filter, otherwise it's what I'd use. I could live without a fuel heater by just running good winter blend fuel.


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## Evocube (Jan 30, 2019)

Detrious said:


> Yea that's about where it is, it's mounted to the fuel tank right by the right rear tire/under the rear seat. The bracket it mounts to it plastic and very flimsy, which is probably why so many people have trouble as it likes to pop out of this bracket when you try and remove the cap. I don't think there is enough space to swap it with for one of those spin on style water separators, plus there is a sensor and I believe fuel heater built into the housing.
> 
> When I do my fuel filter I end up wedging a small piece of a 2x4 between the housing and the body beside it. It holds it well enough for me to break the cap loose.


I was trying to figure out how to wedge something in there but have not figured out where to wedge it yet... Do you go in from the side? I am just afraid of breaking the mounting plate off then I would be SOL. Plus I was trying to remove the whole housing but cannot figure out how to get it out since it appears there is some kind of clip holding it on...

Honestly I am getting all sorts of frustrated with it but don't want to break it, so I stepped away LOL.


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## Detrious (Jul 5, 2017)

I'm trying to find a decent picture of the housing online since I'm not near the car right now to take one but I'm coming up short.

So if you are looking at it I wedge the piece of wood on the side 180° opposite of the crappy white plastic mounting bracket. So it would look like fuel tank/bracket>filter module>wood>car body. There's just enough space between the module and the body to fit a piece of wood. You might need to move a wiring harness or something out of the way to put it in there. Also make sure that crappy bracket is back in before you do it, you just gotta push the module up some then slide it back in. That will give you the room you need


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

I've not looked too closely but it looks like the housing for the Gen 1 is plastic (yes the lid is, but I mean the part the bolts to the unibody). Considering plastic gets brittle and breaks, using that material for a difficult to remove maintenance item almost falls to the level of incompetence.


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## Boathook36 (Apr 4, 2021)

I found an aluminum filter housing sold with log splitter accessories at Tractor Supply that has a spin on filter compatible with the same fuel filter as my 1995 GMC Topkick with 366 V8. Standard pipe thread for brass hose barbs. Its nearly identical as the Topkick factory version except half the cost. I dont like the CAT version since my 1996 Cat diesel powered Topkick came with a fully clogged filter housing that had to be bypassed. The CAT filters are also usually too big, but this is pretty small. It would fit with basic plumbing. Thats my plan once my plastic junk gives out.


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