Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 at 17:21
I didn't know that Phil.
In the early iterations of the D4D Prado in Aust, apparently 7 years after the engine first appearing OS, there were a significant number of injector failures, some within the warranty period, some not.
If you were lucky you had a good dealer or mechanic and the problem would be picked up before any engine damage occurred. If you were luckier it would be within warranty. If you were luckier again your dealer knew enough to accept a warranty claim and document it so that Toyota would pay.
If you weren't so lucky (out of warranty or dealer dodging or ignorant of the issue) then you were out of pocket by about $2500 to $7000, depending if the repair was done outside or within the Toyota network.
I was one of the lucky ones, I had a switched on dealer who identified the problem before I did and fixed it under warranty during a scheduled service. Many were not so fortunate.
There is a second issue with these injectors. The original seals between injector and head were copper washers. Again, there were and continue to be a significant number of seal failures. These usually occur outside the warranty period. The failure permits blow-by of combustion gases into the rocker area, causing carbonised oil granules to form. These wash down to the sump and are screened out by the sump oil pick-up, which eventually gets blocked enough to starve the engine of oil. Usually #3 piston seizes first. Happy days.
There were recalls or dealer service directives in Europe and NZ over both these issues, but not here in Oz. You have to wonder why.
Cheers
Frank
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