Maintenance you wished you would’ve done? (2 Viewers)

[linuxgod]

If owning a Toyota now means replacing various parts early (to prevent failure) and doing 2-3 extra fluid changes before required, then I would get a Ford Raptor or Jeep Rubicon because those vehicles have aftermarket support galore (aka cheaper and more bountiful aftermarket parts; even dealer parts are cheaper). So those vehicles actually may end up costing LESS in maintenance / ownership when compared to Toyota LC with parts being more rare and more $$. So, LC has less features, less bells & whistles, and now more maintenance cost??

But yeah i see your points…just not what i signed up for.

Mini-Doug.

Toyota’s lifetime is 200-250k miles. That’s not published, it’s just my viewpoint.

Your vehicle lifetime and my vehicle lifetime are different. If you buy an LC and are happy to get 250k out of it most trouble free then follow the maintenance schedule and move on. You will have some failures along the way because these are complicated vehicles and even with high MTBF on parts those failure rates add up, but overall it should be more reliable than comparable vehicles.

If you want to get 450-500k out of your truck (or more) then it’s going to require more maintenance than the book says. Maybe that is a full ATF exchange every 60k instead of “lifetime fluid”. If you don’t want to do the maintenance then expect to replace the transmission at 250-300k. Or sell it at that point and move on, nobody is forcing you to keep it.

My goal is 500k, just to say that I did it. More than likely when I get to 250-300k one of my kids will inherit it and I’ll build a used Gx550 or something else. So I’ll be aggressively over maintaining. But if I was thinking 200k and then trade in for something else I would not be nearly as aggressive.

FWIW I’m at 150k now and it drives better than the brand new 2024 4Runner Limited I drove while the steering rack was being replaced. Maybe I should have dumped the truck because I’ve done the radiator, steering rack, and valley plate, (oh and the gas tank spring went out, so that’s a 4th strike), but I see them more or less as wear items the way I use the truck. Well except for the gas tank spring, that’s just stupid

 

[2021 LC200]

@TeCKis300 loves my name. He thinks that it describes me perfectly. I am starting to agree with him for once.

Ya know what……..Toyota……then don’t ***king say that it is lifetime! I take it at face value. Now, to be fair, lets say at 200-300k miles, i do support changing out the lifetime ATF. Again, i am not THAT unreasonable. But i am NOT gonna change ATF at 60k for example! If i wanted to pay extra to change fluids every 15-30k to prevent hardware failure, then i might as well get a Ford or Jeep! (Of course, i am not talking about oil changes etc that is in the Owner’s Manual.)

I agree with you a lot of the suggested intervals in this thread is babying it for a Toyota and that if it really required there are plenty other good choices out there. Why indeed pay the Toyota premium.

There is another aspect whereby the maintenance performed, or the fluid being replaced introduces failures. Perhaps like me using the compressed air to clean the air filter. So when I do something myself I plan it out carefully not to mess it up and get it right however errors easily slip in. Less is more or can be more in many cases.

I my mind there are a couple of ways to approach this and many variants between there:
1) Do little - Say 10k or even 15k oil changes and do not bother to much with the rest. Perhaps life expectancy for a 200 is 200 to 250k miles. There is still a good chance it needs a water pump and a valley repair and maybe some other things. Could be a way to go for many who are tired of driving a 200 by the time the get to 200 to 250k miles. Heck, many will owe it less so then who cares about much meticulous maintenance.
2) Do quite a bit - Like I described above while I plan to spread out the intervals within reason. Together with some major repairs I could see me get to 350k miles or more
3) Be very meticulous - Perhaps that gets you to 500k or even 1000k miles. I just do not drive enough to ever get there. Is it really worth taking that approach. In many cases probably not as few use a 200 to drive day in day out.

I would say comments provided by some including myself fall in category 2) or even OCD towards 3). Common ownership and logic probably tells you 1) is just fine and this is actually fine for Toyota's and Honda's. Certainly the reputation they have until now.

So it all depends how much you enjoy wrenching (I do to get away from day to day engineering & science work and relax doing something simple) and like to spoil your baby (easy to go there, this is also a function of having cash to buy parts and fluids and not think about it much).

Not sure anybody was waiting for this... Do appreciate what I can learn from you all.

Edit - See Linuxgod pointing out similar, so it is not only me putting this all in perspective

 

[ThRiLlGmYr]

I really wish I would have replaced my water pump when my radiator failed.

 

[Madtiger]

My colleague has a 1996 Suburban now with 875k miles. It drives like crap. Leaks a lot. Unreliable. But hey he is at 875k!

Just to give you reference. I had 2008 Sienna that was meticulously maintained. 3.5 V6 that is legendary. Oil charge every 5k miles. Etc.

At 80k miles, connecting rod broke. $4500 later at Toyota dealer. Engine leaked oil after repairs. Engine just acted weird post repairs. Sold it.

My wife Acura MDX. 2015. Meticulous care. At 110k miles, all sorts of issues. We paid good money to get it sorted. But every 20k miles out so, more issues would pop up. Engine leaked in the back. Oil pan leaked too. Front axle on passenger side cracked! Wtf?! Oil leaked worst and worst. Gasoline pump went out. Sold it at 175k.

You get my pessimism. Even in what is considered legendary cars with meticulous maintenance, I see money pits as they age.

So now you all want me to invest even more into replacing normal functioning parts/fluids just to prevent it from failing. Where is the guarantee? As you can see above, even the best cars age horribly!

 

[Madtiger]

Or take my 2019 LC infotainment system...the one that is pixelated like 1980 PacMan game, that is about 15 years old in software, that is supposed to be "proven" since it is so simple.....crashed and malfunctioned at 27k miles. Dealer replaced under warranty. If out of warranty, then that would have cost me $8,000-11,000!! This scared the crap out of me and I then had to pony up $3k for the longest Toyota Platinum extended warranty on a LC! My wife was laughing bc of how much I had boasted about the reliability of LC and that extended warranty is a rip off. Egg on my face!

And then I got the Honda Ridgeline in 2022...for sure, a sure fire, right?! Front axle issues since day one. Piss poor panel fitment. Rattles. Unresolved axle issue that Honda could not fix...and then at 17k miles, I traded it in.

After all these "events" with my cars, I said what the hell, might as well get a FORD since I am spending all this $$$$ on "reliable" Japanese cars! I have never had a non-Jap car in my life...until this Ford. If I am gonna pay good money, then might as well get one with nice things because reliable and durable Japs cars are just a thing of the past.

So yeah, I have all the cars in my garage...will see which ones will disappoint me next.....probably the Ford....but will see.

 

[RT Cruiser]

302k now and I wish I replaced the coil springs and shocks earlier. We got our 2008 in June 2019 when it had 225k. The shocks were changed around 150k. However this speaks to the durability of Toyota’s high-quality parts.

Last week I drove from CO to St Louis to see friends, then a bit south to experience the eclipse, then near Memphis to see family, and now in Branson for a few days. Our rig is fully loaded. I’m wondering why I’ve delayed on the suspension project.

Besides all the other maintenance, I’m glad I chamged the tranny fluid and filter, and the power steering fluid. When I return from vacay in a few days, I’ll post a thread on how to change the steering fluid.

Having new fluid in these two areas will make your Cruiser-driving experience feel like soft hand-made butter.

 

[coleAK]

My colleague has a 1996 Suburban now with 875k miles. It drives like crap. Leaks a lot. Unreliable. But hey he is at 875k!

Just to give you reference. I had 2008 Sienna that was meticulously maintained. 3.5 V6 that is legendary. Oil charge every 5k miles. Etc.

At 80k miles, connecting rod broke. $4500 later at Toyota dealer. Engine leaked oil after repairs. Engine just acted weird post repairs. Sold it.

My wife Acura MDX. 2015. Meticulous care. At 110k miles, all sorts of issues. We paid good money to get it sorted. But every 20k miles out so, more issues would pop up. Engine leaked in the back. Oil pan leaked too. Front axle on passenger side cracked! Wtf?! Oil leaked worst and worst. Gasoline pump went out. Sold it at 175k.

You get my pessimism. Even in what is considered legendary cars with meticulous maintenance, I see money pits as they age.

So now you all want me to invest even more into normal parts to prevent it from failing. Where is the guarantee? As you can see above, even the best cars age horribly!

I had a 1988 Subaru that I sold with 395k miles, no major issues

 

[pvchaitanya]

My 2021 LC200 has currently 33k miles.

Maintenance done to date and happy with the same:
- Oil changes every 5k miles with 0W20, switching to 5w30 at 35k
- Lubricated drive shafts (6 zerks) with lucas HD grease at 31k miles (this seemed overdue as from factory there appears to be limited amount of grease)
- Changed diffs and TC at 32k with Ravenol fluid change package for the 200 series (magnets on diff plugs looked good with some black sludge but no sizeable metal particles otherwise, hoping at 100k to find less)

Front Diff drain and fill plugs & Rear Diff drain plug (all fine black powder, magnet makes it look different)
View attachment 3602480 View attachment 3602481


- Cleaned the engine air filter at a car wash with compressed air the other day. I hardly do off roading for now so was not very dirty. Have a new one at hand. May do at 35k miles oil change.
- At 50k miles plan to drain and fill the auto box. Not decided on whether I will drop the pan and replace the filter. May do on the first change to get the run in debris/shavings out

https://www.blauparts.com/toyota-land-cruiser-transfer-case-differential-fluid-change-kit.html?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIw5750OezhQMVhyfUAR28Ogp2EAYYASABEgIj1fD_BwE

Also added this Liqui Moly MoS2 Antifriction for Gears to the diffs (not the transfer case!)

MoS2 Antifriction for Gears

Stabilized solid lubricant concentrate suspended in mineral oil. Thanks to its high MoS2 content and special additives, it is suitable for all manual motor vehicle transmissions and differentials without limited slip function.

www.liqui-moly.com

@2021 LC200 , my free advice, dont bother dropping pan for ATF. Just let your car sit overnight on an angled/sloped ramp or driveway and drain as much as you can with regular drain plug and refill till it reaches the fill plug. This is much better.

 

[mdh384]

@2021 LC200 , my free advice, dont bother dropping pan for ATF. Just let your car sit overnight on an angled/sloped ramp or driveway and drain as much as you can with regular drain plug and refill till it reaches the fill plug. This is much better.

Fluid level is checked with the engine running at some specific ATF temperature that I don't currently recall. The process you've outlined will result in an overfilled transmission, potentially resulting in excessive foaming of the oil and component failure. Here is a link to a very thorough trans service, albeit from some Aussie: LandCruiser 200 ATF flush - https://www.project200.com.au/atf-flush/

 

[TimCFJ40]

Bought my 08 with 200k miles on it 6 years ago. Now has 278k with normal maintenance under my care, and unknown maintenance prior. No unexpected issues that would imply a need for more maintenance.

The only thing I wish had been done earlier is I wish the first two owners had regularly used CDL and 4Lo to keep the actuator from getting sticky. Mine is very finicky, and probably needs the actuators serviced or replaced, but they still eventually work every time. I highly recommend you use 4Lo and CDL, even if just for a few minutes in a gravel parking lot once a month.

 

[ryanCA]

Bought my 08 with 200k miles on it 6 years ago. Now has 278k with normal maintenance under my care, and unknown maintenance prior. No unexpected issues that would imply a need for more maintenance.

The only thing I wish had been done earlier is I wish the first two owners had regularly used CDL and 4Lo to keep the actuator from getting sticky. Mine is very finicky, and probably needs the actuators serviced or replaced, but they still eventually work every time. I highly recommend you use 4Lo and CDL, even if just for a few minutes in a gravel parking lot once a month.

Mine was a mint 1 owner mall crawler rig. First 2 months CDL and 4lo super sticky.

Luckily having been offoroading it almost weekly, and using CDL and 4lo, it is completely back to normal.

Hope yours get "free" soon.

 

[Blackford Oakes]

I’ll post a thread on how to change the steering fluid.

I’d be very interested. Thanks @RT Cruiser

 

[CheiftaiN]

277k

wish I upgraded shocks and headlights sooner.

what upgrades were these?

 

[ryanCA]

what upgrades were these?

bilstein + led

 

[CheiftaiN]

bilstein + led

You’re not running AHC?