The Toyota Landcruiser Owners Club

[chris_debian]

Hi, everybody; long time, no post...

Last time I had the Land Cruiser serviced (by Toyota), they noted that the engine was 'slightly lumpy'. I hadn't noticed anything, so thought this non-specific observation was a bit useless, unless I could a) feel/ hear it, b) do something about it. Fast forward 6 months, and out of nowhere, my Colorado failed its MOT, due to emissions. That was a surprise. My local trusted garage said it was due to a build up in the EGR. The cleaned it and it was fine on the retest. I've noticed in the last few weeks that the Land Cruiser has been ever so slightly hesitant about starting, where as it used to start 'on the button', it now takes a couple of clicks. Finally, tonight, I was idling on the drive, waiting for my better half, and the engine just cut out. I waited a few seconds, then had to crank the engine a little, before it would 'catch'. I don't like things cutting out on me! Bad experience with my old 300tdi Discovery, when it lost power, and the power steering went!

I've had the car for 6 years, and looking back at the previous owner's paperwork, and the paperwork I have had since, I can't see that the glow plugs have been replaced. It looks like they should be replaced every 40k miles, or 60k if platinum/ iridium. I'm tempted to get the plugs tested, but if they haven't been replaced in this time, or possibly ever (!!!), then I am more than happy to buy some good quality replacements. I'd probably look at Bosch or NGK, but have no idea what's best, these days, and for the D4D engine.

Something else that may be causing problems, could be hoses that are 21 years old, I should probably systematically replace them, having had one 'de-laminate' on my old Discovery, and that caused great annoyance, until the RAC guy sussed out what it was. I'm in the territory now, where i'm thinking of work that should be done on the Land Cruiser, as preventative maintenance (rust is always one I try to keep ahead of), but isn't covered in the standard servicing. Any suggestions gratefully received.

As much as I love my Land Cruiser, i'm wondering whether I should be upgrading to something newer (Rav4/ Skoda Yeti (sorry!)), so that the OBD diagnostics can give useful information, my garage tells me that it's a bit more rudimentary on my 2002 Cruiser. For the record, if I can't go down a green lane, with BF Goodrich ATs, and operate the pedals in wellies/ boots, it's not the car for me .

Any thoughts really welcomed.

Cheers,

Chris (UK)

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[chris_debian]

Forgot to say, car has done about 132,000 miles.