The fuel filter on the V8 Soarer is on the left hand side of the car (when you are sitting in it), just in front of the rear wheel, underneath the car.
Toyota part number is 23300-50050. The equivalent Ryco part is a lot cheaper - that's the one I got, part number Z383. Old blocked fuel filters cause many problems with power and fuel injection systems. Always a good idea to change it the same time as the air filter.
Prepare yourself for a battle though. Get the car on ramps so that it is nice and solid. Spray area with WD-40 or CRC to penetrate the nuts. Get one of those pipe spanners - a ring spanner with a notch cut out. I bought a set of 3 for $13. The larger nut on the fuel filter is a 19 mm. I used a Metrinch wall drive open end spanner. Some sturdy leather gloves to protect your hands when they smash into the under side of the car when the nut finally gives. To get extra leverage use a ring spanner hooked over the other end of the spanner as in the photo. Makes undoing it much easier. Get a big bucket - I use a large rectangular plastic storage chest to drain coolant and fuel into. Put the bucket under the fuel filter. I couldn't find my hose clamps so I figured I would just change it quickly (it starts to leak fuel straight away) before running out of fuel (dumb idea!) - only had 8 litres in the tank anyway.
After all that preparation the nuts cracked open easily - it was a piece of cake. Must have got lucky - have heard stories of nuts getting real stuck. Once the nuts were both cracked I put on some rubber gloves so my hands wouldn't stink of fuel - a bit whimpy I know... Proceeded to change the filter as fast as possible to minimise fuel loss. Fuel ran down rubber gloves and into armpit - great! Just as I nearly got it off the fuel stopped of its on accord - a good thing. So when you do it, crack the nuts and let it drain - only about 500 ml, less than a litre for sure. Once the filter was in start the car - takes a bit to prime with fuel again. Check thoroughly for leaks - check tomorrow as well. Someone else suggested taking out the fuse for the fuel pump and running the car until it stalls - then changing the filter (haven't tried this).
While you got the car up might as well change the stinky diff oil - you will know what I mean when you drain it. Mine is axle code AO1A - normal diff oil 80w/90 - takes about 1.5 litres. The magnet on the sump plug was covered in thick slime (iron filings). You will need a big 10mm allen key, drain out the bottom plug, then refill plug that is higher up the diff towards front of car - hard to get oil in but just crush the plastic bottle the oil comes in (should have a plastic hose built into it) - or use an oil pump (not everyone has one though).
Good Luck!
Here's Colin's story when he changed his on his Twin Turbo- not always smooth sailing - he didn't give the "remove fuel pump fuse and run 'til dry" a go though.
I have just got back from trying to change the fuel filter myself. Peter said to let it
drain after cracking the nuts. And I did ... only problem is that it's still draining as I
sit and type here, and the drain probably is more than what Peter encountered when he
changed his. The nuts weren't too hard to crack, but after awhile of letting the fuel run
I thought ... heck let's rip if off and get it done. But ... the fuel draining caused the
nuts to go cold (and i mean freezing) and now i cannot turn the nuts any further
(contracted i suspect). So here I am sitting here typing away and hoping that the fuel
will stop running and that the nuts will warm up enough to let me get the filter off. The
bloody weather here isn't helping much either, it's starting to get cold now and that
definitely won't help the nuts. On the bright side of things, at least all i stand to lose
is a couple of dollars of fuel, a bunch of angry neighbours complaining of fuel fumes and
maybe my arm after it got well lathered with 98 octane shell optimax.
Cheers everyone, Colin
Yeah, on hindsight, yeah I would probably change the nuts straightaway too ... great thing hindsight ... Just went out to check and thank goodness the draining has stopped (phew!). Will try to see if it will loosen now, or maybe tmmrw when the weather gets warmer, hope your weather predicting is good Barry ! "cold nuts" haha
Ahhh the science behind my stuck nuts ... Anyways, the bloody stupid sickening nuts on the ***damned freakin' fuel freakin' filter just WON'T BLOODY COME OFF !!! After two hours trying on and off, they still are happily gripping the fuel-freakin'-filter. Please excuse the expletives because I am in quite a mood right now. I guess I officially qualify for the ' Fuel Filter Horror Stories Club' now. Sprayed the thing with half a can of WD40, letting it sit now, and will get a thingy to add leverage to the spanner. And in my vicious tussling with the filter I accidentally snapped a plastic thingy which held the filter to the wall of the car. No harm done other than that I hope, by the way it is ok to leave the car for a day with the nuts half undone is it ? Horror stories to share anyone ?
More horror stories!:
The changing of the fuel filter is complicated by the fact that it is below the fuel
tank and the threads on the filter and the "nuts" on both ends seem to be
stiff/bind for some reason. Pinching the fuel tank rubber tubes didn't seem to stop the
flow of fuel for some reason. So it was a petrol shower until the new filter was sealed.
The old filter spewed out lots of dirt when turned upsidedown. There must be a way of
stopping the flow!! Considering that it is dangerous to have so much fuel flowing around
and on you in case of a spark the consequences don't bear thinking about. I would
thoroughly recommend running the tank low and draining the fuel first before attempting to
change the filter as suggested above. If the nuts are stiff it would be very difficult to
do it if the car is not on a hoist.
I don't know if there is a drain plug but you could drain it by loosening the fuel filter
and waiting patiently for to fuel to drain into a container before proceeding to replace
it completely. In my case the threads on one of the nuts was damaged and required cleaning
up with a small file before it would screw in to the new filter.
Perhaps Steve Janda has the anser:
To prevent the flow of petrol from the fuel filter try this: open the boot, remove the lining behind the fuel tank and disconnect the plug feeding power to the fuel pump. Then start up the engine and wait few seconds for it to stall due to fuel starvation. This will definitely remove most petrol from the fuel lines. However, proceed at your own risk as I have not tried this yet for the fuel filter change.
So fun and games all round! You gotta love petrol don't ya?