Something not quite right...

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

Matt, regarding your starting problem is your Prado a manual ?
If so when you roll it forward is it in gear ? If so, I think your starting issue is most likely the flywheel ring gear not the starter.
Thats horrible screech/grinding sound could be worn ring gear teeth, this happens because engines stop at the same point(s) of rotation due to cyl compression. In turn that means the starter pinion engages in the same position most of the time accellerating wear at those points (4 cyls 4 places, 6 cyl 6 places)
By rolling your Prado forward you are turning the flywheel slightly so the starter pinion gear engages at a "fresh" set of teeth.

Hope I'm wrong because it means gearbox out and dropping the flywheel to replace the ring gear or flywheel itself.

Lee

I'm becoming very worried now, I usually just allow it roll forward with the clutch in I think, then it goes. It's a very loud noise, quite embarrassing in car parks and such.

So has anyone ever had such bad luck? A possible cracked head and an RS flywheel ring gear, not to mention the buggered spigot bearing in the clutch itself and 170 000 kms of wear, so the clutch is half cactus along with the rest of the bearings. If this is the case, I don't know if I will be able to afford to keep my Prado on the road I went from a 1990 Surf that cost me $3k in 3 months to what I thought was a reliable vehicle, now this. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong?

Reidy

Steve, I might give you a call this weekend, thank you for the offer. I'll also go for a run out on the highway and do the texta test.

[fridayman Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close fridayman]

This may sound silly, but when you cleaned the rad, did you actually unbolt it and tip it backwards to clean the front? A lot of people just try and clean through the grill, but are actually cleaning the aircon rad...

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Mate not doing nothing wrong if your servicing it correctly. Its just one of those things, the head issue was some thing I new about but was intending to have off loaded mine before the issue (most were going over the 150/170k) which I would have sold it before then but things happen so yes I had a whinge and dummy spit but in the end I knew it needed fixing even to sell it anyway. You can get a good surf or you can get a bucket of shit. Most had rust issues due to the salt used over seas, they also had cooling issues due to running a smaller capacity radiator, the 2.4 did heads and also had turbo issues, the SSR's with the 1kz had all the goodies and were a really nice unit but again still had over heating issues but funily didnt seem to have to many head issues (go figure same engine). Depends on $$ and if you decide your going to keep it for a while or cut your losses and trade it in ?? Head will be around the 4g mark unless you have a mechanic mate to do the labour ?? then you have clutch on top of that by the sounds of it. For memory the labour on mine was around the $800 mark may have been a tad more. I dont have receipt as I passed it on to new owner incase she needed it for warranty issues. I couldnt afford a D4D and I didnt want another 1kz so we went back to petrol. Yes its thirstier then the diesel especially round town, roughly 3L to 4L per 100k more but freeway it is on par with the old 1kz. Im getting 11.6/11.8 freeway and reckon I could crack the 11's if I sat say 100 instead of 110 and giving a bootfull here and there especially when over taking. I dont regret buying petrol again. It will never do the figures of a D4D thats for sure and if I had the $$ or wanted to borrow then I would have got a D4D but maybe next time (wife reckons that will be years away lol) we'll see already had 3 in 5 years lol. cheers Steve

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

Back again,

So I hit the highway yesterday afternoon. I flogged the pants off it out towards Cooma, including long hills which I took at 110km+. I stopped after 20 minutes or so. The gauge moved to just under half the whole time. The overflow bottle level was steady. The top hose running into the engine was noticeably cooler than the bottom return hose (I may have mixed the two up, one was cooler than the other though). There is no indication of any trouble, pulled as good as it ever has. The only disqualifying factors being that it was a cool day and the car was unloaded.

I also spent ten minutes trying to get the starter to play up. I rolled down a 250m section of road, looking like a complete pelican, trying to get it to muck up. Nothing, no problem at all. After umpteen starts, it was still turning over like normal, so hopefully its not a flywheel ring gear after all. It seems to happen when its cold and sitting in the same spot for a while. No problem whens its warm.

The wonderful world of motoring.

Reidy

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Reidy, doesnt sound like the head, (which is great news) this would show up wether it was a warm day or even a cool day as mine did. Have you always ran genuine coolant ?? Mixing two different types of coolant can cause a gel like substance which slowly blocks radiator. It might pay to start with the cheaper things first and pull the radiator out get it rodded and cleaned and see if there were any blockages. Doesnt take much for it to interfere with the cooling of the system. If this comes back with a report of it been blocked or partially blocked then it could be the issue, if all ok then Id move to the viscous coupling. You can buy the tubes of silicone (normally two of them) and put in yourself (there is a youtube clip on how to do it) trick is putting the correct amount in. Personally i would repace the whole coupling, as to me its done nearly 200thou and if for some reason the fluid has leaked out then what condition is the bi-spring in the middle of the coupling like ?? Has it lost its tension and isnt allowing the fan to cut in when required ?? is it cutting in to late ?? at least with a new one you can pretty much alleviate these questions BUT they are expensive genuine. Personally I wouldnt buy it unless its genuine. I have heard of people using Davis Craig couplings and having more troubles then before and this was even said to me by a spare parts shop here in Penrith when I was getting one for my hilux. Pulling the thermostat out in one of these is a prick of a job (at the bottom) and is alot easier on a hoist. It could possibly be not opening up properly but dont run the engine without it. I was warned by a couple of places not to do this as it could cause serious issues with the engine, (not like the old 202 holden engines lol) Now I was fairly sure my head was gone so I went against what I was told and had the mechanic take it out (thank god I did prick of a job) and ran it for a few days to see if this was the issue, just ran alot colder as expected BUT it still pressurised the system so again filled the overflow bottle up and spewed out so then new 100% head was stuffed. I have heard of the impellor (spelling) on the water pump having broken away BUT this was only one that I have ever read about and maybe this was due to lack of servicing ?? cheers Steve

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

Reidy, doesnt sound like the head, (which is great news) this would show up wether it was a warm day or even a cool day as mine did. Have you always ran genuine coolant ?? Mixing two different types of coolant can cause a gel like substance which slowly blocks radiator. It might pay to start with the cheaper things first and pull the radiator out get it rodded and cleaned and see if there were any blockages. Doesnt take much for it to interfere with the cooling of the system. If this comes back with a report of it been blocked or partially blocked then it could be the issue, if all ok then Id move to the viscous coupling. You can buy the tubes of silicone (normally two of them) and put in yourself (there is a youtube clip on how to do it) trick is putting the correct amount in. Personally i would repace the whole coupling, as to me its done nearly 200thou and if for some reason the fluid has leaked out then what condition is the bi-spring in the middle of the coupling like ?? Has it lost its tension and isnt allowing the fan to cut in when required ?? is it cutting in to late ?? at least with a new one you can pretty much alleviate these questions BUT they are expensive genuine. Personally I wouldnt buy it unless its genuine. I have heard of people using Davis Craig couplings and having more troubles then before and this was even said to me by a spare parts shop here in Penrith when I was getting one for my hilux. Pulling the thermostat out in one of these is a prick of a job (at the bottom) and is alot easier on a hoist. It could possibly be not opening up properly but dont run the engine without it. I was warned by a couple of places not to do this as it could cause serious issues with the engine, (not like the old 202 holden engines lol) Now I was fairly sure my head was gone so I went against what I was told and had the mechanic take it out (thank god I did prick of a job) and ran it for a few days to see if this was the issue, just ran alot colder as expected BUT it still pressurised the system so again filled the overflow bottle up and spewed out so then new 100% head was stuffed. I have heard of the impellor (spelling) on the water pump having broken away BUT this was only one that I have ever read about and maybe this was due to lack of servicing ?? cheers Steve

Hello again Steve,

Yeah good news I hope. The tiny movement in the gauge seems to be pointing more and more towards the radiator being clogged or knackered. I had the radiator flushed and refilled by my mechanic shortly after I bought it which was 12 months ago and I don't think it would have been genuine. I'm going to take it to a radiator joint and get them to inspect it, any ideas what it would cost to get it 'rodded and cleaned' and what about the cost of a new radiator? I'll go genuine coolant too by the sounds of it. If the starting problem happens again I'll have a crack at the back of the starter from underneath and then go from there. I'll let you know how it goes. You guys have been a great help as always!

Thanks

Reidy

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Yeah mate cost me just a tad over $100 to get stripped/rodded and cleaned but I did pull it out myself and took it to them, wasnt that hard to take out, auto lines and things to disconect but nothing unusual. I did this first thing as even though I new in my head what the problem was (cracked head) I was probably wishing it wasnt and thought well it was time the radiator was done anyway lol. I aways run genuine everything, I couldnt tell you what a new radiator was worth Id be guessing if I said $500 but the radiator bloke should be able to tell you if he thinks your tanks are breaking down or anythinng like that. To be honest if it needed a new radiator thats probably one thing that I would just get from the radiator place as long as the quality is the same obviously depending on price but I would imagine Toyota would be double the price over a non genuine one. Just ask him the question as to wether its worth buying a new one and at what cost or is it still servicable. Im not sure if they can just add new tanks to your core or wether its a whole new job ?? Havnt ever done a starter motor so cant help you there, I read some where the other night abut a starter on a 1kz and needs to be removed from underneath and a bit of a prick of a job ??........Yeah let us know the outcome, good to hear back as to peoples outcomes, hopefully it wont cost to much for you.Cheers Steve

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

Hey guys, did a bit of investigating over easter in regards to my increasingly annoying vehicle.

The starting problem seems to be getting worse. More grinding and clicking etc. Only seems to happen when I'm on flat ground, when the vehicles on a slight incline or decline, without allowing it to move, it starts first time with out hesitation.

So, I hope that this post may serve to help some others who need to access the starter motor on the 1KZ-TE 95 Series. Mumsrig details the removal of the plunger cover, which I did also, however the process seems to be different for the 95. I'll detail how I did it, however there is a distinct lack of photos.

First, I jacked up the passenger side, removed the wheel and the inspection/mud cover and disconnected the batteries.

From here, I removed the main feed from the battery to the starter. There are two bolts securing the coil/motor to the starter body. The two bolt heads face towards the firewall, which are behind the brake line in the photo below. I undid these to remove the coil/motor which can also be seen in the photo below.



With the coil tucked to the left, the plunger cover can be accessed with a ring spanner, just. You can see two of the three bolts in the photo above, and out popped this.



Looking inside the assembly with my handy dandy mobile phone, I could see this.



My observations:

Copper dust in the plunger/brush area. Is this normal?

Brushes and plunger pitted but bright and clean. Is this normal?

The gear on the end of the coil/motor. Does it look warn out?


So, I put it back together and guess what? Same problem.


Any further advice would be appreciated.

Reidy

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

If you decide to replace the radiator, consider a Denso...
http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...ler#post305268

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

If you decide to replace the radiator, consider a Denso...
http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...ler#post305268

Cheers Glen,

I was just about to organise a clean out or replacement of my radiator after the trouble I've been having.

Reidy

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

If you are in Sydney, go see my BIL at Penrith Radiators.
He will sort it out for you...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

Got the truck booked in for a radiator service tomorrow morning, at around $330. Also asked an auto elec about the starter. He listened to the noise and immediately diagnosed that the bearings and clutch on the starter need replacing, which shouldn't be too expensive. I'll get the contacts replaced while I'm there. Just gotta get the bugger out to get it to him!

Reidy

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

Righto lads, got her sorted now.

Got the radiator flushed out and rodded. 25% blocked internally and 50% externally. Hooley Dooley! New cap and coolant. Took her straight from the radiator joint to the autoelec and auditioned her for the friendly gentleman. New starter motor he said.

End result. The gauge still moves about a little. Last week I towed my small boat up the back of Tumut with a bit of camping gear(seriously hilly country). I gave it a fair flogging and the gauge wouldn't move from a bit below half. I reckon that's as good a test as any. It start's without a problem now too. The sparky showed me the old one and it was knackered. It ended up costing $700 for the starter motor and labour, but I figured having to buy all the socket extensions and being without the car would have probably cost me the amount I would have saved anyway.

Happy Prado driver again!

Now for injector service and snorkel!

Cheers,

Reidy

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Good to hear Reidy, yeah mine use to run just under half even with blown head. Now with the snorkel unless you really need one ?? Id do a bit of investigating on different brands as well. Now I swear by safari BUT in this case maybe check out ironman or airtec (if available). I swear the fitment of my safari snorkel reduced the power and increased fuel consumption. Never ran as good. Personally I think to many bends from start to finish and reduced the airflow and had a bloody annoying whistling sound at freeway speeds, was the ram as when my wife was driving I put my hand over the ram inlet and it shut the whistle up, removed my hand and it was back. Didnt see the purpose of turning head around on freeway as it deletes the purpose of the so called ram effect going to inlet manifold. Now there may be others (sure there will be ) that would disagree with me but Im sure there is another thread on here in regards to the snorkel on the 1kz TURBO DIESEL prados in the 90 series ?? Cheers Steve