[subratasenn]

My Etios Liva diesel is now showing 36,738 km on the odo. It was running smooth, with no issues at all. Then suddenly, something happened and the Fuel Filter warning sign started glowing on my dashboard.

This began suddenly, the light stays on, and this indicates a visit to the service station is a must. The previous day I filled up diesel (tank full) from Standard Valcanising at Ballygunge Circular Road. The pump is HP owned and is considered very reliable.

I called Toyota Service. They asked me to drive the car sparingly and bring it to the service station immediately. I am planning to go to Toyota Service (Topsel Toyota, Ruby crossing) today.

The cost of replacing a fuel filter is not much. Rs 1000/- including taxes. But the issue is elsewhere.

As far as I knew Toyota Etios and Liva are fitted with Denso fuel filters which are supposed to last a life-time. They do not need replacements unlike most other cars. What possibly could have gone wrong?

I always refill from trusted pumps, about 99% time from Standard Valcanising. However, my car has a history of putting in wrong fuel in its early days (I think 6000 km on the odo), when by mistake a fuel pump had filled up the car with petrol. The mistake was immediately noticed and the pump personnel pushed the car to their service bay, flushed out the entire tank and then filled up the tank with diesel. The car never showed signs of any problem so far.

Frankly, the car does not show any problem even now. It runs smooth, like it had always run. It's just that the warning sign is on.

Any idea what is the problem?

[mroptimist]

May be it's a case of sensor malfunction. I think you should not panic. Keep your cool Toyota will handle this very well hopefully.

Regards.

[aaggoswami]

There might a possibility of too much water being accumulated in filter. If my memory serves me right, Toyota diesel cars in India have filters which can separate water.
If the filter has taken water, the warning light will be "ON". There is instruction available in Innova manual which gives step by step explanation on how to remove water from filter.

I am assuming water in Fuel filter as the problem occured after diesel tank fill up.

[samish_g]

Dear Subrata da,
Maybe, just maybe, the filter has detected some water particles. This detection may be due to malfunction (as @mroptimist has pointed out) OR it has come from the diesel which you have filled. Is it the same bunk attached to the AAEI on Ballygunge Circular Road?
Usually the diesel filter lasts for about 60 to 65 thousand Kms in a Toyota diesel vehicle. The same is replaced every 20K Kms in a Swift, If I remember correctly. Unfortunately it is not a lifetime affair like the Long Life Coolant.

Regards,

Samish

[humyum]

Hey, its either that water has accumulated in the filter due to bad fuel or a malfunctioning sensor. Either ways its nothing at all. Don't worry at all about it. Such things keep happening in a car.

[subratasenn]

Originally Posted by mroptimist

May be it's a case of sensor malfunction. I think you should not panic. Keep your cool Toyota will handle this very well hopefully.

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

There might a possibility of too much water being accumulated in filter. If my memory serves me right, Toyota diesel cars in India have filters which can separate water.
If the filter has taken water, the warning light will be "ON". There is instruction available in Innova manual which gives step by step explanation on how to remove water from filter.
I am assuming water in Fuel filter as the problem occured after diesel tank fill up.

Originally Posted by samish_g

Dear Subrata da,
Maybe, just maybe, the filter has detected some water particles. This detection may be due to malfunction (as @mroptimist has pointed out) OR it has come from the diesel which you have filled. Is it the same bunk attached to the AAEI on Ballygunge Circular Road?
Usually the diesel filter lasts for about 60 to 65 thousand Kms in a Toyota diesel vehicle. The same is replaced every 20K Kms in a Swift, If I remember correctly. Unfortunately it is not a lifetime affair like the Long Life Coolant.

Originally Posted by humyum

Hey, its either that water has accumulated in the filter due to bad fuel or a malfunctioning sensor. Either ways its nothing at all. Don't worry at all about it. Such things keep happening in a car.

Everything set to rest by Toyota service today. It was water which went in with the fuel and settled under the filter.

There is a bowl under the filter (looks somewhat like what you have in the kitchen chimneys that accumulate oil) which was full.

It's a simple procedure to remove the water. There is a nut below the filter which has to be loosened. Then operate the fuel pump for about a few minutes till the water accumulated is removed. The fuel filter warning light goes off.

The entire procedure took about 5 minutes. Now I know what to do if this problem crops up again.

But what happened afterwards was really intriguing. I describe below what happened:

1. The service engineer came to me and asked me to wait for sometime because he wanted to put whatever happened to my car in the service history of my car in their computer. He said, this would take about half an hour because this was a procedural matter.

2. This "half an hour" thing reminded me of modern hospitals where you have been given the discharge certificate by the doctor but you cannot actually go out as the "official" discharge has not happened. I decided to wait and I was served very good coffee. I noticed that the quality of coffee has gone much better. It was actually CCD coffee latte. Free of cost. Wow!

3. After about 20 minutes the service engineer came with a service bill for my signature which needed to be signed by me so that I can take the same to the payment counter and get the Gate Pass to take my car out. I looked at the Bill amount and almost fainted.

4. The Bill amount was Rs 4.00. (Rupees four only). I never thought this could be any bill amount from a proper service station. I was so unsure that I asked again, are you serious? Can Rs 4.00 be a service bill of any car in an authorised service station? (Actually any roadside mechanic would have charged at least Rs 100).

5. The answer given to me was: this should actually be a zero bill. But if they do a zero billing, they can't put the problem of my car in service records. And if they don't put in records, technically they cannot do anything if anything goes wrong in the fuel line within one month. They are ensuring that I get a guarantee for one month against this Rs 4.00.

6. I took the bill, paid Rs 4.00 at the cash counter, got a proper money receipt and gate pass. And I am sure that the paperwork and the cost of CCD coffee (2 coffees actually, as one colleague accompanied me to the service station) was more that Rs 4.00

7. Kudos to Toyota service. I never expected this!

PS: It's true that the fuel filter in Etios and Liva are designed to last lifelong. The service personnel insisted that they have never changed fuel filter in any of these cars running in Kolkata. They said they are servicing two cars in the city, one with more than 3 lakh km and another with 2.5 lakh km on the odo, without replacing the fuel filters or overhauling the engines.

[Mr.ASG]

Glad to see the issue is resolved to your satisfaction. Maybe next time, This video will help to save Rs 4.00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUCZSKBkQXE

DIY, Water separation from diesel filter

[john.gt]

I am having the same issue on a 41K driven 2012 Etios VD. The light came on yesterday morning on my way to office. I had to drive the car for around 40-50 km's after the light came on.

I took the car to the service center yesterday evening, but they said a fuel tank cleaning and fuel filter replacement is required and I'd get the car only by 7:00 pm (highly optimistic). This was told without laying a hand on the car. Showed them this thread, but was treated with disdain (reminded me of doctors reacting to internet diagnosis )
I told I'd bring it back on Monday.

I tried what was given in the manual for 3-4 minutes. Loosened the nut and used the manual pump for 3-4 minutes. The light is still on.
Now I am planning to take the car back to them on Monday morning and the weekend now goes to Uber

I fill diesel from only 2 or 3 pumps, Shell (Graphite road & Varthur Road) and BP (HSR layout, 27th main). The last fill was a full tank from Shell (Varthur).

Would anyone have any suggestions/tips to save me a trip to the service station again?

[kavensri]

Even I encountered this problem with my Liva GD (driven for more than 57k kms). Need to visit the service center tomorrow and will update the status here after my visit.

[john.gt]

Originally Posted by kavensri

Even i emcountered this problem with my Liva GD (driven for more than 57k kms). Need to visit the service center tomorrow and will update the status here after my visit.

I had to visit the service center and after a fuel tank cleaning and fuel filter replacement, things are back to normal.
The bill came to Rs.2800/-, more than half of it, was for tank cleaning.

[kavensri]

with the help of my neighbour i could open the filter and drain out the fuel/water, but still the indicator light did not go off...so, i suspect either a sensor malfunction (false alarm?) or filter to be replaced.
today being holiday, i could not visit the service center today and i would be visting the service center tomorrow morning.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by kavensri

with the help of my neighbour i could open the filter and drain out the fuel/water, but still the indicator light did not go off.

What you did was 50% of the process. After the water is drained, the codes needs to be reset in the ECU for that light to vanish from the instrumentation console.

After you visit the ASC, they hook your car and clear the codes.

[kavensri]

thanks anurag...fellow bhpian amalji told me yesterday that i need to get the code reset which i will get it done today.

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by john.gt

I had to visit the service center and after a fuel tank cleaning and fuel filter replacement, things are back to normal.
The bill came to Rs.2800/-, more than half of it, was for tank cleaning.

More or less the same experience as you had with the service advisor. SA told me that they need to replace the fuel filter and if the problem persists even after the replacement, then tank cleaning needs to be done. After the technician inspected the vehicle, he suggested both the fuel filter replacement and tank cleaning. I questioned the second part, but they came up with those 'standard' answers, which i could not argue more. So, after 2 hours i got back my car with the final bill of 2943.
Since then i have driven more than 550kms and no issues observed.

One thing that the SA told me which i want to mention here for all the ETIOS DIESEL owners - Now the service center has made it mandatory to replace the fuel filter during 80k kms service interval. What i told was, initially they used to replace it only when the filter was clogged, but now they have been instructed to do it at 80k kms interval.

[subratasenn]

Originally Posted by kavensri

One thing that the SA told me which i want to mention here for all the ETIOS DIESEL owners - Now the service center has made it mandatory to replace the fuel filter during 80k kms service interval. What i told was, initially they used to replace it only when the filter was clogged, but now they have been instructed to do it at 80k kms interval.

This is actually a good thing. "Lifelong" fuel filter doesn't mean anything. It depends on the "life" of the fuel filter. Better to change it wt a specific interval to ensure smooth driving.