New member needs help
#1
07-31-2010, 08:12 PM
New member needs help
Have 07 Camry with 37,000 mi.
Wife made mistake & fiilled 3/4 tank with diesel fuel. Car quit running immediately afterwards.
I didnt know what was wrong had it towed to dealer. Toyota dealer says costs 1,000 bucks to fix. Says they have to remove tank, fuel lines ect ect ect to repair.
Is this really needed? I dont have 1,000 bucks to spend on this & want to try to fix it myself. I think I can drain tank, clean lines, change filter, fill with clean gas & try to get it to run.
Appreciate any comments.
Wife made mistake & fiilled 3/4 tank with diesel fuel. Car quit running immediately afterwards.
I didnt know what was wrong had it towed to dealer. Toyota dealer says costs 1,000 bucks to fix. Says they have to remove tank, fuel lines ect ect ect to repair.
Is this really needed? I dont have 1,000 bucks to spend on this & want to try to fix it myself. I think I can drain tank, clean lines, change filter, fill with clean gas & try to get it to run.
Appreciate any comments.
Last edited by Drtierra; 07-31-2010 at 09:05 PM.
#2
07-31-2010, 10:22 PM
This is not an uncommon problem and recently came up at this forum.
The engine should have died as soon as the diesel was injected into the engine.
You should be able to do this job yourself or take it to a third party and pay much less.
I suggest you try to get as much diesel out of the fuel system as possible (obviously).
The fuel system has a quick disconnect fuel line fitting going to the fuel rail, this will allow purging up to this point.
Once you clean the tank, lines, new filter, etc and add new gas I suggest removing the spark plugs and cranking the engine until the diesel is purged from the injector rail and injectors.
Removing the plugs would prevent hydraulic locking in the cylinders as the remaining diesel will not burn.
The engine should have died as soon as the diesel was injected into the engine.
You should be able to do this job yourself or take it to a third party and pay much less.
I suggest you try to get as much diesel out of the fuel system as possible (obviously).
The fuel system has a quick disconnect fuel line fitting going to the fuel rail, this will allow purging up to this point.
Once you clean the tank, lines, new filter, etc and add new gas I suggest removing the spark plugs and cranking the engine until the diesel is purged from the injector rail and injectors.
Removing the plugs would prevent hydraulic locking in the cylinders as the remaining diesel will not burn.
#3
08-01-2010, 10:38 AM
This is not an uncommon problem and recently came up at this forum.
The engine should have died as soon as the diesel was injected into the engine.
You should be able to do this job yourself or take it to a third party and pay much less.
I suggest you try to get as much diesel out of the fuel system as possible (obviously).
The fuel system has a quick disconnect fuel line fitting going to the fuel rail, this will allow purging up to this point.
Once you clean the tank, lines, new filter, etc and add new gas I suggest removing the spark plugs and cranking the engine until the diesel is purged from the injector rail and injectors.
Removing the plugs would prevent hydraulic locking in the cylinders as the remaining diesel will not burn.
The engine should have died as soon as the diesel was injected into the engine.
You should be able to do this job yourself or take it to a third party and pay much less.
I suggest you try to get as much diesel out of the fuel system as possible (obviously).
The fuel system has a quick disconnect fuel line fitting going to the fuel rail, this will allow purging up to this point.
Once you clean the tank, lines, new filter, etc and add new gas I suggest removing the spark plugs and cranking the engine until the diesel is purged from the injector rail and injectors.
Removing the plugs would prevent hydraulic locking in the cylinders as the remaining diesel will not burn.
The info you have given will help take the pain out of what has to be done. I know how to do what you described so will have the car towed home & try it. I think it will be ok after I follow what you said.
I know the dealer has to follow Toyota procedures but we just dont have the money to have them do the work.
What is the best way to get the fuel out of the tank? I am hoping I can siphon it but am not sure that will work.
Thanks very much for your time & information, I appreciate it.
Last edited by Drtierra; 08-01-2010 at 10:46 AM.
#4
08-01-2010, 12:45 PM
I don't know if Toyota has a procedure for this process. The last person who posted about this problem stated the Toyota dealer wanted $4K. Third party shops were quoting $3-400 and they wanted to know why the difference in price.
The questions would be how skilled of mechanic are you and how much work around to you want to do.
I don't think 100 percent of the diesel needs to be removed from the tank as the engine should be able to run with a very low diesel/gas mixture. Right now the fuel system is filled with diesel.
This is also diesel fuel not water thus the system should not have be 100% clean.
The proper procedure would be to remove the tank, drain it and flush it with gas.
I am not sure you can successfully siphon fuel out of the tank, one reason is you may not be able to get the hose down the filler neck. And even if successful not sure if you can get enough fuel out before the hose starts to suck air.
You could remove the fuel pump to gain tank access. Perhaps find a bulb type hose pump that you squeeze to pump fluids and drain the tank this way. Perhaps raise one end of the car to force the fuel to flow to the now open end of the tank.
Once the tank is free from diesel fuel add gasoline. If you have taken the gas out via siphoning or from the fuel pump access add a lot of gas to help reduce the concentration of diesel fuel.
Break the fuel line at the quick connect fitting at the fuel rail. Connect some kind of hose to the end running to the tank and run this into a container then electrically jump start the fuel pump. Then run the pump until only gasoline comes out. You can apply power at the fuel pump (12V) but make sure you don't connect it to the fuel tank sender unit.
You might change the fuel filter but if you can flush the lines and filter not sure this gains much. The proper procedure would include a filter change.
These leaves the fuel rail and injectors. The "proper" procedure would be to remove both and clean out the diesel fuel. Depending on the engine type you may even be able to apply voltage to the injectors to cycle them and get out more diesel.
Once everything is clean reassembled and if all the diesel was now replaced with gas (via the proper procedure) the engine should start.
However as stated previously it might be possible to have the cars computer cycle the injectors when the fuel pump is running (as what happens when the engine is cranking).
My concern is diesel fuel may still be injected into the cylinders before the gasoline starts flowing (how much, don't know). If enough flows in but does not burn it could result in hydraulic locking of the cylinder which could damage the engine.
If the plugs are removed the excess diesel fuel will be blow out the hole.
I sent you a private message with a link to help you.
Again, this is not an uncommon issue. The diesel fuel needs to be removed (obviously) or at least reduced to a ratio of diesel/gas where the engine will run. The figure of 10% is kicking around on the internet. I am sure you can get this percentage much lower then this.
The questions would be how skilled of mechanic are you and how much work around to you want to do.
I don't think 100 percent of the diesel needs to be removed from the tank as the engine should be able to run with a very low diesel/gas mixture. Right now the fuel system is filled with diesel.
This is also diesel fuel not water thus the system should not have be 100% clean.
The proper procedure would be to remove the tank, drain it and flush it with gas.
I am not sure you can successfully siphon fuel out of the tank, one reason is you may not be able to get the hose down the filler neck. And even if successful not sure if you can get enough fuel out before the hose starts to suck air.
You could remove the fuel pump to gain tank access. Perhaps find a bulb type hose pump that you squeeze to pump fluids and drain the tank this way. Perhaps raise one end of the car to force the fuel to flow to the now open end of the tank.
Once the tank is free from diesel fuel add gasoline. If you have taken the gas out via siphoning or from the fuel pump access add a lot of gas to help reduce the concentration of diesel fuel.
Break the fuel line at the quick connect fitting at the fuel rail. Connect some kind of hose to the end running to the tank and run this into a container then electrically jump start the fuel pump. Then run the pump until only gasoline comes out. You can apply power at the fuel pump (12V) but make sure you don't connect it to the fuel tank sender unit.
You might change the fuel filter but if you can flush the lines and filter not sure this gains much. The proper procedure would include a filter change.
These leaves the fuel rail and injectors. The "proper" procedure would be to remove both and clean out the diesel fuel. Depending on the engine type you may even be able to apply voltage to the injectors to cycle them and get out more diesel.
Once everything is clean reassembled and if all the diesel was now replaced with gas (via the proper procedure) the engine should start.
However as stated previously it might be possible to have the cars computer cycle the injectors when the fuel pump is running (as what happens when the engine is cranking).
My concern is diesel fuel may still be injected into the cylinders before the gasoline starts flowing (how much, don't know). If enough flows in but does not burn it could result in hydraulic locking of the cylinder which could damage the engine.
If the plugs are removed the excess diesel fuel will be blow out the hole.
I sent you a private message with a link to help you.
Again, this is not an uncommon issue. The diesel fuel needs to be removed (obviously) or at least reduced to a ratio of diesel/gas where the engine will run. The figure of 10% is kicking around on the internet. I am sure you can get this percentage much lower then this.
Last edited by toyomoho; 08-01-2010 at 12:48 PM.
#5
08-02-2010, 10:16 AM
Joey,
After reading what you said & thinking this over I decided to find a local shop to see how much they would charge. I got lucky & found one this morning & I went to see the owner. He said they just did this exact same thing last week & can fix the car for 150 bucks. Its a nice shop & I am confident they will be able to do a good job.
I dont think its a good idea for me to attempt the repair myself if the price is that low so I am sending the car there today. The link you sent was a lot of help because I could see exactly what you explained. I will keep that for future reference.
Thank you very much for all the assistance & advice. It really helped me make the right decision in the end.
Douglas
After reading what you said & thinking this over I decided to find a local shop to see how much they would charge. I got lucky & found one this morning & I went to see the owner. He said they just did this exact same thing last week & can fix the car for 150 bucks. Its a nice shop & I am confident they will be able to do a good job.
I dont think its a good idea for me to attempt the repair myself if the price is that low so I am sending the car there today. The link you sent was a lot of help because I could see exactly what you explained. I will keep that for future reference.
Thank you very much for all the assistance & advice. It really helped me make the right decision in the end.
Douglas
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