Hi, Fuel jet pump and underbody filter problems this is a reasonably common problem as it happened to me leaving Moree in June this year with the caravan hooked on after driving from Sydney to Brisbane then up to Kingaroy then onto Moree on the way back to western Sydney. We fueled up in Sandgate (north Brisbane) and were showing three quarters on the second fuel tank when the car started pulling slightly, at first i thought i had left the caravan handbrake on when we left Moree but further down the track the car conked out on the side of the Newel highway, not good. I primed the pump and managed to start the Prado but was not confident enough to undertake a u turn on the newel highway with the caravan on so decided to call the troops at the NRMA. When i got hold of the local NRMA service guy he said he had two similar Prado problems in the last month and that the problem was trying to get fuel into the main tank to get me back to his service stattion so they could replace the sub tank fuel filter. Dirty fuel was his first diagnosis. The reason you have difficulty in getting fuel into the main tank is there is only a vent on one of the tanks and because the system thinks the main tank is full and therefore not venting. It took and hour to dribble 60 litres of fuel into the tank, we then primed the pump and went like hell back to Moree. The mechanic said we need to go like hell as the fuel return goes into the other tank and not the one we were drawing from so it was likely we would run after an hour or so. Once in Moree I unhooked the van and they put the Prado on the hoist to take off the fuel filter near the tanks and found it to be full of gunk etc, fortunately they had a new filter in stock so fitted it however once they started the Prado the jet pump was not working so could be burnt out he said. I told them to fill the tanks up and i would sort out the problem once i got back to Sydney. When they tried to fill up the tanks with diesel once again it was spitting fuel back so they had to dribble it in until full. After spending $430.00 i went on my way via Mudgee where i decided to top up with fuel just to be sure i had enough however the same spitting back occurred when trying to fuel up so once again dribbled a few litres in so i could get home. Once home i decided to check under the bonnet after reading about a fuel pump fuse and would you believe it contained in the main fuse compartment under the hood was a blown fuse!! I replaced this and turned the ignition on and the fuel guage read full then dropped down to three quarters on the sub tank and the 90 litre light came on. I took the Prado down to the servo and using the truck fill nozzle filled the tanks up with no problems at all. Bloody thank goodness for that as i was thinking i was up for a new jet pump costing around $1000.00. Ironically the Toyota service departments do not seem to understand how the fuel system works at all and apparently the dealership in Moree was unaware that there was a second filter underbody near the fuel tanks.
Guys i am sorry about the long thread but it is important to be able to diagnose the problem first then and then how then how to go about fixing problem. One thing i notice now is when i first turn the ignition on the fuel light comes on with a little 2mm box with lines in it which i think tells me the fuel system is working fine. I have had no more problems since i replaced the fuse and have travelled around 10000 ks or so.
2006 D4D 5 speed auto, Dual batteries Beuadesert 3" exhaust, GPS, 170,000 ks
Cheers
Wazza (frederick)
Guys i am sorry about the long thread but it is important to be able to diagnose the problem first then and then how then how to go about fixing problem. One thing i notice now is when i first turn the ignition on the fuel light comes on with a little 2mm box with lines in it which i think tells me the fuel system is working fine. I have had no more problems since i replaced the fuse and have travelled around 10000 ks or so.
2006 D4D 5 speed auto, Dual batteries Beuadesert 3" exhaust, GPS, 170,000 ks
Cheers
Wazza (frederick)
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