I have a 2007 FEH with 66,000 miles. There is no mention in the manual of needing to replace the fuel filter except under extreme operating conditions. At the latest oil change, my Ford dealer said the filter ought to be replaced now. What do you think?

 

The Shop manual for my '06 FEH on P100-03-11, normal service, calls for the fuel filter to be replaced at 100,000 miles. I've chosen to replace mine about every 50,000 miles. When I last did it (mine's @115,000) the gas on the inlet side (not yet filtered) was quite dirty.

Probably useful but not "required" I suspect.

 

I say change it when needed.
I'm at 130,000 miles on my original one, and I buy gas in about 40 states since I travel for work so the gas quality is always random.

 

I replaced mine at just over 49K.
https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...007-feh-24170/

 

Yeah, I buy gas as cheap as I can find it and travel across much of the country too.

Interestingly, on my Suburban, I have had several instances where it was hesitating climbing hills in winter out here. Typically when outside temps were 0ºF or below. Suburban's call for a fuel filter change every 15,000.

This drove me up the wall troubleshooting it. As I thought it was the ignition and it showed no symptoms at idle or on level ground or in warm weather or inside a garage. Replaced the coil, the fuel injectors, etc... In the end it was a plugging fuel filter discovered when it rolled up on a normal change interval and the symptoms disappeared.

I am religious about changing out my Suburban's fuel filter now. Given how cold winters can get out here the thought of getting stuck because of a fuel filter causes me to change my FEH fuel filter a bit more frequently that 100,000.

 

Great writeup above linked above by Jerry on how to do it.

I have done it twice on my 07 FEH (proactively) with 66K miles on it. Slightly dirty, but not too bad. Figure at <$20 and 20 minutes, might as well just do it.

Although I probably should, I don't disconnect the electrical connection and I don't start the vehicle to let it die to depressurize the line, as Jerry says in his first two steps of the link above. I am not a mechanic, I just play one at home. However, I have replaced fuel filters on other vehicles and never have never relieved the fuel pressure on those either. However, realize you will get more fuel to drain when you disconnect the lines if you don't depressurize (maybe 1 cup came out for me, plus a bit more inside the filter), so be ready for it with a container and rags, but nothing bad happens if you don't depressurize the line (at least in my limited experience, YMMV, perform at your own risk, etc, etc).

Motrocraft FG-800 filter comes with new plastic clips for the fuel lines in the box, but I have just used the old original clips.