Member - Bruce and Anne replied:

Other than the normal checks, have a good look for oil leaks in the gear box, the seals give up after a while. The rebuild with that amount seems about right, I would say its had plenty of work, also check the chassis for cracks.
Cheers Bruce.

Member - Stephen M (NSW) replied:

Its hard to say why its had a rebuild unless you can find out from previous owner.Could have been some thing as simple as blowing a radiator hose not noticing and bang cooked the whole thing hence the rebuild. If its due to neglect & lack of oil changes thats why it went bang then you can bet nothing else has been serviced either.Me I would walk and look for another one if its due to lack of servicing. Does it have any log books ?? The service history is relevant as it will fill you in on the rest of the vehicle as to wether the services have been done and at what stage the motor went bang and possibly why. I looked for months for one of these things and either they were treated like crap and had no service history or they had extremly high klms which didnt suit me as I wanted some thing that would last me a few years but was a good sign on there reliability as I looked at some with over 300/400klms and still going strong but I new in the next couple of years 600 thou I would have been up for a rebuild so didnt want the hassle. Good luck finding one but if it doesnt look right doesnt feel right or sound it then do yourself a favour and walk. I did notice that the ones I looked at were very noisy and a bit rattly but this is a common sound from the 2.8 unless its extreme. Alot noiser than even my old hilux but inside was not that bad mainly at idle but I found they are a great vehicle and will leave the 2.8 hilux for dead no comparrison in regards to get up and go and hold the speed.If you drive a rodeo then drive a hilux 2.8 you will head back to the rodeo. Not knocking the hilux in reliability but power wise definately thats why I sold mine. Power was the main issue especially once we got the camper. Good luck and check all the websites,carpoint,carsales,drive,tradingpost,ebay and many others, all .com.au at the end of the ones mentioned. Regards Steve M

mike w (WA) replied:

The info provided previously in this post is spot on. Look for service history, get under the vehicle and look for oil leaks, especially at the top of the gear box, as they seem to have a habit of blowing the seal up top.

Also with the rebuild, I would find out exactly why it was done and what work was done, as there is a recon, and there is a recon. However, it may all depend on the corcumstances as Steve M said. Look to see if they rebuilt the injector pump also.

Good luck, great vehicle, happy times