[simboc2004]

Changed mine this morning. Firstly I slackened off the central 18mm drain plug "nut" a few turns. Then I fitted a short piece of plastic pipe to the drain nipple, after which I loosened the filter housing a few turns using an Ebay clone of the Volvo metal "ring' type spanner(that I bought a couple of years ago and definitely makes the job easier).The diesel held in the filter housing then drained out into a small plastic jug. Then back to removing the filter housing. The filter element is held in the housing, so you need to pull that down firmly to remove it. The old one was quite black.

Flick out the old blue rubber seal from the filter outer casing, then push the new filter up into the housing still on the car and screw the filter cover back on - being careful to get the thread lined up correctly. Do not tighten up too much - Volvo say 2Nm. Don't forget to also retighten the drain "nut".

Go to the driver's seat, put in the key and long press the start button without your foot on the clutch or brake. You will hear the pump prime for a few seconds, then stop. Repeat this process a few times (I do it 5 times), then start the engine. All should be OK and the engine will start up as normal. Mine ran fine and I have just done a couple of hours' journey and all is spot on. Don't miss out the pump priming step - I have flattened a battery in the past trying to get the engine to start without priming first.

As an aside - the new filter I fitted was a genuine Volvo one; the filter I have just removed was a Mann one (often stated as being the supplier to Volvo). I would agree with that - the filter seals were an identical pale blue and the filters both said "made in Germany" on them and looked identical.