6 month update

[tnlandcruiser]

Wow.... Seems like I just picked it up yesterday, but somewhere in the last month or two the 6-month milestone passed me by. Took my 2000 Land Cruiser to the dealer for an oil (M1) change and front brakes, and they found nothing but good things to say about her. After 6 months, here are my thoughts, raves, and concerns.

Love:
Vehicle is built so well it looks brand new even at 11 years/115,000 miles.
Superior night performance - even on wet roads at night visibility is great.
Handles all weather like a pro.
Comfortable interior, and luxe enough I don't miss my old Mercedes.
Mileage surprisingly good - 14.5mpg combined.
Just a pure joy to drive.



And now, the Festivus airing of the grievances:
For a Toyota it seems to have an unusual number of small intermittent rattles/squeaks. Tackling them one by one.
Transmission tends to sometimes "thunk" in or out of reverse, and sometimes shifts a little rough when in creeping stop and go traffic.Not a constant thing, but given 2000 model's notorious tendency to transmission issues, I live in mortal fear of losing the tranny.
Had "the clunk" in the driveshaft. After switching to moly on my slide yoke, the clunk is gone and has been for a few thousand miles. Plan to just give a few squirts every 3k.
I was freaked out when the weather turned cold by an odd but short lived "knocking" after a few miles of driving - did some web searching and figured out it's the plastic engine cover rattling. No worries.
Sometimes seems a bit loud or to have mild vibration at idle or certain RPM's. Found this is pretty much a common issue, not worried.
Common "ticking" when cooling down.


Tips:
I looked EVERYWHERE online for a good touch up paint for the gray cladding. Dealer was out, and online everyone basically said you have to special order from a few sites. On a whim I picked up a bottle of Phantom Grey Metallic at AutoZone. In my opinion, a perfect match, though I'm aware Toyota says otherwise. (Got my Imperial Jade Mica at the dealer though)

How I beat the clunk: after reading everyone's advice, I split it down the middle. I used moly, lubed GENEROUSLY, but not until it pushed out. It took a few tries to get it right, but it's all good now.




Loving my 100 series and looking forward to the next 200,000 miles.

BTW: My wife read this post over my should and declared me a tremendous dork.

 

[tnlandcruiser]

Oh yeah, also forgot the anemic stereo... Anyone know if it's more a function of speakers or the actual head unit? Would be willing to try a speaker upgrade...

 

[2000UZJ]

Oh yeah, also forgot the anemic stereo... Anyone know if it's more a function of speakers or the actual head unit? Would be willing to try a speaker upgrade...

Stock speakers are garbage. You should hear mine. It will blow you away...

 

[FullyLitLED]

Oh yeah, also forgot the anemic stereo... Anyone know if it's more a function of speakers or the actual head unit? Would be willing to try a speaker upgrade...

I usually use boston acoustic speakers! But for the hundy for some reason I decided to get the pioneer 6 1/4" speakers..I put some boston acoustic speakers in my dad's 100 series the other day...I am jealous

 

[agaisin]

And now, the Festivus airing of the grievances:
For a Toyota it seems to have an unusual number of small intermittent rattles/squeaks. Tackling them one by one.
Transmission tends to sometimes "thunk" in or out of reverse, and sometimes shifts a little rough when in creeping stop and go traffic.Not a constant thing, but given 2000 model's notorious tendency to transmission issues, I live in mortal fear of losing the tranny.
Had "the clunk" in the driveshaft. After switching to moly on my slide yoke, the clunk is gone and has been for a few thousand miles. Plan to just give a few squirts every 3k.
I was freaked out when the weather turned cold by an odd but short lived "knocking" after a few miles of driving - did some web searching and figured out it's the plastic engine cover rattling. No worries.
Sometimes seems a bit loud or to have mild vibration at idle or certain RPM's. Found this is pretty much a common issue, not worried.
Common "ticking" when cooling down.

I hear ya - I share all the same nits (and then some):

- I have more squeaks and rattles than I'd expect but I can live with that if I have to (although I still plan to track them down one by one like you). I've had some rattling by the dash/window joint, seat squeaks sometimes on tight turns, and the drone at idle.

- clunk, sounds like you got the solution already. Hard to believe if you don't feel for yourself the clunk b/f and no clunk after but it's night and day. Even after I had done it twice b/f, the clunk came back and I thought it was a tranny issue b/c it was so noticeable (had recently replaced tranny fluid) but figured I'd squirt some moly in there for good measure and bam like a new ride.

- I've had the 'knocking' too on cold days (wanna say less than ~40F) but read more and found that's common on toyotas (I don't think the vibration from engine cover would be the same sound as the knocking on a cold day and not sure why engine cover vibration would be temperature dependant - i'd expect it to be RPM dependant)

- I get a drone at idle, specifically after car has warmed up and in D or R with foot on brake (at lights) when the RPM goes to about 600 that's the only time I get this drone/virbration. Seen others have that and it and it may or may not be related to the Boom at Idle TSB that's out there.

- I get the tons of ticking (from cats?) while driving after warmed up and while car is off cooling down. Not too concerned b/c numerous others have it and doesn't seem to be an issue.
I've got a laundry list - now that I've baselined my truck in terms of fluid and maintenance, I'm planning to start looking into these and other little things that have been on my list. At the end of the day, reliability/safety/space/comfort are the most important things to me but hey if you're OCD you gotta find something to obsess over

 

[tnlandcruiser]

So.... Coming back after.. several? years. Still running like a champ (knock on wood). Only major unexpected service was I replaced the CV axles as they were leaking around the neck of the boot. Next major plan is to (finally) replace the stereo as I blew the cigar fuse a few years back so I figure as long as I have the dash apart might as well.

 

[cek347]

So.... Coming back after.. several? years. Still running like a champ (knock on wood). Only major unexpected service was I replaced the CV axles as they were leaking around the neck of the boot. Next major plan is to (finally) replace the stereo as I blew the cigar fuse a few years back so I figure as long as I have the dash apart might as well.

An 11 year update! This is awesome. How many miles are you at?

 

[Patassa]

BTW: My wife read this post over my should and declared me a tremendous dork.

I keep telling my wife that "this will be my last vehicle barring any wrecks", and laughs in my face at the thought that I'm driving a 20 year old vehicle and intend to drive it another 10-15 years when I'll no longer need a daily driver so won't need to buy anything else. I don't see what's so funny.