I went to replace my fuel filter and noticed that the fuel damper connected to it was incredibly rusted and would catastrophically give out any day. As such, I figured I'd order a new part from Mercedes (p/n A1704700316), but was advised this part has been discontinued. No one in the UK had it in stock. Another member here checked for me in the US and there was also no stock there. I called a Jeep dealership in the UK and they were able to track one down in Italy sitting on the shelf somewhere, but wanted £250 for the part.
Although fuel dampers are relatively common on older cars, most are located on the fuel rail. It's rare to find one in-line with the fuel filter. Someone on the Facebook group noted that an early 00s Subaru Impreza had one of these, so I took a shot in the dark and ordered one up (p/n 42086FE000). The cost was about £50 and there are no stock issues (
https://www.importcarparts.co.uk/pro...ly-42086fe000/).
I finally got around to installing it, as well as all new fuel hoses on the fuel filter, and I can say that it works flawlessly. I've done about 100 miles since install and the car runs identical to how it used to with no codes/lights. At this point, I'm comfortable recommending this as a permanent fix for a part that has been discontinued.
I'll share some photos of the before and after, as well as a diagram that gives some advise on what hose sizes you need if replacing hoses. The install was fairly straightforward, but if you're replacing the hose that goes to the tank, a fair bit of fuel will come out when you pull the hose off. There's no way to stop it other than by putting on the new hose, so my recommendation is to have everything connected up to the new fuel filter and pull the tank hose last. My bracket was also extremely rusted, so I had to end up drilling the screw out, as the head just disintegrated when I used a screwdriver.
Original fuel damper about to disintegrate
Also note how bad the hoses looked, hence why I also wanted to replace these.
Finshied job with new hoses (aside from hose to charcoal canister, as it's just a vacuum line) and a new bracket (as mine was very rusted). Bracket is p/n A2024711341 and the screw is p/n N000000002053. Fuel pump was not touched.
View of the Subaru fuel damper during install.
This is someone else's diagram originally (from this site) and it's the best view I've found of the complete unit. I've added my comments in red for each of the four hoses going to the fuel filter.