After my first fuel fill up after replacing the fuel filter in my ’08 MCS, I noticed the fuel level gauge was not registering full. I used Eurothrasher’s wonderful How to guide on how to replace the filter. What I hadn’t been prepared for was just how damn tough it was to twist off the top cap of the plastic nylon canister. Because I was stubborn, I tried unsuccessfully for half hour on that alone using my hands, until I figured out that I need to hold the button with a pair of channel locks which gave me the leverage to get the top off.

(BTW – it should be noted that fuel in the bottom of the canister and the filter as well were both blacker than a thousand midnights. Lifetime part, indeed.)

Anywhoo… when I discovered this weekend, after putting in a full tank, that I F****D up the job, I was severely disappointed in myself . But alas, this is the joys and pitfalls of DIY auto maintenance. What I think happened was during my initial efforts to twist off the top, I must have lifted the canister too high and possibly broke (worse case) or misaligned (best case) something in the tank or with the canister itself, thus resulting in the car not believing the tank is full. Obviously, this issue does not affect the performance of the car whatsoever. Yet, knowing there is still a 1/3 more gas in the tank than the car actually thinks it is can create a very annoying problem of the car constantly reminding you, “Hey, a-hole, I need gas!” when it does not.

Now I’m faced with having to try to right my wrong and I came to the boards seeking advice/expertise. Has anyone run into this problem? Does anyone know if the tank float is attached to the fuel filter canister?

Thanks.