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  • Engine runs rough, blows smoke, loses power and dies.

    I bought a 2003 diesel Prado from Sydney last week, and filled up about 110 liters of diesel at Shell before returning home to Melbourne on Saturday.
    The tanks were both almost empty before i filled up. The drive back was fine until i stopped in Albury.
    By this point i had about about a quarter tank (on the sub) and just as i was leaving Albury the Prado died as i stopped. i started back up with difficulty and she ran very rough with very little power, and a lot of smoke. I managed to keep driving with great difficulty and the engine cutting off constantly, but i made it to a Caltex servo and filled up 40 liters. I tried starting her up but it wouldn't run only very rough and kept dying. after inspecting everything and pumping the filter i kept trying to start her and eventually and with a lot of a struggle she ran.
    About 100 kms from Melbourne it happened again (on the freeway) and with quarter tank on the sub left. Forcefully i kept re-engaging in gear as the engine was dying and there was no power. Slowly and after about 15 minutes i made it to a servo and filled up another 40 liters or so. And again after forcing the engine and pressing the pedal she started. It blew a lot of smoke and the engine light came on but after a bit it ran fine again and engine light turned off and smoke stopped.
    Today the same thing happened again but this time i had half tank left on the sub. I filled up, and now it's fine.

    I'm not completely sure what the problem is. My guess is that there is water or something other than diesel in the fuel, but when i saw it happen at half tank im not too sure. Unless every time i fill up a percentage is not actually fuel.
    It has 235000 kms and goes well besides this problem, and it's a bit thirsty.

    Please help as i love the Prado and don't want to destroy the engine. Thank you.

  • #2
    I'd suggest starting with the simple things like replacing the two fuel filters... one between the tanks and one in the engine bay. From there investigate contaminated fuel tank, injectors etc. Also, if the engine light came on the code would be recorded in the computer error logs. I'm sure you will receive some more advice here.. this forum has got some excellent members on it.
    [b][color=#800040]2007 120 GXL D4D 6sp Man[/color][/b]

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    • #3
      Thanks, ill give that a shot. I didn't know there was a filter between the two tanks.
      Is there a way to drain the sub tank? I know most cars have a bolt on the bottom, but I don't know much about this model Prado as I've only had it for just over a week.

      Comment


      • #4
        Was the smoke white = lack of fuel

        If it was black = overfuelling

        A couple of things. The two tanks take 180 litres to fill. So when you added 110l it wasnt full seeing as it was almost empty anyway. Sydney to albury is 600k's so you should have done it easy without running out.

        However, for you to use 100 or more litres to do 600k's you would be using 18l per 100ks (ish) which is very high and indicative of a bad injector (s) that is overfuelling. This has to be sorted or it will die. If you had it flat to the floor down the highway with bad injectors you may get that bad economy which reinforces the running out or very close to it. If it blew lots of black smoke on start up then a dribbling injector may be the cause. However, it sounds to my like you have almost run out and picked up some crud.

        As edge suggests replace the fuel filters. I would also do the EGR block off and clean of the throttle body and intake manifold here;

        http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...-throttle-body

        Then fill it to the brim and add the appropriate amount of injector cleaner (3 bottles maybe) and run both tanks through it and see how your mileage is. You should be getting no worse than 13lphk. Mine with all this done plus a dtronic gets 12.5lphk around town.

        If its still using more I would have the injectors replaced and a compression test done at the same time. (low comp may explain a few things including long start times). Be aware that it doesnt change tanks from teh main to the aux but the fuel constantly moves between the two tanks. The gauge just tells you its changed tanks.

        good luck
        2009 120 V6 Auto. 265/70/17 Goodyear Silent Armours. Bilsteins and Kings Springs.

        Comment


        • #5
          Thanks for the awesome advice and link Tassie Tiger. Definitely something i will do in the next few days.
          The smoke was white. And yes, it does drink a lot, especially on freeway type cruising.
          I didn't and don't drive it hard (flat to the floor) as it goes well at low and high speeds.

          Yesterday (before the problem occurred for the third time) I changed the air filter as the car is full of fine red dust (its literally everywhere, inside and out) and the air filter was full of it also. It does run slightly better.

          I thought i may have sucked up some crud but i still had quarter tank, twice, and half tank once, on the sub. Also wondering if these models have fuel gauge problems. Sometimes the needle moves very slowly and other times i go through almost a quarter in 30 kms.

          I was going to upgrade the injectors anyway as i know its a common problem on these models and also wanted to get a chip. I was thinking some Bosch injectors and a Dtronic.

          What do you think? Any recommendations??
          Last edited by splat; 14-07-2011, 04:44 PM.

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          • #6
            After replacing the fuel filter and experiencing much of the same but a lot worse I drained the fuel tank.

            Not to much of my surprise, the 60 liters i drained turned out to be contaminated with unleaded petrol. I could smell and feel it as i got it all over my hands.

            I called the Shell servo i filled up at and let them know of the problem and am awaiting a response.

            I have managed to flush the entire system and after priming and a lot of dry turning over, finally managed to get it running.
            What kind of damage could i expect? I'm certain that the life span of certain components would have been significantly reduced. So I'm going to try and get Shell to pay for as much as I can. - New injectors and fuel pump/s at least.

            Comment


            • #7
              Good luck, but I highly doubt you will get anything out of them. A friend had his 20000k old diesel Suby Outback die and $14grand later it was repaired from bad fuel. All covered by his insurance comapny as the servo he filled up at said "prove that it was us"!

              Mitch
              [img]http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f296/1cut808/MUMSRIG/Mitch-Prado.jpg[/img]

              Comment


              • #8
                How is it running now? If its fine then the fuel system is probably ok. The main issue you would have is lack of lubrication through the pump (diesel is the lubricant) but if it hasnt failed then it may be okay.

                Do you have the receipts from the servo showing it was from the diesel pump? I wonder if the nozzles were in the wrong spots as I have seen this happen at our local servo.

                best of luck
                2009 120 V6 Auto. 265/70/17 Goodyear Silent Armours. Bilsteins and Kings Springs.

                Comment


                • #9
                  It seems to run OK for now. - A bit hard to start, and runs a bit rough when cold. Also drinks a lot (about 18 L /100km which I'm not sure how to fix.
                  Besides all that, it runs well.

                  I have contacted the servo, I have receipt, not sure if it states what fuel or pump, but I'm sure it would.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    They all have security cameras these days - ask them to check the footage, if it shows you with the diesel nozzle in your hand you're a long way towards proving your case IMHO.

                    Dave
                    Confidence - The feeling before you fully understand the situation

                    Comment

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