Fuel Filter

Fuel Filter

I had the fuel filter on the Corvette replaced this morning. It's a bit more expensive than I would have expected (and more than the service writer expected) because from 1999 onward, the fuel filter has a regulator in it as well.

Total damage for this was about $140. Ouch! But the last time I replaced a fuel filter myself, it caused me to swear off doing auto maintenance. By the time I was done "replacing" the fuel filter on my 1979 Pontiac Grand Am, I had a nasty blister on my thumb, I had bought another wrench--and there was still gasoline dripping out of the carburetor where the fuel line went into it--so I had to take it to the shop anyway.

I was a little suspicious that "it's time to replace the fuel filter" might be a scam that repair shops use to sell a marginally useful service, but to my surprise, it feels like it has noticeably more guts than it had before (and the Corvette isn't exactly in the slowpoke category). I don't know how much crud may have accumulated in the fuel filter over 64,000 miles, but I am wondering if it was enough to slow delivery of gasoline.