Diesel Filter in Final Avensis Models

[Guest]

Hi guys, thought I'd share something I noticed this week. I bought a genuine fuel filter for my 2018 D4D 1.6 Avensis diesel at my local Toyota dealer. I had watched a few videos online showing how to replace the filter on these last facelift models with the BMW engines and it was a metal canister style filter in all of the 3-4 detailed videos on YouTube.  

When I opened the box from my dealer, I noticed what I have is a round cylinder like paper-fin filter and rubber ring/gasket - NOT the metal canister. I initially thought this was a mistake but looking at the MAHLE part catalogue I can see until 02/2017 the old style was used and after this, the paper element insert only. 

Anybody else noticed this?  I can't find a tutorial on the new style but I assume it won't be too different (same spot / bolts needed to release it). I wonder what the design change was made for..

 

[Guest]

Update having done the job today...

My Avensis has had the diesel filter done before... a Blueprint filter came out. Unsure why anyone would have done it sooner than 4 years / 52,000 miles when I got it, but it was replaced - unless Toyota use this brand from factory but I can't imagine they do? 

I broke two scuttle trim clips taking it off annoyingly... Does anyone here know if the scuttle trim has two clips or bolts from factory on the edges? I have two empty holes on both sides and I suspect someone has maybe lost them unless everyone else is the same. The rubber on this piece of trim on the passenger side is also missing all of its little white clips that keep it secure..I'm going to price this from the dealer in the interest of keeping the car right. The two clips I broke mean it's loose other than the bonnet holding it down. 

The little black metal cover over the fuel filter, I strongly believe was put on the wrong way around (the bolt holes are diagonal so I think that is possible) as it was incredibly tight and hard to reach in and get the back bolt off compared to on the videos (one side is slanted down to allow access for this, and sits facing the inside of the car).  The fuel lines have two little plastic cages around them, mine was missing the back one for some reason... Another part to get from Toyota if they can find me it. 

Now, the real mess was there is a short little breather hose from the engine to the air filter box pipe. I tried a few ways of getting access to the rear of the metal guard over the diesel filter and part of that was unclipping that little breather hose. Only for it to have snapped on one side and crack - it was incredibly brittle. I tried to duct tape it temporarily but as I bent it into place, the rest of it snapped too... disaster. I took it out only to find that it is indeed a BMW part, a crappy ill designed brittle cheap plastic part that, had it flexed as it was intended to, wouldn't have been an issue.  We happened to have a pipe around of the exact same diameter and with a glue gun were able to make a DIY job (for now). I hope this isn't an expensive part from Toyota.

I lost a rubber mounting from the plastic engine cover too, which is annoying as hell but totally on me. I'll order this too, to keep the car right... but I am raging about that breather hose breaking. 

one more important note... Unlike the videos online, the 2017 onwards diesel D4D 1.6 engine in the Avensis has a paper filter as I explained in my post above, you don't just disconnect the whole metal assembly and refit an entirely new one. You need to open it, by twisting the top. I recommend a vice to hold it, and to use a screwdriver against a metal fin and a notch on the 'lid' part. It will twist around, UNTIL, a metal fin which holds an electrical wire is literally bang in the way - physically impossible. BEND this back gently, but then you find... it hits another part. Bent it a little more, to get the lid off. You'll then see the pool of diesel inside. If you're careful, don't lose any. Wear gloves, put a rag on the ground below and slowly gently pull out the old filter. Have a basin to put it in because it will drip diesel all over the table.  Take the rubber seal off the 'lid' part, and fit the new one. Push the new filter into the metal canister. WEAR GOGGLES OR GO VERY SLOW! This will squirt diesel right up through the new filter, quite possible into your eyes or mouth. I was lucky it didn't, but push very slowly to avoid this.  This isn't something shown or needed on the other design used on earlier D4D BMW engines or on any of the videos I could find. Please be prepared. 

[Guest]

Well, £80 later for what felt like not very much… I have replaced the pipe with a new genuine part (£41~).  Put back the rubber round mount in the plastic beauty cover over the engine (which I think rattled big time under vibration without it). Added the plastic cage clip around one of the fuel lines which was missing due to a past filter change.  And popped in two of those little plastic clips that now holds down the plastic scuttle trim under the windscreen on both sides. 
 

basically, it seems like someone changed the diesel filter in the past and they butchered the engine bay in their attempt. They pulled the two sides of the scuttle trim up, breaking / losing those clips. And they put the metal Sheild over the diesel filter on backwards, and lost the little protective cage that goes around the rear line. 
 

The car would have been fine without all of this, but I just want it 100% right.  The way I see it, with mass produced cars, if Toyota or anyone could have saved a few pennies by NOT including these plastic parts, you bet they’d have took the chance. They must be there for a reason - and now they are. 
 

 

[2009joe]

34 minutes ago, SB1500 said:

Well, £80 later for what felt like not very much… I have replaced the pipe with a new genuine part (£41~).  Put back the rubber round mount in the plastic beauty cover over the engine (which I think rattled big time under vibration without it). Added the plastic cage clip around one of the fuel lines which was missing due to a past filter change.  And popped in two of those little plastic clips that now holds down the plastic scuttle trim under the windscreen on both sides. 
 

basically, it seems like someone changed the diesel filter in the past and they butchered the engine bay in their attempt. They pulled the two sides of the scuttle trim up, breaking / losing those clips. And they put the metal Sheild over the diesel filter on backwards, and lost the little protective cage that goes around the rear line. 
 

The car would have been fine without all of this, but I just want it 100% right.  The way I see it, with mass produced cars, if Toyota or anyone could have saved a few pennies by NOT including these plastic parts, you bet they’d have took the chance. They must be there for a reason - and now they are. 
 

 

Tbh Shane this is why I try do all my car servicing as I can the kina easy ones like changing break discs and pads and servicing the car as with problems like this as people try do It fast and botch up things in the process best way doing as much as you can yourself great job boss looks well 

[Guest]

6 hours ago, 2009joe said:

Tbh Shane this is why I try do all my car servicing as I can the kina easy ones like changing break discs and pads and servicing the car as with problems like this as people try do It fast and botch up things in the process best way doing as much as you can yourself great job boss looks well 

Definitely Joe. Same here. I’m actually surprised my car had the diesel filter done since some Toyota sources say 4/6 years for the scheduled replacement.  My car came with no service history (not even Toyota services in year 2/3 for the warranty) as it was owned by a lease company who assumably did it’s own servicing - and evidently, had no idea how to go about properly doing the diesel filter on this Avensis where the filter was quietly changed in later years of production.  I think there’s one invoice for a service around the time it was sold to the trade and even then it was an oil and filter change.  I’m telling you, that cabin filter was black as night and easily 3 years old when I replaced it earlier this year.  But I bet someone paid for a new one at least two times …

 

I don’t trust mechanics in my area because of my experience. As far as I’m concerned, when friends or family tell me they know a great mechanic, that’s only because they have no idea what a reasonable cost is, or how they’re being screwed - blissful ignorance.   Sure, sure, they can’t all be like that and I’m sure they aren’t. But I’m yet to meet an honest one myself, personally speaking. 
 

I do think I’ll lease a car down the line. Especially with it being unclear if hybrids, electric or whatever will stick. Let the long term reliability and condition be their problem - not mine. Hand it back any time circumstances change etc.  

 

until then, it’s a blast getting the hands dirty keeping the engine and car in tip top condition.  And what a privilege it is as imaginable, my kids generation - definitely theirs - will grow up and never experience cars with engines or some of the good old motor mechanic-ing we’ve all had passed to us from the older generation and watched evolve from decade to decade. 

[Cyker]

It does make me wonder what the future of the performance modding scene will be like with EVs - Where we have boy-racer types trying to bolt on new intakes and turbos, is the future nerd-racers plugging their laptops into the ECU to change all the power and charge parameters or hacking the drive controller to accept a more powerful motor??

Maybe third-party replacement performance inverters and motors will become a thing?? (Although I swear if Monster Cable enter the market with special £10,000 Low Resistance Oxygen-Free HV cables I'm going to ram-raid their HQ with my 3 Tonne Yaris Plus Sports Touring Shooting Brake Cross EV)

 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Cyker said:

It does make me wonder what the future of the performance modding scene will be like with EVs - Where we have boy-racer types trying to bolt on new intakes and turbos, is the future nerd-racers plugging their laptops into the ECU to change all the power and charge parameters or hacking the drive controller to accept a more powerful motor??

Maybe third-party replacement performance inverters and motors will become a thing?? (Although I swear if Monster Cable enter the market with special £10,000 Low Resistance Oxygen-Free HV cables I'm going to ram-raid their HQ with my 3 Tonne Yaris Plus Sports Touring Shooting Brake Cross EV)

 

Ahh, no matter what’s under the bonnet they’ll always be able to do the hideous alloys, bolt on spoilers and all that jazz.  I suppose the loud exhaust will be a thing of the past, but maybe they’ll copy VAG and install computer sound files that replicate exhausts. 
 

They’re already at the remapping with the engine cars. And then they wonder why their engines blow up a few months later. Usually because they increase the power through put, without upping the strength and capability of all the other components … but with electrics, I wonder if they will do better due to having less parts?  
 

then again, I have a friend who builds PCs - who is always ‘over clocking’ them.  Some processors are designed to handle this. Others aren’t - but you can do it anyway, once one of his builds caught fire… nothing serious followed but even the electronics had their limits when pushed 

[2009joe]

6 hours ago, SB1500 said:

Ahh, no matter what’s under the bonnet they’ll always be able to do the hideous alloys, bolt on spoilers and all that jazz.  I suppose the loud exhaust will be a thing of the past, but maybe they’ll copy VAG and install computer sound files that replicate exhausts. 
 

They’re already at the remapping with the engine cars. And then they wonder why their engines blow up a few months later. Usually because they increase the power through put, without upping the strength and capability of all the other components … but with electrics, I wonder if they will do better due to having less parts?  
 

then again, I have a friend who builds PCs - who is always ‘over clocking’ them.  Some processors are designed to handle this. Others aren’t - but you can do it anyway, once one of his builds caught fire… nothing serious followed but even the electronics had their limits when pushed 

I'd say I rather put money into a car than a pc. I had a Dell e6430 core i5 3rd gen absolutely class great fast enough laptop and I gave it to my then girlfriend as I thought I'd treat myself to a bigger core i7 laptop .I got a Dell e6420 core i7 well from day one I hated it the fans were always at high speed and always ran hot .dam laptop nearly burned my legs lol. Plus the noise was loud all the time fans going flat out .it never gave any bother apart from that but I didn't have it long .it was not dirty or nothing as I took it apart cleaner it and put new CPU paste on it still the same ran hot and fans going flat out .well let's just say I hardly used it and put it on eBay and sold the dam thing .now well I'm married now 2 my wife and we'll the Dell e6430 core i5 is back again lol. But have 2 admit the Dell e6430 core i5 has all the ports needed and great fast quiet laptop.i upgraded the ram to 16gb and put in a 450 Samsung SSD  it's quiet and runs great .really well built compared to the one my wife used to have and my old one I had way before the Dells .tbh I love the Dell e6430 core i5 so much tempted to buy another one there not bad priced for what u get .I have mine for now 6 years lol not a bother I service it myself at times clean it out and I put on CPU paste on it twice since got it 

[Guest]

I'm an Apple guy myself, but I miss the days about ten years ago when you could do the odd upgrade yourself! Everything's soldered together now. I noticed with Windows laptops, since around 2016 the CPUs on laptops are all trying to be so efficient that they want to just sit idle. And doing something - anything - like opening a browser which sucks more voltage will immediately send the fans into top speed for a few seconds. This is on inexpensive machines, not sure about the high end, when I'm talking that money it goes to Apple lol 

[Cyker]

Yeah I really hate that - The business-grade laptops and gamer laptops aren't too bad; They usually still have socketed components, but are very expensive (80's/90's laptop prices!). The consumer-grade stuff is absolute garbage 'tho - everything soldered on, stress points on the mainboard instead of daughterboards, structural parts like hinges screwed into plastic - ugh!

 

[2009joe]

3 hours ago, SB1500 said:

I'm an Apple guy myself, but I miss the days about ten years ago when you could do the odd upgrade yourself! Everything's soldered together now. I noticed with Windows laptops, since around 2016 the CPUs on laptops are all trying to be so efficient that they want to just sit idle. And doing something - anything - like opening a browser which sucks more voltage will immediately send the fans into top speed for a few seconds. This is on inexpensive machines, not sure about the high end, when I'm talking that money it goes to Apple lol 

that laptop of mine is class and tbh its got all you need on it and well its core i5 which is great compared to the run hot flat out fan speed core i7 . i have this dell e6430 for a right few yeard now and well never any bother .tbh i dont like Apple things as they are way to restricked to me compared to windows laptops and andriod phones. i just like to take off crapware off my devices if i want to but with Apple you are stuck. i used to have a iPhone 4s and was a nice phone but nothing compared to the Samsung and sony phones as no memory worth a dam and well Apple wanted me to put all my things in the cloud im not happy with that either. 

[Cyker]

In Windows and Linux you can restrict the CPU speed - I upgraded my Thinkpad to an i7 and also found it ran a bit too hot, so I've limited it to 50% clockspeed when running on Battery (In Windows it's done via the Power Management stuff - Can set min and max % cpu speed; In Linux it's a bit more involved... need to write stuff to sysfs or find a utility!)

I have different power profiles for e.g. normal use, long Battery use and games

[2009joe]

22 hours ago, Cyker said:

In Windows and Linux you can restrict the CPU speed - I upgraded my Thinkpad to an i7 and also found it ran a bit too hot, so I've limited it to 50% clockspeed when running on battery (In Windows it's done via the Power Management stuff - Can set min and max % cpu speed; In Linux it's a bit more involved... need to write stuff to sysfs or find a utility!)

I have different power profiles for e.g. normal use, long battery use and games

Tbh I found with the Dell e6430 core i5 and the Dell e6420 core i7 I didnt find much difference in speed .just the Dell e6420 core i7 was not a good laptop 2 use with the heat and fan noise from it .I really hated it so sold it on .might look on eBay see if can pick up another dell e6430 core i5 just 2 have incase the one I have breaks lol but tbh I have it now for nearly 7 years got it second hand and works great but it's looked after well. Kina heavy laptop but very well built compared to the Toshiba one I had before stupid things broke on that one