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See and avoid the new plastic Wix fuel filter for the Duramax!

WarWagon

Well it hits on 7 of 8...
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See and avoid the new plastic (composite) Wix fuel filter for the Duramax - unless you like to limp your engine from air in the fuel. :mad2: Comes from a bad WIF thread/design/whatever - air leak at the bottom of the plastic filter. This is the first time Wix has ever let me down and by the looks of it I am not alone!

There is nothing like hitting 65 in a 75 zone foot flat on the floor and the engine suddenly limping. Low fuel rail pressure and misfire on #8 and #2. Cleared and still limped attempting to get to 60 MPH.

Friendly dealer in Kingman, AZ said ADOT had several trucks towed in with this cr@p filter on them with more than just air leaks as the Water in Fuel sensor had completely fallen out of the Wix filter on some of them! $180 to change the filter and no techs in on Saturday - Yes, they let me buy one and change it in their lot.

After removing the Wix filter I noticed fuel now leaking from the WIF o-ring on the filter before I removed the sensor. :eek: The filter change solved the problem. (1000 miles over the weekend on a AC Delco filter no limping.) Sometimes you get lucky at a dealer with good advice and really lucky with free good advice.

Although one might ponder the smaller 'eco BS' design as wasting less fuel on a filter change till you recall this is also the "sump" for water storage that the filter has dropped out of the fuel. This lack of water storage capacity is the difference between a small water problem (limping to the next town) or getting towed. You are getting cheated in this ignored designed water capacity feature from Wix. Plastic vs. steel rust is irrelevant at 15K mile change intervals. And some let the filter fuel settle after draining and put it back in the tank if it is clean... :rolleyes5:

The WIF sensor leaking and/or falling out is a poor design on the plastic Wix filter. So until Wix fixes this issue AVOID THIS FUEL FILTER!!! (Me? I will only walk once over a *unprintable* bad filter design/brand/lack of performance.)
 
The Donaldson water cavity is bigger than the old Wix and is MUCH bigger than the new one. I like Donaldson's fuel filter for the Dmax.
 
I have a way differnet filter on mine, it is a 1 micron filter that I got from Nicktane, haven't used a OEM filter in years....
 
This doesn't mean I'm going to continue to use them, but I haven't run into any issues. I want to switch to the Nicktane setup with the cat filters.
 
I have to thought about the same thing. I'm due for a change on mine now.
 
Whatever the reason Wix is having the problem NOW with their current stock of fuel filters. Keep this in mind as the problem is common enough for dealers to have to turn down warranty and charge customers for towing and to change the aftermarket part that is causing the 'performance issue'.
 
This doesn't mean I'm going to continue to use them, but I haven't run into any issues. I want to switch to the Nicktane setup with the cat filters.

I run both of the Nicktane filter setups, rear and front with no problems whatsoever. Filter changes are a snap, and you get better filtration to boot.
 
Whatever the reason Wix is having the problem NOW with their current stock of fuel filters. Keep this in mind as the problem is common enough for dealers to have to turn down warranty and charge customers for towing and to change the aftermarket part that is causing the 'performance issue'.

Ah, possibly not a design issue, but possibly a quality contol issue. Thanks for the clarification.
 
I'm sure that what we say and do about this issue here is a small bump in the overall but with these forums spreading the word around, the ramifications can be significant to WIX. I, personally, have been on record as stating I will not use a plastic housed filter. As an engineer, and a lifelong gearhead, it just doesn't 'feel' right to me. Maybe it IS just a QC issue but that is unimportant to me and I'm certain there are others.
JMHO
 
I've heard to many horror stories of the WIF sensor falling out or leaking for my taste, not to mention a quick search will reveal that tuned trucks have had coding problems with the plastic filters for low rail pressure.
 
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