Glen's 95 series Prado getting broken in

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

Well you can certainly hear Glen's truck coming LOL. We could hear you guys running up South Basalt Knob in the dark the other night and spotted the lights from the campsite down below. Nice meeting you Glen and bugger about your busted shock on Billy Goats, at least you weren't the only casualty of that track.

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

Hey Glen, I'm a little worried about our fuel consumption. We just did a trip (fully loaded with a trailer) and got 17-18L/100km. It's due for a spark plug and fuel filter change as well as a regular service. Do you think that will help?
Even without the load we had, our fuel usage doesn't seem to change and I've been driving like a grandma trying to get it down. I do have a roof rack but nothing normally in it. Anything else I should do to change it? I cleaned the MAF and reset the computer thinking that might help but it didn't. I run 98 or 95 fuel. The thing that worries me is how much it revs out trying to do 100km/h up smallish hills.
Considering your setup compared to mine, I just thought I should be getting a little lower?

I don't think you can expect too much less from this engine - 17L/100km is pretty typical (on average). Make sure your air filter is clean or replaced - I've found a dirty filter makes a big difference. I don't have a roof rack, I'm sure that'll make a big difference. The only times I've achieved lower figures (13-15L) was on highway with lower speeds (90-100) - but I'm still experimenting with this. My recent cruise from Sydney to Bairnsdale VIC via the Monaro Hwy used 17.3L/100km - which I'm not happy with for a highway drive. I think it's because I was driving into a strong wind the whole way down and was racing a bit to reach Dargo at 2pm.

Another point to make is fuel - I don't believe 95 or 98 would give you any advantage on this old engine unless your engine is tuned to take advantage of it. If I wasn't running the blower I'd still be pumping cheap 91 or E10. Speaking of which, my lowest economy ever was with a mix of those cheap fuels, not premium.

I'd be stoked to get those figures. 31L/100km over the last couple of days!
Worth every cent
Cheers Ben.

It'd be interesting to know what economy you had between the bush and home. Mine in the bush was 22-23L/100km, but that includes faster, longer distance sections (Bairnsdale -> Dargo -> Omeo).

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

Well you can certainly hear Glen's truck coming LOL. We could hear you guys running up South Basalt Knob in the dark the other night and spotted the lights from the campsite down below. Nice meeting you Glen and bugger about your busted shock on Billy Goats, at least you weren't the only casualty of that track.

Cheers mate, it was great putting faces to the many names

Man South Basalt Knob was definitely fun in a group at night! Are you sure you're not talking about Ben's/Torrie's 95 though? I think his sounded meaner than mine

Yes, a shame about the shock - of course breakages come with this hobby, but I really missed out on being part of the drives with everyone

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

Man South Basalt Knob was definitely fun in a group at night! Are you sure you're not talking about Ben's/Torrie's 95 though? I think his sounded meaner than mine

It could well have been, hard to know when it's dark and you're down below in the campsite.

Yes, a shame about the shock - of course breakages come with this hobby, but I really missed out on being part of the drives with everyone

Billy Goats did claim a few casualties that day. We missed out on the South Basalt/Blue Rag drive but thoroughly enjoyed all the drives we did (apart from a few "Oh sh%t" moments LOL).

[ratsack Member Find all posts View Profile Close ratsack]

Another point to make is fuel - I don't believe 95 or 98 would give you any advantage on this old engine unless your engine is tuned to take advantage of it. If I wasn't running the blower I'd still be pumping cheap 91 or E10. Speaking of which, my lowest economy ever was with a mix of those cheap fuels, not premium.

Yeah? I swear I can definitely tell between 91 and 95/98. 95/98 feels like I'm getting smoother power but I haven't compared economy. I haven't used 91 for over a year.

Going to look into some sliders in the coming weeks.

[Torrie 72 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Torrie 72]

I don't think you can expect too much less from this engine - 17L/100km is pretty typical (on average). Make sure your air filter is clean or replaced - I've found a dirty filter makes a big difference. I don't have a roof rack, I'm sure that'll make a big difference. The only times I've achieved lower figures (13-15L) was on highway with lower speeds (90-100) - but I'm still experimenting with this. My recent cruise from Sydney to Bairnsdale VIC via the Monaro Hwy used 17.3L/100km - which I'm not happy with for a highway drive. I think it's because I was driving into a strong wind the whole way down and was racing a bit to reach Dargo at 2pm.

Another point to make is fuel - I don't believe 95 or 98 would give you any advantage on this old engine unless your engine is tuned to take advantage of it. If I wasn't running the blower I'd still be pumping cheap 91 or E10. Speaking of which, my lowest economy ever was with a mix of those cheap fuels, not premium.


It'd be interesting to know what economy you had between the bush and home. Mine in the bush was 22-23L/100km, but that includes faster, longer distance sections (Bairnsdale -> Dargo -> Omeo).

Hey mate. Just got home from the Googs track trip. 4600km. Best ULP figures were 15L/100km and best LPG 18.5L/100km. Pretty happy with those figures considering the muddies and loaded roof rack. More often saw a couple more L/100km than that. Definitely used less fuel per km on the Googs than the High Country but I have to say the HC was more fun.

Hope the 90 is ok post roo meeting!

Cheers, Ben.

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

My Prado isn't happy! Has some corning wobbles since returning from VIC and a grinding noise when under heavy load..

[Torrie 72 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Torrie 72]

Gees Glen that doesn't sound good mate. Where is the grinding noise coming from? Trans? Diffs? Did you manage to get drive to pop up over that ledge in the vid?
Hope it's not too serious/expensive!

Cheers, Ben.

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

Hey mate,
Nah I didn't continue to drive up the ledge after hearing that sound. My suspicion was that's it's transmission or transfer related so couldn't risk an complete driveline failure out there alone. More pics of the trip here if you're interested: http://www.4x4earth.com.au/forum/nsw...6th-april.html

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

Sorry to hear of that noise issue Glen it sounds awful. I hope you can get it fixed soon. Looks like a great track and would be a lot of fun.

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

Cheers Dave

Found the problem - the entire engine+transmission is moving from torque. The noise is actually the cooling fan hitting the fan shroud - which is normally 1" away!

Time for new engine+trans mounts and a little less aggressive acceleration. I guess they would have needed replacing eventually anyway...

[ratsack Member Find all posts View Profile Close ratsack]

Haha, that is pretty crazy. Doubt the stock engine would have enough torque to do that.

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

So I'm guessing your still enjoying that super charger?

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

My only concern is that I don't see anyone running a similar setup (charger + dual lockers + rocks) so don't know if this will be an ongoing issue. To replicate the issue at home I had to push the brakes VERY hard whilst accelerating. Hopefully it's just a case of aged mounts!

Beach, yes

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

Wow that's amazing Glen. It was crazy seeing your 90 climb up South Basalt in high range when mine could only do it in low. That engine and charger certainly as a little bit more grunt. I might hold off putting the charger on till you sort yours out.