cleaning fuel tank pickup filter

[Steve9R]

Dont know whether anyones done this before, or has a better method of removing it, (if so let us know)...

My father's SR Fuel gauge was playing up (staying on full after doing 250kms), so he decided to pull the fuel sender unit out to check the meter in the tank..

Once he pulled it out and found some dirt on the terminals of the sender (bridged across), and since he had it out decided to pull the canister to bits to clean it out, and found it had dirt all through the bottom of the container, and the pickup unit as shown...

Now remember this SR has only done 32k....



He said to get this unit out of the tank though is a major job, as there is a compressed washer with a white plastic nut on the top.. so he had to make a custom tool to get it out.. and it was a bastard to put back in.. he thought he might just buy a new plastic nut for it though after he'd mangled it getting it out, but toyota price.. $87!!!!.. the old one went back..

We checked the service manuals etc, no mention of ever looking at these let alone cleaning them out..

Steve

[9W6VX]

Steve,

At 32k kms, that doesn't look good.

Scary stuff.

And yes, the service manuals make no mention if it all!

Cheers

Brendon

[Goldminer]

Yeah I cleaned mine when I put the LRA tank in, it wasn't quite that bad but it was a little dirty. The sender was a bugger to get out in the first place. I ended up making a tool as well. A large ring made of 3mm plate. The LRA tank has the sender unit is bolted down instead of screwed with the large plastic ring (very brittle, I chipped it a couple of times getting it unscrewed). I don't regret getting the bigger tank and if this is what happens I might be pulling it out every 50k to clean it.

Thanks for the info guys.
Cheers
Goldminer

[glenj]

Was that a petrol or diesel?
Don't look good.
Here is a picture of that plastic ring

[url]http://www.thelongranger.com.au/tr63_tech.html[/url]

[Steve9R]

its a Diesel..

that tank looks good though..

any idea of price for them ?

Steve

[Parr]

had the toyota dealer out the other day dropping off the old mans new 200. he said that the new hiluxes and 200's need there pickup filter cleaned at around 120000km's and they have had a few doing there fuel pumps due to the filter being clogged. im plaining on doing it as soon as my tank get near empty, had anyone heard of this???

[Quinny34]

Check my build up thread... A bit premature for obvious reasons... but its not a hard job...

It will really depend on your fuel and it will take half a day to do but not a technically hard job to complete..

[Parr]

good to no Quinny, i was just interested if any one elce had heard of this. if i get time tonight ill get started on it

[Steve9R]

yeah.. i posted pics of my old mans fuel pickup ages ago... clogged up.. (do a search).. biggest problem is undoing the plastic nut on the fuel tank (OEM plastic tanks i mean) we had to make our own tool.. and even then buggered the plastic but up.. and toyota from memory wanted about $60 for a new one..

Steve

[Quinny34]

I used a hammer and some flat steel and just tapped it around... once it got a half turn it was okay to undo by hand...

Just remember to clean everything as best you can before opening it and keep it all as clean as possible when reassembling...

[Nick#]

Hi,
I keep hearing from several different places thats there is a strainer/filter in the tank on the 3.0lt? If that's the case where is it?
Is there anything else i should check before going on a long trip?
Cheers,
Nick

[Hilux Max]

yes there is, its part of the fuel pump....you have to drop the tank out to get to it.

i have been told when i replaced me injectors i should replace this strainer too.

its at the bottom of the fuel suction pump in pic below -

[Nick#]

Thats why they dont clean it with a service then, i just had new injectors a few weeks ago. Might get them to clean it next service

[hdlux]

I have cleaned mine before,was very dirty,had a lot of sludge in it,but its very hard to get the ring around the fuel pump undone,i made a tool up for it,and then its hard to seal it,the is a big O ring in there and hard to keep in place while you tighten it up,hope that made sense

[07luxyTD]

Digging up an old thread here but what solvent or aids did you use to clean the filter? just give it a scrub with a brush or flush out with contact cleaner?


Cheers Ross

[darmo]

Hi Guys,
I've just got back from Fraser island and found that my fuel gauge is being spaz.
I have a pre-filter system called water watch.
http://www.responsiveengineering.com.au/
I did however pick-up some dirty fuel as the standard fuel fuel system light stayed on, indicating that there was an abnormal fuel pressure difference on the way into the standard filter compared to the pressure coming out. Basically it was just a dirty fuel filter and it was struggling to get diesel through.
I think as a result my fuel pick-up is now playing silly buggers showing a 3/4 full tank after doing 500KM and no showing an empty tank after just fuelling and putting in 65 litres.

I've disconnected the battery a few times and tried to reset the ecu/sensors. With no joy. Is pulling out the fuel sender the only next step to try and fix this issue?
Cheers,
Darmo

[wttmf]

Just removed tank and cleaned strainer.
Having trouble putting white ring back on, seems to want to cross tread itself when going back on. Spent the best part of coupe of hours trying to get it to screw on square but keeps going on on an angle and cross treading.
Anyone have this problem?

[boxhead55]

[boxhead55]

They all get filth

[whitelux08]

In reply to wttmf.
I Pulled out my fuel tank soon after I bought my 2nd hand 2008 d/cab as when I parked on a steep driveway with a full tank, diesel would drip out under the truck. When I got it out I found someone had cross threaded the big white nut on the tank and just left it crossed and not even all the way down . I bought a new nut / retainer and "O" ring and had to heat the tank thread to get it back to normal so I could re-fit the retainer. It still was a load of fun getting it back on. But what ever you do make sure it goes back on square and tight because you really don't want all the crap and water!! from outside getting in the tank. By the way I also found a blue rag about 2' square in the tank floating around.(Don't think that would be standard eq.)
The moral to the story is, this can be a pain to do, but if you decide to have a go yourself make sure you do it right !