Toyota Land Cruiser Prado Diesel Engine Issues

This is gonna be a longer and somewhat thourough article so brace yourself !

First of all lets briefly check out 2 high mileage examples, since it’s gonna (maybe) help to make a better picture of these cars before we get to the more serious stuff.

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So as you can see the 3rd generation Toyota Land Cruiser Prado – a.k.a. the Land cruiser 120 is capable of reaching very high mileage without much issues. There is no doubt about that. If you need a comfortable well-built off road car and you don’t want the legendary bigger Land Cruiser, then this really is a great choice. And according to those 2 examples it has bulletproof reliability !!

But is it really that straightforward? Well, not really. While it’s true that the petrol engines in these cars are great and reliable, the diesel engines can have a couple of issues which can destroy them. So let’s check them out more closely!

Believe it or not, this Toyota was available with 3 types of 3.0l 4 cylinder diesel engines:

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1KD-FTV

This is the newer, most known and most common engine which can have various power outputs: 120 KW, 122 KW, 127 KW. It has an iron cylinder block, an aluminum cylinder head, 1 turbocharger, common rail injection and a timing belt. All of this sounds ok. And actually, I can’t say that this engine would be bad, since all the main mechanical components can withstand more than 500 000 km without much wear. Well, except maybe the pistons? Yes, those pistons… Once upon a time in the year 2006 Toyota slightly upgraded these engines to comply with the EURO 4 emission standards, and they also got new pistons! But let’s not overtake the things, because there are also the injectors!

1KD-FTV ISSUES

INJECTOR SEATS LEAKING

First thing first, I have to mention the metallic sealing washers under the injectors. These washers can and they will leak at some point. This is not good since in this case → carbon soot contaminates the engine oil → this soot will clog the oil pickup strainer restricting the flow of oil → which will cause oil starvation → which will kill the engine if you don’t catch it early enough!!!!! That’s why the most important is to: check the oil pick up strainer every oil change (eventually right after buying) – which is easy, since after you remove the oil drain plug you will see at least part of the strainer – and if it’s clogged or not.

OIL STRAINER GETS CLOGGED BY SOOT – BECAUSE THE METALLIC SEALING WASHERS UNDER INJECTORS ARE NO LONGER TIGHT AND THE SOOT GETS INTO OIL

Symptoms of leaking injector washers:

• clogged oil pickup strainer
• louder knocking noise from engine after cold start
• white/grey smoke from the exhaust at first engine start – when the engine is cold

“replacing all the injector washers + all the required seals can cost approx.: $560 (if you want to have the injectors tested too → and you should, then keep another approx.: $300 for the testing)”

This issue affects mostly cars made to 2007 since Toyota used weaker injector washers in these cars which can easily leak before 200 000 km (there have been numerous cases of total engine failures because of this issue in these 2007 and older cars with less than 200 000 km). But from 2008 Toyota updated the washers + in some countries there was also a recall for this. So the good thing is: plenty of these cars do have the updated better washers already fitted. But the bad thing is: in many countries there was no recall so there can be still cars equipped with the weaker washers-mainly lower mileage cars with less than 200 000 – 150 000 km, and even the updated washers are not gonna last forever!

Why is it a good idea to preventively replace the injector washers?

The problem can be if the previous owner replaced the injectors and he either re-used the old washers or if he used aftermarket washers which can fail prematurely. So always use genuine injector washers! Now you can ask, how often you should replace these washers? Well, nobody knows when exactly these washers are gonna fail. The genuine updated washers can easily last way over 200 000 km, but as with the injectors it’s good to consider replacing them preventively. The interesting thing is that the service manual says that: you should check the valve clearances on this engine every 40 000 km. During this procedure you have to remove the injectors as well, and if you remove them then you automatically have to replace the already mentioned washers+seals on the injectors. Now, if someone removed the injectors in the past and re-used the old washers then obviously they are gonna fail prematurely. This valve clearance measuring procedure requires some disassembling, so it’s not the cheapest and that’s why I don’t think many of the owners actually do check the valve clearance every 40 000 km. On the other side, the valve clearances are usually fine at 100 000 or 150 000 km and even after that the valve clearance can be just a little bit out of spec. So checking the valve clearance is most of the time not necessary this often.

ALL IN ALL: if everyone would follow the service manual to the last word and did the valve clearance check every 40 000 km then THERE WOULD BE NO ISSUES with the injectors washers like EVER, since they have to be replaced every time you take out the injectors.

There are aftermarket brass washers available too, but these are too hard-so they can’t seal that good which means that they can leak prematurely!

“The worst combination is when the previous owner put bad quality or even used injectors in the engine in the past + he re-used the old washers or put bad type of aftermarket washers there! And this is why after buying a used 1KD engine it is a good idea to preventively remove the injectors → have them tested even if they look fine → and replace the washers with the genuine Toyota washers. Of course if you want to spend the extra money then you can replace the injectors at the same time as well + while doing all this check the valve clearance and eventually adjust it. Obviously if you have a good proof that the previous owner already replaced the injectors and the injector washers with good quality parts, then you don’t have to do this.”

INJECTOR FAILURE

The next issue related to the injectors are the injectors themselves. They can fail even before 200 000 km and even on the newer land cruiser 150 equipped with this engine. How can they fail?

• they can be weak
• they can leak
• they can have bad spray pattern

Symptoms of bad injectors: rattling noise from engine, loss of power, jerking, limp mode-check engine light, smoke from exhaust when accelerating, bigger fuel consumption, later misfire – uneven engine running

But the worst thing is that they can cause wrong combustion. Wrong combustion… keep this in mind since you will hear it later. Anyway, if you got one of the symptoms of bad injectors, then have the injectors at least tested or replace them + if your car has more than 200 000 km then it’s a very good idea to replace the injectors preventively if you want them to be reliable, efficient, and to perform as they should!

Replacing all injectors with labor approx. 2 000 – 2 500 € (new good quality genuine parts)

while replacing the injector washers or injectors it’s very important to also clean the injector ports/seats/bores properly too! (a lazy mechanic is not gonna clean them!!)

Some owners are replacing the injectors preventively every 130 000 km, 100 000 km or 150 000 km. Some mechanics recommend replacing them preventively every 100 000 km, but to be honest – this is just wasting. The most optimal is to replace them every 200 000 km with new genuine washers of course, and check the oil pan pickup screen for debris every oil change + monitor your car for weird behavior which can indicate issues with injectors like: light grey or white smoke from the exhaust, strange fuel consumption rising, jerking while driving, or bigger rattling noise from engine.

To be honest, most of these cars already have more than 200 000 km so it’s definitely a good idea to replace the injectors preventively, and if you buy a car with 300 000 km or with 400 000 km then there really is nothing to talk about. And yes, the injectors can last 300 000 km or 400 000 km but if you want them to be reliable, efficient, and to perform as they should – then replace them preventively. But of course if you want to leave the injectors there for a longer time it’s fine-it’s your choice, and maybe you will be lucky to experience no issues with them. However just keep in mind, that after 200 000 km the performance of the injectors is gonna be much weaker than it should be + the spray pattern is not gonna be great at all either + there is a higher chance that they will fail – like for example start to drip fuel.

on the next page: PISTON CRACK + BONUS ISSUES