Hi has any person replaced the diesel filter ,is it a case of unscrewing the top (green),draining and fitting new element then refilling .Does it prime it self or is there anyhing I should be cautious of?

I know this is a late reply, but I'm doubly interested in this as I have my son's 1.9 CDTi Vectra to do as well. They use the same element, so I would expect the housing also to be the same, the laser tool 4274 seems to confirm this.
It seems from a previous post the tops of the body are difficult to unscrew, and can easily be damaged, hence the tool from laser.
I'm going to make a tool up, as the laser tool is over £50. The filter from FIAT was £40, twice as much as Halfords charge for a HFF282, but to be fair my local Halfords don't stock them.
I'll try and take some pics when I do it and post them, any comments or tips?

Addition - I've just worked out how the tool should be used (I think). It looks like you take the whole unit out of the car, and separate it from its steel bracket. Then the housing is dropped into the white part which can be held in a vice. Then the three spoke steel part can be placed on top of the housing, and torque applied to it using a 1/2" square lever. This means you don't get twisted brackets etc. Maybe I need to invest £50.

http://www.lasertools.co.uk/item.aspx?cat=370&item=3693

I just used a carefully calibrated sharp tap with a lightish hammer and blunt chisel to free off the plastic collar. go carefully and the tap will overcome the initial friction without any massive torque needing to be applied.

It's an absolute doddle to unscrew using a standard cheapo fabric oil filter wrench - no need to take it off the car, just unplug the diesel pipes so they're out of the way. Self bleeding as well once the ignition is turned on.

ivantate said:

I just used a carefully calibrated sharp tap with a lightish hammer and blunt chisel to free off the plastic collar. go carefully and the tap will overcome the initial friction without any massive torque needing to be applied.

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Is that the plastic collar on the fuel line? mine seems to be in bits

Really easy, not. I actually broke the stitching on a new filter strap wrench trying to get the top off the housing. I left it in the end. Still got the filter to fit sometime.

Maybe that's why shop4parts offer the whole housing for sale, they get broken trying to get the top off.

It's not LH thread is it?

I used a block of wood and small hammer to try and tap the grey collar holding the top fuel line in place (is that it's function ) and it's now broken.

The above post isn't very clear what was tapped and in which direction so silly of me to have tried probs £60 down the drain as I'll probably have to replace the whole filter assy for the sake of a 5p clip :bang: I've left the fuel filter for now. I'm only changing it as I don't know when it was last done.

I'm going to wait until I get my hands on a Panda Multijet elearn DVD until I try something else new.

Instead tonight I changed the Engine oil and filter (again as I realised I was given B3 instead of B4 spec last time) and the gear oil as the gearbox is the same casing as on my old Uno 1.0ie.

I've got coolant and brake fluid on my to do list.

From a Punto MJ thread

https://www.fiatforum.com/punto/87146-punto-multijet-fuel-filter-problem.html

bobian81 said:

The car has 42000 miles on BUT I believe it should have been done earlier, maybe 24 or 36000. As for the pipes, they are easy, theres 3, 1 on the top fuel out, 2 on the side, fuel in and return from the injectors, all of the connectors are simple push fit, you push the fitting in and pull the pipe connector at the same time and hey presto it pops off. to remove the filter body from the car, it simply slides up out of a holder, once off you can clamp it in a vice and carefully unscrew the top with a very large pair of stilsons or monkey grips, I tried an oil filter strap, but it didnt generate enough pressure to undo.
My filter was absolutley black, the car used to suffer from a bit of lag when you put your foot down, I put this down to the turbo, but its much better now, feels like a different car.
Fiat wanted 23 + vat for a filter, I got one for 10 + vat from ggbs italian car specialist in bradford, they do mail order I think, if you quote your reg no, they will make sure you get exactly the right filter their no is 01274 733727.
hope this helps

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tommo1 said:

Maybe that's why shop4parts offer the whole housing for sale, they get broken trying to get the top off.

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but if you look at the image on shop4parts, it has UFI filters watermark



so go to ufi filters web page
http://217.141.19.68/uficat/

and search for your car
select "by Brand and Model"

after selecting on road, fiat ect. its "panda 169"

for mine its "complete filter" 55.084.00 or 55.173.00 (i'll check engine code later) Click the i and it gives data sheet

http://217.141.19.68/uficat/scheda_filtro_popup.php?IDFiltro=55.084.00&IDLingua=1

http://217.141.19.68/uficat/scheda_filtro_popup.php?IDFiltro=55.173.00&IDLingua=1



oh hers the filter key
http://217.141.19.68/uficat/scheda_filtro_popup.php?IDFiltro=19.008.00&IDLingua=1


now for the good news i found a supplier

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-8819-fuel-filter-ufi-complete-diesel-filter-5508400.aspx

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-8837-fuel-filter-ufi-complete-diesel-filter-5517300.aspx

looks to be about £40 cheaper than shop 4 parts for the assy.

it's not so bad if i can't get the 5p clip.

Louie, if you havent already bought a housing, pm me ur reg number and ill check through my work how much a new filter assembly would be for you as im sure we are cheaper. I need your trg number as there are two differnet filter types fitted to the mjets as i found out when i was looking for my car. Unless you can see any markings which say whether its a UFI system or the other which i cant remember atm.

I was going to go down this route but went with the old "hammer and flat blade screwdriver" option and got the top unscrewed. Taking your time and light slow taps will eventually get the thing moving.

After a few weeks wait, I got my filter assembly.

I ended up with a SOFIMA S5085GC as opieoils were struggling to get hold of the UFI for me.

On the box it cross refers to fiat part number 46849581 and UFI part 55.084.00 and the UFI part matches the one that came off my Panda. although it also holds the FIAT logo

Took about 20 mins to swap over and I managed to open my old filter without braking it any more. The element looks black :yum:

So I have a good filter body and ring, with a head that needs a new clip or swapping, so if your stuck for a filter assy and have a good head, give me a shout...

Louie Bee said:

Took about 20 mins to swap over and I managed to open my old filter without braking it any more. The element looks black :yum:
:

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I've just replaced the fuel filter in my wife' diesel, at 36,000 miles, and the filter was like new. We've always used Shell diesel from new, and I do wonder whether that has helped keep the filter clean. I found the filter body ring easy to undo once I ignored the direction of the arrow on the ring. That must be for tightening it up! Anyway, like most things, it comes loose by turning anticlockwise. I only undid the top pipe on the filter, by pushing the pipe in towards the filter, and then pushing the grey securing ring in at the same time. The filter assembly then just lifts out. No need to remove the filter body from the car.

Colin

Having the same issue as Louie Bee, although I broke the smaller grey collar on the pump end of the fuel line! Fiat wanted me to buy a new pump for the sake of this tiny bloody clip, as you can imagine I objected and have currently jury rigged a connection.

"So I have a good filter body and ring, with a head that needs a new clip or swapping, so if your stuck for a filter assy and have a good head, give me a shout...

I don't suppose you have either of the two smaller grey collars left over do you? There's a smaller one on the lid, and a smaller one on the housing, the lower connector of the two.

You'd be helping out a desperate man!

Dave

Hi there,

I'm not sure what you mean by the pump end of the fuel line. the 2 I have are the same size and I can't remember if the other was bigger or smaller.

this is my almost complete filter (apart from broken coller on filter cap).



there is no pump inside the filter housing

I'm guessing we broke the same bit

Mie all seem the same size - had a look at the one on the car.

Best way to change the filter on these is to remove the housing & put in a padded vice, rag for instance. Hammer & large screw driver. Tap gently job done. Quite an easy job in my opinion. I have a Vauxhall diesel hack, the only fiddly bit for me was releasing the push on lines. I'm too tight to fork out for fuel line pliers so I used a screw driver.

Louie Bee said:

Hi there,

I'm not sure what you mean by the pump end of the fuel line. the 2 I have are the same size and I can't remember if the other was bigger or smaller.

this is my almost complete filter (apart from broken coller on filter cap).

View attachment 105198

there is no pump inside the filter housing

I'm guessing we broke the same bit

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Yeah thats the thing. The two remaining collars on the filter housing, the lower one on a slightly longer stalk is what I broke.

Strictly speaking the one I broke is the same size but not in the same place. One of the fuel lines coming out of the filter housing leads to an injection pump in my panda, traversing the engine underneath the big plastic air box. When this line leaked, I got a new line but broke the collar! You know as well as I what a massive pain it is.

They seem the same size, but they take tubes of subtly different sizes, and the lower one is the one I need.

I don't suppose you need that collar...?

Got a little confused as some industrial primary filter heads combine a lift pump too

I didn't think the high pressure pump would have a plastic coller too

well I guess it's natural that they are the same connection type as it's still the low pressure side (just lift pump pressure).

I'll have a look tomorrow if I can remove just the collar not promising owt but the mistake cost me a few quid too - no where near the price of a HP pump though

send us an email if you ain't herd from us by about 8pm tomorrow to give us a nudge.

Got it.. not the easyist thing to remove in 1 piece.. and I hope I can save you the best part of £700 on a HP pump (or whatever They are asking now) if it fits.

Is the HP pump to fuel rail fule line use once only too?



PM me with an offer and remember the same mistake cost me £46.35 (£125.38 if i didnt shop around and went to shop4parts).

Hi,

I replaced my fuel filter on my diesel Panda yesterday with the assistance of the recently issued Haynes manual. If you haven't got one I strongly recommend you order one. Anyway, replacing the filter is straight forward. You need to disconnect the electrical connector from the top of the housing, then disconnect the fuel line going into the top of the unit by pulling the collar back and this will allow you to pull the pipe clear from the unit. I suggest you wrap some rags around the side of the enclosure as there may be a small amount of fuel that will spill out when you start to unscrew the large collar ( anticlockwise). There will be fuel dripping from the old filter as you lift it out so make sure you have a container to quickly put the filter and cover it's attached to. You then need to rotate the old filter 50degrees and detach it from the cover. Don't forget to renew the sealing ring, there should be one supplied with the new filter. I would also suggest you put a suitable cover over the fuel inlet pipe that you've disconnected. I cut a finger off a rubber glove and secured it over the end of the pipe with a cable tie. I hope this is of use to you.