Preventative D4D maintenance/measures.

[D4Dforme Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4Dforme]

Okay where to start,
Righto.....i have 2 D4D engines......one in an 08 prado that has done 68k and one in a 08 Hilux that has done 122k.....
After reading all the posts/mishaps/info and engine rebuilds i'm worried that one of my engines will now just go Bang!

Both vehicles were bought second hand and both have what you would call good/reasonable service history and for arguments sake both vehicles get their oil changes at 5k and filters etc alot sooner than later since we have owned them.

What other preventative maitence/inspections things shopuld i be doing?.....I feel i should be pulling the sump off of both of them and checking the oil pickup and having the injectors replaced/inspected before there it an issue.

Am in being paranoid or just realistic?...........

So far neither engine has had an issue BUT neither did alot of others before they self destructed.......

Prado Point definatly has a wealth of knowledge on these engines and their faults so hopefully this thread could shed some light onto what can be done to keep both my engines and every one elses ticking away for a few more K's yet.


Disclaimer....if this thread has been done before i could not find it...........don't shoot me NTP.

Dan

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

Disclaimer....if this thread has been done before i could not find it...........don't shoot me NTP.

Don't panic!!! Good suggestions aren't far away.

ps. I've never shot anyone (yet).

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

Disclaimer....if this thread has been done before i could not find it...........don't shoot me NTP.

Dan

I agree... a short thread with preventative maintenance ideas would be great.
I am so mechanically illiterate that I get lost reading the other threads

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

I agree... a short thread with preventative maintenance ideas would be great.
I am so mechanically illiterate that I get lost reading the other threads

Yet you are so profficient with a camera. Can't have it all I guess.

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

Some times I wish I was mechanically trained... suppose I could use the camera as a chock

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

Righto.....i have 2 D4D engines......one in an 08 prado that has done 68k

By the way, my '08 GXL Prado has also done around 70K and I'm not too worried as I know its been well looked after. Don't forget that most people only report and highlight faults and issues. But this is generally not the norm. Sure, there has been a few issues here and there and a couple of real doozies... but I wouldn't sell your two Prado just yet.

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

My only issue so far has been the injector seal in number one cylinder at 145k. I suggest not to remove the sump, but rather stick an inspection camera into the sump drain hole every time you drop the oil and look at the pickup for signs of blockage. Also, good idea to park nose down on an incline occasionally as that will show symptoms of a failed injector seal at start up by way of excessive smoke etc.

[D4Dforme Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4Dforme]

My only issue so far has been the injector seal in number one cylinder at 145k. I suggest not to remove the sump, but rather stick an inspection camera into the sump drain hole every time you drop the oil and look at the pickup for signs of blockage. Also, good idea to park nose down on an incline occasionally as that will show symptoms of a failed injector seal at start up by way of excessive smoke etc.

Yeah well my vehicle is usually always parked on a 10-15 deg nose down incline......no smoke issues yet and sometimes it's there for 2 weeks at a time without being started.

i've been using Caltex delo 400 for the time i've owned both vehicles......it's supposed to be a premium oil...?....most oil's are good if changed frequently IMO.

i'm happy with the vehicle over all.....some more room in the back would be good but apart from that it's a good thing.

It sure does give good economy compared to my old 4.7lt V8 100 series.

Dan

[azzss Member Find all posts View Profile Close azzss]

Mine's done 153k, no issues as yet but do change oil and filter at 5k using mobil delvac oil and genuine oil filter. I inspect the screen in the sump with a camera still clean touch wood. It's going in next week for a timing belt, adjust valve clearences and new injector seals.
Cheers.

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

Am in being paranoid or just realistic?...........


Dan

No doubt there are issues, but given the number of Prados out there and the numbers on this forum the catastrophic failures are a low percentage, well that my take on it anyway. Add the thousands of Hilux's out there as well, they are still selling well, if as some would have you believe, every second one was blowing up then they wouldn't be selling.

One way or another all the issues stem back to the Injectors, replacing the injectors on a diesel every hundred thou or so is not that unusual, to me the real issue is the cost of the injectors, if it was a $4-500 dollar job no one would bat an eye at changing them more often.

Yes there have been some that have had issues at less K's, but not that many in the scheme.

Forums can exagerate some issues, especially when some people make it a crusade. I would reckon I have personally spoken to maybe 50 or more local Hilux owners who have done 100, 200 or even 300 thousand or more and none of them report any issues at all.

Cheers Andrew

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

Just get a petrol... My 2000 GXL has done 318k and apart from a new clutch it's still going strong :-)

Just put 2 air lockers in it so I'm looking for another 100k yet!

[shamozzle Find all posts View Profile Close shamozzle]

G'day D4DForme,

After reading everything about these D4D motors and hearing about all the dramas with injectors and holes in pistons and how susceptible the engines are to water ingress in the fuel system, etc, I thought I'd gone and bought myself a time bomb waiting to surprise me with a rude shock, and an expensive repair bill one day. However everything I know about these motors is changing and it's all because if one thing.

You see my employer uses these motors exclusively in their fleet vehicles and work hacks on site. Now the average lifespan for one of these Hilux's on site running the D4D's isn't going to set any records as rust and metal fatigue take their toll on them long before engine failure does.

Take for instance the average vehicle used on a shift roster. It gets transferred from person to person and runs quite a bit out of the 24 hours in a day. A lot of this idling. Then being drivin in some pretty harsh conditions. This might not seem pretty unusual, but then you come to things like having the vehicles driven around with no water in the radiator, which has happened a few times. I've seen two vehicles at work that have been driven for at least 20 minutes to half an hour without any coolant in them and still surviving without any issues.

One particular vehicle I was driving had the water in fuel filter light come on. Now I took the vehicle back to the workshop and organised maintenence on it. The following shift was driving this vehicle around, and then I was driving the vehicle around. This was going on for some weeks before the problem was finally sorted out, but there was no catastrophic failure of the injection system or the pump.

Next the injectors on this particular vehicle have the death rattle so obviously described by others on this forum, and its had the death rattle for near on 80,000km. I've heard all the stories of people pissing in the fuel tanks with some cars. Others thrashing the shit out of them and doing all sorts of things with them, I know Hilux's are a lot tougher than people might think, and all this with many of the vehicles carrying many faults that should have stopped the D4D a long time ago.

I kept asking myself, Why the hell are these motors still running when they cop this kind of abuse and neglect coupled with poor servicing? The answer is I don't know. But perhaps these engines can take a lot more than what we're led to believe, and it can't just be a case of "we got the lucky batch of engines" because we're talking about multiple vehicles here.

Everything I've experienced with this motor in a work scenario doesn't make any sense at all. Everything I've learned about the D4D and its finicky injection system, etc, dispels everything I've learnt about how vulnerable these motors are. It just doesn't make any sense. It doesn't mean that I'm gonna piss in my fuel tank if I need that bit of extra fuel to get me to the next fuel stop, but it has stopped me worrying about some of the problems that may occur with this motor. I've always taken excellent care of my vehicles and that's not going to change, but knowing what the work vehicles cop and knowing that they take that punishment and still run makes me sleep a little easier in knowing I've made a good choice.

Cheers,

Chris.


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[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

X 2 old mate, well written.

[shamozzle Find all posts View Profile Close shamozzle]

G'day,

Righto. There's no point slinging bullshit around on a forum. I might be a dreamer to you and your son, but that's been called from someone over the other side of the country. I know what I saw and so does the LV repair shop and that's all that matters.

I wasn't denouncing anything you've mentioned on the forum regarding reliability of the D4D, just writing about what I've seen, what I've witnessed and what I know and how it makes me question everything we're told about these engines. It will not stop me from servicing it meticulously for the life of the vehicle, or listening to your advice regarding these engines. Nor will it stop me from spreading the word about the great bits of info I've picked up from this forum, from people like yourself.

Cheers.


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[Brad_kosij Member Find all posts View Profile Close Brad_kosij]

So after all the reading I have done/ could find to help with these problems it's best to do the following (let me know if I've missed something)
- drop both tanks and clean fuel pod
- change oil ever 5000kms
- use a pre fuel filter and change regularly
- possibly drop sump and clean oil pickup
- oil catch can/ blow by
- possibly fit front mount intercooler
- if there is any smoke/ noises/ rattles get injectors looked at.

I want to reduce the chance as much as possible as I will be looking at doing cape York and simpson desert a bit later on.

Thanks