Changing Fuel Filters on 580CK

Secondary Filter is the white one on top, and the Primary is the one on the bottom.




I changed the Primary and Secondary fuel filters today on my 580CK diesel. I ran into a somewhat frustrating question regarding the WIX Primary fuel filter. It comes with a round cork doughnut-shaped gasket, about 3/8" thick. The directions say that on "some models" you need to first put the cork gasket in the bottom of the cannister, and then slide in the filter and then put it in place and screw/tighten the large screw on top.

When I took the old one out, it was also a WIX filter with the same part number, but whoever put it in last did not use the cork gasket on the bottom. My first try with the cork gasket gave me the impression that it made things too tight since it seemed that the top of the cannister was not fully closing-up. I took it off and saw clear impressions where the bottom cork was pressed in a bit from contact with the metal, and the top had a circular impression where the housing had contacted the top of the filter. But I thought it was too tight, so I took out the cork gasket and tried the filter by itself. This time I made sure to have the side of the filter that had no impressions from the prior contact experiment face upwards so I could determine if the upper metal housing would leave an impression on the top of the filter. If it didnt, I would think that the filter was not making contact at the top, which would allow the dirty fuel to bypass the filter and go straight to the Secondary filter.

So, I removed the filter again, and there was no impression on the top filter gasket, so I felt I needed to put the cork gasket back in. (I also noticed that the cannister did not completely close up along the top, so that apparently was normal). I plopped the cork gasket back into the cannister, put the filter in, and again mounted it to the housing. I admit that I had to crank down on that top 1" nut somewhat tight, but got her up and in place. I turned on the fuel and there are no leaks.

Has anyone else ever had this same issue.......to use the cork spacer, or to toss it over your shoulder? Seems WIX should do their homework and give a list of models that need the cork, so we dont have to keep tinkering around, calling Bubba and Jethro for advice, and crossing our fingers when we throw the dart to decide what to do with it.

To cork, or not to cork,
That is the question.



Here is the new and old Primary filters, and I failed to get a picture of the cork spacer:

Attached Images

    

Changing Fuel Filters on 580CK