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Toyota Land Cruiser Problems

Are you having problems with your Toyota Land Cruiser? Let our team of motoring experts keep you up to date with all of the latest Toyota Land Cruiser issues & faults. We have gathered all of the most frequently asked questions and problems relating to the Toyota Land Cruiser in one spot to help you decide if it's a smart buy.

Toyota LandCruiser: good oil

AS you suggest, it was a fix sometimes used to overcome loss of oil. It would have been useful to stop the oil problem even after the idler shaft had been fixed.

Solid beast

THE HJ60 is a pretty solid old beast. Like all old LandCruisers it suffers from body rust, but mechanically it's a robust model. The engine is bulletproof, the gearbox is troublefree, but the transfer case can leak oil into the gearbox. Toyota fixed the problem by fitting a return line that pumped the oil back into the transfer case. Front swivel hubs can give trouble if they haven't been properly serviced, 8mm rear hub studs can break, but can be updated to 10mm to fix the problem.

Land Cruiser a gas

TOYOTA will advise you against doing it, but they do that to protect themselves in the event something goes wrong. That's perfectly understandable. They haven't done the research and testing to develop an LPG system that works on the LandCruiser. You need to discuss your concerns with your LPG installer. My contacts in the industry suggest there's no problem with doing it. One has run a 100 Series on LPG for some years without any trouble.

Shuddering clutch

DRAGAN Vasic from All-Terrain 4x4 says the life of the standard clutch in the 100-Series is 80,000-120,000km depending on the type of use. Heavy offroading or towing reduces the life. Fitting a heavy-duty clutch doubles the life.

To gas or not to gas

NO THERE won't be any adverse effect on your engine, and with sequential vapour injection you won't notice any difference in performance. You can use an upper cylinder lubricant for a little extra protection as LPG is drier and therefore harsher on valves and valve seats than unleaded petrol, but it's a precaution rather than a necessity. Running the engine on petrol once a week will prevent the seals in the fuel system from drying out and hardening.

Going over to lpg

EXPERTS at LPG Australia say the conversion is simple and successful, costing $1500-$1800.

Used Toyota Land Cruiser 70-Series review: 1984-2017

The 70-Series is a seriously rough and tough vehicle that will cope with the roughest conditions in the country, but it's really out of its depth in town.  It is a big and cumbersome vehicle that needs to be driven with a large amount of common sense in traffic.  But if you want a reliable vehicle for the round-Australia dream drive that won't cost you an arm and a leg, then it's worth considering.

MODEL WATCH

The 70-Series is one of the last uncivilised Landcruisers. That's not to put it down. It was simply designed to work hard.  Built on a ladder frame, the 70-Series came in a range of models in short and long wheelbases with ute, hardtop and troop carrier body styles.

Back when four-wheel-drives were driven by men in hard hats, blue singlets and Blundstone boots, Toyota's Landcruiser was the king.  Underneath it had solid axles slung from leaf springs front and back. It was great for going bush, with plenty of ground clearance and good articulation, but it made for a hard ride.

Toyota offered a choice of petrol and diesel engines. The 4.0-litre overhead valve six-cylinder petrol engine boasted 111kW and 284Nm, and the 4.0-litre overhead valve diesel six had 72kW and 229Nm.

A five-speed manual gearbox was standard, with high ratio two-wheel-drive, plus low ratio four-wheel drive able to be selected via a transfer case. The front hubs had to be locked manually.

The 70-Series Landcruiser didn't have many creature comforts. The seats were trimmed in a hard-wearing cloth, the plastics were simple and basic, and the floor was covered in vinyl mats.

IN THE SHOP

THE first and most important thing to understand is that the Landcruiser is often used by serious offroaders.  Though it is perhaps the toughest vehicle around, it needs proper and regular maintenance to help it survive.  It won't survive if it isn't serviced, so it's important to see a service record. If there isn't one, get a check by an acknowledged specialist.

Rust is a problem. The most common places to see rust are around the windscreen and the side windows, but you might also see it around the roof where it joins the body sides.

It's also important to check underneath. Running for hours on dirt roads can be like sandblasting the underbody, stripping the paint and protection right back to the bare metal, which can then rust.

Caring owners will have moved things such as diff breathers higher to minimise the chances of water entry in river crossings, but even then it's almost impossible to eliminate it.

The 70-Series is generally a hardy vehicle and little goes wrong with its engines, gearboxes and diffs if they're regularly serviced.  Some petrol-engined Landcruisers have been converted to LPG, but be wary of them because they add load to the cooling system.

A regular problem that Dragan Vasic of All Terrain 4x4 has seen is failure of the seal on the transfer case input shaft.  Replacing the seal can be an expensive exercise, but there's a less expensive fix which is often employed and doesn't involved stripping the transfer case.

Vasic recommends repacking the front axle bearings every 40,000km minimum, earlier if you're regularly driving through water, and replacing the swivel hub seals and gaskets as well.

Window regulators are a common failure, but the cause is usually found in the window channels which are often pinched, making it hard to crank the glass up and down.

OWNER'S VIEW

NICK Bywater bought his 1985 70-Series Troop Carrier three years ago to do just that.  As a scout leader, he uses it to transport the boys and their gear as well as go on the occasional serious four-wheel-drive adventure. He knew of the 70-Series' reputation for toughness and reliability in rough and rugged conditions.

A check by All Terrain 4x4 identified a few minor problems that needed attention, but it was otherwise in quite good condition.  It has clocked 327,000km and shows no sign of tiring.

CRUNCH TIME

SAFETY wasn't a high priority for the designers. Their brief was to design a vehicle to stand up in the harshest conditions on earth. Safety simply was not critical.  Mass and a rigid chassis are the keys to the old Landcruiser's safety performance.

THE BOTTOM LINE

ROUGH but reliable wagon. The 70-Series is generally a hardy vehicle and little goes wrong with its engines, gearboxes and diffs if they are regularly serviced.

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Toyota LandCruiser: potential engine fault

YOU don't say if your engine has had a problem or not, but I suppose it hasn't. So I wouldn't concern yourself. If a problem develops approach a Toyota dealer.

Toyota LandCruiser: hopping before warming up

I WOULDN'T expect the hopping problem to be fixed by replacing the clutch, but it may fix the problem with first and reverse gears. It sounds as if the clutch is not fully disengaging, which may mean it is worn. If you haven't replaced the clutch before, it could be due for replacement and I would take the advice you have been given.

Oil contamination

WE PUT your problem to Toyota experts and they say it is difficult to diagnose without seeing the vehicle or the colour of the contamination to determine whether the contamination is engine oil or transmission fluid. There is no mention of any signs of water contamination in either the transmission fluid or engine oil. Likewise, there is no mention of engine overheating. Toyota's guys suggested the following inspection: remove transmission coolant hoses from the radiator, pressurise the cooling system and check for leaks from the radiator where the transmission hoses were removed. Inspect the rear side of the timing-case area near the water pump. Remove the rocker cover to expose the rear side of the timing-case cover (just in front of timing chain). Pressurise the cooling system and check for leaks.

Disclaimer: You acknowledge and agree that all answers are provided as a general guide only and should not be relied upon as bespoke advice. Carsguide is not liable for the accuracy of any information provided in the answers.
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