The Toyota Landcruiser Owners Club

[mks]

[Google]

[Lloydy]

I would flush just the engine - plug the bottom hose and fill the engine with a strong Jizer mix through the top, let it soak a while, then connect a garden hose to the heater outlet on the engine and flush it back through the top hose out into a bucket.

[mks]

[BobMurphy]

[quote="mks"]

[mks]

Bob,
Yes very similar but not quiet so blocked.
The car seems to be running smoothly so the good news is I don't have a cracked head or blown gasket. While investigating options , AMC do make a head for the D4D model although neither Milners or Roughtrax list one. I did contact AMC direct and got this information back for anyone that might need one, I don't have a cost but a bare genuine Toyota head is about £1500.

From: Drayton Automotive [mailto:drayton.uk@btinternet.com]
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2012 10:44 AM
To: Salter, Martin
Subject: FW: Request WEB information

Good morning Martin
Thank you for your enquiry which has been passed for my attention.
I handle the AMC ( cylinder heads) business here in the UK.
I regret that as we operate through national based Distributors - we cannot invoice & supply our product directly to you.
The head product you require appears to be our specification  (assembled cylinder head with valves): 908883.  
If you are interested to contact one of the following AMC Distributors -  They will be pleased to help/quote & supply.
Ivor Searle Ltd., Cambridgeshire: Telephone 01353 720531
Corry Motor Services, Bucks: Telephone 01296 662933
SMS Ltd., London: Telephone 0208 443 4443
Euro Car Parts,(Nationally): Telephone 0208 782 2578

Should you have any problems please revert to me via e-mail or telephone: 01943 609300.

Best Regards
Tony Dray
_________________
Martin
2002 LWB LC Colorado VX D4D
2014 LC 200 4.5 V8 Diesel

[mks]

Two gearbox flushes later and all seems to be well.
Will do another flush this weekend. Have a trip to Scotland soon so that will be the acid test
_________________
Martin
2002 LWB LC Colorado VX D4D
2014 LC 200 4.5 V8 Diesel

[Lloydy]

I would be very careful about checking the tightness of the ATF pipes where they enter the radiatior, I don't think they are threaded in even though they have a hexagon fitting that makes them look like a threaded fitting.
On mine I noticed a slight weep from the inlet to the radiator ATF pipe and just gently wiped the oil away with a rag and the fitting came out of the radiator. I've spent my working life as a maintenance fitter and have a lot of experience with hydraulic and pipe fittings, and this didn't look like a threaded fitting at all. I think, from memory, there is an O ring and the fitting is a push fit into the radiator tank and then it is held in place by glue under the hexagon. Tightening with a spanner will probably break it off.
I think I've posted pictures in another topic on this forum showing the fitting and radiator after I removed it, I'll search them out and maybe repost them here.

[tim falce]

[Lloydy]

Found the pictures. if you look closely at the fitting there is a thread, but I don't think it does anything. If you look in the radiator tank there is no thread, and it hasn't corroded away either. Of that I'm certain because under the *beep* and scaly corrosion everything was clean with no pitting, there was machined surfaces and the hole diameter was greater than the outside diameter of the thread. There is a groove for the O ring to fit into, the O ring can just be seen in the radiator tank, that is the seal and that was still working, the corrosion got into the fitting from outside, you can see a large washer on the fitting, that is fixed, I think it is bonded to the hex' part of the fitting, and then the washer is bonded to the radiation tank.
The hexagon DOES NOT ROTATE ON THE FITTING - so don't try to tweak the nut tight, it will break the bonding that is probably already suffering from corrosion.
My feeling is, the washer does rotate on the fitting at assembly, they fit the pipe on the fitting, put some glue on both sides of the washer, push the fitting into the radiator and let the glue set. This would allow for any small directional difference in the rubber ATF pipe, the bond would set with the pipe in a natural position.

I thought I took some pictures with the fitting and radiator cleaned up more, but I obviously didn't which is a shame as they would have shown what I describe better.
This was an original Toyota radiator as well, the aftermarket one I fitted had proper threaded fittings, the sort that should be in as OEM !

[Lloydy]

for some reason I can't can't see how to edit a post, so I'll add some more comments here.

The first picture is the return to the g'box, and the fitting is damn near corroded through, and the method of attachment is the same.
In the second picture what might look like a thread isn't, it's the internal vanes of the cooler. The ring of corrosion corresponds to the corrosion on the upper part of the thread of the fitting.
The next picture with the fitting in the radiator is 'posed' the fitting is loose and would not hold pressure. You can see here that the hexagon and the pipe are 'one' They are soldered together, when cleaned up properly this was 100% obvious. So turning the 'nut' would turn the whole fitting and NOT tighten anything, only break the bond.
The final picture shows the corrosion, and I think it is self evident that it has come from outside. The bond of the washer to the radiator has failed and allowed water in, and we know how salty and corrosive road spray is. The corrosion is starting from the washer and going towards the O ring, not the other way around which would indicate a failure of the O ring.

[mks]

Lloydy,
Thanks for posting the pictures, you have saved me a job, mine looked just the same. I take your points about the fittings being bonded. When I said tweak them, I meant by hand not with a spanner. If it comes off in your hand, like mine and yours did, you might just catch it early enough to save  the oil and water mixing. As you say, separating the oil and water with glue and an o ring is just naff. My new rad also had separate fittings but I didn't try to remove the fitting from the rad to see what it looked like, did you?, or was the new fitting still bonded to the rad?
Agree the fittings on my £100 afar market red look better quality than those on the £550 Toyota job and quality elsewhere looks identical.

Martin
_________________
Martin
2002 LWB LC Colorado VX D4D
2014 LC 200 4.5 V8 Diesel

[mks]

Having just returned from Scotland after a 1000 plus miles, all seems well post the oil/water mixing issue. I have noticed that the engine seems to be taking longer to warm up presumably as I now have a radiator that isn't clogged with straw. I was thinking perhaps about fitting an electric fan to replace the viscous fan. Should enable faster warm up and better MPG, I'm surprised that it doesn't have an electric fan as standard. I have also noticed that the MPG has improved a bit since flushing the ATF.
_________________
Martin
2002 LWB LC Colorado VX D4D
2014 LC 200 4.5 V8 Diesel

[OG.]

Hopefully you caught the problem early enough to avoid transmission damage. The PO of my Colorado didnt and had the gear box bodged to seel. Two weeks after I bought it (from a dealer) the box failed and required a full rebuild (dealer paid half so not complaining).

The ATF cooler is now external on mine and goes nowhere near the radiator. It is an air to oil cooler with its own electric fan.

Regarding viscous fans vs electric ones in my opinion there is little benefit to changing as the viscous can drag far more air through than an electric when required and is designed to freewheel (after an initial burst on first startup) and only drive when required. The difference is quite audible.

[mks]

Just thought I would post back on progress since the dreaded coolant/atf mixing episode. Well 2000 miles on and all is running tickety boo. Been to Scotland and back with no issues. Did another ATF last weekend change just to be sure. What came out was bright red with no signs of contamination. So I have flushed approx 50L of dexron 3 through the box and I'm happy that it is completely clean

So an encouraging note for anyone else who suffers a similar fate, if caught early enough there doesn't have to be any lasting ill effects.
_________________
Martin
2002 LWB LC Colorado VX D4D
2014 LC 200 4.5 V8 Diesel

[HairyWookie]

Interesting read; really glad you are all sorted.

They truly are tough old sods; provided issues are caught early by monotoring everything mechanical on them, coolant level, coolant colour, warm up times, oil level, oil colour etc, I think you have to go a long way to causing lasting damage.

One query though; what is Jizer??
Need to do a coolant change on mine this year; looked at Forte flush.

Thank you,
_________________
Regards, Chris.

1997 KZJ95 3.0TD GX Manual (Jess)
Weekend Warrior with 18 years of mechanical experience; still learning...
Occasional use on SVO...