New to Land Crusiers, what to look out for when buying

[Diamond Dawg]

I'm interesred in a 1998 S reg amazon 4.7 V8 VX Active
What do I need to look out for when checking it over? When I first went to look at it the rear diff light would only blink, and wouldn't stay on. I've said that this needs sorting before I go any further.
Its a 2 owner, fastidiously maintained vehicle not including the rear diff, with 123k mile for £6400. Any comments anyone?

 

[Graham]

Hi,
As you say, the rear diff locking indicator light should go to permanent lit, when the diff. lock is fully engaged.

As for prices,

They are all over the place, condition and service are the common key points to look out for when buying.

Gra.

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Does the steering wheel position adjustment work? The 2 motors on that are a common failure and not cheap to replace. Does the suspension go up and down ok and driving on/off kerbs or similar obstacles should be completely damped, any bounce in the back end especially indicates some work will be needed.

 

[Diamond Dawg]

Thanks for the replies.

I will make sure the diff lock is fixed before commiting. It has a full service history with all bills and receipts.

Just had an MOT which included replacing some bushes and/or ball joints and the interior is in good condition.

The steering wheel adjustment works fine, checked that when taking it for a test drive.

The suspension did rise and fall, but without looking from the outside I couldn't tell how far, but went from lo to high just fine

 

[Zeusv8]

Has it got LPG ? These babies do about 19mpg downhill !
If you do buy it, I would advise a few things. Get LPG fitted if it hasn't got it. Turn off the steering adjustment as it will fail and is a pain to reset manually. Most important is to get the AHC suspension serviced(Pleiades in sawtry are the golden boys for this) . The failure of this system is costly and in my case was a full new refit of aftermarket suspension.
And as an optional extra and for the v8 rumble a k&n filter kit is a great piece of kit and increases horsepower slightly .
Great machines and bombproof engine!

 

[Diamond Dawg]

Not got LPG, but as I will only be doing around 3000 miles a year, I don't really need LPG to justify buying it.
Will look into turning the steering adjustment off, if I find out how to do it.
Regarding the suspension, I would like to have it serviced, but I'm up in Yorkshire and a trek down to Sawtry may be a little far for me.
K&N would be done with the next service, love a V8 and the more I hear of it the better!

 

[Zeusv8]

It can be done using an obd2 I think( I'm sure there's a thread on it here somewhere)
There is also a write up by Pleiades on servicing the AHC yourself.
The k&n takes about an hour to do with basic tools and has a full instruction sheet with it(£160) , well worth it!

 

[Diamond Dawg]

Will look into the obd2 when I get chance. Does it just disable the steering wheel moving to let you get out once you have switched off?
Will have a look for the AHC servicing write up as I dont know when it was last done

 

[Zeusv8]

Yeah you set if to where you want it and then switch it off or alternatively you can unplug it from under the steering column but if you are doing 3k a year, it might not be an issue for you!

 

[uHu]

I'm interesred in a 1998 S reg amazon 4.7 V8 VX Active
What do I need to look out for when checking it over? When I first went to look at it the rear diff light would only blink, and wouldn't stay on. I've said that this needs sorting before I go any further.
Its a 2 owner, fastidiously maintained vehicle not including the rear diff, with 123k mile for £6400. Any comments anyone?

The most frequent failures are the starter motor contacts, coil packs and O2 sensor. The starter would normally fail before 150 k miles, according to reports on the mud forum. It lasts longer with a good battery - i.e. change it before it becomes weak. When changing/fixing starter, it is common to change the water pump as well, because it wouldn't outlast two starter motors.

The diff-lock light has 4 states: off, slow blink, fast blink and steady. Slow blink (rather short blink, long interval) means it is switched on, but not engaged (e.g because not in low range). Fast blink (long illum., short break) means it is (probably) engaged, but not confirmed by the contact in the diff.
The diff-locks need weekly exercise. The rear diff-lock actuator is known to corrode, as the housing is alu, mounted on the steel diff-housing.

 

[Diamond Dawg]

Just been to check the car again and the rear diff light is blinking when in Low Range.
The blinking is quite quick so its looking like its not engaging.
Gonna look into it but if the actuator is broken, how much are they to fix?

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Is the centre diff light coming on solid? The rear diff won't lock until the centre is locked. Sometimes you can repair the actuators depending what has failed, sometimes it is a fault elsewhere, so best not to rush into replacing it but it is a good bargaining point? From a main dealer they are silly expensive but there are cheaper alternatives

 

[Diamond Dawg]

Centre is working properly, rear is not.
What kind of figure are we looking at?

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I don't think there's much change from £1k from a main stealer, less than half that elsewhere.

 

[Diamond Dawg]

Ouch, thats a major bargaining point!
Dont know whether to tell them how to check it properly and hope it works, or let them falter and try and knock as much as possible off the price and pray it works...