G'day all, a few years ago I posted on here needing advice on a fuel issue I had.
This issue started not long after I bought my prado 120 in 2014. Basically, when it reached roughly 3/4 full in the front tank the car stopped like it was out of fuel, but would go again when fuel was added. Refueling, however, could take up to an hour to put 100ltrs in, as the fuel could only be dribbled in.
I've read many people on here who've suffered the same problem, & and tried several 'solutions' that were advised by others to try, but to no avail for me, so always carried jerry cans with me.
Anyway, last January (2017) my wife & I did a bit of exploring in the Pilbara around the Mt Augustus area, where we 'topped up'. I couldn't do it myself as the bloke working the station did the refuelling. I was a little sceptical that the tank was full but headed off anyway toward Paraburdoo. The Ashburton river was flowing a bit too hard to attempt to cross, so we headed back south to get to Great Northern hwy then head north to Newman. Then the fun began... 389ks from Mt Augustus & in the late arvo, the prado died! I didn't fill my jerry as I believed I had enough fuel for the usual 750 to 850ks with a full tank. I did, however have a water tube on my roof rack, so I wasn't worried as I knew I could use the hose to syphon fuel from one tank to the other to keep going. I got out the car to get it &... it wasn't there! Somehow the straps I used to secure pipe failed, so it was long gone. My next option was the only one left... drop the front tank, fill up the jerry, pour the jerry into the main tank, block up other hoses under the car when fuel started pouring out, pour another jerry in, put the tank back in, pour the last jerry in, & continue our drive to Newman. So 15 hours later we were on the road again! I won't go into the rest of the trip but I need to give a HUGE heartfelt thanks to the truck driver who drove me to Kumerina for fuel, & the wife of the current manager of Kumerina who drove me back to my car.
Now present day, well, 2 weeks ago anyway, I discussed this adventure with my best mate (wish I had done it sooner) who's a heavy diesel mechanic by trade, & he couldn't figure it out initially. I explained the fuel setup as I found it to be (fuel pump in the front tank pumps fuel from both, but only 1 breather which comes from the back tank to the filler pipe). He wasn't 100% sure, but he asked me to try to loosen the filler cap next time the car stopped (something we used to do in our early days of bush bashing & demo derby participation in the early '90s). Hmmm, a lightbulb moment! I loosened the cap before I left his place & drove around for a week, until the front tank was down to 1/4 tank! What I learned from my mate is that the prado has a breather that joins the 2 tanks, but this breather has a check valve somewhere & this can fail. So with this knowledge, I took the tank out again & put my own breather nozzle in, joining it up to the existing breather at the filler pipe, using a t-piece connector. So now I can use ALL my fuel & fill up in minutes, like a normal person!
Hopefully this little story will help others, as I know there's heaps of prados owners out there who have/has this same issue. Toyota were no help either, but charge big dollars to do very little. I was even prepared to fit a second pump to pump fuel from one tank to the other when the green light came on, but I'm just glad I caught up with my mate when I did!
This issue started not long after I bought my prado 120 in 2014. Basically, when it reached roughly 3/4 full in the front tank the car stopped like it was out of fuel, but would go again when fuel was added. Refueling, however, could take up to an hour to put 100ltrs in, as the fuel could only be dribbled in.
I've read many people on here who've suffered the same problem, & and tried several 'solutions' that were advised by others to try, but to no avail for me, so always carried jerry cans with me.
Anyway, last January (2017) my wife & I did a bit of exploring in the Pilbara around the Mt Augustus area, where we 'topped up'. I couldn't do it myself as the bloke working the station did the refuelling. I was a little sceptical that the tank was full but headed off anyway toward Paraburdoo. The Ashburton river was flowing a bit too hard to attempt to cross, so we headed back south to get to Great Northern hwy then head north to Newman. Then the fun began... 389ks from Mt Augustus & in the late arvo, the prado died! I didn't fill my jerry as I believed I had enough fuel for the usual 750 to 850ks with a full tank. I did, however have a water tube on my roof rack, so I wasn't worried as I knew I could use the hose to syphon fuel from one tank to the other to keep going. I got out the car to get it &... it wasn't there! Somehow the straps I used to secure pipe failed, so it was long gone. My next option was the only one left... drop the front tank, fill up the jerry, pour the jerry into the main tank, block up other hoses under the car when fuel started pouring out, pour another jerry in, put the tank back in, pour the last jerry in, & continue our drive to Newman. So 15 hours later we were on the road again! I won't go into the rest of the trip but I need to give a HUGE heartfelt thanks to the truck driver who drove me to Kumerina for fuel, & the wife of the current manager of Kumerina who drove me back to my car.
Now present day, well, 2 weeks ago anyway, I discussed this adventure with my best mate (wish I had done it sooner) who's a heavy diesel mechanic by trade, & he couldn't figure it out initially. I explained the fuel setup as I found it to be (fuel pump in the front tank pumps fuel from both, but only 1 breather which comes from the back tank to the filler pipe). He wasn't 100% sure, but he asked me to try to loosen the filler cap next time the car stopped (something we used to do in our early days of bush bashing & demo derby participation in the early '90s). Hmmm, a lightbulb moment! I loosened the cap before I left his place & drove around for a week, until the front tank was down to 1/4 tank! What I learned from my mate is that the prado has a breather that joins the 2 tanks, but this breather has a check valve somewhere & this can fail. So with this knowledge, I took the tank out again & put my own breather nozzle in, joining it up to the existing breather at the filler pipe, using a t-piece connector. So now I can use ALL my fuel & fill up in minutes, like a normal person!
Hopefully this little story will help others, as I know there's heaps of prados owners out there who have/has this same issue. Toyota were no help either, but charge big dollars to do very little. I was even prepared to fit a second pump to pump fuel from one tank to the other when the green light came on, but I'm just glad I caught up with my mate when I did!
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