2000 Mazda Protege Fuel Filter Location

[wnowickiz1]

Does anyone know where the darn fuel filter is? I thought I had to drop the gas tank, but the tail pipe is in the way.

Thanks in advance.

[atomicEGT]

did you check under the hood on the firewall by the master cylinder?

[Tazman2]

On your 2000 Mazda Protege (1.6L MFI DOHC), the Fuel Filter is located:
Under vehicle, center, below seating area, mounted on top of fuel tank, in fuel pump module

On your 2000 Mazda Protege 1.8L MFI DOHC , the Fuel Filter is located:
Under vehicle, center, below seating area, mounted on top of fuel tank, in fuel pump module

RIPPED from autozone.com!

[atomicEGT]

oops, lol... is there an access panel to get to it under the seat?

[wnowickiz1]

There is a panel under the seat

Removed the first panel aqnd looks like the fuel pump area -- another plate with several screws.

It did not look promising, but I will take a look.

The filter I got from autozone looks like it is mounted somewhere else.

Thanks.

[azaizai]

my 1999 1.6 liter doesnt have a fuel filter...closest thing to one was a "sock" on the fuel pump.

[Etienne]

3rd gen proteges don't have a serviceable fuel filter. it should never need changing.

[25fconv]

Its not a filter per say, its a strainer that is attached to the bottom of the fuel pump, which is in the tank. To get to it, you would need to remove the back seats. Underneath that there is a door held down by about some really soft screws.....the screws will round out with decent pressure. I used a no. 2 phillips head screw driver and i was okay with it. Then you would need to disconnect the sending and return fuel lines......helpful hint do this when your basically running on empty, undo the gas cap and take off the sending line first. This way you dont have.....unplug the wiring harness connection and you will have another set of screw to undo, once that is done then you can pull the fuel pump up and you will see the strainer attached at the bottom. to get that off you will need a flat head screw drive to pry off the holding ring and you should be good to go.

[25fconv]

But like Etienne said you don't really need to change the strainer....I only had to get in there when I replaced my fuel pump to a Walbro 255lph.

[((Vibe))]

Hello,

So my gf was running out of gas and the car started to die so she floored it to get to the next gas station. When she started it back up, it was making noise, like a knocking. Someone said it was probably all the crap got sucked into the fuel filter. She has a 2000 mazda protege with the 'non-serviceable' strainer thing. So my questions are:

1) do y'all think that's what's wrong with it?
2) should I remove/clean the strainer or some such thing?

Appreciate any help I can get, thanks.

~James

[dtatham]

Cleaning the strainer probably won't help. The gas system recirculates in a loop and some flows into the injecter manifold as needed. There may be some air bubbles in there or some water or whatever. Try adding Sea Foam or some type of fuel additive that is supposed to remove water.

[((Vibe))]

how would water get in the engine?

[dtatham]

If enough condensate forms in the gas tank it will settle to the bottom. The same thing happens to the tanks at gas stations. This was just a thought since you said the problem was that you sucked the debris from the bottom of the tank when you coasted into the gas station.

If you notice that the car seems sluggish and you have to press the pedal much further than usual, it would indicate the fuel pump going out. Just something to keep an eye out for.

If there was something seriously wrong and the engine was misfiring, you would get a check engine light. IF you don't have the light, it will probably straighten itself out. My Protege has a real problem with clogging injectors. I use Sea Foam every 8-10K miles and it helps. Unfortunately, Sea Foam is getting such a good reputation that they are really upping their prices. I'm probably going to start looking for something else soon.

One last thing, check your spark plugs for build up.


Beer is now cheaper than Gas. Drink, Do Not Drive!