hi there.hope someone can help,sometimes while driving my 2litre turbo auto i press down on the accelerator and it takes a long time to rev up and when it does i get black smoke coming from the exhaust.you can imagine when at a junction this lack of power can be quite harrowing.it seems ok once the car is moving.come on you toyota brains help!!!!!!!----dave l - (#425) DAVE LINNEY, 4 Jul 01

Dave, this is related to your fuel economy problem. Perhaps the turbo is a little tight on it's bearings, doesn't want to spin up. Could be injectors, timing, or pump setup. - (#427) David Miller, 4 Jul 01

thanks dave;as i have recently had my turbo reconditioned and the problem was there before we may be able to eliminate that one.also i had new injectors fitted recently,its seems like it could be timing(not sure what you mean)or fuel pump setting(anymore info on how to go about this would be helpful)thanx for all your help--dave - (#429) DAVID LINNEY, 4 Jul 01

I have been told that fuel filter condition plays an important role in the acceleration performance of diesels. Worth a look! - (#454) stephen judge, 5 Jul 01

thanks steven,but my lack of engine knowledge will show again,what does the fuel filter look like and where is it?(thank heavens for board of knowledge!!!!!!)dave l - (#459) david linney, 6 Jul 01

Cylindrical thing to LHS of engine, mounts on the bulkhead under the passenger's seat.(fuel hose comes out of it into injection pump.) - (#460) David Miller, 6 Jul 01

sorry steven,i still don,t understand,what does the fuel filter look like and could i replace it myself(any worries about airlocks etc)DAVE L - (#471) davidlinney, 7 Jul 01

The fuel filter is under the air pipe at R14 as David describes, with its priming pump (push button on top). The cylinder is approx 4" diameter by 5" or 6" long. Remove the air filter pipe for easy access.
I notice there is a drainpipe and electrical cable on the bottom of the assembly. So, how do you drain off excess water & what is the electrical cable for? Does it 'auto drain' or something? - (#475) Ray, 7 Jul 01

Ray, the electrical lead is for a float switch, the water-in-fuel indicator.To drain the water, you loosen the nozzle at the base that the hose is connected to, then pump the primer until fuel, not water is expelled.
Dave, the change procedure is simple- unplug the wiring connector, then unscrew the filter. Carefully unscrew the base bit, and attach it to the new filter. Then you can just screw the filter in place and reconnect the wire. The engine will self-prime the new filter, but if you're feeling paranoid, you can either fill the new filter with clean diesel, or pump the priming bulb 20 imes or so.
HTH - (#477) David Miller, 8 Jul 01

This may not be the case but when was the air filter last changed, a badley blocked filter will give you all of these symptoms
Barry - (#498) Barry Powell, 10 Jul 01

I make these comments as a follow up to threads that that are now archived on lack of power when pulling away / roundabouts etc:.
With the cold mornings coming in I noticed a significant lack of power pulling away when the engine in my 2CT Liteace was cold. This change got progressively worse over the course of a week, to such an extent that the vehicle would cut out, idle to low and need loads of throttle just to keep it ticking over. When the engine warmed up it behaved much as normal.
Most diesel lorry drivers have told me that when they sense a lack of power it is typically an indication that the fuel filter needs changed. So following on their advice I changed the fuel filter ( £5.00 )- Result - INSTANT FIX. Now runs like a sowing machine with a diesel knock.
Funny thing -- I'd only done about 6000km since the last filter change. I suspect that I have a contaminated tank or had a single fuel fill that was contaminated or that possibly bacteria are growing in the fuel eventually restricting flow through the filter. As the engine warms the viscosity of the fuel drops and it can pass through the filter easier.. I have'nt heard much on the site on this concept. I know its a problem in the aeropsace industry and their fuel is similar.
Hope this helps all.

- (#5862) Stephen Judge, 19 Oct 02

Hi Stephen. There's more to it than just the filter normally. It sounds like you got a bad tank of fuel though- were you over the border recently?...
The blocked filter retards the injection timing, if anyone's interested.The harder the feed pump has to suck, the less pressure it can make, and the timing is controlled by the pressure.

They do tend to be sluggish when cold anyway- a combination of the oil being thick, the ATF being thick, dubious injection timing, and the load of the glowplugs on the alternator all conspire to make the first quarter- mile "interesting"

- (#5863) david miller, 20 Oct 02

hi dave and stephen i have the same symptons on my townace it's a 1989 modle 2ct td i have tried several quick fixes to sort out this issue. i've tried changing filters even had a chat with toyota they said to start it up and let it warm up for 5 mins. warming up all the oils engine/gearbox this does the trick also i was advised to change the engine oil befor the cold weather as the new oil helps the engine and turbo to spin better during the cold period when you first start up. has anyone else got any other ideas please ?.

- (#5864) john heaps, 20 Oct 02

Stephen, if you suspect that you have bacteria growing in your tank, then you need to kill them off once & for all, each time you refill, you simply give them more 'food', after all, diesel is simply an organic food for them. WYNNS do an excellent product that will kill the bacteria, just add it to the fuel. You may also have some water in your diesel, caused by condensation in the tank, as ever it will not mix with the diesel, so again WYNNS do a product called DRY FUEL that makes the water mix with the fuel, this will simply burn off through the combustion process, I not only add these products routinely to my tank periodically, but also use DIESEL POWER 3 which helps clean the injectors during combustion, WYNNS producty again, I've also recently used their new product that you put in your new fuel filter when you change it, this also gives a hefty shot of cleaner to the injectors. PS. I don't work for WYNNS, but we sell their products, so I get them to try out & have found them really good. HTH Rob. As another point, you are quite right about the viscosity of the fuel, diesel used to be known as HEAVY FUEL, it is basically slightly runny oil, it gets thicker with cold, and years ago if it got to around freezing then you got what was known as WAXING, where it was like a stodge, most oil manufactureres put ANTI WAXING additives in their fuel now, but you could have some that hasn't got it, particularly if you have used marine diesel in yours, if you DO have the bacteria in your tank then this is likely to have been where it came from, diesel bacteria is a big problem in marine diesels because of the amount of condensation that gets into their tanks.

- (#5865) Rob Drinkwater, 20 Oct 02