D4D Fuel Filter Change Problem

[forge9]

Hi all

I wonder if anyone can help me out. I have a 2005 rav4.2 d4d and have just changed the fuel filter as shown in the pinned guides. The problem has come about when trying to prime the system after reassembly. No matter how long I press the black button on the fuel filter housing no diesel flows into the filter. The car was working ok before and I have had the filter off again several times to check the o rings are seated properly.

Could the diaphragm on the hand pump be perished and leaking air (mr t want £130 for a new one) or am I missing something obvious. I assume there is no pump or anything between the fuel tank and the filter inlet hose so cannot think what else it could be. The chap at mr t says he has never had to order one before and I don't want to fork out to find it is not that!

Any advice would be most gratefully received.

regards

steve

[Devon Aygo]

When you say " how long I Press" are you just pushing and holding the button? To prime the filter you have to keep pumping the button it will eventually become almost impossible to press, at this point the filter should be full of fuel and the car ready to start, It does help if someone can keep pumping as the car is cranked.

If your priming button is really light/easy to press it does sound like the diaphragm has split and is not pumping as to press it, in 15 years with Toyota I have only seen a handful of faulty filter housings.

[forge9]

Thanks for the reply Devon - yes I have been pumping the button not just pushing it in, its not particularly easy to press (it takes a bit of effort like there is a spring and the button pops up ok) but it never goes hard and there is no sound of fuel going into the filter. When I took it off again to check the new filter had seated properly there was no fuel in the filter. There is half a tank of fuel in so that is ok. Is there any other reason it might not be pumping fuel up from the tank?

Also is there a workaround if the diaphragm is faulty e.g. perhaps filling the filter before fitting it to the housing? I expect that would just make an almighty mess with fuel spilling everywhere.

Its just my luck a 30 minute job turns into a day spoiler!!!!

[Bodgit-fixit-run]

I think I filled mine with fuel line cleaner and then primed it but it was a long time ago and I can't remember what I did.

[sich1]

try filling the fuel filter with diesel then replacing it, it should give the engine enough fuel to run and then the pump will pull new fuel from the tank.

[forge9]

Problem solved. Did as sich1 recommended and she started fine. Now will spend the next few days trying to get the stink of diesel off me! Thanks for the help. Great forum.

[sich1]

just out of curiosity what made you change the filter,maintainance or another reason?

only asking as i have what appears to be a fuel starvation issue sometimes when accelerating and iam ruling

out things as i go before doing the scv's.

[forge9]

Tfilter had not been replaced since 40000 miles and i am on 93000 now so was due a change but also had a problem a few weeks ago of loss of power (felt like it was running on 3 cylinders) and engine management light coming on - the aa man read fault code which was p0627 and said dirty filter can be a cause. This happened a couple of times within two or three days but eventually the engine light went off and no problems since so i suspect it might have been dirty fuel. I have towed my caravan a few hundred miles and driven solo another 2 or 300 since. Thought i would change the filter to rule it out if the problem occurs again - did put some diesel treatment in the tank a week or so ago as well - wynnes diesel system extreme clean - dont know if that did any good. The old filter had a few bits in it but did not look too bad. Just hoping it does not happpen again.

[sich1]

hope the filter cures the problem. let us all know if it doesn't as it is interesting to see how the vehicle responds.

[gjnorthall]

It makes life easier when priming the filter to leave the outlet pipe disconnected (the arrow on the relevant metal spigot points away from the filter). Pump the button until a spurt of fuel appears, then reconnect the hose.

[forge9]

Yes I did try that but it would not fill the filter. I think the diaphragm has gone in the housing and it had not got the oomph to suck the fuel up from the input line. I took the filter and housing off the car and got a big syringe with a length of hose and filled from the input side until fuel came from the output spigot , putting my finger over it and also leaving a half full syringe attached to the input spigot i bolted the filter back in place connected the output hose, squirted the rest in and then connected the input hose. I could probably got away with just filling the filter but I did not want to unscrew it again in case I damaged the o ring. I did spill a bit of diesel but i had put old sheets down on the drive. It started without any misfires and has run ok since. I will need a new filter housing eventually but it can wait until I have some spare cash. Must make sure I never run out of fuel!!!

[sich1]

thanks for the update,i think i have a similar problem with my filter housing. if i leave it anymore than 10 secs after stopping

it takes longer than expected time to restart it, it seems like the fuel is seeping back to the tank quite quickly..

i have just bought an inline filter to test the theory, i will bypass the filter and housing and see what happens.

[forge9]

Well just driven 250 miles to Cardiff and back without a hiccup from the engine. Dont know if its my imagination but engine feels smoother since changing the filter. Fingers crossed she stays ok now. Next job oil and filter plus rear axle and transfer box. I have got to say the rav has been a great car. Only major issue was dmf failure at 65k miles. Got a solid flywheel kit fitted and been fine since.

[Will E Reckit]

Changed my fuel filter last week and had no problems with system priming - other than user error, I pressed the button a few times and it seemed to firm up but the car would not start. I carried on priming and after a short time I could hear what sounded like fuel swishing through the filter head. At this point, it fired up first flick.

Like Stephen, I swear the filter has made a difference to the performance of the engine - it seems to accelerate far more readily. There was a thin coat of brown sludge on most internal surfaces, though the filter element itself looked in reasonable shape.

I've only had the car about 6 months so I don't know its fuel history but it might well have had strange stuff in the tank at some stage. It certainly looked like the filter had been on for a few years, its outer case was quite corroded.

[152bobby]

Talking about filters, has anyone fitted a K&N Air Filter to their Rav4 (Diesel) and if so, was it worth it......and is it easy to do ?

[gjnorthall]

I think if you do a search of this forum you'll find that several owners complained of K&N filters causing excessive induction noise. There's also a feeling that oiled air filters lead to contamination of the filament of the airflow meter. With 40k mile replacement intervals on standard air filters - you're not really going to save a huge amount by fitting a permanent filter.

[152bobby]

Thanks for the feedback, you have put me off the idea now....and saved me some dosh.

[Burale]

I have problem fuel system I'm my car rav4 diesel D4D 2005

No trasmition fuel between filter and pum

[Mattch5150]

The primer is generally not good. I fled the filter right up and then fitted it. It takes a good while to get it to start but it will eventually if your Battery is OK. Once started then no issue. It is a bit nerve racking though. I had a syringe that I could fill the inflow and outflow ports too which helps. It will start eventually but its annoying.