Essential vs 'if it ain't broke don't touch it' maintenance at 100k — listed maintenance and recommendations

[joeylc200]

Hey everyone, so I finally got quotes from the dealer and records maintenance of done to my 19 Land Cruiser. I would really appreciate anyone's input on what I should have serviced, even if the dealer hasn't recommended anything. Want vehicle ready for anything including off roading, but it has pretty much only seen pavement from my knowledge of previous owners (both older ladies) (Listing maintenance below)

So they recommended a few things to be done, and some of them, my dad tells me he doesn't think I should do, not because of cost, but because in some cases the dealer tech may screw it up, or that is is better left alone to how the original mechanic in Japan left things lol. He is a DIY guy, and maintained our LC100 up to 400k miles until we sold it because we were moving and electronics were failing (windows, locks etc) but I still dont think he is an 'expert'.

Lucky for me owner 1 had it for 65k miles and owner 2 had it for only 3k miles.Owner 1 did everything at the dealer by the book, at the dealership, and owner 2 also did an inspection post purchase and notes said basically 'everything passed, recommended new battery' which owner 2 bought. So I have a decently well maintained LC and want to keep it that way.

WORK DONE
42k
1. 'Complete fuel service, throttle body'
2. Brake Fluid Service, 'Flush lines, Master Cylinder, replace with new fluid'
50k
1. Power Steering fluid exchange
60k
1.4WD Service (F/R Diffs + Transfer Case oil change)
2. Front brakes replaced

RECCOMMENDED/OVERDUE at 100k + what my Dad tells me
1. Power Steering — he tells me leave it alone, not worth spending the $300 bucks until I notice problems.
2. Fuel Service/Brake Fluid — Says FS not really necessary until you notice things are off, and can just drain brake fluid doesnt need to be flushed.
3. Coolant Service — tells me dealer can screw up pressurization. Better to drain and top off over a period of a year or so and most of the fluid becomes new.
4. Transmission Service — recommends, but doesn't think it is 'critical' yet.
5. Spark Plugs — says leave them alone, I'll notice vibration when they start going bad. Dealer wants a lot, plus difficult to access in the 200 series.

So what do you guys think? Money isnt free flowing but I would obviously do what I need to do to keep this thing running forever. So I dont want to skip out on anything critical. Also, please let me know if anything was left out. This year I will be going cross country a few times and will be putting probably 30-40k miles on it, and dont want to avoid failures. As always, love you guys and thanks for the input!

 

[gasman4u]

You made it to 100k on your original head gasket?!?!? Paging @ryanCA for this epic breakthrough!!!!

Seriously though, the dealer only has one or two “money grabs” listed above. I’d skip the fuel treatment bs and the power steering service.

IMO, do the coolant drain and fill (not just radiator but drain plugs too), transmission fluid EXCHANGE (no flush!), spark plugs are due at 110k iirc, and brake fluid if it’s been more than 3 years since last flush. I change my brake fluid every 2 years, but know I’m an outlier.

There’s a lot of threads on here about recommended maintenance. Just search and go from there. Power steering fluid exchange is easy on our trucks. @bloc has a write up somewhere iirc.

If you’re driving 30-40k in the next few months, these are the things I’d prioritize.

2019 Toyota LC, 100k miles — what really needs to be maintained?

Hey everyone, I’ve got a 2019 Toyota Land Cruiser 200 Series and, so far, all I’ve done is the basic oil changes. I want to get more involved with maintaining it myself and keep everything running smoothly. Bought 12/2022 with 72k miles and currently sitting at 99k miles. For those who have...

forum.ih8mud.com

I’m doing this on the fly, but I think this is one thread to help get you started.

 

[Fisher23]

What $$ does the dealer want on the plugs? Any good mechanic can change them. If it was mine I would change those plugs. The longer you leave then in the higher the change of them not coming out or breaking coming out. They ae fairly easy to change, you have to loosen and move some lines out of the way for a couple of them.

Transmission you can do the same as the rad, drain and refill or have it all changed, but do not flush it. The transmission has a special procedure with temperature to get the right level.

The other items seems your dad is correct on.

 

[Sandroad]

If your dad did the DIY maintenance on the 100 and made it to 400k miles, I’d say he’s an expert!

If you’re going to end up at 140k miles in a year, I think you should consider new plugs, coolant exchange, propeller shaft u-joint lube, and new rear brakes. Check those front brakes again too. Pop in a new engine air filter and new cabin filter (in HVAC RECIRCULATING mode) and look at the items in the post linked above.

 

[joeylc200]

You made it to 100k on your original head gasket?!?!? Paging @ryanCA for this epic breakthrough!!!!

Seriously though, the dealer only has one or two “money grabs” listed above. I’d skip the fuel treatment bs and the power steering service.

IMO, do the coolant drain and fill (not just radiator but drain plugs too), transmission fluid EXCHANGE (no flush!), spark plugs are due at 110k iirc, and brake fluid if it’s been more than 3 years since last flush. I change my brake fluid every 2 years, but know I’m an outlier.

There’s a lot of threads on here about recommended maintenance. Just search and go from there. Power steering fluid exchange is easy on our trucks. @bloc has a write up somewhere iirc.

If you’re driving 30-40k in the next few months, these are the things I’d prioritize.

2019 Toyota LC, 100k miles — what really needs to be maintained?

Hey everyone, I’ve got a 2019 Toyota Land Cruiser 200 Series and, so far, all I’ve done is the basic oil changes. I want to get more involved with maintaining it myself and keep everything running smoothly. Bought 12/2022 with 72k miles and currently sitting at 99k miles. For those who have...

forum.ih8mud.com

I’m doing this on the fly, but I think this is one thread to help get you started.

Thanks! Yeah I heard about the head gaskets being an issue but not sure the likelihood. Kinda scares me because my Dad has a 13 LC200 at 120k miles now (he barely drives it though, has a few other cars) and the radiator failed RIGHT on the spot everyone said was having issues and at around 115k miles.

So these predictions actually do kinda scare me lol!

 

[joeylc200]

What $$ does the dealer want on the plugs? Any good mechanic can change them. If it was mine I would change those plugs. The longer you leave then in the higher the change of them not coming out or breaking coming out. They ae fairly easy to change, you have to loosen and move some lines out of the way for a couple of them.

Transmission you can do the same as the rad, drain and refill or have it all changed, but do not flush it. The transmission has a special procedure with temperature to get the right level.

The other items seems your dad is correct on.

Good to know. For the plugs I didnt get a quote— they didnt mention it to me, and I didnt think of it til I got home.

By the 'special procedure' you are discussing, is it unlikely something the dealer can screw up? My concern with getting anything done these days is not that they catastrophically screw up, it's that they just do a poor job and you dont notice until a while later. I'd rather they mangle a job right there and then so I can blame them. Anything overly complex these days I hesitate to trust even the dealerships.

 

[joeylc200]

If your dad did the DIY maintenance on the 100 and made it to 400k miles, I’d say he’s an expert!

If you’re going to end up at 140k miles in a year, I think you should consider new plugs, coolant exchange, propeller shaft u-joint lube, and new rear brakes. Check those front brakes again too. Pop in a new engine air filter and new cabin filter (in HVAC RECIRCULATING mode) and look at the items in the post linked above.

Haha I mean I know for some things he did not do them himself, some more major work that had to be done.

But for the most part just things like in the post I said earlier.

Yeah I just changed both air filters with OEM Denso. Brakes too.

One thing I notice, which also happened on our 100 series and was a mystery then and mystery now, is when the car is coasting at slow speeds, there is a rhythmic, high pitched noise you can hear almost like a cricket chirping. I dont notice it most of the time, but if the windows are down I can hear it. It isnt the brakes I dont think because you dont hear anything once hitting the brake. You ever hear of that?

 

[ryanCA]

Yeah I heard about the head gaskets being an issue but not sure the likelihood.

its a BIG. BIG problem


YUuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUGE PROBLEM

search here or check you tube

 

[joeylc200]

its a BIG. BIG problem


YUuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUGE PROBLEM

search here or check you tube

Interesting, but I mean I wonder like what percentage of people are having the problem. When I bought the car I looked if there were known issues etc and the head gasket thing came up but didnt seem like it was super common. Saw lots of people saying they're at 200k+ no problem etc.

It's kind of annoying because the biggest reason I bought a LC was for reliability (like most people I assume do) vs actual off road purpose. So I just like that feeling that I could go up some remote mountain or something with no problems even if I rarely do, but now in the back of my head I'm going to be concerned.

My dad did notice the other day the coolant level was low and refilled it to the proper level, so not sure if it leaked or what. I will admit I didnt check the levels of anything for the last year or so— I took it to the dealer for oil changes 6 months apart and they never mentioned anything when I asked if anything was low etc which I do every time.

Is that a sign I'm in trouble?​

 

[ryanCA]

Interesting, but I mean I wonder like what percentage of people are having the problem. When I bought the car I looked if there were known issues etc and the head gasket thing came up but didnt seem like it was super common. Saw lots of people saying they're at 200k+ no problem etc.

It's kind of annoying because the biggest reason I bought a LC was for reliability (like most people I assume do) vs actual off road purpose. So I just like that feeling that I could go up some remote mountain or something with no problems even if I rarely do, but now in the back of my head I'm going to be concerned.

My dad did notice the other day the coolant level was low and refilled it to the proper level, so not sure if it leaked or what. I will admit I didnt check the levels of anything for the last year or so— I took it to the dealer for oil changes 6 months apart and they never mentioned anything when I asked if anything was low etc which I do every time.

Is that a sign I'm in trouble?​

pluto is not a planet

200 series have hg problem

both are new scientific discoveries.


———
LC are maintenance hogs. We just like to pretend we have the best cars in the world, while we secretly spend big money maintaining them, and justifying those costs as “it will never leave me” stranded vehicles

 

[Sandroad]

Haha I mean I know for some things he did not do them himself, some more major work that had to be done.

But for the most part just things like in the post I said earlier.

Yeah I just changed both air filters with OEM Denso. Brakes too.

One thing I notice, which also happened on our 100 series and was a mystery then and mystery now, is when the car is coasting at slow speeds, there is a rhythmic, high pitched noise you can hear almost like a cricket chirping. I dont notice it most of the time, but if the windows are down I can hear it. It isnt the brakes I dont think because you dont hear anything once hitting the brake. You ever hear of that?

A simple squeaky brake issue is not out of the question, especially if the sound stops when you hit the brakes. Are you sure there is plenty of pad remaining?

Don’t worry about the head gaskets. An alarmist YouTube about them started a messy thread and now every time it’s mentioned the posts start all over again. If your coolant was low, it’s possible no one checked it for a long time. Earlier engines sometimes developed a leak under the intake manifold in the coolant valley. If your coolant drops again in the future, check under there.

 

[joeylc200]

A simple squeaky brake issue is not out of the question, especially if the sound stops when you hit the brakes. Are you sure there is plenty of pad remaining?

Don’t worry about the head gaskets. An alarmist YouTube about them started a messy thread and now every time it’s mentioned the posts start all over again. If your coolant was low, it’s possible no one checked it for a long time. Earlier engines sometimes developed a leak under the intake manifold in the coolant valley. If your coolant drops again in the future, check under there.

I’m not 100% sure about the pads, I just sorta assumed since they did the multipoint inspection about 6 months ago and handed me a list of things that needed to be done that I was ‘in the clear.’ I should get more ok top of checking things though but at least I don’t neglect them either— just pass the buck to the dealer out of laziness.

About the head gasket,i figure it’ll either happen or it won’t but it probably won’t do any good to worry about it as long as I keep everything in shape!

 

[Fisher23]

Good to know. For the plugs I didnt get a quote— they didnt mention it to me, and I didnt think of it til I got home.

By the 'special procedure' you are discussing, is it unlikely something the dealer can screw up? My concern with getting anything done these days is not that they catastrophically screw up, it's that they just do a poor job and you dont notice until a while later. I'd rather they mangle a job right there and then so I can blame them. Anything overly complex these days I hesitate to trust even the dealerships.

Special Procedure: For the transmission fluid level it must be adjusted when the transmission is at a specific temperature. There are 2 plugs on the transmission pan, one to drain it and the 2nd to adjust the fluid level. When you fill the transmission you put a little extra fluid in. Remove the drain plug for the temperature adjustment. Then as the transmission warms up fluid will drain out. Once the transmission gets to the specific temperature you replace the plug. They would not likely screw it up provided they do not "flush" the transmission.

 

[manofthewoods]

its a BIG. BIG problem


YUuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUGE PROBLEM

search here or check you tube

Almost as important as replacing the upper Dingle arm Bushings, even more important than the muffler bearings

 

[gasman4u]

Almost as important as replacing the upper Dingle arm Bushings, even more important than the muffler bearings

Don’t forget @ryanCA patented blinker fluid!!!

 

[rherrco]

I’m not 100% sure about the pads, I just sorta assumed since they did the multipoint inspection about 6 months ago and handed me a list of things that needed to be done that I was ‘in the clear.’ I should get more ok top of checking things though but at least I don’t neglect them either— just pass the buck to the dealer out of laziness.

About the head gasket,i figure it’ll either happen or it won’t but it probably won’t do any good to worry about it as long as I keep everything in shape!

Did your dealer actually look at stuff like the plugs and fluid etc or just go by the maintenance schedule? Big difference.