Engine Mount Collapsed into rail

[HighTracks Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close HighTracks]

G'day one and all, new to the forum,, long time reader first time poster.

I am posting this for your information and a warning to check your engine mounts if you hit the tracks on a regular basis.

I have a major problem.... I started to notice a ticking sound from the engine bay when I started the 2005 GXL V6 auto up in the mornings and on closer inspection it was the fan hitting the radiator cowl making the noise. What was more concerning was that it appeared that the engine had a slight lean on it. I took it to the dealer and when we got it up on the hoist we found that the passenger side mount has collapsed into the rail :shock: , the drivers side is cracked but I am assuming that that is only because the engine has been relying on the one mount for some time. The only thing that was stopping the engine falling out was the diff.
Estimated repair bill $4500 - $5500 :cry: Pictures have been taken and sent off to Toyota but I am not holding my breath as far as any compensation is concerned but will keep you all posted. .. The first image is the driver side mount you can see where it is starting to rust where it has cracked..... The second image is the passenger side the gap between the rail and the mount is around 8mm it is like the weld has just popped. :|
I know I have had my truck on some rough tracks and I bottomed it out once pretty good on Googs Track towing my KK at xmas but at the end of it this thing is supposed to be built for offroad and for the record I am running the billy/ridepro system by ATS & copper STT's

The 64 million dollar question :?: ...... has anyone else experienced this problem.

John

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

Re: Engine Mount Collapsed into rail

G'day John
Sorry to see those pictures mate.
That right hand side welding looks very ordinary, almost no penetration or edge wetting.
Good luck with your repairs.
regards Troy

[HighTracks Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close HighTracks]

Re: Engine Mount Collapsed into rail

Good news !
Even though my Prado is 17 months out of warranty Toyota are going to repair this under warranty
Apparently they are aware of the problem which I have been told has only happened to a few vehicles. All that Toyota has asked of me is that I provide them with a little history as to the frequency I have the thing off-road and the type of terrain I have been on. I think they are going to be in shock when I give them the list and they see where I have actually had my Prado :lol: Anyway I think it is great that they have put their hand up and said yep that's our fault.

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

Re: Engine Mount Collapsed into rail

Good to hear a positive end is near.

[cardinal28 Member Find all posts View Profile Close cardinal28]

Re: Engine Mount Collapsed into rail

Good result Hightracks
Excellent to hear Mr toyota has admitted to at least one manufacturing fault. Well done!!

Cardinal28

[HighTracks Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close HighTracks]

Re: Engine Mount Collapsed into rail

Just an update

I dropped the trackhacker in on Monday and picked it up today (Friday) had booked in the 120K service as well being they had the car. On pickup they tell me they have given me a 20% discount on the service as well :lol: don't know if that is because they have dropped the front diff to do the repair works and they have loaded some onto Toyota or they are just hoping I tell anyone that wants to listen how good they have handled this situation. I sometimes think having a 4x4 club sticker on your back window gets you that little bit further in service too. Anyway I have a busy weekend testing the new repairs :wink: I will post pictures of the repair later next week. I was told the new strengthening bracket they welded on is only available for the passenger side so I am guessing all the others have been the same side. The right side was just ground back and re-welded.

Enjoy your weekend 1 & all

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

Re: Engine Mount Collapsed into rail

For the life of me, I cannot see how anyone can justify quoting you up to $5500.00 for a repair like that. :roll:

Glad to see you had it sorted.

[HighTracks Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close HighTracks]

Re: Engine Mount Collapsed into rail

Yer know what you mean, my jaw dropped too when they told me, the estimate was made up of the following.
labour engine out/in 1500-2000
parts 1000-1500
repair 1500-2000

At one stage they were talking of having to put in a new rail :roll: .... I'm glad I have a strong heart.

As it turns out when Toyota came back to the dealer they had the fix for it and they did not have to remove the engine, they dropped the front diff and got in that way. When I picked up the car the dealer commented on the charge from the panel shop and showed me the bill for welding in the new bracket and re-weld the drivers side...1350 :shock:
I am not a welder or a panel beater but I am a tradesman and I can't see how they justified those costs. On a construction site I would guess that amount of welding would take 1hr max, allow another 2hrs to get the engine back into the right position for a total of 3hrs.... not bad money 450/hr or it just may of been the gold welding rods they used :lol: anyway she is back on the road and I am hitting the tracks tomorrow to give it a workout.

[mumstruk Member Find all posts View Profile Close mumstruk]

Re: Engine Mount Collapsed into rail

Had a mate (lost to the Big C) that bought himself a new Patrol some years ago now ( when the 3ltr diesels first came out). He and his good Wife were cruising into Broome when Bob realised that he had no brakes. Bob managed to pull his rig up, van and all and had a good look. The back of the Patrol and his van were covered in brake fluid. Got it on the hoist and he found that a rear crossember weld had failed and the broken end ground its way through the brake lines. A few phone calls to his dealer back in Bris soon had his rig on a truck and a couple of airline tickets back home. Nissan flew out a couple of engineers from Japan who were more than concerned. Bob said it was a very big deal at the time, brand new model and the negative PR that could have been generated. Turns out the chassis are manufactured in a different plant and made by robots. All it took was a weld that was a couple of millimeters out in the computer programme for that robot.
I dont know if Datsun did a recall but they repaired his 'rol and resprayed all the damaged paint work . Didn't fly him back to Broome though.

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

Re: Engine Mount Collapsed into rail

John,

Interesting to hear someone else has had the same problem as me. Like you my left hand engine mount collapsed into the rail. I suspect it started when I had a very hard impact with a pothole at 80k/h which also put my left guard out of alignment/cracked. After about 12 months I started hearing cracking and banging sounds when loosing tracking offroad and couldn't find where it was coming from. I always suspected the engine mount but because of the way it's designed I couldn't see it. After another year or so it finially cracked through and collapsed. It was repaired under the original insurance claim that I got the panel cracking fixed under. It required removing the engine and getting the chassis welded. Looks strong now. The funny thing was that the smash repairer wouldn't warrant the work because he said it was a design fault with the Prado but I couldn't get any recognition of that from Toyota.

Hopefully all is good now.

By the way, where are you located??

Geoff...

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

Does anyone know Hightracks by any chance?

I'm currently in discussion regarding this same fault on my vehicle.

I very much need evidence that its happened before and been covered under warranty.

Any help much appreciated.

Please PM.

[Offroader Member Find all posts View Profile Close Offroader]

Does anyone know Hightracks by any chance?

I'm currently in discussion regarding this same fault on my vehicle.

I very much need evidence that its happened before and been covered under warranty.

Any help much appreciated.

Please PM.

The 120 series chassis has a definite weakness in this area and Toyota know about it. I guess it hasn't reached critical mass yet here for them to acknowledge liability like the cracked dashboards.

My engine mount also recently collapsed into the chassis rail and Toyota said "they had never seen it before". It's happening to plenty of FJ cruisers (check out the US FJ Cruisers Forum) and other Toyotas that share the 120 chassis too. The tell tale sign is when the oil cap on the V6 starts getting close to or rubs on the side of the fuse box. Some others report a leaning engine, usually to the passenger side.

Anyway, by way of assisting other PP's, it took me weeks to find someone who was willing to the repair the chassis as most didn't want to touch it, including the Toyota dealership and smash repairers. I finally found a good welding shop who teamed up with a mechanic to remove the engine to gain access. I've noticed that some others with this problem only required the front diff to be removed but mine had cracked up over the top of the rail. In most cases the repair can be made and complies with engineering standards without the need to replace the chassis.

The engine mount was not only welded back into place but strengthened with fabricated gusset plates on BOTH sides to distribute the load across the rail. The problem with the OEM design is that the weight of the entire engine is distributed solely on the inner face of the rail. The parent material is not strong enough to support this load. If anyone else is getting the repair done, this is important, because if the mounts are just welded back into place, it is only a matter of time before they will fail again. All up it cost me $2 600.

[damicon Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close damicon]

HI all,

Recently I have noticed a tapping sound upon starting on my 2004 120 V6 Manual, which I have owned since new. I notice the engine was tilting to passenger side and took it to my Mechanic. To cut a long story short, we found cracking around the engine mount, where it attached to the chassis, along with one section had come away from the chassis as it seems.

After much discussion regarding possible causes, including fatigue from accelerating and decelerating and some heavy towing, I decided to take around the corner to a local dealership. The service engineer immedietly advised me to bring the vehicle in, which I did, and he would have to write a report and send to Toyota. I am unsure how long this process may take.

I was also advised by the dealership that the non-genuine ARB bar may have contributed to the problem?

I have not been off road for well over a year, since being diagnosed with Lyme Disease from a Tick Byte. I am always careful when off road, with the vehicle mainly having some cosmetic damage. I love the vehicle and have had no issues with it in this regard or mechanically and am very series about its maintenance over the years.

I have read the above reports and it does seem encouraging in regards to toyotas response overall.

Does any one have further advice?

Many thanks!

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

There is plenty of this occurrence, have a look in the 120 V6 engine threads. There is a definite design fault and Toyota know about it. Not an easy fix.

Have a read here also:

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...e-mount-report

[Seb Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Seb]

Hi mate, sorry to hear about your problem, but how the bullbar can affect the engine mount? Engine mount is not on bullbar and also the bullbar is not mounted on the motor. From my opinion than engineer should hand back his certificate