Graham Dee

[deeboy]

First time on here and hoping someone can help... My beloved 04 Land Cruiser has failed it's MOT, with a whole list of advisories that will become failures next year so, just paid £6700.00 for a 54 plate with only 127000 on it, foolishly didn't do a massive inspection of the car before I handed over the cash, but needless to say that after getting it home and washing it, I have a few issues, panels not lining up and clips missing so the panels cannot be pushed back on, so thinking that this would be a pretty easy job to do, I've found that for me with no knowledge of any car repairs it isn't. I'm based in Newbury Berks, are any of you near this part of the country and I could pop round to you for some help, I hope so because right now I am simply not in love with this car... Many thanks. Graham @ [email protected]

 

[chadr]

Welcome to the forum Graham

Given the age and the price you paid, I'm going to assume it's a 120 series. (Be very very lucky to get a 2004 100 series for that money - even one that needs some work)

I'll also assume that's it's a 3.0 D4D LWB model given that petrols and SWBs are quite rare.

Please post details and I'm sure there will be lots of expert advice.

 

[Tractionman]

Welcome Graham, sorry to hear your initial experiences are not good.

What items did it fail on, and what are the advisories - you can either post up on here, or if you don't mind, give your reg no. and we can look up mot history.
As Chad says, more info.

Lots of advisories are arse covering and jobsworth listings, so don't panic just yet, and as to panels not lining up, I take it these are various plastic ones, as you say clips missing which is why they dont line up ?
Clips are probably broken as not visible, by impact or some ham fisted nob messing with it, and on some there are several different clips on the same panel wtf ? Until you get the offending panels off, you wont know exactly what you need.
You can get these at reasonable prices other than Toyota.

 

[deeboy]

Hey Chadr & Tractionman, Thank you so much for even reading my tales of woe, Chadr, I'm really not sure what series the Cruiser is but I will post some pictures and I'm sure you will be able to confirm what it is. With regards to Tractionman on the list of failings, and to anyone else that is interested in the MOT failures and advisories, my Regd was RY04 FYM, my newer model is OV54 YCP. RY04 I've had from19995 miles and is now at 227700ish, bloody loved that car and right now with all the rubbish bits on OV54, I'm struggling to bond with it, and yes everything on OV54 does look as though it has been worked on by someone with their feet. I am in no way a mechanic and have very little knowledge of even where to start, so am really looking for someone who lives in the Berkshire area who can assist in helping me sort her out. Thanks for your time on this. Graham. Will put up pictures of OV54 asap as going away for a few days.

 

[karl2000]

What are the panels that are falling off? Is it the plastic trim on the doors and around the wheel arches? If so it seems to happen on a lot of them - in fact when i bought mine, the door panel was so loose i ripped it off and slung it in the boot before driving home

The clips for above are £££ from Toyota but you can get them cheap on ebay.

 

[deeboy]

Hi Karl2000, yeah exactly, it's on the drivers side only, the passenger side of the car doesn't look too bad but all around the car is the sight of what looks like someone with a spray can , it's a bit semi pro, but hey that's what you get for not double checking the car before buying, it's my fault. Where is everyone based?

 

[karl2000]

Whats it like underneath? Thats the main thing to check on these - plenty of people on here have looked underneath and walked away without even opening the door!

 

[Tractionman]

Agree, especially the cills which have a plastic cover over the outer.
It's possible that there has/been rust behind any/all of the plastic door/wheel arch panels where water has got trapped and the clips are not doing anything. Maybe why bad/bodged aerosol paint around areas.
The only way you will find out is pull the panels off, starting with the worst one first to see if the clips are broken or come away with the panel.
The good bit is, that with plastic panels off you can determine what is needed clip wise, order them (as said previously, different types/colours on same panels) and still drive the lc.

 

[Rob Cowell]

Quite a lot going on here.

Repair immediately (major defects):

• Nearside Front Lower Suspension arm ball joint excessively worn (5.3.4 (a) (i))

L/H Front Lower Suspension Wishbone - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club] you can buy just the ball joint for about £20 and if you're doing it yourself and want to keep the cost right down thats an option, but you'll want to take the whole arm off which is usually a bit of a pig because the mounting bolts will have seized solid. If a garage is doing it, but the time you've paid the labour might as well replace the arm - and will likely need to replace the mounting bolts too. Unfortunatley quite pricey Genuine Toyota Front Lower Camber Adjuster Bolt Kit - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club]

• Offside Front Position lamp not working (4.2.1 (a) (ii))

Probably just a bulb

• Exhaust emissions exceed manufacturer's specified limit (8.2.2.2 (a))

Eek! Filthy EGR hopefully. Need to take it off and clean it. Plus an Italian tune up.

• Offside Rear Suspension component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength shockabsorber mount (5.3.6 (a) (i))

Probably need to weld up / replace this bit North South 4x4 Spares - NS4x4 - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club]

• Offside Rear Anti-roll bar linkage pin or bush excessively worn (5.3.4 (a) (i)

Cheap and easy to replace Optimal Rear Anti-Roll Bar Drop Link Rod - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club]

• Offside Rear Suspension rod attachment bracket/mounting insecure axle to chassis (5.3.3 (a) (i))

I would assume this is the panhard rod bracket. You can buy them but easy for a welder to fabricate.

• Brake pipe excessively corroded both front to rear (1.1.11 (c))

Bit of a pain because it runs behind the fuel tank and to do a proper job you need to drop the fuel tank. But its just a brake pipe.

• Fuel tank insecure straps broken (6.1.3 (a) (i))

Easy to replace. Maybe drop the fuel tank at the same time, see above. North South 4x4 Spares - NS4x4 - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club]

• Nearside Front Coil spring fractured or broken (5.3.1 (b) (i))

Pedders Standard Height Uprated Front Coil Springs - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club]

• Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (5.3.4 (b) (ii))

Optimal Front anti-roll bar drop link rod LH - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club]

 

[Tractionman]

I see the same brake pipes keep getting a mention between fails and passess, could be why grease has been mentioned (to cover up corrosion)? I would be checking out all of them.

Fuel tank straps broken - bloody hell, this must mean the tank itself is just resting in the protective shell with strain on fuel lines/filler.

 

[Rob Cowell]

I see the same brake pipes keep getting a mention between fails and passess, could be why grease has been mentioned (to cover up corrosion)? I would be checking out all of them.

Fuel tank straps broken - bloody hell, this must mean the tank itself is just resting in the protective shell with strain on fuel lines/filler.

I had one strap broken. Don't know how long it was like that for. Given they are relatively easy to buy outside Toyota I assume it must be relatively common on older cars. I've done everything on that MOT failure list on mine, some of them more than once

 

[Tractionman]

The rear one on mine looked very iffy, so I bought 2 gen replacements from Roughtax.
I gave the job to my local garage, who I know well, as they used the lift to make things easy.
After removing the steel tank guard, (a b'stard in itself - 2 bolts snapped) on removing the 1st strap the 2nd one enexpectedly snapped, so mech had tank with some diesel on his shoulder while shouting for help.
He said that apart from that, it was still easier than removing tank completely, easier still for me than rolling around underneath it at home.

 

[deeboy]

Whats it like underneath? Thats the main thing to check on these - plenty of people on here have looked underneath and walked away without even opening the door!

The whole underneath of the Land Cruiser has been undersealed which may be a good thing or just a way of hiding the horrors that may lurk beneath, the next MOT will tell. I am adamant that I will get the Cruiser looking as good as my bank balance will allow and seeing that it only has 127,000 on the clock, with any luck it will give me a lot of years so I might as well get it done.
I am interested in where you all come from, because sometimes as a non-mechanic or car repairer as I am, a second opinion from a lot of you guys on the forum is invaluable, I promise I'm not a troll, freak or a weirdo...LOL... But please, if any of you are based near Newbury Berks, I really would appreciate your expertise on this vehicle, I do truly want to be in love with it as much as I was and still am with my sorn, sitting on the drive looking sad everyday old one...

 

[karl2000]

Underseal is usually not a good sign on these, but fingers crossed!

I'm up north but I'm sure some members will be down by you!

Next time you buy an LC, post a link of your proposed purchase so you can get advice before you part with your hard earned £!

 

[Tractionman]

One of the problems is, the factory underseal/protection cracks with age, then someone coats that further (or even leaves it)without exploritory work, trapping any moisture to carry on rusting away.
I like others on here have spent weeks scraping, chipping, grinding, and sometimes welding underside to do repairs/treatment to preserve it.
A b'stard when you have done mot checks and already bought it.
Had the T shirt for that one, long gone, smothered in sh*t dropping on me !