Its time to join the club!

[lilmav80 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close lilmav80]

Hi all.

So I have decided it is time to upgrade for my Subaru to a Prado. I plan to get a camper trailer too and head bush hopefully every month or so. Big plan is to head up north somewhere for 8 weeks or so maybe mid next year.

Im looking at spending $30-35k on a diesel and didnt know whether to go for a '07-'09 with high kilometres or for a '04-'06 with lower. Any suggestions?
Ive been looking around carsales.com.au and seems the majority of Prados have big kms on them. Ive been using ~20k km/year as an average amount a car should do.

I have also been told that diesels require the injectors to be changed at 180-200k kms at a cost of about $4000. Is this something I should expect all diesels over 200k kms will have already had done? (i will be asking but seeing if this is the norm). Or is it more case by case? I have asked a seller with 220k kms on his and he said it runs perfectly so he hasn't needed too.

Any advice or tips will be much appreciated.
Great forum and Im very happy I found it.

Cheers
Ben

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

The engine changed in 06 or 07 (can't remember which ) to the D4D

[lilmav80 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close lilmav80]

Yes extra power and torque in late 2006. This is why Im weighing up to have the extra power and torque with high kms, or hang out and try and find the older motor with lower kms.

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

If you decide on the D4D I suggest that you get the injector feedback values read before you buy. That way if any are out of range you can argue for replacement injectors. Not sure what buying power you have but would also ask for the sump screen to be checked for build up.

[lilmav80 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close lilmav80]

Thanks for the feedback mjrandom, however please excuse my lack of knowledge when I ask, what are injector feedback values? Is this something any diesel mechanic could check or best to get it checked by Toyota. As for the sump screen, is this check required for just general maintenance or can it cause damage if built up?
Thanks

[leachy_9 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close leachy_9]

The D4D came out in Nov. 06. Apart from the power upgrade they also got 5 speed Auto / 6 speed manual gear boxes. The combination of the extra power and gearing made them much better to drive. But the D4D, especially the earlier models, suffered from injector and injector seal problems, which can be expensive to fix and can result in anything from an annoying cold start rattle to catastrophic engine failure. There are hundreds of pages of forum threads dedicated to the D4D injector and injector seat issues which include some heated debate on the real prevailance of the issue. Spend some time reading and educate yourself about the issues and decide whether the extra performance is worth the potential risk. For what it is worth, personally I would not buy a D4D if I was on a tight budget. I would want to have the funds available to reguarly test the injectors, inspect the oil screen and replace the injectors /seal if needed.
Leachy

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

Ok these are not meant to scare you! There have been some PPers affected by injector problems which varies from an inconvenience (best description I can think of for my experience) to full engine failure. There are lots of pages to read and you should not be put off. Two issues exist that I am aware of, first the early 2 of 3 series of injectors can wear and cause poor atomisation of the diesel. The second is leakage of early injector seals which allows hot combustion gases to affect the engine oil in the rocker space that then causes oil starvation by blocking the oil pickup. Again bad things can happen.

A diagnostic tool can read the injector feedback values which will give an indication of the health of the injectors. The seals have been replaced by a new part which only became standard fitment on the 150 series Prado.

I have had both the 1kz (no issues at all) and the 1kd (waterpump and injectors replaced, both under extracare warranty on the 120, the 150 is too new to comment) and I found the D4D to be a worthwhile improvement. My engines were all stock tune, including the new one. That is no add on performance chip.

If you are buying through a dealer then ensure they give you the information on the injectors and any history. That will tell you if the injectors have been changed though not which seals are fitted. That is where the inspection of the strainer comes in, you can see if it is blocked or not.

Replacing injectors on a diesel engine isn't a new concept and on a previous breed of 4wd I had injectors reconditioned at 150,000km (from memory, that was 3 Prados and another P ago) the issue with the D4D is the cost of the injectors and high pressure piping that needs to be changed at the same time. Since the early days there are alternatives. It is possible to buy injectors and pipes from overseas including PP member Rick from NZ or get Denso genuine parts without the Toyota box or refurbished injectors from the Bailey Group.

Like I said lots of reading but all this and more can be found here....

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...e-in-D4D-Prado
http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...nance-measures
http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...ch-Can-Install
http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...jector-pricing

As you will see there is some debate about what can and should be done. For what it is worth I have fitted a catch can to keep the digestive tract clean, will change fuel filters every 20,000km by changing one or the other each service. I haven't fitted a supplementary fuel filter but if you are travelling places that may have dodgy fuel then I think this is good insurance. Each 40,000km the service manual says to check valve clearances, this needs to be done cold so get the injector feedback values read at the same time (again these should be done cold to give consistent readings).

I think that is it...

In those threads you will find some good information.