Fuel pump damage

[lahiruchandima]

My Toyota Vitz 2007 idles very rough. Sometimes it stalls if I suddenly stop after few miles drive.

I took the vehicle to a mechanic and he cleaned up the fuel pump. He used compressed air to clean up. When he tried to clean the top part of the pump (I don't know the exact name) it blew up. There was some sort of a black colored powder inside it.

Mechanic told that the purpose of it is to remove any fuel vapor from the outgoing air when filling the tank and that part is not vital. He just re assembled the pump and installed in the car again. Now I am driving with the damaged fuel pump.

The rough idling problem hasn't got resolved either.

So, is it OK to drive the car with this damaged fuel pump?

[shorod]

It sounds like the part that had the black colored power inside is the Carbon Canister, aka Charcoal Canister. His description of the part is mostly correct, but it is part of the emissions system in your car. If there is emissions testing where you live your car may not pass the testing. I don't really think the damage to the canister would explain the stalling. That being said, I think you should find a different shop that can properly diagnose the system.

Did the shop you took your car to check the fuel pressure at the fuel rail and determine that to be low before taking the fuel pump out and attempting to clean it? Did he replace the fuel filter first? Did he pull spark plugs and check the condition of them and the wires? Did he inspect the few vacuum lines that your car should have as well as the intake air tubing for cracks, splits, or holes? Did he check the charging system voltage at idle?

-Rod

[lahiruchandima]

Thanks for your explanation.

The mechanic didn't do any tests you mentioned. There was a fuel overflow when I refilled the tank the day before I took this to the mechanic. So he directly suspected that there is something wrong with the fuel pump.

I guess I have to take the car to a different shop.

[shorod]

Ohh, okay, so the mechanic was blowing out the carbon canister in an attempt to dry it out due to you overfilling the tank. That's actually pretty responsible of him and maybe you should give him another shot at it. It sounds like he attempted to start at the least expensive possible solution first.

Is there any chance you had recently done some work under the hood?

-Rod