Fuel filter issue... again

You are having a bad run with your fuel, are you in a bad area or flood prone or dodgy old servos?

You could blame the vehicle manufacturers but on the other hand it is the fuel companies that are not supplying fuel to the required standards, paying for diesel and getting water is there fault not the car makers.
I have fitted a second filter with an alarm as a precaution myself too

Hi VickiW,
It can happen alright, Some folk have had to change their fuel filter every 200 kays when getting bad fuel in the outback towns. Pays to carry a couple of spares and learn how to install them.
I reckon it's pretty hard for a manufacturer to do any thing else but build in a filter. There are some well built funnels on the market that can be used prior to pouring into the vehicle as well.

Hi Vicki. The number of owners I have heard about over the last couple of years that have had serious engine problems from dirty fuel has had me concerned for some time. The last was a friend who had to have his Pajero towed to the dealers after filling up. It ended up costing $18000,(yes,thousand) and although the fuel company paid for it it was still really taumatic and time consuming for him. I saw these Fuel Filter Kits at the Sydney Caravan show last week and think it may be worth my while. The filer is fitted AFTER the original so that all the warning system is still active but any debri is trapped before it enters the fuel pump. They quoted around $390.00 for my Prado kit. Cheers,Bob.

VickiW
You didn't say what caused the filter light to come on. So replies are not focussed on the issue. Water or particulate contamination? Whoever changed the filter should be able to tell you.
If it is as a result of particulate matter then it may block and the restriction sensor will turn on a light and warn you.

If it is water, that too will turn on a light and warn you but it is for a different reason.

You also didn't mention how many km the vehicle has done in those months and so it may be only a few liters passed through or many hundreds or even thousands of litres.
Filters have a contamination level life, and or should be changed at least every 24 months before the filter medium begins to break down and it hen becomes the problem.

Only you know this and it has a direct bearing on when a filter might be reasonably expected to be near the end of it's service interval/life. One of your diesels might be filtering 10 times the amount the other had filtered. we comment on what is considered normal.

Common rail diesels have filters around 11 microns or smaller usually about 5 microns whereas the previous non CRD engines had OE filters about 30 microns and so didn't block as readily, and lots of stuff went through if there.

Because of finer tolerances in the CRD injection systems so are the filters. Therefore the same stuff will block it more frequent;ly, just a fact of diesel life.

Poor storage and supply and living in hotter humid climate will usually accelerate the production of nasties.
You might leave that vehicle, empty after a run and so it will have many times the colder night moisture condensate developing in the tank, this builds up and the filter tells you it is there. Filled before night time might reduce the water condensate by 99%.

Fuel outlets can be suspect as everyone knows but we can do our bit too.

When your last filter was changed because of the warning light, did you actually see the filter being changed or was it just drained and you think it was changed? Big difference there.
Many dealer serviced Toyota's don't have the filter changed until it gives a warning, just great when out in the desert and the filter decides to not play ball.


Ross M

Vicky,

I have a 200 with the same engine, and the fuel light has gone on twice in 110,000km, Both times were about 30km after filling up, and once I filled up and was pretty sure it would light up due to the sus servo, which it did.

In my case it was water in one case and build up in the other.

It is a very easy procedure to change the filter and reset the light. Water in the fuel is no good for any diesel. Carry a spare filter and go to LCOOL.org for the instructions. Both times I had the light, I changed the filter and was back on the road in 15 mins.

Give me a warning light over a damaged engine any day. Yes CRD is more sensitive, but so is the warning light to protect it.

I have just been through the second filter quandary and what I have been led to believe is that if you fit an aftermarket filter after(downstream of) the original filter it will void any vehicle manufacturer warranty. Fitting before the original filter is ok.
If your vehicle is a little older and out of any warranty then it doesn’t really matter. It also became apparent that all manufacturers always blamed dirty fuel so claimed it was not their responsibility and you would have to chase the fuel company, which was not always successful.
If you fit downstream of original, normally a 2 micron filter is fitted. If upstream 30 micron is normally fitted or you can order a 10 micron, however the flow direction through the filter of the 10 should be in the opposite direction than the 30.
Many people will claim that a second filter will restrict fuel flow but this is a fallacy.
The kit mentioned above does not come with a water alarm and I would strongly suggest buying the water alarm attachment as nobody is going to stop and check the water bowl 5, 10, 15 km’s after filling up, as this is when most damage seems to happen. The water alarm for these units are only a light, so you need wire in a loud piezo buzzer.
I would be inclined to email, not phone, questions to supplier’s or installers as if something goes wrong they will certainly say “I would have never said that!” An email you will have it in writing.
I’m happy to let you know more about my installation and why I decided on it if you like.

Cheers tony