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what is Toyota's recommendation for Fuel Filter replacemnt on 2007 Avalon SL

12K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  msinapi1 
#1 ·
I have a 2007 Avalon with 90.5k miles on it. I tired to find what the fuel filter replacement guidelines are, and looked thru all of Toyota's maintenance schedule and could not find one word on the fuel filter.
On the net I saw pictures and diagrams of the filter and its location under the brake reserve. However I can't find anything under my hood at all.
On my prior car I changed it at 80 k and it was filthy. meanwhile people on the net state they changed there's at 90 and 145 and it was relatively clean. Others say change it every 30k. This all confuses me. I got from 30 k to never??

Any help on the actual changing schedule and location will be much appreciated.
 
#11 ·
I made an appointment to have mine replaced on my 01 Camry; and of course the service writer didn't know there was an inline filter. What's with dealerships? The sales people don't know their cars & the service sales ppl don't either.

Not sure If a 2007 Avalon doesn't have one inline. Have you confirmed there isn't one for sure? Not only didn't they know that, they didn't know my differential fluid was separate from my trans fluid.

Normally I'd do these things myself bc of how scary the responses you get when you talk to these folks. I delayed 213k miles. Turned out to be a good interval...:laugh:
 
#4 ·
Fuel filter is in the gas tank. Lots of work to get to it and it's little more than a screen or sock as some call it.

Mine has 208K on the clock. Original fuel filter still in place.
 
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#5 ·
Thanks Mike that explains why there is so much conflicting info on the net.
All cars I know of have a filter in the tank (as you say no more than a screen), and they also have an in line replaceable filter. I know the 2005 had one, do you have any idea why Toyota got rid of them? And what keeps impurities out of the fuel injectors? How do you keep yours injectors clean?

I use Techron concentrate plus fuel system every 10k miles, do you think that is enough, since there is no in line filter?
 
#6 ·
The only thing I've ever put in my gas tank is 87 octane gas. I have never used an additive in the Avalon.

Years ago I poured a can of BG-44K in the tank of a '91 Mercedes gas car. The car kicked and bucked like a mule for days. That was my one and only experiment with fuel additive snake oil.
 
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#7 · (Edited)
Most additives are snake oil or worse. Toluene and xylene are octane booster which don't have lube property of gas, so if you want to add these just use prem gas (reg 87 gas + toluene with added lubercation). Naphtha (octane booster) is safe but in 10 - 18 gallons of gas it does nothing, same goes for the alcohols. Acetone can melt plastic. The only ones that "could" possibly work have to be mostly PEA, (techron and redline sI-1 {40-50% PEA}). But diluted in 10-18 gal. of gas - I don't hold much faith. I only use it when I can get it at deep discount (50% off or more).

Even when I clean my choke I spray the choke clean on 100% and I still need to scrub and wipe!

You just gave me an idea - next time I clean my choke I will put a couple of drops of techron on the carbon first. If it doesn't clean the carbon without rubbing or scrubbing I will know it is snake oil also!

P.S. I did have a ford which was almost dead, mechanic wanted $1000 to remove and replace the bad injector. I tried the snake oils with no effect. Finally I put into and empty tank 1gallon of gas and 1gallon of Naphtha - it was like riding a bucking horse!!!!! After a couple of miles my kidneys couldn't take it and I added another gal. of gas. It bucked but my kidneys were ok - lol. I would only suggest this on a donation car.
I had the car for another year and had great mileage on it and it passed NY emissions, before I donated it.

P.P.S. BG 44k is just half Naphtha and paint thinners I would only use that on my choke. Techron is mostly PEA ~50% and paint thinner~35%, Naphtha ~10%, Benzene ~5%.
 
#8 ·
Many new vehicles do not come with fuel filters. The sock is all we get. Everything is supposedly filtered out at the pump. Anything that gets by the 'sock' will be pulverized by the fuel pump in order to pass by the injector. Times have changed.

MSDS doesn't give a recipe of products. I've blended 100% distillate FI cleaners with varying ratio of PEA/PIBA and never did list them in the MSDS. So, please don't use an MSDS as some recipe or ingredient list. We don't have to list anything. MSDS is for environmental and medical personnel usage, and they can call for treatment or clean up info.

There are many Techron products with varying degrees of PEA and at various price levels.

[ame]https://youtu.be/AHM4rM6zmU8?t=167[/ame]

I guess that most additives are useless. Make you wonder why the EPA lowered the standards for fuel cleaner additives to give consumers cheaper fuel, all the while causing issues for certain automakers. TOPTIER pretty much maintains the original acceptable fuel cleaning standards that many automakers agree on.

I don't know of any carb/choke spray can cleaners that advertise having PEA. Keep scrubbing. Different types of deposits in different areas. Surfactants have their place in history. Some of these additives work with 'flow' and 'pressure' and 'temperature'. I'm not sure what to expect by putting a drop of PEA based cleaner on some crud. Where's the movement, heat, or action?

I've never seen ANY fuel additives cause a vehicle to kick and buck like a mule, even when used against label directions. Obviously, the root cause of the issue was never found but its even to blame a bottle of 'whatever'.

Besides PEA, PIBA is another. Variations of both, along with numerous other chemicals, are used by the fuel companies and marketed as 'whatever fancy BS' that you can read at the pump. These can be added right to the tanker truck or station tank. So, don't assume that identical delivery trucks fill your local no-name station with the same good stuff that a toptier station gets.

Lets not use silly terms like paint thinner, naptha, toluene, PEA, solvent, distillate,... unless you have some chemical background and work for the company. Most fools use inappropriate terms as some type of debate 'facts'. Ester... my truck ran on ester, had ester lubricants, and had most of its mechanical parts washed in an ester filled parts washer cleaning tank... all the while I was enjoying all the flavors and fragrances of the esters added to my food and drinks. The glycols are also in some of my favorite beverages too.

Get a job as a Chemist, ChemTech, or Chemical Engineer for one of the chemical or product companies and learn something. Even bench cleaning/testing fuel injectors, with some of those chemicals, can teach you a thing or two of what does or doesn't work, and who is using good fuels or injector cleaners. Most people won't notice bad dirty injectors until they fail an emissions test, have a SES/CEL, or wonder where the MPG went. If they're lucky, but they might feel a loss in power or a not so smooth idle, or hard to start when cold/hot situations. World is full of Zombie drivers that surprisingly can usually tell you the exact spot where their cell phone service disconnects, or GPS hangs up.

I recommend toptier fuel when available. If you use a toptier fuel, the odds are that you'll never need an injector cleaner.
http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers/

If Toptier is not available, use a busy station for 'fresh fuel'.

If vehicle is stored, or you don't use a full tank of fuel every month or two, invest in Stabil or equivalent fuel stabilizer.

I've never seen anything but positive from various fuel injector cleaners. Redline, Amsoil, Techron, Regane, RoyalPurple, BG44k, 3m... are some.

For certified injector cleaning along with spray patterns and flow rates, send the injectors out to a shop that specializes in cleaning them. Or, find a shop that does a motorvac decarbon that T's into your fuel line, disables fuel pump, to really clean the injectors and anything downstream of them. These fuel injector fuel system services were excellent prior to toptier. Looks like the new direct injection issues will be bringing newer versions of the fuel system cleaning. DI is a whole different ball game compared to carbs and port injectors.

And yes, when measured in PPM, many additives have a range where they work. So, even when a bottle with a dose of carrier chemicals is introduced to your 18 gallon tank, the PPM range is still acceptable for them to work at a given rate. This is why you should read the bottle on correct usage.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Thanks for your detail feedback. The percentages were mostly from a chemist who did a good write up on a blog I visited. Chevron never mentions PEA in their MSDS, but Chevron did mention in Techron concentrate plus fuel injector cleaner they put in the most PEA among all fuel injector cleaners. Also since PEA is not one chemical but a family of chemicals, the PEA in Techron can be different than Redline, Regane or 3M etc., just has there isn't one Naptha.

Note, when I don't use a spray choke cleaner, I spray the chemical on with a syringe with a very small opening. But your point is taken about pressure and temp. Thanks for enlighten me.

Particularly interesting was the link to the top-tier gas stations. I mostly use Exxon so I was happy to see it on the list. Was surprised not to see Gulf on the list.

Is there a particular in the fuel tank fuel injector cleaner, that you have found to work best? I don't own the equipment to clean thru the rail.
 
#10 ·
I haven't found a 'best' cleaner. Every 10k-15k miles, or yearly, I just buy a different brand every time. BG44k, Amsoil, Redline, Techron Concentrate, Regane, RoyalPurple, 3m, Lubegard, Seafoam, Berryman, and a few others, all get a SINGLE run during my 1st 100k. Don't really need to use the every 1k, 3k, 5k, at oil change time.... marketed revenue stream for the brands either. Whenever!

TopTier for me is either Shell or Exxon. High volume fuel here is usually Sams Club or Walmart.

A couple of the Walmart stations have the "FI cleaner and MPG additive at the fuel pump" option for various costs/doses. Overpriced but it definitely made a big difference in the kids neglected car.

Never underestimate solvents, alcohols.... Too many are hung up on PEA and it percentage which is meaningless. Most of the products are multiple agents that excel at cleaning or removing or dissolving or... different types of crud. Its the combination that helps get thru all the deposits.

http://3mauto.com/products/mechanical/fuel-system
http://lubegard.com/~/C-1027/Fuel+System+Booster
http://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-produ...e/p-i-performance-improver-gasoline-additive/
http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=80&pcid=12
https://www.bgprod.com/catalog/gasoline-fuel-system/bg-44k-fuel-system-cleaner/
http://www.techronworks.com/en-US/products.html
http://seafoamsales.com/sea-foam-motor-treatment/
https://www.berrymanproducts.com/pr...-carburetor-fuel-system-and-injector-cleaner/
http://www.goldeagle.com/brands/sta-bil
http://www.wynnsusa.com/category/consumer/consumer-petrol/
http://www.royalpurpleconsumer.com/products/max-atomizer-fuel-injector-cleaner/

http://easygdi.valvoline.com/
http://www.motorvac.com/index.cfm?id=38819
 
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