100 failure stories?

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farmerjoe

farmerjoe

10 Year
Joined
Sep 12, 2012
Threads
22
Messages
112
Location
Toronto, ON
I enjoy reading all the stories of people's rigs going forever and am picking up lots of great tricks to hopefully keep mine on the road through 400K+ miles. It seems that a huge percentage of 100s are still on the road.

BUT... I'd be interested to hear the catastrophic (or near-catastrophic) failure stories out there. What happened and at how many miles? Known root cause? Fixed or rig retired?
 
I've replaced 2 engines due to catastrophic radiator failure... One i was driving and no warning... when the coolant is GONE it never registers HOT... swapped in an engine with 100k less miles... and wasn't all that much money.... the second one I purchased with a blown engine, and did not find the split radiator that caused it, until I went to reinstall it after I swapped in a new engine with 200k less miles (put a 100k engine in a LC with 305k) I would not have the second one if I had done done the first one... so I guess it all works out... but there is a weak link where the core crimps to the tanks on these radiators... they come with 4 row cores... the 2 row work just as good (IMHO) for many reasons and should be far less prone to failure...
I think Heat is about the only thing that will kill the 4.7 if it has oil in it....
p
 
No catastrophic failures on my part but everything that has gone wrong in mine has been due to heavy wheeling and all my fault. Toyota quality in the Land Cruisers is as we all say it is; top notch.
 
:meh:






<knock on wood>
 
duggy said:
No catastrophic failures on my part but everything that has gone wrong in mine has been due to heavy wheeling and all my fault. Toyota quality in the Land Cruisers is as we all say it is; top notch.
Click to expand...

What went wrong and why? By the way - very much enjoy your build thread @duggy. Looking forward to reading about the new axles.
 
I have had mainly front end issues which prompted me to SAS. My Cruiser has 295k miles and parts were starting to wear out such as ball joints, steering rack, tie rods and misc other items. It has never left me stranded even after heavy wheeling and I am thankful for that.

I need to hook-up with the Austin LC chapter one of these days. I met a few of them at Round-Up a few years back and had nothing but great laughs with them.
 
Regarding the two engines overheating....Is there not a safety cutoff of some sort so engine doesn't get ruined?

My '96 LX apparently does. It lost water quick via heater valve. Engine got hot and just quit running. I let it cool, filled with water and it cranked and ran perfectly.

Is that not the case with 100s?
 
What worries me most is the post that the temp gauge did not register hot despite running out of coolant? I hope that is not a common fault among 100's as the temp gauge is something I like to keep an eye on.
 
ponytl said:
I've replaced 2 engines due to catastrophic radiator failure... One i was driving and no warning... when the coolant is GONE it never registers HOT... swapped in an engine with 100k less miles... and wasn't all that much money.... the second one I purchased with a blown engine, and did not find the split radiator that caused it, until I went to reinstall it after I swapped in a new engine with 200k less miles (put a 100k engine in a LC with 305k) I would not have the second one if I had done done the first one... so I guess it all works out... but there is a weak link where the core crimps to the tanks on these radiators... they come with 4 row cores... the 2 row work just as good (IMHO) for many reasons and should be far less prone to failure...
I think Heat is about the only thing that will kill the 4.7 if it has oil in it....
p
Click to expand...

This is probably a dumb question here. Last year I bought a 98 with 207K miles. I been base lining the car. I have no record how old the radiator is. Is there a way to figure out how old this radiator is? Considering the year and miles, should the radiator be part of maintenance - replace it before it blows up? I am planning to replace the two hoses from engine to radiator while flushing the coolant, and was just curious if radiator should be replaced also. Hoses are cheap, and radiator is a bit more expensive, but still cheaper than an engine, and less down time for car.
 
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rph74 said:
What worries me most is the post that the temp gauge did not register hot despite running out of coolant? I hope that is not a common fault among 100's as the temp gauge is something I like to keep an eye on.
Click to expand...
If you run out of coolant, there won't be enough liquid to immerse the temperature sensor so it won't show it running hot.
 
What do you mean by "catastrophic"? There's quite a few known issues that'll leave you stranded with multi-thousand dollar repair bills. Fortunately, they've rare. There's several threads on here already about them. Front diff, brake booster (no brakes), transmission (no move), starter., ignition, fuel pump, immobilizer, etc etc. They're great rigs, but not perfect, and the failure rate is low...
 
ponytl said:
I've replaced 2 engines due to catastrophic radiator failure... One i was driving and no warning... when the coolant is GONE it never registers HOT... swapped in an engine with 100k less miles... and wasn't all that much money.... the second one I purchased with a blown engine, and did not find the split radiator that caused it, until I went to reinstall it after I swapped in a new engine with 200k less miles (put a 100k engine in a LC with 305k) I would not have the second one if I had done done the first one... so I guess it all works out... but there is a weak link where the core crimps to the tanks on these radiators... they come with 4 row cores... the 2 row work just as good (IMHO) for many reasons and should be far less prone to failure...
I think Heat is about the only thing that will kill the 4.7 if it has oil in it....
p
Click to expand...
If one doesn't notice that sweet smell of coolant, while temp gauge is dropping. A weak spot for sure, as most would not notice or be concerned with gauge at that point. It's the only killer I've heard of.

Do you think when the plastic top turns lite brown, it may be a good PM to just replace radiator?

I wonder why some of the radiators' plastic turn brown and others don't?

@ponytl FWIW, Interesting point I learned while picking up my Fuel Injectors that Fuel Injector Specialists - Home - Wheat Ridge, CO rebuilt for me. They have a local drop off and pick-up at one of the oldest Radiator & muffler shop in Denver. I had the opportunity to speak with the owner. I asked; "Can you rebuild these Toyota radiators with plastic tops? & Why did they build with plastic?" He said; "yes, he can for about 1/2 the prices of new, with after market parts only (OEM not available). But better to buy a new radiator with life time guarantee." & The reason they used plastic "The manufacturing processes is one step injecting modeling vs ~6 steps, reduced weight (for EPA fuel efficiency), reduced use of lead (EPA). Guess all valid reason. Just that interesting!

Oh, and Timing Belt failure under load in the VVTi (06 & 07) engines is a killer, by all accounts.
 
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bctlex said:
This is probably a dumb question here. Last year I bought a 98 with 214K miles. I been base lining the car. I have no record how old the radiator is. Is there a way to figure out how old this radiator is? Considering the year and miles, should the radiator be part of maintenance - replace it before it blows up? I am planning to replace the two hoses from engine to radiator while flushing the coolant, and was just curious if radiator should be replaced also. Hoses are cheap, and radiator is a bit more expensive, but still cheaper than an engine, and less down time for car.
Click to expand...

I think it's something to be aware of... as these 100's get older you will see more Radiator failures, The plastic tank to aluminum core joint/bond/crimp is where I have seen failure.... the radiators that are on ebay... as far as I know are all 2 row radiators... about $100 delivered... and I have them in 2 rigs where 4 row radiators once resided, I've been on my very small soap box before about 4row vs 2row density of rows, fins per inch, flow rates and heat transfer... and I'm comfortable with the 2 row for this very small 4.7 V8 but I'm not in the desert or doing mountain passes pulling a trailer in 98 degree weather... a better choice is an all aluminum radiator that is well designed but that might be $400+ and you might not get any more life out of it...
as for your stock oem toyota hoses... Toyota tech guys tell me the hose failures they see are most always "replacement hoses" and that the original Toyota units are just about good for a lifetime... hard for me to grasp but what I have been told
p
 
Start this thread on a Land Rover forum - it'll be 98 pages before close of business today.

Just this morning, I'm driving my 15 year old 100 series thinking "this f****** truck is so well built."

I'm more worried about the zombie apocalypse than 100 series catastrophic failure.
 
Not sure if anyone has experienced an engine failure from a broken heater tee, but that could be catastrophic if the temp gauge doesn't register hot?
 
2001LC said:
Oh, and Timing Belt failure under load when not maintained in the VVTi (06 & 07) engines is a killer, by all accounts.
Click to expand...

Fixed for ya...
 
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