Hot weather and head gaskets

[keith97]

Was in my local oil and filter place yesterday and noticed a 'new to them' 60th anniversary LC had replaced their old 1999 LC. When I asked them inside they told me the head gasket went in their old one and it over heated. When they were investigating the problem their mechanic said some of the head bolts were loose. This is the second case of a head gasket problem I've heard of recently in these 3'0 TD engines.

Does anyone know if this is a common problem?
Also what is the correct cold torque setting for the head bolts?
How often should these get a rad flush and a coolant change?

Meanwhile keep an eye on the temp gauge in this 30 deg heat.

 

[stuzbot]

I've got a new radiator for mine & a load of Toyota coolant sitting here waiting to be fitted. My radiator seems to be filled with what looks suspiciously like tap water at the mo'. In spite of that, it seems to run cool enough, with the needle never having got to halfway yet, even on these past couple of very hot days.

Also got new oil and filter here, waiting to do a flush and il change too, to keep things cool. I was really planning to do them jobs today. But I was practically melted by the time I'd drove a couple of miles to drop the missus off at work and I can't face it in this heat.

Oh well. I did manage to motivate myself to carry out the huge task of sticking a new air filter in, the other day. That should be worth at least a fraction of a degree in improved cooling.

Also, when I bought this truck, and living in UK, I thought the fact the air-con didn't work was no big deal, seeing as we usually get about one week's worth of summer weather in the year. Looks like I was tempting fate there, as well.

 

[Bert]

Part of the system in the coolant chat that often gets forgot about (in autos anyway) is flushing and changing the transmission fluid as it feeds into the radiator.
Then of course making sure the viscous fan has sufficient fluid. It was a failing fan that almost did it in for my engine.

 

[stuzbot]

Tranny flush is also on my to-do list. I've got the tubs of that waiting to go in too. Mine's clear bit more brown than red. So deffo needs doing I thought I'd take care of that while I was putting the new radiator in.

On the subject of the viscous fan; is there a test to see if its OK for silicone fluid? I can turn mine by hand and it feels smooth enough. But, like the tranny, it's probably still on its original fluid too.

 

[Chris]

The simple answer to this is I am afraid that head issues are commonplace with the earlier 1KZ-TE engines. There is a mammoth thread on here somewhere covering the whole issue. Anyone got a link? @BobMurphy Mine needed a new head as it cracked across all four cylinders. There's a bit of a technical design issue with the water flow / galleries / head gasket. Anyway rather than try and explain it, we need to get you a link to the body of evidence on here already.

 

[stuzbot]

...I am afraid that head issues are commonplace with the earlier 1KZ-TE engines

By "earlier" 1KZ-TE engines do you mean as opposed to later 1KZ-TE engines? [in which case what years are most susceptible?] or do you mean "earlier" 1KZ-TE engines, as opposed to later D4D engines?

 

[Chris]

I meant exactly what I said. Earlier 1 KZ-TE. Which isn't a D4D is it. Clearly they had an issue which they ironed out but never of course admitted there was an issue in the first place.

 

[stuzbot]

I meant exactly what I said. Earlier 1 KZ-TE. Which isn't a D4D is it...

No need to bite me head off! I just found what you wrote ambiguous. Given the 90 series came first with the 1KZ engine and later the D4D., the "earlier" in what you wrote could be interpreted as meaning either the earlier engine generally, or an earlier version of that particular engine.

 

[Chris]

Sorry if you found that 'earlier 1KZ-TE engines' was ambiguous. If I'd said earlier Colorados, then I might agree, but to find what I did say was ambiguous is rather your problem not mine and not in the least unclear.

 

[Iwan]

The earlier heads before revision had 1A 1B or 1C and the revisied heads later 2A 2B or 2C. These codes are on the cylinder head above the exhaust manifold.

If there's no code then it has a copy aftermarket head.

 

[stuzbot]

The earlier heads before revision had 1A 1B or 1C and the revisied heads later 2A 2B or 2C. These codes are on the cylinder head above the exhaust manifold....

Dammit! --wish I'd read that before I went out to work on the motor today. I'll have to have a look next time.

So, that's an oil and filter change done today. I had great intentions of taking the sump off and giving that and the oil pickup a good cleaning too but sweltering weather and the fact that removing the sump looked a bit less straightforward than I was expecting, made me err on the side of laziness. I'll do it at the next oil change.

On the prosaic subject of oil changes; I find it odd that the capacities given in the manuals never seem to match reality. According to the manual, it should have been 5,2 litres, with a filter change. I stuck about 5,5 in before it even registered on the dipstick and must have ended up sticking about 6,5 in, in the end, to get to the halfway mark between the two dots. It was the same with my previous VW van. Filling with the amounts specified in the manual didn't even hit the minimum mark on the dipstick.

 

[Chris]

Ahh, I think the later engines came with a shorter dipstick.











I'm kidding! Well done for doing anything in these temps. I looked at some jobs. Just looked.

 

[Iwan]

The dip sticks are coupled to which sump is on the engine... early ones with a solid axle had it on the rhs of the engine routed through the inlet manifold.
Ifs models have lhs mounting and are varying lengths 90 series in particular with the front reservoir and hilux shorter. Granvia different again.

So when people are adapting these engines and need a different sump then the dip stick and oil pickup should be asked for when ordering.

Different applications need the corresponding parts to make it work as intended.

@Chris yep its heavy going with the temps.. doing 6.30 am to 3.00pm as the very dusty workshop is west facing and is a killer after that time.

 

[Lancashire Cruiser]

On the subject of oil changes and filters, the chap who looks after mine changed the oil and filter recently and since then I have noticed that the oil light does not go out as quick as it did before when starting from cold, it takes about 3 seconds to extinguish whereas before it was almost instantaneous. I’m sure I have read somewhere that the filter should have a non return valve to stop this happening. Oil level is correct as is the oil viscosity.
Any thoughts Gentlemen?

 

[stuzbot]

Did you [or your mechanic] use a 3rd party filter? I splashed out on a proper Toyota one and I think you're right about the non-return valve. T'was a similar scenario with my previous VW van. Word on the forums was the cheapo filters didn't have the non-return valve so, the expensive German ones were the ones to buy. [or, in this case the expensive Japanese ones!]

Lack of a non-return valve would explain the symptoms as, every time you start the engine, the oil filter is going to take a few seconds to fill up again, before the light goes out

 

[stuzbot]

So when people are adapting these engines and need a different sump then the dip stick and oil pickup should be asked for when ordering...

I think everything is original on mine. But, of course, with something this old and with this many previous owners, you can never be sure. Anyway, when I put the recommended amount in at first, the orange oil light came on, after a few minutes idling and, checking the dipstick again, I found the oil wasn't even registering on it. So I stuck about an extra litre in, bit by bit and it's now sitting nicely in the middle on the dipstick and running without any warning lights.

If, something has been changed and it's not the right dipstick or not the original sump, I prefer to err on the side of over-filling with oil, rather than having too little in there. What I drained out filled the empty 5 litre container from the oil I put in, plus about half of one of those plastic 2 litre drinks bottles. So I reckon there was about 6 and a bit litres in there already, anyway and I've replaced it with a similar amount.

 

[chapel gate]

use genuine. why wouldnt you?

 

[stuzbot]

Re oil capacities:

I've just realised that the workshop manual I opened this morning to read off the sump capacity is actually for the 3,4 litre V6 petrol engine. Whoops! <insert red-faced smiley> It was a PDF I got from somewhere as a "Prado Workshop Manual" and is in a folder of various other manuals for the Colorado. It didn't have a cover so, I stupidly assumed it was also for the 3 litre models, like the other ones I have.

Interestingly enough, I also have a PDF of the 1KZ-TE engine repair manual, which gives the oil capacities as follows:

...and one for the same engine, but as fitted in the Toyota HiLux, which has....

So, it should actually be 7 litres with filter change and turns out my "6 and a bit" getting to halfway between the markers means my dipstick is measuring about right. And I should probably squeeze about another half litre in there..

Apologies for the confusion. We now return you to your scheduled forum-ing.

 

[Lancashire Cruiser]

Stuzbot, the guy (mechanic) who did the oil and filter change, knowing him he would have used a good quality filter but worth checking with him to make sure.

 

[Lancashire Cruiser]

Further to the above, did another oil and filter change and this time put a genuine Toyota filter on. So now from cold the oil light goes of in around one and a half seconds which is better than the three seconds it was taking. The previous filter was a Blueprint one which the supplier claimed it had a non drain valve. Anyway an improvement so I’m happy with that.