Regular servicing

[Chitch Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Chitch]

Hi All,
Great forum, thanks for adding me. I've just purchased my first diesel. A 2007 GX 6 speed Prado with lots of fruit added. My first question is how often are people changing their oil, 5,000 or 10,000kms?. How often should the other filters be changed eg; fuel filters and air filters etc etc. Is it only a Toyota dealer that has the equipment to hook up to check the correct functionality of injectors?

Cheers

[Doug Herd Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Doug Herd]

I do 5,000km oil and oil filter changes. A habit I got into when I had a 60 series cruiser.

About 200-300km before the change, I put a cleaner in to the oil to help dislodge any noticeable sludge and build up.

cheers

[Chitch Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Chitch]

Thanks Doug

[qwerty_steve Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close qwerty_steve]

I'd personally recommend Castrol Magnatec 15W/40. Buy it by the 10L drum from Supercheap. Gleaned this bit of sage advice from ########## (old respected forum member). He pulled many a D4D down and found much less wear with this oil. Has worked great for me, engine purrs.

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

D4d has a small filter between tanks due to be replaced every 40K. The main fuel filter, according to Toyota, only needs replacing when the idiot light comes on. Most of us will replace it more regularly. I have an additional Racor filter before the big filter. The Racor gets changed every 20K. Air filters 20K or more frequently if I've been out in the dirt. Cabin filter 20 - 40K depending on use. Oil every 5K with filter. I buy the genuine filters in bulk, same as the racors.

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

If you are not doing lots of short trips, changing oil every 5k often does more harm than good and wastes a lot of perfectly good oil.

Based on oil sampling that I used to do on equipment that we maintained if you were to sample the condition of the oil at 5k and then the new oil you would find very little benefit. In fact often the oil that has been running in the engine has less damaging particulates, the black colour is not an indicator of problems. 5K oil changes are a throw back to times when oil was no where near as sophisticated and durable as it is now.

Interesting that people comply with Toyota requirements such as weight restrictions but don't trust them to know about engine servicing intervals.

[snewby Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close snewby]

I change oil and oil filter every 10K. (and am also a fan of Magnatec diesel).
The big under bonnet fuel filter I do every 20K and the small fuel filter (mid tanks) each 40k.
I inspect the fuel in the little one each time ... (blow the fuel out into a jar) if it is at all black or sludgey then I have picked up a bug and it will need some additive to knock it on the head.
I use a mini lube to do the tail shaft grease nipples eash 10k or after river crossing or hard trips.
Air filter gets a clean with the compressed air each service and a new on when I think of it. I have two filters for the air con which I wash and alternate when the musty smell gets me going.
Transfer case, difs and gearbox changed about 50-60K (I have full breathers), before the breathers I would check and change after parking it in rivers.
I also now tend to add diesel additive to each fill and believe the injectors are showing better feedback values for it. (Definately less noise when cold)
I also try to remember to check the oil pickup screen (in the sump - look up the drain hole with my phone camera - better that a drip of old oil in the eye) to check the injector seals/sheets are still OK). I am saving the recall notice to use along with new injectors when the feedback number go off)
You also ask..."
"Is it only a Toyota dealer that has the equipment to hook up to check the correct functionality of injectors?" No!
You need to check out one of the Techstream threads on this site. By buying a cheep usb-OBD2 cable off ebay,and installing (free) Techstream software you can read the car's ECU values, codes and more (including injector feedback values) on your own computer.
Techstream will run on systems from XP to Win10 (sometimes with a bit of fiddling).

Finally I also try to remember to double check the sump plug is tight before I replace my (aftermarket) sump guard. and add new oil. :-)
ps. front dif drain plug can be a real bitch to undo (10mm hex drive is really too small for this size plug)
Finally -- any issues or problems are well covered in various threads on PP... just need to look for them.
Have fun!

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

That's a very thorough maintenance regime!

[snewby Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close snewby]

Hey! I'm retired, I have to do something to fill in the time, between the bikes, fly fishing and skiing...
... and somehow the grandkids can't seem to get motivated to take over.

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

I do the oil and oil filter every 5,000 km. I add some wynns engine oil flush additive and let the engine idle for about 10 minutes before draining it. I purchased an oil filter wrench from Toyota (its called a Special service tool), fits the oil filter like a large socket.
I prime the new oil filter before installing it...I fill it with clean engine oil and let it soak into the filter element while the old engine oil is draining..and after about 15 minutes or so it has completely soaked into the new element and is ready to install.

I buy my oil in 20 lire drums, and I have a hand operated oil pump (from Diesel Spares). I also use either wynns or chemtech diesel additive, but I typically add it when going on a big trip or off road, The vehicle did about 220,000 km before I just sold it (5 years old this month) and it was still running nicely, with near perfect injector feedback values.

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

The big under bonnet fuel filter I do every 20K and the small fuel filter (mid tanks) each 40k.

I am curious why you would do it that way? The small filter is doing most of the work, that's why Toyota recommend changing it every 40K and why they don't touch the big filter unless there's an issue. The smaller filter is also cheaper to replace.

[snewby Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close snewby]

Dave..
Rather sheepishly he replies...
You see, before the Prado I had a 4Runner... with just the one filter (in the engine bay). So I got used to doing that one. (and it seemed to work for me - ~600K when I sold it and going strong)
So when I got the Prado ... I continued doing what I knew... at about 110K I discovered the small filter, when it was cloging up with bug/sludge. Replacing it and running additive fixed that. (My Toyota service at that time did not even know there was a second filter!)
So now I change the small one at 40K and big one as usual/habit at 20K.
BUT you have now got me thinking... I may push it out to 40K and do them either together or at alternate 20ks.. need to think more on that.
I think I used up my last ones the other day, so will need to buy in a new batch, I will look at pricing , I thought they were very similar cost.
Edit:
I just checked my service book.. It says Diesel: Fuel Filter 20K 40K 60K 80K etc. (no mention of a big or small one).
Now, mine is a Sept 2007, so they may have changed service invervals sometime after that.
also for some related reading see post....
http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...ll+fuel+filter

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

If you are not doing lots of short trips, changing oil every 5k often does more harm than good and wastes a lot of perfectly good oil.

Based on oil sampling that I used to do on equipment that we maintained if you were to sample the condition of the oil at 5k and then the new oil you would find very little benefit. In fact often the oil that has been running in the engine has less damaging particulates, the black colour is not an indicator of problems. 5K oil changes are a throw back to times when oil was no where near as sophisticated and durable as it is now.

Interesting that people comply with Toyota requirements such as weight restrictions but don't trust them to know about engine servicing intervals.

Totally agree, I do mine every 10k, I haven't seen anything to convince me that more frequent changes have any benefit at all.

The under body fuel filter is scheduled for replacement at 20k intervals, not 40k

Cheers Andrew

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

5000k oil change is the go for these Diesel engines 1kd-ftv.
If you check severe conditions, most vehicles fall into one of the many conditions. Each to their own.
On the 1kz, we trusted Toyota a little & oil was due every 5000k. That was 2006.
On the 1kd a year later oils have not changed much at all. But the soot levels have, with euro 4 egr.
So if Toyota were advising you on the same level of engine longevity, rather than cutting cost of service, to sell more cars, it would still say every 5000k.
If you have an egr restrictor plate in & have noticed, the oil staying much cleaner then your soot level will be low in comparison & you can get away with 10,000k.
I do mine every 5000k anyway but if I'm away on a big trip & doing long haul Klm's I will let it go out past 10,000k+ no worries.
This is the best Klm's you can do, hwy Klm's & long days.

Don't leave the under bonnet fuel filter more than 40,000k
The one at the tanks, 20,000k, they are filthy by 20,000k so 10,000k is good.
Before & after a big outback trip is a good time to change your filters.
The cost is about the same for each fuel filter.

I will add, I know vehicles which get serviced every 20,30k & they run well at 300k on the clock, so it's a personal choice & how long you want it running at peak condition for............................................... ............?

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

5000k oil change is the go for these Diesel engines 1kd-ftv.
If you check severe conditions, most vehicles fall into one of the many conditions. Each to their own.
On the 1kz, we trusted Toyota a little & oil was due every 5000k. That was 2006.
On the 1kd a year later oils have not changed much at all. But the soot levels have, with euro 4 egr.
So if Toyota were advising you on the same level of engine longevity, rather than cutting cost of service, to sell more cars, it would still say every 5000k.
If you have an egr restrictor plate in & have noticed, the oil staying much cleaner then your soot level will be low in comparison & you can get away with 10,000k.
I do mine every 5000k anyway but if I'm away on a big trip & doing long haul Klm's I will let it go out past 10,000k+ no worries.
This is the best Klm's you can do, hwy Klm's & long days.

Don't leave the under bonnet fuel filter more than 40,000k
The one at the tanks, 20,000k, they are filthy by 20,000k so 10,000k is good.
Before & after a big outback trip is a good time to change your filters.
The cost is about the same for each fuel filter.

I will add, I know vehicles which get serviced every 20,30k & they run well at 300k on the clock, so it's a personal choice & how long you want it running at peak condition for............................................... ............?

I base my comments on scientific fact based on oil sampling that we used to do.

We found that if you don't use pristine clean oil change equipment you will introduce dust/dirt particles from funnels, hoses etc. which do a lot more damage than diesel soot which just looks bad.

Filters actually become more efficient at capturing dirt after a short time of use and then there is no need to replace them until they start to restrict flow. Most well designed filters bypass when they clog, and that can be a serious problem.

Caterpillar went through an interesting exercise many years ago when they mandated oil changes based on hours use and found with oil sampling that they were prematurely throwing out oil.

I'm curious where most people put the oil from their oil changes and has anyone ever bothered to get it tested?

If you think about it the intervals such as 5000, 7500, 10000, 15000 are pretty arbitary chosen for ease of use rather than science which would probably end up in intervals such as 9473kms etc.

In any case if it makes you feel better do the 5000km oil changes.