Fuel System Charcoal Canister

[TOYOTAFAN06]

I just bought my 2006 Avalon XL about 2 months ago. My check engine light came on and the dealership told me it was a collapsed charcoal canister in the fuel system. They said this was caused by overfilling my gas tank. My warranty covered the repair but the dealer wants to charge me $260 to get my fuel system cleaned. My question is it really needed to clean the fuel system when the check engine light was on for only a day and about 30 miles? Any help would be great.

[Mike Murrell]

Assuming the dealer replaced/repaired cannister and reset CEL code(s).

My guess is the $260.00 is for fuel injection cleaning which may or may not be needed.

If you car was running OK B4 the warranty work - I'd pass on their wallet-depleting tactic.

[grandpapa]

Dealer will do whatever it takes to steal your $. I would say NO thanks

Go buy yourself a $5 bottle fuel cleaner from auto part store.

[CISA93]

Originally Posted by TOYOTAFAN06

I just bought my 2006 Avalon XL about 2 months ago. My check engine light came on and the dealership told me it was a collapsed charcoal canister in the fuel system. They said this was caused by overfilling my gas tank. My warranty covered the repair but the dealer wants to charge me $260 to get my fuel system cleaned. My question is it really needed to clean the fuel system when the check engine light was on for only a day and about 30 miles? Any help would be great.

EFI systems DO work, but over a period of about 5-8 years, the industry has changed how they are cleaned. BG (www.bg.com) has been around for over 20 years and numerous dealerships uses them as well as independent garages. I've talked to my BG distributor and many dealerships still using BG products are now simply using a can of BG 44K, dropping it into a full tank of gas, then cleaning the intake system (this takes about 20-30 minutes with a BG Throttle Body/Intake cleaner. I do this, but there is a stainless steel line that fits right under the intake hose and it has this cleaner in a small tank. It sprays it every few seconds and helps clean the upper valve portion (where the valve contact the valve seat) to rid this area and the combustion chamber of carbon. This procedure is recommended every 30K.

I do this service to my car and other makes and models and haven't had a problem with an injector (unless there is a mechanical issue). The off-the-shelf products (I've tried them all (Lucas, Chevron, etc) don't have the potency 44K has. It's only one time every 15K. Contact an import shop using BG, they'll know what to do. Delaerships charge too much and some are using a cheaper product like Seafoam or Moc...garbage products!