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Errrrrggggg!! It has happened! Fuel warning light is on permanently indicating abnormal fuel system (d4d) Toyota said drive it to the service centre. Instead I'm getting it towed which I think is a wise idea?, considering I pay racq membership and don't want to risk causing unnecessary damage. Let's see what it turns out to be and what Toyota do about it, I drained the filter, but no sign of water or debris.

Could it just be a blocked filter? Good luck with it. Ill be watching to see what happens.

Cheers,

Chris.

The light needs to be reset to turn it off, it does not come up as a fault on the scan gauge either

Have a search but it is along the lines of switching ignition on , unplugging sensor with foot on brake blah blah

agree that it could be blocked filter, hopefully that's what it is. How many km on this filter?

Car has only 25k spoke with Toyota service chap and he said it will be the filter. He mentioned that changing them every second service would be a good thing.

Mine did the same thing at 25k. Toyota changed the filter and all has been fine the last 1k.

Hopefully that's all it will be.

If the light is on solid it is a restrictive filter, probably.
Reset it and see if it comes back straight away, if so then be worried about it.
To reset, pull out top plug on the filter housing, start the car, put the plug back in.
If it doesn't come back on straight away, id still change the filter when convenient.

If the light is flashing it is a water alarm. The water alarm is pretty crude in these filters, it is simply a float that floats in water and sinks in diesel(S.G. of 1.0 vs .82..?), it would be unreliable if the filter housing is full of sludge and crap.
In any case I wouldnt be reseting it until I clean out filter housing and probably the fuel tank and lines.
If you have never drained your filter you would not know if this water has slowly accumulated or if you have a tank full of water, so drain your filter regularly!

Well an update, ended up just driving to Toyota service and got them to have a look at it.

Filter was caked in shit but they said they couldn't see any signs of water contamination, They pulled about 3 litres of fuel through the and inspected it and couldn't see any further obvious contamination. replaced filter and reset alarm light. all seems to be working fine now, they said if it happens again to come down and they will take samples so I can get tested to prove it is contamination and along with my receipts take it up with the fuel company.

Was also told that installing another filter (such as Delphi 296) before OEM filter is an excellent idea and that it will not void warranty in any way.

And now thinking about it all......I have ALWAYS filled up with the 1 highflow pump at my local caltex woolworths (toombul rd, Virginia) except the last tank which I only just got, I had to use a low flow pump cause some noob in a Triton was blocking the other pump with his choice parking skills. don't know if different pumps have different tanks or not :/ Anyway, Total cost to me was 120 bucks at toyota and I blame Triton drivers now solely for this debacle

haha i agree with where you place the blame.

Does the after market filter provide feedback on it's condition? Because if it gets blocked and you have a flow resitriction the factory instruments may not detect it because the pressure drop is not occuring at the factory filter.

No it doesn't Joe, you can get ones that do.. they seem to look pretty nice but they are around 500 bucks, The Delphi 296 filter seems to be the pick and some people on here are running them without trouble, it has a glass bowl so you can see if it's getting crumby... filters are only like 10 bucks for it too. I'm going to order one through Ebay for 45 bucks and plumb it up. I think for the small outlay it really offers nice piece of mind to to know you are at least minimising any impact as opposed to doing nothing and hoping "it won't happen to my car"

I just drove from Darwin to Sydney, when I was in central qld this problem occurred, as per the manual it says take to dealer... Oh gee thanks Toyota that's really helpful on a Sunday in the middle of Australia, anyway called them, no one from service department was in so they called up one of their mates from service centre and then called me back with a step by step reset procedure and said if it stays off it should be ok... So this is the procedure they gave me hope in helps someone out:

1. Pull over switch off vehicle
2. Drain fuel filter ( inspect fuel for contamination etc.) ( refer to manual if unsure how to drain filter)
3.ensure the key is in the off position and disconnect the top electrical connection on the filter
4.turn the key on dont start the engine yet, reconnect fuel filter
5. Wait a few seconds and Start engine and drive. if fuel light comes back on then repeat again if its still on then you may have other issues.

Worked for me.

I've been doing the last about every time i go for a longer than an hour of driving. I'm pretty sure it's a dirty filter and I'll have it changed next month with the service.

It would act as if the diesel level in the filter housing increases due to the inability of the filter to handle the volume of fuel. Over a longer running period. It will then trigger the alarm. When i got to my dealer he had this process for me:

1. Shut down the car
2. Disconnect the sensor
3. Put key to contact
4. Reconnect the sensor in about 10 seconds.
5. if it goes off go about your marry way.

He mentioned on the 30k fuel filter change but i will be requesting it changed on every service - it's a smaller price to pay than a fuel pump

Muldz wrote:I just drove from Darwin to Sydney, when I was in central qld this problem occurred, as per the manual it says take to dealer... Oh gee thanks Toyota that's really helpful on a Sunday in the middle of Australia, anyway called them, no one from service department was in so they called up one of their mates from service centre and then called me back with a step by step reset procedure and said if it stays off it should be ok... So this is the procedure they gave me hope in helps someone out:

1. Pull over switch off vehicle
2. Drain fuel filter ( inspect fuel for contamination etc.) ( refer to manual if unsure how to drain filter)
3.ensure the key is in the off position and disconnect the top electrical connection on the filter
4.turn the key on dont start the engine yet, reconnect fuel filter
5. Wait a few seconds and Start engine and drive. if fuel light comes back on then repeat again if its still on then you may have other issues.

Worked for me.

Hi I know this is an old thread but did not want to start another thread.

I have a Dec 2010 Hilux and just coming up over 70,000 Klm.

Filled up from normal servo and went on about an hour and half drive and looked down and the Fuel warning light was on solid !
Checked user manual and crikey this made me paranoid But then logged onto this forum from phone and found this thread and did as followed, Drained fuel out it may have had water but hard to tell. Reset everything and fuel warning light went out and did not come back on.......Phew !!!

Question does this mean I need a new filter or did I just get some bad fuel, I am out of warranty now and do not trust Toyota for my services when it comes to filter changes ect. Would rather give my money to a handy local person if I can find one. I live on the Gold Coast and if anyone knows one handy glad to give my money instead.

Thanks for any help.

You need a new filter

boxhead55 wrote:You need a new filter

Thank you Boxhead !

I was looking at Super cheap Auto the other day when I picked up another 5 ltrs of Oil for each fuel fill. And I must say for the non Handy man in the mechanics area, confusing was an understatement.

If I search will I find a part number from this shop for a new filter or do I need to get a service tech to install.

Regards Tony

Easy do it yourself but pay a little extra and get genuine.

Clean is much better, plenty of crap in there, but no light on.
For my customers I think 20-40k replacement is the go.

Hey BH what interval do you think is good?

fourby4diesel wrote:

Clean is much better, plenty of crap in there, but no light on.
For my customers I think 20-40k replacement is the go.

Hey BH what interval do you think is good?

I got my fuel filter changed when I had a 70,000 Klm service as my fuel warning light came on just prior to it being due for its service. I bought Toyota products from the dealer and took it to another place for it's service.
The amount of crap in it made the mechanic say it looks as if it's never been changed before. I saw it although not as completely as black as yours in the picture it was not far off.

At the same time I just got them to do a oil and filter and I also bought a new Air filter as well. They didn't agree with the oil I got from Toyota so I have to take that back and see if a refund can be made.

I wish they would leave the tear out bits in the Log Book for reference to check back and see when tihngs were due and if done. Paranoid maybe, but all good happy with my Hilux

Just had mine come on and this forum helped massive.
Only 33367km on my sr5

I followed the instructions above and boom

I've done mine 3 times now, 2011 model 96,000 on clock.
Change filter and reset light, easy.