Rusty Fuel Filter???

[AlbinoMonkeyRat]

so I took my car in to get the oil changed (only because I have nothing to drain the used oil into) and the guy said he noticed the fuel filter is rusty. I've only had that filter for a year and a half. Is the filter rusting that quickly normal? how hard is it to change? (2.4L) Anything I can do to prevent rusting on a new filter?

Also, my trunk doesn't shut fully aligned. I took a look at the latch inside the trunk (not the part in the lid) and it's rusted all the way around that part, forcing the trunk to sit higher. Any solutions for fixing this, short of taking it to the dealer? moving the lid part of the latch doesn't seem like a very feasible solution considering the time to do it.


thanks

[Redog]

Well unless it's rusting thru, I don't think you have a problem, but since it's been 1.5 years, it's time to change it anyway.

Could you sand down some of the rust on the latch?

[AlbinoMonkeyRat]

well, this shows how uneven it is. (look at the bottom of the lights...)
http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/2261/imag00014fr.th.jpg (http://img123.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imag00014fr.jpg)

and this shows how bad the latch is....:(
http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/914/imag00046xw.th.jpg (http://img358.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imag00046xw.jpg)

[HDR]

Fuel filter is easy to change, its a little behind the stock muffler on my 2.4L, you get a face full of gas and end up smelling like it for a while if you do it yourself though. (I did mine yesterday around noon.) Might be easier if you had the right tools, I used a grip wrench and a way oversized adjustable wrench to do mine, if you have tools the right size then you could probably do it from the side and avoid most of the spray... Otherwise, wear goggles and keep your mouth shut tight, gas is nasty.

[Chucklez05]

well on the alero the stricker half of the latch system isn't adjustable, I just ran down and looked at mine, if you losen the bolts on thelatch you could probably get a little movement out of it but not much at all and that would ove the entire trunk, What exactly is the problem? dose the entire trunk sit up higher at the rear or just one corner?

More then likly its the to black udjustment stops. Open your trunk and look up in the right and left corners right behind the tail lights, you will see a black stoper with threads on it, simply screw that in or out to adjust how high the trunk sits when it is closed, If that doesn't work you might have to try sliding the latch up just a bit.

Hope that helped.

[AlbinoMonkeyRat]

the second pic is from INSIDE the trunk. peel back the carpet and look in the rectangular holes and you'll see your latch loop. the rust is pushing it up and when I push it down, it crinkles rust flakes all over the place. I'm afraid of it breaking right off if I bend it too much. I'll need to take it to a dealer.

oh, and it's the whole trunk, not just the one corner. it's not the rubber stoppers (I've checked. they don't even make contact...lol)

I have an idea of what caused it, but I don't know for sure (snow/ice got in there because last winter [ie: Dec '04], I kept the brush in the trunk. the snow got in there and got right to work on ruining it...)