There's a black plastic resonator box in that area that makes it difficult to work in that area. I removed mine back when I rebuilt the turbocharger a few years back so mine came out in one piece. One ambulance mechanic recommends smashing the thing to get it out then plugging the hole in the air filter duct. I used some PVC pipe with a cap glued on to plug mine. I don't remember how it was fastened in but you might be able to push it out of the way enough to get the cap off. With that little room it's unlikely that your filter has the cap attached.

The problem that I am having is at the back edge of the cap there is only about a 1/2 in clearance between the cap and the bottom of some overhanging object so you can’t lift the cap straight up.Is this the way yours is also? Maybe if I could pry up the front edge of the cap I could slide it out but not if the filter is attached.

Parts stores sell the filter by itself and also a filter with the cap attached. I'm guessing yours has the filter with the cap attached which is a real bear to squeeze into the narrow space over the fuel bowl in a van body.



If the filter comes up with the cap you'll probably need to squash the old filter to get it out of there then replace it with a separate cap and filter. That will make filter changes way easier in the future.



You'll get a new o-ring and triangular lid seal with the new filter. The o-ring goes on the bottom skirt of the filter and the triangular seal goes on the cap, narrow side toward the top of the cap.

I have a 99 e450 shuttlebus im trying to get the cap off to change the fuel filter . I got the cap unscrewed but can’t remove it.What am I doing wrong?