Dust in my Prado

Blanchey what model do you have? I've got the 120 (2006) and so long as i have the a/c blowing on fresh air and not recirc i don't even get the smell of dust in the car.
I was told a long time ago to keep it on the fresh setting as this pressurises the cabin and keeps the dust out (sounded fair at the time and since i'm not getting any probs will stick with the procedure).
Have you fitted spotties to your car and had the switch run through the firewall, could be a grommet misplaced?
Good luck with the new one and good luck finding the problem with this one.

HI there Pete, I'm sure 120cruiser (member on here) has had issues with the dust coming through the rear door on his 120 and has to cover the load to stop dust from getting over everything. Regards Steve M

Pete

It's a problem with all cars. Some vehicles are slightly better than others, but if conditions are bad, there is nothing you can do about it (including air settings).

Wet conditions in the Outback have a far more detrimental effect on the car. If you drive through these conditions, get the mud off as soon as possible. Once it dries out and the Iron Oxide start to work you'll never get rid of it. Believe me.

Regards

Kim

Toyota normally have one of the best dust sealing systems on earth. (I'm quoting a motoring writer here, so be gentle). I've had Toyos with dust inside, but in every case there was an opening somewhere.
My last trip was dust free, until some idiot didn't close the back barn door properly. Even at 40km/h, the dust from the Kidson Track was bad enough to get into every nook and crevice of the cabin, a situation not rectified yet.

One nice byproduct is that when the car is finally cleaned, turning the air con on will immediately transport you back to your last trip.

Also, having windows open seems to create negative pressure and sucks dust in elsewhere.
Pressurising the cab, by having the air cond on Fresh (not recirc) works for me.

defeinetly air open NO recirculatio fom me .... on my 80 serie + every single 100 serie I ever driven for my work!
Soon I forgot the air on recirculation I will start to have some dust inside!
It is working for me so far ....
good Luck!

Luca

My 120 is dreadful.
I get dust in everywhere.
What I have done is fit an aftermarket cabin filter as the toyota ones are crap. I fitted a Jayair one which works well. The toyota yaris part number fits the 120 prados.
I have also adjusted all the doors in and the rear door and run on fresh not recirc.
I still get dust in especially the back.
I have just returned from a simpson crossing, last night and I have had the best results in regards to dust ingress. I noticed with the windows down the dust is just sucked straight in even when the air cond is on recirc. The toyota weather shields probably aid in this due to them finishing short. I kept the windows up, the air cond on recirc and it was acceptable. I only had to clean my sunnies once in two weeks. I was also the lead car in the trip for the most of it which also helped.
As for dust in a 120, I give up. And like another post every time you turn the fan on in the car for the next 2 months you get hit in the face with dust.
My rectification for the problem is to find a 100 series GXL TD with a tray conversion and then have a metal industries back built.
Just my experiences after 2 simpson crossings in my 05 120 TD GXL.
Cheers
120scruiser

That's how it should be. What's an outback trip without dust everywhere? It's all part of the rich experience.

My son has the old Hj47 we did our first trip in.. He still finds dust from 1990!!

Hi Blanchey,
My mates 120 gxl is like yours, dust everywhere.
He's tried air con on, air con off, retic, fresh, on face, demist ,foot, every different combination of settings - still dust.
He's given up and now places a tarp over everything in the back.

My prado is the exact opposite, hardly any dust whatsoever. But mines a Grande and I have the rear air con on, but I initially put it on to help keep the fridges cooler so they wouldn't need to work so hard. Now any dirt road, on goes the rear air con.

So if yours is a Grande - Rear con on.

Regards
Alan

There is a reason for those lift up vents below the screen on the older model landrovers. It keeps dust out relatively speaking

Years ago when most of the roads I travelled in my Series 2 88 inch complete with full canvas canopy were unsealed I opened the vents, rolled the sides up but left the back canvas tied down. Very little dust covered my swag etc. Roll down the sides and it was worse and shut the vents and you couldn't breath.

Wasn't my idea, did it in the army early 60's then saw Les Hiddin using the same trick in his Bush Tucker Man series.

Now if dust is likely to be a problem I take a big roll of masking tape and use it whenever necessary (Air Con always on fresh with all windows closed)

Cheers

Disco

I had this with the current shape hilux on a birdsville run could not see the dust but could smell it even with windows shut air on on fresh with no cars in front.

We had a rattle in the rear so i thought it was the two cabin vents at the rear that make a noise on closing the doors so i filled them with expandable foam that did not fix the rattle but put the end to all dust made it slightly harder to close doors but the last trip gregory n/p,grr,cape leveque,tanami no dust at all and no smell works best with fresh air in with fan all windows up the vents used to let the air out now its pressurised.

The prado vents are probably in behind rear bumper on the sides.

the vx and grande models of the 120 have an air filter, which the gxl and gx lack. (I'm not too sure if this still applies to 2007 models though). I've never had a problem with dust in my vx.

jon

I was just fitting the andersen plug to the rear of my new 120 and found the grommet for towbar wiring was not re-fitted. This lets a whole lot of dust in to the back! It is worth checking. Passenger side, fiddley to get to. Can go in via the Jack compartment. If that area is full of dust you can be sure it wasn't put back.

Tez