The Toyota Landcruiser Owners Club

[liongeorge]

Hi ,  I am a very satisfied Colorado owner. I have a 98 with 200k on the clock. It is great and gets a v hard life without letting me down.  My stepdad has loved my wagon for a year or two and wants to get rid of his LR defender and get a LC.
 Now he can afford a later D4D model, with all the bells and whistles (he wants an auto) , but I am put off by injector type issues that I have heard about and his mechanic mate has put the fear of god up him about them.  Are these worries well founded or OTT . Or should he just go for the best late lowest milage standrd 3lt TD he can find.

Any help much appreciated    George

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[Edward]

I would recommend going for the latest model he can afford, just based on the fact that these trucks are now getting on a bit. All LC models have their own "issues/worries", so I think it is a more a matter of finding one which is in good order/has been looked after well is more important than looking at a particular model.

Re: Auto in 90 series, I would check if the rad has been changed (coolant in ATF issue), ATF has been replaced regularly etc.

[sheepish]

The 1KZ-TE engine in the early 90s is solid, but the heads a prone to cracking, especially if you overheat, so need to make sure the cooling system is tip-top. New head is about £600 and there's a fair bit to swap over. I had mine done by a garage and it was about £1800 all in, although at the time I couldn't get a head for as little as £600.

1KD-FTV common rail "D4D" engine in the later 90s and the 120s is more refined, a little better on fuel and quieter. In about 2004-07 they were fitted with copper seals for the injectors, and these are what cause problems. Most will have been swapped for aluminium under recall. You can check the chassis number to see if it's in the danger range. The recall has expired so you'd need to change them yourself if you know they are not aluminimum. I did my injectors in about 6 hours, having never doen it before. I suspect a diesel garage would do it in half that time, for an idea of complexity. You also want to keep an eye on injector wear, which you can do with a £20 techstream kit from e bay plugged into your laptop. Injectors should last 100,000 miles plus. I changed mine at 140,000. I've known people who have engines with 250,000 miles on them and not changed them. But if you budget to change them at, say 120,000 you won't be disappointed. 4 recon injectors cost me £600.

Having had a 1KZ-TE 90, and now a 1KD-FTV 120 I would always take the 120 if I could afford it. It's a more relaxing drive, especially on motorways. I assume you are considering 120s with mention of LC4/LC5 which are 120 specifications.

[Juddian]

From my experience of owning a solid 90, and now owning a solid 120, and having looked at several 120's and 100's which were rusted underbody more than a reasonable person would expect, its a case of ignoring the body and interior up to a point until you've slung yourself underneath with a torch so you find a solid and cared for one to start with that isn't still clinging soil and filth from various offroading adventures or been towing JCB's on Ifor trailers, i've walked away from several which according to the adverts were the dogs bits, one 2004 100 series that was ''rust free with £27k's worth of servicing etc plus waxoyled'' i shoved me mitt straight through a rear body box section within 2 minutes of seeing the thing, 2 mins later i was on me way 150 miles home and never once touched the keys nor looked inside or under the bonnet.

There are some good ones out there, but some neglected abused stuff as well.