Toyota LandCruiser 70 Questions & Answers (page 4 of 5)

You should speak to an independant diesel mechanic as one I spoke to said keeping dust out of the 4.5 ltr V8 diesel in the 2007 76 Series was an issue so it could be the same with your model. Dust is about the worst enemy of any car part that moves as it is abrasive. If you're driving over 300m of dirt without driving into dust that should not be an issue unless there is a monumental design fault with your model. As far as $20k to repair it is concerned take it to a diesel mechanic not a Toyota dealer.

10000km no problems but always change the filter and oil at the same time

So, at 5000klm annually, it's ok to go 2 years between services.

I would have a diesel mechanic check the motor re oil usage

Thanks John very much for your reply, will do.... Janet

Hey Janet Jones. I don't know how old your post is but if its recent then I have good advice for you.
Firstly, you did not sepecify if the LC was V8 deisel or Petrol. I shall assume desiel.
Have the car taken to a reputable Toyota dealership and have the pre-purchase inspection done there. There is a valuable reason I advise you on this which will become evident as I make my point. Ask then to carry out a compression test and Fuel system check and report amoungst the other obvious checks that are done. Be aware that on the normal run-of-the-mill pre-inspection checks any mech will do they always cover their backside with fine print saying that they give no guarantees as they have not carried out a check of the motor by pulling the engine apart and carrying out a forencic check.
So, by asking for a report on a compression test on each cylinder and comparing against the factory standard and by carrying out a fuel system check and report, then any mechanic can tell you what condition the motor is in, upon which you can make an informed decsion to purchase or not. You may ask, "wont that be expensive?" Well let me tell you a little story that Toyota will not and many mechanics are unaware of. I am not saying all mechanics but I am say most mechanics.

Recently, Christmas 2017, my daughter and her husband, along with two pre-scool children set out on a 12 month Round Australia. Prior to setting off they prepared for this trip well and one of the things that they did was to sell their Twin Cab Mitsy and purchase a 2008 Toyota GXL V8 Desiel. They had an NRMA pre-inspection report done. (the vehicle was ex NSW). The Land Cruiser came up glowing and the report was very favourable. (with the fine print, of course). My son-in-law and daughter purchased the Land Cruiser and could not wait for its delivery via a vehicle transport truck. They sent me photos of the car which looked beautiful. It had every conceivable extra on it including 4 tyres on the road and 2 tyres on the rear which were serious off-road tyres.The car was like a charcoal colour, very nice looking. My first impression, being cynical, was, with all this off-road equipment on it had it done some serious off-road work. I said so to my son-in-law but he and daughter were so besotted with the look of the car and the glowing pre-inspection report,you know,..... "what would old Dad know.

Well they got to Tasmania, and we had made arrangements to meet them at Mt Gambier to spend two weeks travelling and sight seeing with them as we too have a caravan.

We got a phone call from them when they hit melbourne, we were at Mildura at the time heading for the pre-organsied meeting point. My son-in-law told me the Land Cruiser was blowing a lot of smoke and it was using two litres of oil every 300-400Kls, also, pullig the caravan it had become very slugish. He told me that they had called in on a mechanic and were told by him that they needed a new motor. Cost $28,000 -$30,000 depending on wether the Turbos required a rebuild. I said don't worry, that info sounded like a con by a mechanic looking for work. I also said that it was very probably a turbo seal needing replacement, but a new motor........ 'No this was a Toyota Land Cruiser and they were good for 500kls '.

I used to live in Ulladulla (now on the Gold Coast) and had some very good friends in Ulladulla, one of which was a desiel mechanic and a long time Land Cruiser owner. I checked with him and the word was all go. I advised my daughter and son-in-law to meet me at Ulladulla where my friend and I could check and repair the turbos if necessary. Both of us had experience replacing car motors of old but bever a V8 Toyota desiel automatic.

When I arrived at Ulladulla, my daughter haveing arrived before me, the first thing we did was to carry out a compression test on all cylinders. The 4 cylinders on the left hand side of the motor came up between 10 and 30 psi. The 4 on the right hand side of the motor were between 85 - 100 psi. The first assessment we made was to concurr with the old mechanic who had diagnosed a new motor requirement.

We commenced to dismantle the front body work to prepare for the engine removal and I had ordered a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser LC200 crate motor which cost me some $18,000 delivered. The engine was complete exept fot the electrical things like starter motor, alternator, fuel system (excluding the fuel pump which was included with the crate motor) also things like the after cooler etc were not included. It was just the motor and we had to reuse all other componentry which wasnt bad as those items were not a problem. We checked the turbos and the left hand one was completely shot and the right hand side turbo was ok. We took both turbos to a turbo specialist and had them rebuilt as to change a turbo, or a starter motor, or many other things the motor had to be removed and we did not want that ordeal again. It took us about 3 weeks and the car was on the road again and working perfectly.

So what went wrong. Well, the motor was dusted. Did you say what is dusted. ok I'll tell you.

The previous owner of the vehicle was obviously an off-road nut as predicted by me when I first saw the car. The car had done a lot of work in red dust. This was not obvious until we dismantelled the body work from the car, like gear box cross members which had to be removed to take the motor out and many other areas of the car which were previously concealed and a steam clean did the job well but not in areas where the pressure clean did not access. The dust had bypassed after market air cleaners and got into the fuel system. This dust when mixed with oil, completly wrecked the fuel system, engine and turbo. Luck had it that a new fuel pump was included with the crate motor as a new pump would have cost an additional $1,800.

Not including the three weeks labour for two men and a son-in-law the dollar cost was $20,000. So the old mechanic that told my daughter and son-in-law that the job woul have cost $30,000 was spot on.

Incidently, I have a 2018 Land Cruiser V8 Desiel VX and the motor we purchased as a replacement for my daughters car is identical to the one taken out of the car (2,008) and exactly the same as a new car engine as my VX. No difference in engine by Toyota since 2008 to current model.

Moral of story .... Had a cylinder compression test been done and a fuel system report been done the car very obviously would not have been purchased. It became a very expensive car as the purchase price was some $45,000 plus the $20,000 I had spent, but not including $10,000 worth of labour which would have been necessary if you do not have a mechanic farther fit enough to do the work with a qualified mechanic on tap and daddy being able to pay for all the parts needed. This would have made the two tests I noted as being very inexpesive considering the alternative. Remember you have no come back against the pre-inspection mechanic.

Vince

The 75 series are the older landcruisers, they first came out in 1990 and stopped production in 1999, then they introduced the hdj79r in 1999 which came with the same 75 series 4.2 natural diesel or the optional 4.2 turbo diesel the 79 series all had coil springs up front which makes them a lot smoother and more comfortable which gave more flex also then the leaf springs all round found on a 75. Then most recently in 2007 they released the vdj79r which has a re designed body shape to house the new 4.5 v8 turbo inter cooled diesel under the hood, still kept the coils up front and the same 75,79 series dash then in 2009 they updated the 79 with a new dash and 2 airbags also did a bit of tuning under the bonnet. In regards to which is better off road the solid from axle on the landcruisers has a lot better articulation off road then the ifs upfront on the hilix and the gear ratios are a lot lower on the landcruisers allowing you to have a lot lower crawl speed etc but not as nice on the open road.

I hope that helps.

Sorry I can't assist. I have no signs of oil leaks and engine the never misses.

Gday Pete, not sure if price is good or not, fortunately i have not had to go down the new clutch path as yet and i am sure hoping to get a couple hundred thou ks at least before any sort of clutch inspection . Guess all i can suggest is go for the heaviest duty clutch you can put in if you intend to tow weight. You would have to think maybe your new rig has copped some serious abuse in the towing department with a clutch gone at those low ks, hope it wasn't a mine rig they can get totally hammered .

Who know what happened in the first 36,000 Klm?

Warranty is for defects in material and workmanship. A defective clutch doesn't take 40,000 Klm to fail.

Sounds like whoever had it before you stuffed it

I don't believe any claims below 12 mate. People don't calculate it accurately by brimming tank, driving then brimming tank again. They use the fuel gauge which is not even close to accurate! Same goes for scan gauges etc

I am not sure about putting extra gauges on because mine is factory standard, but maybe call an ARB or a similar place and they will know everything about it. Sorry I couldn't help you out.

the landcruiser has excellent fuel efficiency for the size of its motor. I can manage to get it to do about 10-12 liters per 100km if you change gears at the right spot and the tanks can last about 1500km on the tanks. It also goes along easily and is very comfortable and consuption does not go up much when your towing. I would 100% recommend it. I hope this has helped you out.

I also get around 10- to 12 ltrs per 100klm my consumption increases towing but i am hooking on 3 ton in the old language and the 4.5 tows effortlessly, the alloy diesel
v8 has copped a fair bit of stick over the last few years regarding high fuel consumption . I think if you drive them like a race car they have a drink, but if you remain within
the speed limits and drive a little more sedately they are great on fuel, common sense must prevail or they will cost you $ .

don't know how these blokes drive there cruiser (Possible Toyota talking up there product ) but my 2012 work mate only gets 13 to 14 lt per 100ks (hwy cycle)@ 100ks per hour if you put a 2,500 kg van behind it don't expect to get anyless than 20 lt per 100ks @ 80ks per hour. I have done over 120,000 around this great country and that's it . have spoken to other travellers and they all say the same thing
Cheers
Harv

we had a slight squeak when you build up the revs on a fast road but it went away by it self. it could possibly also be a problem with the turbo

Yes difficult to isolate noises when traveling at speed, does the squeak occur if you rev up engine when stationary ? or only when traveling at speed, it could be a number of causes.

I had this problem on the 6 cylinder engine, a loose inlet manifold was the cause, 2 min fix by tightening the retaining bolts on the manifold

Turbo seal or excessive blow by. Go see a mechanic.

no. the single turbo version (70 series has 155KW ) however there is a twin turbo variant in the 200 series @ 195KW. some say there are some minor revision giving better fuel efficiency in later models. I have a 2014 76 wagon and with the lighter weight is very agile for a full size SUV. I get an AVG of 8.4L per 100Klms. An important point is that the gear box won't support fast gear changes so power only matters with towing or heavy loads. a 3" exhaust, Steinbauer chip and a K&N air filter will give you excess power for around $4000.

we are just trying to determine if the 2015 1vd single turbo version has had a horsepower decrease in comparison to the early ( 2008 ) 1vd single turbo as we have a customer with the latest model 79 ute added to his fleet and was told it lacks power in comparison to the earlier models because Toyota have detuned for some reason, possibly mining industry requirements.

They all vary, they haven't changed anything power wise whatsoever. Some cruisers put down 90 odd kW to to wheels others are as much as 115, even on same dyno.A new one with bugga all k's takes time to free up, if he went straight from an older we'll run in to a brand spanker, this would explain it! My 76 did not free up until around the 10,000 mark, prior to this my mates 79 with 80,000+ felt freer revving and more powerful.

I think you have chosen the right vehicle for your situation, only advice I have is go for it!

There is no simple answer because even a moderate increase in power and torque can put strain on the clutch and you will still be confronted with off-road gear ratios. It depends on why you want more power. I Frequently tow the maximum weight with mine (large horse float) and it does fine. I have on my shopping list a steinbauer chip, and a Beaudesert 3" exhaust. I already have an upgraded snorkel, air cleaner, clutch. One you have all these expect 30% more power and torque. Just don't expect to win any races.

They do have potential with mods,exhaust makes them much more drivable. I never purchased a system, just got rid of all factory from the dump back and replaced that with 3" right through. Still factory cat in dump so it's not obnoxious or illegal.Cost less than 1/2 the cheapest system.Without running a chip, you're not going to get a noticeable gain running a full system VS what I have done. When I chip mine I will get a new larger dump pipe and high flow cat. Next thing I did was sort out intake restriction,you can simply replace head or do what I did, remove every second fin in the factory head.vehicles much nicer to drive now, less laggy and more free revving, ESPECIALLY in the upper rev range.

Down the track I will be installing full EGR delete (which requires special chip to stop it throwing codes) when I chip vehicle,upgrade clutch and upgrade last section of exhaust. Mines only 9000k young and I want to let it get a few k's under belt before going extreme.
As carmoda pointed out you will find other limitations prior to maxing the engine out! Drivetrain can't handle the potential of this engine, which in marine guise(larger turbo and injectors ONLY) put out 270+kW. I would not recommend going past 200 at the wheels,which is pretty well limit of factory turbo, as you will destroy drivetrain pretty easily!

Check mud build up Inside of rims.

The problem will be the new tyres, even if they appear to balance up correctly. I had the same problem with Good Year Wranglers A/T.

i have a 2014 (12 month old this month) 76 GXl and i get 8.4 - 9.2 per 100klm. I have a Scanguage that i keep calibrated so it's accurate. My mate has a double cab with a big canvas covered steel tray and runs chunky tyres. He gets 11s. I think perhaps in-between the builds (his is 6 months older) toyota changed the ECU. eitherway it uses a little bit more than my old D4D Hilux did. The Scangauge helps you to understand how your driving effects fuel consumption, and as they are incredibly cheap and can be installed yourself in 10mins totally worth fitting. Wider tyres, lifts and bars will effect fuel consumption. However the biggest effect comes from larger diameter tyres. They will destroy your fuel economy and acceleration. They make certain ground easier to transverse. Popular with wankers because it makes your truck look fully sick mate. I run standard sizes and have no trouble.

You will love the 70 series if you look after it. They are bullet proof but only when maintained. Like anything. Not many trucks these days that you can conceivably keep for 10 years. I did up-rate the stereo as that was [bad word removed]. Ryda.com.au. double din units fit straight in. you'll need an amp as the cabins are a tad noisy.

join this forum for solid advice and FAQs. http://www.lcool.org/forum/index.php

thanks mate for your email and info, very helpful.
I think maybe the newer 76 series models have better fuel economy than the older models (07 - 09)

no i wouldn't. low millage is nice, but when it is very very low for that age is introduces other questions and potential risks. there were loads of super low millage 100 series coming out of the auctions in QLD a few years back. they were ex speed camera cars and from years of idling the engines were trashed. if you have 50 to spend on a 2nd hand vehicle i would suggest you could afford a new one with the low interest rates available on a new car purchase repayments may be the same) for instance look on a low rate of 6 years. if you ring different toyota dealers you'll get some great prices.

Thank you so so much! I'm in a lucky enough position to buy a new Cruiser and your advice confirmed a few worries. I'll buy a new or near new one and cant wait to post a review. Thanks again.

The rule of thumb is: never over rev a new motor, don't tow until you done a few 1000. You want to cycles through the gears with some load, just not too much. try not to stay in any gear too long. work it, just not too hard.

Thanks Carmoda. Appreciate it.

Whichever you will find more practible? More off-road and gear loaded in the car landcruiser. Around town 4x4 that occasionally goes bush and is better on fuel prado

At the beginning will be occasionally off-road. In 6-12 months time we want to do a long road trip around australia, for sure there will be some off-road, maybe not really extreme.

If you want to do serious off roading go the 70, if not the prado is much better option.
The only reason to buy a 70 is for off road or heavy duty towing.By the sounds of it the prado would be better suited to your needs.

I've haven't had any problems machanicly except a bad gear box whitch they replaced .

We have a 2013 dual cab workmate ute and recently drove it to Darwin and back (10,000 kms). During the drive the fuel breather got clogged up with dust and started sucking our fuel tank in. By the time we realised what was happening we were down to roughly a 30ltr tank. We thought the car just kept missing then stopping from bad fuel but turns out it was running out. When we phoned the service centre they said it was common and they often replace these fuel tanks for that reason. They suggested a $5 after market breather to do the work the Toyota one cant! They also suggested the other breather was useless too. Not sure if this is the problem you're having but it may be worth looking at?! Hope this helps.

Was just on another forum that explained your problem and said that they had a faulty fuel pump, once replaced no more missing or stalling.