I went into my dealer to get an air and breather filter.

Both of the guys in there drive a focus. They then asked me how many miles on the car, when I last changed the fuel filter, and told me not to wait till every 30,000 but to change it about every 20,000 to 25,000 miles max. He said they get very plugged up and Ford won't tell them why. So they have to assume that it's basically because the filter does such a good job that it will completely clog before it should.

I had mine in for an oil change at 18,000 and was told I needed a fuel filter next time around. I just shrugged it off thinking that the dealer wanted to make some extra money and didn't question it. I now have 26,000 miles and still haven't had it done.....this is a very good question...anyone??? My past experiences are to change the fuel filter every 50,000 miles.

I wait 70k to change my last one.

My owner's manual said change it every 15,000 miles. Or maybe it said check it? Although I don't see how looking at it will help, "yep, it's still there!" Anyway, I changed it at 15,000. I work at a shop and didn't have to pay, so I didn't mind doing it.

if you can't blow through it easily, it's plugged.(make sure you are blowing in the right direction, and try not to swallow any gas)


the service manual says to change it every 30,000

apparently the fuel filter has such fine micron filtration that it catches too many particles

This is not limited to the Focus. I had a 2000 Mustang V6 that I had to change the fuel filter in every 20,000-25,000 miles or it would run like crap. Ran like a champ after the new filter went in. Fuel filters are cheap. They're like $8 bucks I think.

I doubt Ford knows what's going on. The guys that do the work at the dealerships figure these things out. Then sometimes it trickles up to the corporate people.

True, and ford couldn't tell the dealer anything if they didn't know why either. Still, ford should notify all dealers about that, especially since the fuel pump has enough problems as it is.