Fuel starvation?

[SteveR.]

10yo RAV4.3 (2017) 2.2D4D has faded a few times recently, feeling very much like fuel starvation. It has only (so far) happened when going up fairly steep hills, so presumably when fuel demand was high. My first thought is that a partially blocked fuel filter might produce this sort of symptom but I don't know offhand what sort of filter arrangement this vehicle has, or if there are other more likely causes such as injector problems or whatever.

Does anyone recognise the symptoms and is anyone able to suggest whether DIY investigation and treatment is likely to be worthwhile? If it's a fairly simple matter to remove and replace a filter then I'm probably willing to give it a go, but I don't know whether there might be priming requirements with this sort of diesel engine (I was happy enough working on the simple tractor I used to own but I guess this might be more finnicky). 

Car was last serviced in May, by the way, not sure offhand whether it was a major or minor one.

[alan333]

12 hours ago, SteveR. said:

10yo RAV4.3 (2017) 2.2D4D has faded a few times recently, feeling very much like fuel starvation. It has only (so far) happened when going up fairly steep hills, so presumably when fuel demand was high. My first thought is that a partially blocked fuel filter might produce this sort of symptom but I don't know offhand what sort of filter arrangement this vehicle has, or if there are other more likely causes such as injector problems or whatever.

Does anyone recognise the symptoms and is anyone able to suggest whether DIY investigation and treatment is likely to be worthwhile? If it's a fairly simple matter to remove and replace a filter then I'm probably willing to give it a go, but I don't know whether there might be priming requirements with this sort of diesel engine (I was happy enough working on the simple tractor I used to own but I guess this might be more finnicky). 

Car was last serviced in May, by the way, not sure offhand whether it was a major or minor one.

I assume you mean 2007?

I haven't worked on your particular car, and I can't comment on any sinister power loss problems, but it's certainly worth a new filter to rule it out.  Fuel filters haven't changed that much over the years, except it might not have a primer pump (the rubber bubble/button you press to pump fuel into the new filter).  If yours has one then the procedure is the same as your tractor - fit the new filter, slacken the bleed screw and pump til fuel comes out, then tighten the bleed screw.  If, however, yours doesn't have a primer pump - then fill the new filter with diesel before you fit it, then start the engine and it sucks the residual air pockets out for you.   If you don't fill the filter the car will start, but it'll quickly cut out, then you'll need to crank it for an eternity to purge the air out before it'll start again.

[SteveR.]

Oops - yes, 2007.

Thanks for the comments. Do you know where the fuel filter is located in RAV4s? [edit] Just found a posting in this forum about changing the filter on the 4.3, so I'll have a read through that. Thanks again.

[SteveR.]

Update on this, for the record...

I ordered a replacement filter early last week from an online company called "Mister Auto" and it arrived the very next day. I had never heard of the company before before but their price was around a third the price of the same Bosch part number from some other well known names. I added a simple filter wrench to the order simply because it was well worth the couple of quid or so to save the aggro of searching for my existing one (most of my tools are boxed-up after moving house). Filter, wrench, delivery and VAT came to about 12 quid all in.

I finally got around to fitting it yesterday and, for the benefit of anyone coming across this thread wondering whether they should DIY, it was a very easy job. As the problem (power fading when going up steep hills) was intermittent it's difficult to know just yet whether it's fixed but I tried quite hard to provoke it today on some of the steep hills of the Yorkshire Dales. There was no hint of it at all so it's looking quite good so far. Also, the car seems to feel rather more lively than it did before. It's difficult for me to assess that objectively, and I realise there could be a tendency to imagine an improvement, but I can't help wondering if there was a partial blockage that had been getting slowly and imperceptibly worse for some time before the fading.

Out of interest, does anyone know at which service(s) the fuel filter is supposed to be changed on a 2.2 D4D RAV4.3?

[alan333]

 Couldn't say for certain but on my 2.2 diesel Mazda it's every third service.

[crofter]

Not for one moment that this is the case here (I assume) I was once landed with the problem of a van that kept cutting out on the road and when I got to it it started no bother so the driver continued on his round with the parting words that " that's what  happened before and it had been fine for the last couple of weeks or so" I said if he was happy to carry then do so but to drop it in the garage on his return. Cut the story short it transpired that the tank cap had been stolen and the driver that had had it that day had stuffed the filler pipe with a piece of newspaper and a small piece of it had found it's way in and sometimes it was sucked up against the end of the feed pipe and stopped the flow and the engine and when that happened no suction so the paper fell away again

[SteveR.]

OK, thanks. The filter I removed was a genuine Toyota part. I might have expected the local independent garage I've been using for the past few years to have used third-party parts for such things if it had been changed, but I don't really know when it was last changed (if ever!). 

[SteveR.]

4 minutes ago, crofter said:

sometimes it was sucked up against the end of the feed pipe and stopped the flow and the engine and when that happened no suction so the paper fell away again

Oops - that could be a bugger to track down!