Fuel Filler Pipe Leak

[SteveR.]

I noticed some dripping from just in front of the nsr wheel of my RAV4 yesterday (2006 D4D model - 4.3, I think). Having since done some browsing and taken the wheel off for inspection, it is clear that the fuel filler pipe is leaking, which I now gather is a common problem.

Does anyone know of any reasonably priced pattern parts for the fuel filler pipe on this model in the UK? The genuine parts seem outrageously expensive for a couple of bits of tubing.

[SteveR.]

Alternatively...

I see that someone (Bothwell Buyer) has reported in this forum on replacing the original parts with simple fuel hose. If he's still in here, or if anyone else has done something similar, I'd be very interested to hear some details, e.g. hose sizes, how easy it was to route them and secure them etc.

[NORTHERN_LAD]

Welcome Stever, I know the parts are extortionate but the problems that this could cause are massive. One member on another forum reported costs of £3500 plus labour to repair when the road crud contaminated his fuel system. Get it repaired ASAP

[SteveR.]

Ouch! I certainly won't be leaving it any longer than necessary. Out of interest, was that case petrol or diesel, and is either system more susceptible to contamination than the other?

I'm not quite sure how the plumbing is arranged, despite having looked at it and the diagrams. I would have expected the filler pipe to enter the tank from the top but it appears to go in at a point quite low down. Most of what I've seen mentioned about this fault seems to indicate that the leak only shows up during and shortly after filling but if the entry point is low down I would expect it to leak constantly until the tank is fairly empty. That being the case (and given that I've just filled it to the brim) I would also expect quite a lot to gush out when I remove the filler pipe, unless there's a valve or bend somewhere that prevents it. Can anyone clarify?

[SteveR.]

For the record, I used some heavy-duty wire-reinforced rubber fuel filler hose to replace the corroded original steel pipe. Reinforced PVC hose would have been cheaper but I gather that PVC fuel hose becomes brittle with age so I went for the higher quality option.

When I first measured the existing filler pipe I made it about 38mm. That works out at 1.5 inch and that seems to be a standard bore size for filler pipes, so that's what I bought. I got it slightly wrong: when I connected it to the tank spigot I found it was a little loose and further measurements showed it to be 35mm. The initial measurement was presumably flawed due to the corrosion on the original filler pipe. My local supplier didn't have 35mm reinforced hose available (it needs to be reinforced, not so much for robustness but to prevent kinking when bent to shape) so I trimmed a bit of the hose that connected the original filler pipe to the tank (and was now redundant) as packing to give a tight and leak-free join. The new hose has a somewhat larger external diameter than the original pipe so I had to modify the brackets a bit to accommodate it, but the hose is so robust that is really needs little more than encouragement to stay in place. And it won't rot in another few years as the Toyota part would do.

For the genuine Toyota part I was quoted just short of £180 with another £100 for fitting. The cost of fitting seems reasonable to me but I think the cost of the part is outrageous for what is basically about four foot of thin-walled steel tubing plus a bit of expansion pipe. The replacement - an upgrade as far as I'm concerned - gave me change from thirty quid.

To answer one of my own questions, by the way: the tank appears to have an internal flap valve so I didn't get a flood of fuel when I removed the filler pipe. The valve didn't seal fully though, so there was a slow drip until I got the new pipe in place.

Hope that might help someone else somewhere down the line.

[patterdale]

Recently bought a 2007 diesel rav after years without one, and within a few days the fuel filler pipe started leaking.

cost me £150 for new pipe {genuine toyota} from yam6 via eBay plus fitting by a mate in the trade.

must be a common fault because the firm i bought it from had sold 6 that week !!!!

not particularly impressed mr,t.

[patterdale]

finally managed to do it ! not good on these computer things !

anyone know if there is anywhere on here where i can sell the sidesteps off my rav as i don't want them?

[patterdale]

Think i've just found where and have advertised them on here.

[the fox]

The part number is  77201-42150 and if anyone one needs one the item number on eBay 262602724643 is the correct item I think I have changed twelve now. and that's not with me being in the trade no more just by word of mouth so must be loads a owners just waiting for the tell tale signs of dripping

[Fielding67]

On 30/09/2016 at 5:55 PM, patterdale said:

Recently bought a 2007 diesel rav after years without one, and within a few days the fuel filler pipe started leaking.

cost me £150 for new pipe {genuine toyota} from yam6 via ebay plus fitting by a mate in the trade.

must be a common fault because the firm i bought it from had sold 6 that week !!!!

not particularly impressed mr,t.

I have had the same issue. Rav was previously used for horse events I think. The mud and crud wedged around the plastics at the base of the pipe and behind the wheel arch liner was appalling. No wonder it was leaking!

Used yam6, cheapest I could find on the net for this part. Simple to fit eventually. 

A note to anyone doing the same, the filler neck on the new pipe simply push fits into place at the 'petrol pump' end. (I had started trying to remove the neck etc... before realising it was inecessary)

Fuel tank appears to have a non return valve so no fuel leakage there. But would get a drip tray for any small amounts of diesel that may be in the filler neck. 

A simple replacement. New pipe has rubber (?) coating. So should be fine now for some considerable time to come. 

[wellin]

I had same problem on my 06 T180 with dripping fuel, I removed N SR wheel and inner wheel arch plastic shield. I found steel pipe had corroded with all the road dirt and salt that was trapped behind the shield, I cut the steel pipe above the corrosion no loss of fuel measured the distance to the spigott on the tank and the internal diameter which as Steve R correctly identified as being 35mm, outside diameter doesn't matter so much,

I went to the local hose and plant hire shop told then i wanted a pipe suitable for diesel fuel. He came back with a reinforced rubber corrugated pipe 1metre length and said this is suitable, we use it for all our plant hydraulics and fuel pipes charged me £10 including two jubilee clips

i went home and cut it with a hacksaw to required length, pushed it on the cut steel pipe and tank spigot tightened jubilee clips perfect job that was 2 years ago not a problem to date SoT we are not all wealthy enough to spend £180 +£100 for a bit of pipe from Toyota when as in this case a genuine part is not necessary

 

[Keith 1960]

Thanks for all contributions on here. Has just helped me diagnose the issue, find a part online much cheaper and quicker than Toyota dealer, £54 delivered next day instead of £200 plus, and my garage fitted it this morning for around £80 ... could have done it myself, but weather AWFUL 

Love this owners club, saves me a fortune, and works out the problem

[Phaeton]

Is there an idiot guide or is it self explanatory once you get there, I bought genuine Toyota as I didn't expect to be able to get a pattern part, Oh well it's only money

[Avalon]

Add another two to the list as I just ordered for my personal 05 and the 08 was done 12 months or so ago.

Remember when our resident expert assured us it was rare for them to fail because Toyota didn’t shift that many despite the back order issue at the time? I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest at roughly £300 fitted and approaching £200 supplied, most people will have long since moved over to after market parts supply given most affected RAV’s are 10-15 years old and the part is only £50-70 delivered. Concluding it’s a rare fault because you sell very few of them at a laughable price is the sort of logic that got us all in this situation 😞

[FROSTYBALLS]

From what I can see, the comment about the fuel filler pipe not being a big seller was made virtually five years ago, and I cannot see any reason to doubt that it was true at the time. Obviously things can change in five years.

[fo77y]

You can add one more to that ever growing 'rare fault' 😉 list,  noticed diesel leak today and suspect it will be the pipe that's corroded.

[dave.margaretcoulson@gmail]

60 pound on internet cost 20 pound to have fit local  garage

[Amber97]

New here as looking for a way to not spend £590.65 on a fitted fuel filler pipe at Toyota! original still on the car, they took photos for me so I could see what it currently looks like 😬 planning on keeping the car until it dies (hopefully a long time from now!) so am I best to still buy the genuine part or is it not essential? 

The engineer at Toyota working on my car said it was a common thing for rav4s so I guess not so rare anymore! 

[FROSTYBALLS]

32 minutes ago, Amber97 said:

so I guess not so rare anymore! 

The comment about the fault being rare was made in 2015, when it could well have been rare at the time. Six years hence is a different story.

[Amber97]

23 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

The comment about the fault being rare was made in 2015, when it could well have been rare at the time. Six years hence is a different story.

of course, hence I said 'anymore'.

I'm really just here looking for advice about the part, doesn't matter if it's a common problem to me or not 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

[philip42h]

On 1/23/2021 at 10:45 PM, Amber97 said:

New here as looking for a way to not spend £590.65 on a fitted fuel filler pipe at Toyota! original still on the car, they took photos for me so I could see what it currently looks like 😬 planning on keeping the car until it dies (hopefully a long time from now!) so am I best to still buy the genuine part or is it not essential? 

The engineer at Toyota working on my car said it was a common thing for rav4s so I guess not so rare anymore! 

The fox posted the relevant part number in this thread above ... you are looking for Toyota part number – 77201-42150 which is available from Toyota Direct Parts for £226.96 and elsewhere for quite a bit less - e.g. here on ebay - but you'll need to have a search for the best price. And then get a local mechanic to fit it.

It's been a well known weak point for many, many years. A good coat of paint / waxoyl or similar should give a bit of extra protection and ensure that the replacement rusts away more slowly ... 😉

[Amber97]

15 minutes ago, philip42h said:

The fox posted the relevant part number in this thread above ... you are looking for Toyota part number – 77201-42150 which is available from Toyota Direct Parts for £226.96 and elsewhere for quite a bit less - e.g. here on ebay - but you'll need to have a search for the best price. And then get a local mechanic to fit it.

It's been a well known weak point for many, many years. A good coat of paint / waxoyl or similar should give a bit of extra protection and ensure that the replacement rusts away more slowly ... 😉

perfect thank you - I was searching around but there were so many options saying similar things I wasn't 100% sure which was right and didn't want to spend hundreds on something that then didn't fit! 

I've had several age related things replaced for this MOT, a few more bits need doing then I'll look at getting it undercoated! Thanks again 😊

[kt66]

Sorry to hijack the thread but I've also got the dreaded fuel leak on a recently bought 2007 2.2

I've ordered the parts as per the eBay link but wondering how easy it is to fit? I'm reasonably handy  but is it worth trying to do? 

Many thanks 

[spl@]

Add another to the list, i took the covers off and treated everything with rust preventer and hummerite but 4 years later, filled up a couple of days ago and DRIP, knew as soon as i saw it. 

Pipe has just arrived so fitting it in a mo, thanks for answering my question, plenty of fuel in the tank but it should stay there when the hose comes off.

[Old jon]

Add another just failed it's mot, filled up yesterday, new part on its way thanks to eBay.co.uk