Advice needed... Cooked my little pwado... Engine swap or not...

[tassie tiger Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close tassie tiger]

What is the repairer suggesting and do you trust them (ie: reputable etc)

Unless you are a mechanic then steer clear of any sort of modding or changing to something different. There are always problems as another poster stated.

If it was in my shed I would probably do the following;

The head is off so drop the sump and pull the rods/pistons. Visually check the bearings - did she grab one? If not then I would take it that it didnt get so hot for damage to the oil side of things.

Visually check the pistons. Visually check the bores. If they seem fine then a hone and new set of rings and conrod bearings. Dont worry about the mains.

Reassemble.

Cylinder head off to the head reconditioners for a full recondition. May as well as this normally takes the brunt of the heat.

New water pump, new thermostat and timing kit. Reco injectors. Dont worry about the pump.

Recore on the rad (or a new one)

New hoses.

Reassemble. Fit a good quality gauge temporarily so you can really watch it.

Start and is should be fine. Watch the guages. Shut down if it starts to get hot. Check the cooling system.

The chances of the block being damaged IF the bearings hadnt grabbed is pretty slim IMO.

Your truck is right for a long time.

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

1. Get new or recon 1kz long motor requiring injector pump and injectors to be replaced =$12k
2. get a 2nd hand engine including injectors and pump =$7k
3. get a 2nd hand d4d and do a swap while she's broke =$insert blank cheque (actually 12k I think)

4. Get it honed and new head and go trade it in for some unsuspecting victim?

OK option 4 as you have stated is not a real option.

Compare option 2 and 3, both are a second hand motor and no gaurantees on history. What is the advantage in going the D4D? a bit of extra power and Torque, assuming we work on your figures you would be paying an extra 5k for a bit more power and maybe a bit better economy. As others have said it is never as easy you think, the transmission comes to mind, will the 4 speed still fit straight onto the D4D, not sure? If you need the 5 speed then centre consol is different for the extra gear........... seems like a lot of hassle and expense for not much gain given the rest of the vehicle is still old.

That leaves you with a second hand 1kz or a rebuilt motor. Really I would think it comes down to your intentions for the vehicle, If it is a long term keeper then a fresh motor rebuilt to last a long time might be good value, if you think you might sell in a year or 2 then a second hand motor seems like a better option to me.

As others have said, you need to ascertain why it overheated in the first place and correct that fault, otherwise you may well be chucking a load of cash down the drain.

Cheers Andrew

[rags Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rags]

The D4D conversion has been done before but in a 90series,which was done successfully by I think PRADOFREAK,there was 2 threads 1st the build up and 2nd about then successful conversion follow up attached but can't find 1st
http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...4D-Conversion&

[SWR Banned Find all posts View Profile Close SWR]

Gday rags

Here is the first link you was looking for

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...-series-prado&

Cheers

[Noobie Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Noobie]

Piggy made me

[Noobie Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Noobie]

Piggy made me

[big-trev Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close big-trev]

Rob they have an 03 Diesel at the 444 car yard,only done 130000 ks,There asking 32 for it,it's a very tidy Prado.Only problem is what do you do with you'rs.Apart from that the rebuilt engine with warranty would be my choice.
Best of luck and if you need a hand with any thing give me a call.I will not be available until January 15 as I' m off to Thailand on Wednesday.

[Noobie Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Noobie]

Piggy made me

[SWR Banned Find all posts View Profile Close SWR]

Gday Noobie

Quote: Option 6: buy a rollover and take my body off and put it on the rolled chassis... Then it's all new engine/drivetrain with no problems...

Answer: I know that your vehicle is not stolen nor part of an organized crime for stolen parts etc but i think if you are thinking of a re-birth then maybe you should add this link to your equation of decision making

http://www.caradvice.com.au/64435/ns...f-legislation/

I didn't show this link to stomp on your parade but more to help with your decisions without future complications if re-sale!

Cheers

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Didn't last long on the body change to chassis. Researched today and vin remains with chassis not body. Can get engineers report... More calls for tomorrow to decide...

I would have thought that was the way you would want it. When we spoke you were talking about a 2008 with 60 thou on the clock that had been rolled, assuming that the chassis and engine are OK and you put your body on it then you end up with a 2008 model with 60k instead of a 2005 model with 250k.

This option could still have numerous issues given the update model has the climate control and steering wheel controls for the radio etc, but it could probablly be done.

The legalities of doing this and the economics might be a problem also, but if you are keen on having the later model engine might as well try and get a later model Prado at the same time.

To me this is really just an economic question, whats your rig worth now, what will you spend on it to get it going again and whats it worth after you finish.

As I suggested when we spoke, I would opt for the simple answer, recon or second hand 1kz, quick, simple and easy.

Cheers Andrew

[iantz Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close iantz]

Id go with the cheapest option then trade. Whoever buys it from a dealer will get a warranty. In previous cars that have cooked heads, even after I had them changed they were never without more problems.

On a separate note, why shouldn't they programme these cars to go into limp mode at a certain temperature? Seems that wouldn't be hard and certainly would avoid extensive damage.

[pjorek Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close pjorek]

out of interest, would something like scanguage help to monitor the temp or is it simply a digital display of what you already have on the dash? (normally when you loose coolant there is no indication as the sensor cannot measure coolants temp)

[MDS69 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MDS69]

out of interest, would something like scanguage help to monitor the temp or is it simply a digital display of what you already have on the dash? (normally when you loose coolant there is no indication as the sensor cannot measure coolants temp)

Correct the Scangauge just duplicates digitally/numerically existing items the car already displays on the dash however the cooling system temp is displayed in degrees celcius or farenheit. I don't think that a lay person would know that a car is overheating until there is steam coming out from under the bonnet regardless of what the temp gauge on the dash is indicating. I reckon a gauge with a flashing idiot light would be a good inclusion by manufacturers but probably costs $0.67 to include so too hard.

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

out of interest, would something like scanguage help to monitor the temp or is it simply a digital display of what you already have on the dash? (normally when you loose coolant there is no indication as the sensor cannot measure coolants temp)

Yes the scangauge shows the actual temperature rather than a needle pointing to a spot that is always the same. I have had mine as high as 96 degrees C on the scangauge but the temperature needle hasn't moved, normally sits around the 88 degree mark.

Unfortunately for those with the 1kz the scangauge isn't compatable.

After talking with Noobie it sounds like the Prado probably got a bit warm, then popped a radiator tank and then dumped the coolant, after continuing to be driven it then would have really cooked itself. If you loose coolant from the system; temperature gauges will start to read low once the sensor is no longer in contact with the liquid.

This story has got me thinking that a low water level alarm might be a very handy addition.

Cheers Andrew

[MidLifeCrisis Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close MidLifeCrisis]

hmm.
Aj, so you are saying the temp guage cannot readthe extremely hot air that replaced the hot liquid? Does not make sense to me. I have a food temp guage that reads the ambiant temp when not poked in food. I have an EGT that reads ambiant temp. When hot gases flow past it reads that and I'm sure it would read liquid as well.