Damper Assembly Fuel Pressure Pulsation

[chococat]

I have a 2000 ES300, 160K miles on it.

Yesterday I noticed a strong gas smell. Thought is was a fluke, drove 45min home. Got home and still a bad smell.

Turns out the screw had popped out of the Fuel Damper Assembly Part #23270-62010 on the engine. And gas was GUSHING out as the car ran. Kind of scary.

Tried googling this part # and what it is and does and still didn't find anything concrete. Tried searching here on the forums for a similiar problem to no avail. Was it ok just to screw the screw back in and pop the yellow plastic cap back on? (which is what I did). Drove it this morning, no problems.

Any help would be appreciated.

[George_Jetson]

It sounds like the diapham inside the unit has failed, I would strongly recommend replacing it. I could not find any diagrams to show the internal components, but for safety's sake, replace it.

[chococat]

Pulled out of my garage this afternoon and trailed gas behind me...

Was leaking from the damper assembly again, but once I stopped the car, no matter how many times I started the car or drove around, i could not get it to leak again. I went ahead and drove to NAPA and bought the damper assembly (and other fun things I needed like valve cover gaskets, and a transmission pan gasket).

I am hoping replacing the damper assembly will solve everything.

Still would like to see if someone else has replaced this item or what exactly does it DO??

[George_Jetson]

The function of the dampner to to smooth out pressure pulses from the injectors and the fuel pump. Since most liquids cannot be compressed any reduction in volume of fuel will result in a drop in the pressure. It takes a finite amount of time for the fuel pump to deliever the fuel to the fuel rails (due to line restrictions such as fuel filter). The dampner is actually a accumullator, it has a sring loaded diaphram, and the fuel is stored on the opposite side of the diaphram. As the fuel is used in the rail, the dampner releases fuel to replace the used fuel. I assume that your's has a tear on the diaphram.

I would assume that replacing it will solve the problem, rubber parts do have a tendency to dry and crack. Unless there are further problems (such as a issue with the pressure regulator), I would not be concerned.

[chococat]

The function of the dampner to to smooth out pressure pulses from the injectors and the fuel pump. Since most liquids cannot be compressed any reduction in volume of fuel will result in a drop in the pressure. It takes a finite amount of time for the fuel pump to deliever the fuel to the fuel rails (due to line restrictions such as fuel filter). The dampner is actually a accumullator, it has a sring loaded diaphram, and the fuel is stored on the opposite side of the diaphram. As the fuel is used in the rail, the dampner releases fuel to replace the used fuel. I assume that your's has a tear on the diaphram.

I would assume that replacing it will solve the problem, rubber parts do have a tendency to dry and crack. Unless there are further problems (such as a issue with the pressure regulator), I would not be concerned.

Thank you. That was really helpful. I find that being a 'girl' the more I learn about the car I drive the less afraid I am when something breaks. And this car really has been good to me. Part comes in tomorrow and a friend will help replace it.

[Twins Tiger]

I have the same problem and I just received the part shipment. However, there's got to be a special plier or tool to unscrew that part out within such small space to work with. Can someone tell me what exact tool will fit to easily unscrew that part. Any other special procedures I need to follow other than removing the battery connection? Thanks in advance.