Fuel Pump Cutoff Switch

Can cutting off the fuel pump damage the engine’s fuel injectors? I just bought a new Toyota and I’m thinking about installing one just in case.

Our 03 Windstar has a cutoff switch with FI, so my guess is it will not hurt the injectors, fuel pump is a different question, but given the choices I’d say go for it.

Why do you want a fuel cutoff switch? I don’t really see a need for it. If you cut off the fuel while the engine is running you will just have to wait longer for the fuel pump to re-pressurize the system. No gain in my book.

I just had an epiphany. Since it’s a Toyota, you think you may need one for sudden acceleration. You already have a fuel cutoff. It’s called an ignition switch. If you should ever have a runaway situation just shift to neutral and stop the vehicle. You can shut off the engine after the vehicle is safely on the side of the road.

Why not just have the cutoff switch inserted into the fuel injection circuit? It would OPEN the power line to the fuel injectors each time it were actuated.
HOW would this proposed switch be actuated? By the brake pedal switch? By a big red button on the dash? If by the brake pedal, every time you pressed the brake pedal, the fuel injectors would be de-energized. Is this acceptable?

ADDED LATER:
If a fuel cutoff is made by using the brake pedal switch, it would have to be set to NOT cut off fuel injection when the engine is at idle rpm (or, a little higher). You don’t want the engine to shut off at idle, in traffic, or while parked. So, it would have to sense higher rpm (say, above 2,000) before it cut off fuel. This could get tricky to implement.

That would seem reasonable except for
"

HALES CORNERS - Tony Raasch claims that the faulty accelerator pads Toyota is now recalling caused him to crash his 2010 Corolla earlier this month.

“I was leaving the Culver’s at Forest Home and Highway 100 on January 12th and pulled out into a break in the median,” he explains. “Nobody was coming in my inside lane so I started to merge, but at the last second somebody switched lanes and I saw her coming so I immediately slammed on my brakes…but my car didn’t stop.”

Raasch, 30, slammed into the side of the oncoming car.

“My feet were on the brake the whole time, and I ended up going through the median about 20 feet or so. I was about to go back into oncoming traffic so I swerved into a snow bank in the middle of the median,” Raasch recalls. “That’s when my car finally stopped.”

The woman, 23, had to be taken to the hospital with minor back injuries. Raasch was unhurt and cited for failure to yield.

He contacted an attorney but so far has not heard from Toyota about possible remedies.

“I haven’t really been able to do anything, so I don’t know what to do in this situation.”

This wasn’t the first time Raasch experienced problems with his car’s braking system.

“About a month before the accident, my wife called me while the same thing was happening to her. She was freaking out because the car was speeding and she couldn’t stop it. Eventually it stopped by itself.”

Toyota announced Tuesday that it would stop selling a number of models in order to fix problems with its accelerator pads. Last week, it issued a recall that affects some 2.3 million vehicles, including Raasch’s Corolla.

http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/82815772.html

Big Red Button On Dash.

Yess! I think that is similar to the op posting.

I am concerned about the possibility that the transmission is controlled by the same computer that is telling the engine to accelerate. If it isn’t listening the the peddle, it might not listen to the shift lever either. I would try to shift into neutral first but if that doesn’t work I want to cut off the fuel.

I guarantee he did not shift to neutral. A high revving engine will override the best brakes in the world. My contention is that Tony Raasch panicked and did not shift to neutral. This is just a face-saving story after a crash.