M5 Fuel filter

[hanselandgretel]

My M5 has a fuel filter with the metal disks, and I want to put in a paper replacement. I thought they were the same size as the 1 1/2 ton Chev, but the IH is smaller diameter. Can someone tell me which paper element to use, and then let's add it to the parts replacement list that is on the site. Thanks Al Hansel

[Colin Rush]

I had posted this on the Mil-Veh.Org website in 2004. I thought I had posted on here too, but a search of the archive tells me that I apparently never got around to it.

There is a modern filter that fits perfectly, with a small modification. Use the following filters:
Luberfiner LFF200
Wix 33207
Napa FIL3207
Fram CS3608
Purolator 50005
Hastings FF839
Racor 2000SM
Baldwin PF599
Fleetguard FS1210
Motorcraft FD261
or do an interchange search for other brands at your local auto parts store. (Application is actually a GM 5.7 liter 350 diesel fuel filter for 80s and 90s-vintage GM passenger cars.) Open the box, and throw any O-rings away, or save them for a future project. The filter itself is a paper element type like all modern filters, has a step on one end with a hole. You will need to drill the center of the other blank end with a hole just large enough to fit over the 3/8" stud that holds the filter and bowl on. Chamfer the hole, and blow out any stray bits of metal. Inspect inside to make absolutely sure you got everything out, and maybe even wiggle a magnet around inside, if you have one. Push the end with the factory hole onto the stud first, and you will notice that the step on the end fits the pocket in the main filter body perfectly. The hole you drilled will be on the bottom now with the end of the stud sticking through. The lower bowl-shaped washer and a hex jam nut (described below) should fit too. Now put the bowl on with the original nut. You now have a new modern high-efficiency filter instead of that old obsolete unit.

Other items that you should get are a SS jam nut, and a SS fender washer to put beneath the jam nut. The jam nut holds the filter on the stud. The washer prevents the nut from deforming the end of the filter. If your hardware store offers them, maybe even a rubber washer between the washer and the filter, but that is up to you.

Most of the filters I have seen by this time are usually rusted so that the stud is just a thin thread of metal near where the nut would go. You may need to make a new stud. Again, I would use stainless steel, or brass.

As I recall, this works for the M-2-4 filter, too. I put one of these together for Jeff two years ago. I had photos. Wish I knew where they went.
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