Crossing Great Dividing Range

Our rig is shorter than yours, but we fit the experienced bit. From the north:
Have towed up the range from Cairns to Kuranda. Slow, narrow and winding road. Biggest issue is build up of vehicles behind.
Charters Towers to Townsville. Towed that both ways. Very straightforward - only one small hilly section, rest very gradual and straight.Excellent road.
Emerald to Rockhampton: towed both ways. Like the trip into Townsville, you would hardly know you were crossing the range. Excellent road.
Toowoomba to Brisbane: towed that both ways, on main road. Coming down, put Landrover into low range at the top, still on the brakes a bit, because you need to keep it to a crawl due to steepness. Going up - steep and slow. The road itself is dual or multi lane, in places, so traffic build up not an issue.
Tenterfield to Casino: towed down that way. Road a bit narrow in parts, winding. A definite downhill run but not excessively steep.

Ken,
having replied to your blog, I now will reply to your question.

Roads leading from major regional centers will be fine, all are used by semi's at a minimum. You will have no problems with corner's or breaking if taken easy, all desents, corners and recomended speeds are posted.
Just keep away from the Mt Lindesay Road (formally known as the Mt Lindesay highway), the NSW side is a very, very bad.

Have a good trip.

Ken,
Maybe you could look at this and prepare your own letter to your dealer.
There are any number of these trucks with the same problem as yours.

To the Dealer Principle / Service Manager, (…) Toyota)

RE: My (20…) 200 Series V8 Twin Turbo Diesel Landcruiser.

Dear Sir / Madam.

My name is (…). On the (…) I purchased through your dealership a 20(..) 200 Series Landcruiser V8 Twin Turbo Diesel. I have had the vehicle serviced regularly since I obtained the vehicle as per the manufacturers log book standards.

I am also a member of a group of over 95 (and growing daily) concerned owners experiencing the essentially the same issues.

Whilst we appreciate that the 200 Series is a completely new model, and is bound to have some mechanical warranty issues, I have stuck by your dealership and my Landcruiser.

However, what we cannot condone is the issue of the relatively high oil consumption, accompanied with the excuses and ‘fobbing off’ from the dealership anymore.

Currently, I am using in the range of (…) and (…) between services, which are at 10000km intervals. This concerns me greatly.

Another issue that concerns me greatly is the ambiguity of information contained in the Landcruiser operation manual in regards to oil consumption.

On page 289 it states under the heading;

Engine Oil Consumption

* The amount of engine oil consumed depends on the oil viscosity, the quality of the oil and the way the vehicle is drive.

* More oil is used under driving conditions such as high speeds and frequent acceleration and deceleration.

* A new engine consumes more oil

* When judging the amount of oil consumption, keep in mine that the oil may have become diluted, making it difficult to judge the true level accurately.

*Oil consumption: Max 1.0 litre per 1000km (which seems on laymen’s terms quite excessive.

* If you consume more than 1.0 litre of oil per 1000 km contact your dealership.

It seems that some (most dealers that our group deals with) dealers are getting around this issue by overfilling the oil level to give the owner the impression that the oil consumption isn’t as bad as it may seem.

This is where the ambiguity of the matter comes into play.

On page 290, still under the general heading of Engine Oil Consumption, there is a notice that states;

* To prevent serious engine damage
Check the oil on a regular basis.

* When replacing the engine oil
*Be careful not to spill engine oil on the vehicle component.
*Avoid overfilling, as the engine could be damaged
*Check the oil level on the dipstick every time you refill the vehicle.
*Be sure that the engine oil filler cap is properly tightened.

So, to sum up the issue so far is that my Diesel Landcruiser is using excessive amounts of oil, which can cause engine damage if it gets to low unnoticed, such as a long distance trip, and to combat this, the majority of dealers are over filling the oil volume to make the excessive oil consumption not look as bad, which in turn can damage the engine of our vehicles. This, in my opinion is a serious, fraudulent and negligent act from the dealers and I’m concerned that they may have (un)wittingly exposed themselves to legal ramifications and ongoing legal / media issues.

On a personal level, I have seen my oil level overfilled, by looking at the dipstick almost straight after a service, once getting home, I have observed to oil level on the dipstick some 20mm – 30mm OVER the full mark. I believe that this would have to have some detrimental effect on the longevity of the engine.

Some owners have had the vacuum pumps replaced and in some instances this has reduced the oil consumption rate, on some others it has not fixed a thing.

I was put on an oil consumption test, where I was told that my car had used just over the recommended amount of oil for the period of the test, but should be fixed by the oil vacuum fix, but months further on, I have heard nothing further about the vacuum pump fix , even through numerous follow ups such as phone calls and enquiries at service times.

As a group, we have been approached certain nation wide media outlets in relation to this oil consumption issue. They very interested in taking carriage of the matter due to the outstanding issues that Toyota are facing currently in the United States.

However, in the name of fairness, and some sound and prudent legal advice, we are going to give Toyota the opportunity of fixing the issue, or devising a reasonable solution to the oil consumption matter before we take the path of going to the media.

Also, in the name of fairness, we are not putting a defined time limit for the solution to be sorted out, but we would hope that Toyota would like to have the issue sorted out in a relative quick and prudent time to reduce the prospects on exposing itself to adverse public media attention and probable legal action from concerned owners

There is one last matter that is also concerning us. That is when the warranty period expires, Toyota Motor Company will wipe its hands of us

After spending the amount of money that we have on your product, we would like some reassurance that this won’t happen.

Kind regards
Fred BLOGGS
Concerned Toyota Landcruser 200 Diesel Owners
Group.