Starting Problems with 01 Ranger

My dad has a 2001 Ford Ranger, 3.0L. The truck has never really had this problem until we replaced the fuel filter. We replaced it with not too much of a problem, but now it takes at least two cranks of the starter just to get the engine to turn over. After it turns over, all is fine. It dose'nt matter if the engine is hot or cold, it still takes at least two, if not more cranks to get the engine to turn over. Any ideas?

Thanks.

Maybe the fuel filter got plugged up? Have you tried turning the key to run twice before starting to see if that helps?

Why did you change the fuel filter?If it was running poorly maybe the original problem is still there.

Ok. We tired that. It worked pretty well acctually. Thanks for the advice.