Dust in the fuel system? Anyone else?

Starting issues began to occur on my taco, similar to that of a weak battery or alternator issues. CEL came on and codes were related to fuel rail pressure system and low fuel pressure system. Dealer changed out low pressure fuel pump. Issues continued, returned to dealer and dirt was found in the rails and injector screens along with a tiny amount in the fuel tank basket.

Dealer nor Toyota want to be liable, but no one wants to tell me how dirt/dust got in a closed system. Regular maintenance was adhered to and truck shows issues while still under the power train warranty. Has anyone experienced issues? This is not an overfill evap issue, had that on my ‘21. Dealer just wants me to change $7k worth of parts with no solution to my problem, and a likely chance of it happening again.

Any thoughts appreciated, love my yota, seems like it should be a simple fix. Blows my mind that there isn’t a fuel filter on the line anymore, just in the tank.

Thanks in advance.

 

Welcome to TW!

Most new cars don't have replaceable fuel filters and if they do it's part of the pump mechanism. Where do you buy gas from? Same station? Could be related to that. Seems like it should be covered under warranty too. Have you tried another dealer?

 

Another thought, you might be able to find an independent shop that can flush out the fuel system.

 

You can always add your own fuel filter. Modern vehicles haven't had traditional fuel filters in many years due to modern fuel quality.

If you don't have any sort of EVAP leak or fuel leak anywhere indicating some sort of entrance point for debris, you'd likely have to check the tank and fuel sending unit itself for debris and whether or not the fuel sock is in tact. That or these are issues caused by a previous owner that are just now surfacing. But otherwise, there should be no reason dirt or other debris is in your system.

 

There was dirt on top of the fuel tank and it fell in when they removed the pump module. You're supposed to blow the dirt off with an air chuck first..

Sloppy work, they need to take responsibility

 

Thanks!

I’ve checked with gas stations I use and no reports of dirty fuel. Truck is in dusty environments at times and I believe there is some way it is getting in the fuel system.

Multiple vehicles in my area who fuel up in different locations experiencing the same issues.

Haven’t tried another dealer yet, but one of the other vehicles did and had no luck.

Toyota escalated my case and said that “outside influences” caused this issue and they wouldn’t cover it. No work was done by Toyota or Dealer to find cause of issue, just change parts and good luck to ya!

 

I've worked at a full service gas station for over 15 years. We change the filters below the dispensers every 6 months. There's never any dirt or foreign material in them. Only the diesel filters will have a little varnish inside..

 

Purchased truck new, fuel pump was inspected and low pressure pump replaced initially under warranty. Leads me to believe dirt/dust was already in the system causing the pump to fail originally. When pump failed and screen didn’t catch it particulates made it throughout system.

Likely going to do a smoke evap test to check for leaks, but no CEL evap codes showing leakage. Skipping dealer because they fought warranty originally and had to force their hand through Toyota.

I try to use larger gas stations with heavier traffic and figured those pumps had multiple filters along their lines.

 

Decent theory, but OP said issues started and then they swapped out the LP fuel pump.

 

Isn't there a recall for those pumps in the third gens?

The symptom started because the original pump failed like stated in the recall, They replaced it but screwed up the new one because dirt got in, Now he's got the same symptoms

 

That is correct.

 

My ‘21 got the recall, but I checked my ‘22 and it did not.

 

Why did they only notice the dirt the second time? If it was in there from the beginning they should have noticed it.

 

They tested the low pressure pump and found fault with it so it was changed. I did toon of fuel system wasn’t done until second trip to dealer after low pressure fuel test showed issues in injectors.

 

It comes in the fuel, a dirty nozzle, dust ingress through fill tube. They should not be liable. Fuel system is clean unless sucked into system. And, it only takes a few particles to fuck it up.

 

One piece of debris on the nozzle scraped off when inserting nozzle would do it.
Could it have happened during fuel pump install? Sure. But it could happen at the station too. So, who to blame, who to blame

 

The point is, if I'm putting a new fuel pump in a tank, I'm looking down in there for anything that might hurt the new pump. Dirt, water, whatever..

 

I agree, no notation was made from dealership.

 

How are all these nozzles getting dirty? They hang on the side of a dispenser in the middle of a paved parking lot.

I'm just not buying it. EVERYTIME I drop a fuel tank there's dirt on top where the FP module sits.

Dirt in fuel delivery trucks and tanks is mostly a myth, very rare

That being said, I don't trust using a crap-ton of fuel system cleaner in modern vehicles. It's known to melt the insulation between electrical windings in pumps and injectors, causing them to short out

 

If this is an issue with many vehicles in your area, it sounds like you need to install a fuel filter of your own in-line. The system is sealed for emissions reasons so you should be seeing codes if there are any sort of leaks in the EVAP system that would allow dirt in. They are incredibly sensitive and throw codes well before dirt intrudes.