New toy engine issue, head gasket or worse cracked??

[90S2NV Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close 90S2NV]

Last Wednesday we picked up our new off road toy a 2001 50th Anniversary Prado 3.4 auto in silver. After owning several 4wd's over the years including Patrol, Pathfinder and most recently a WJ and WH Jeep (loved the hemi hated the fuel bill) we decided on a Prado for the extra seats, dual tanks and our car came with winch bar, racks and tow bar in clean original condition 237k klms from a dealer.

2 days in to ownership I notice the temp gauge sitting between half and the red zone. Once cool filled approx. 2 litres of water. Thinking it may have just been low we dismissed the issue but kept an eye on it none the less.
Next we noticed the car constantly smoking from the exhaust a whitish almost steamy appearance even after driving around for 30 minutes the problem was still evident.

Just today the temp gauge creeped up again and yet again once cooled down the radiator took around 2 litres again.

No water in oil
No oil in water
Slightly rough idle
Air bubbling out of overflow bottle pipe quite consistently

I am leaning towards a blown head gasket or worse cracked head/s

As we just purchased the car it has the 30 day statutory warranty and going back to the dealer on Thursday for inspection. I am concerned however they may patch the symptoms and not the root cause of the problem.

I have read various posts on the forum with similar symptoms however don't mention whitish steam smoke. I am not a mechanic but minded and it appears as though I am getting water in the exhaust and exhaust in my water.

What do you think about problem? and what to be careful with regarding the "dealer" fix.

Thanks all

James

[Bear63 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bear63]

Bit of a bummer but maybe the reason why it was traded, more than likely a cracked head or a head gasket, unfortunately this does happen, i don't know how the consumer laws are over there but the vehicle normally has to be fit for the purpose you bought it for so they have to fix it, you cant really cut corners with this sort of fault

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

you cant really cut corners with this sort of fault

You mean you shouldn't

Make sure they don't just throw in a can of chemi weld and tell you all is fixed.

Cheers Andrew

[90S2NV Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close 90S2NV]

Well the verdict is in and I am somewhat disappointed with the result.

Our new car was in the dealer all day yesterday with no answers as of 4pm yesterday. A follow up phone call today revealed the thing is stuffed and is uneconomical for the dealer to repair. The heads need replacement as well as some other issues they have found.

The dealer is looking for a replacement vehicle or offered a full refund which I think is very note worthy, however I am questioning my choice in purchasing a Prado. If it is so expensive for a dealer to fix what does the general consumer do with one should they crack a head. I found out Gem engines due reco heads for $1800 a piece and a company at Capalaba can do replacement heads for $1600 the pair assuming the cores are returned and in useable condition if not a $1000 premium is charged.

I am really starting to rethink my Toyota purchase decision and might go back to Jeep.

What are everyone's thoughts, anyone got a decent well maintained vehicle for sale for a reasonable price let me know

Thanks

J

[MRW82 Member Find all posts View Profile Close MRW82]

at least the dealer hasn't tried to dodgy it up and is wearing the loss them selves. don't be put off by the dud engine though. the 3.4's are generally tough as nails and very reliable and not known for cracked heads/overheating issues etc. so I think it's safe to say you were just unlucky to get a dud.

on a car thats worth $7-10,000 (not knowing what you paid) there would not be a very big margin of profit for the dealer, so it wouldn't take much of a repair to be uneconimical for them to repair under warranty having to fit new or reconditioned parts. I can only imagine that they will pick up a cheap second hand engine, slap it in and resell the prado to someone else, or wholesale it off. Hoping to at least break even on their original purchase price plus cost of repairs.

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

Awesome motor ! I did a cash cow 6 months ago it was a 98 grande with 580 000 is on it ' original engine seized .... Everything else was fine over half a million ks is damn good mileage

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

Well the verdict is in and I am somewhat disappointed with the result.

Our new car was in the dealer all day yesterday with no answers as of 4pm yesterday. A follow up phone call today revealed the thing is stuffed and is uneconomical for the dealer to repair. The heads need replacement as well as some other issues they have found.

The dealer is looking for a replacement vehicle or offered a full refund which I think is very note worthy, however I am questioning my choice in purchasing a Prado. If it is so expensive for a dealer to fix what does the general consumer do with one should they crack a head. I found out Gem engines due reco heads for $1800 a piece and a company at Capalaba can do replacement heads for $1600 the pair assuming the cores are returned and in useable condition if not a $1000 premium is charged.

I am really starting to rethink my Toyota purchase decision and might go back to Jeep.

What are everyone's thoughts, anyone got a decent well maintained vehicle for sale for a reasonable price let me know

Thanks

J

Sorry to hear about your experience J.

I'm not surprised they'd prefer a refund, it's more time/cost effective in their position to make an clean profit loss of say $2000, rather than lose $2000+ repairing a vehicle PLUS risk future warranty claims. Note - those figures are arbitrary - I don't know what it'd cost for the repair. I do know that despite this being a popular model and seeing many cruising about the suburbs, there's really not many available in wreckers. Those that are in wreckers are always missing their engine as there's a demand for them overseas (Africa to name one). I mention this as it's likely to affect the dealer's potential repair costs.

Lucky for you it was a dealer, not private - as you had a warranty. Although, in my experience I've found the best vehicles are privately sold, so if you know what to look for, that's the better place to buy them.

Moving on, I wouldn't consider this issue a Prado thing, as this can happen on a purchase of any brand/model vehicle in the second hand market, especially with high km's. What you should be thinking about is how to weed out the lemons in future, and how to decide on a model based on your personal needs vs affordability.

I would definitely recommend aiming for vehicles with less km if possible - but ensure they are genuine km's - by thoroughly inspecting the condition of the rest of the vehicle. 150,000km is a nice point to aim for - which means on a Prado, you'd most likely be looking at a 120's series.

[Gosling1 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gosling1]

Given the choice between buying a Prado or buying a Jeep........I know which way I would go. Toyota everytime.

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

Given the choice between buying a Prado or buying a Jeep........I know which way I would go. Toyota everytime.

I've seen a few comments about guys dumping the Prado for a Jeep, I reckon there are a lot more Jeep owners dumping them and going to Toyota though

Cheers Andrew