Vehicle Maintenance - Why?

Nothing is absolute and most things mechanical become obsolete.

Just put your hand in your pocket and pay.........lol

Cheers

It is machinery....It is allowed to break down occasionally.

There you go Garth, you have just done yourself out of a job.

2 things. The coolant that was used was not to standard or incorrect for you cooling system or you may have electrolysis or heaven forbid, they did a flyby and charged you anyway.

Maintanance works if done properly and I am a bit sceptical of the people who did yours, unless it turns out to be electrolysis

Have a good one

The Ape

Did your "nationwide retailer service outlet" use the genuine Toyota coolant?

Sounds like Toyota and electrolysis, can be a HUGE problem...start running earth links EVERYWHERE

I'm sure the replacement fluid was to AS... blah blah blah or whatever and suitable for late model vehicles with blah blah blah!

All the vehicles get the same stuff out of the big bulky container.

Just like that oil they put in your vehicle.

And I know oils are not oils!!

If electrolysis then a few more similar vehicles should be surfacing.....

Where's all the 120 series Prado's.............

Garth.

Toyota coolant should be red

Remember though that most manufacturers these days only build a vehicle to last 5 years, planned obsolescence!
If you actually use it for what it was intended most of the time or heaven forbid actually carry a load in it most of the time then you have probably exceeded the design parameters and it has worn out early!
Yes I am very cynical of the current crop of 4wd's on the market and have been for quite a few years hence my present vehicle which as it is 20 years old is 8 years past its 12 year life expectancy.

Garth,
I have a a '92 80 Series and the original, copper core, radiator lasted 10 years. It developed a leak and split down the side seam whilst on rough roads on the Tannami, GRR and Gulf roads. It was replaced with an after market, aluminium core, radiator which only lasted nine months. This one failed on the Cape York trip but was 'patched up' with a container of white pepper to get us back to Sydney. The mechanic said the radiator had corroded. This time I bought a copper core radiator and fitted it myself. I now service it myself using a top quality coolant mixed to the specifications on the container.
I say, go with the copper core.
See you at the Pyrenees. Have a good one in Tasmania.

Let's get back to basics;
What is the expected 'service' life of a radiator these days? Lets say it is 7 years because that's probably the intended life of the vehicle when manufactured. Some radiators will fail early and some will last much longer. Seems like you have one that has failed at the low end of the statistical bell curve. The manufacturer has decided to use the thinnest lowest cost materials that should last say seven years plus a small margin. Modern radiators are made from plastic and aluminium alloys rather then the copper and brass of 'the good old days'. Factors effecting the life of a radiator would also include how much salt water it has been exposed to (lake bed or beach). Coolant additives only effect the inside of the radiator not the outside surface. Is it possible that your radiators accelerated corrosion started from the outside? I am often amused by people claiming that corrosion is caused by internal factors (coolant additives)when it is usually the air interface where oxidation takes place the quickest.

It's a bit like battery life, buy cheap and replace is a valid argument these days when the service life of a battery is not much different between brands but the cost difference can be several hundred %.

Ever heard of the 'bathtub effect'. Several electronic component failures are likely to occur early in a devices life then nothing goes wrong for many years before lots of failures start to occur again as the device nears the end of it's service life.

the nation wide chain wouldnt happen to have a lizard for their logo?

i used the chain who supposedly flushed my old coolant and replaced with new....welll guess what...all they did was drain and top up with different solution......they, the coolants, dont like being mixed

end result was new radiator and heater

Radiators are a bit like any other component on a vehicle - they will eventually wear out. I'm not aware of any manufacturer with a life-time gaurantee to cover such failures. Bit like the human body, you can take care of it, avoid nasties like smoking, illicit drugs, alcohol, etc but one day it will decide enough is enough and that's the end. The lights go out. Yeah like you stated - WHY BOTHER WITH MAINTENANCE - guess it helps toward making you feel good about whatever it is you are maintaining in the hope that you will get a few extra years, kays, heart-beats etc.

Your Prado is only 4 years old. Don't blame the vehicle.
You've had non-genuine coolant which IMO has caused your problem. Thats the risk you take with not using the genuine Toyota stuff.

I have friends who get their Toyotas serviced at the local 4wd shop. They buy and bring the genuine coolant so the correct stuff gets used.

Read about it here

Corrosion is result of electrical current between dissimilar metal through an electrolyte. pure water is total resistant but the tiniest amount of contamination and it will conduct.

You need de-ionised water and a good additive and change it by the book. It was not so critical when the engine was all cast iron but a common problem is the alli head corroding.

The coolant will need changing on a time basis as much as milage so I would give it some thought if the car sits in the shed a lot of the time

Toyota cruiser utes had a prob with the radiator twisting with the chassis on hard terrain. You could get away with blocking off the affected area with solder or epoxy but a temporary fix that.

Some of you will know all this but I repeat it for the benefit of those who dont

And I have been known to be wrong.

Owen

Mixing different coolants can create an ideal environment for accelerated corrosion of the radiator and other internal aluminium parts. I doubt that the national chain carries the recommended coolant for every vehicle, and the chance they have caused your corrosion is very high.

I have changed the Jackaroo coolant twice, but took a deep breath and paid for the "genuine" spare part from the dealer. I still have enough of the same batch to do 3 more changes.

My aluminium radiator is now 9+ years and no sign of a problem.

When you get your new core fitted, I recommend thorough flushing out of all the current hybrid coolant, including thorough flushing of the block, and go back to using the genuine part. Buy enough of the stuff to last you till you get rid of the car.

Yeah, they suck. My toyota, dealer maintained, dealer provision of NEW radiator, and it died again in only 19mths - blamed on "poor maintenance" (theirs!), "mud", or "electrolysis", depending on when and who you spoke to. Not that they ever came to the party financially about it. The kicker was that it went back 5-6 times subsequently for additional leaks in the cooling system within the next 2mths, each time I was assured it was "fixed now", and "pressure tested" for hours.

Hi Garth

From Pradopoint: "I was waiting at a Toyota dealer for them to replace a faulty reversing sensor when I noticed that the mechanic had a probe of a multimeter in the water of my radiator. Realising what he was doing (looking for excessive current/Voltage in the coolant) I asked him if the level was ok, he advised me that toyota had revised the acceptable level down to 0.4 Volts. The maximum voltage allowed is 0.4V between the engine block and the coolant, and from the coolant to the chassis"

Mmmmmmmmm
Cheers
PeteS

Hi Garth

Checked the coolant voltage on Angus today.

My multimeter is an auto range digital unit and I initially got some strange voltage readings. Poss. the probe reacted with the coolant initially? Anyway all settled down after a while and wherever I tried the readings it ranged between 200-300milli volts. By the way this was done with the engine off. I assume it is done that way?

I will check this again every so often as I'm not confident the reading were consistant enough.

FYI, the link I obtained the initial information on is Pradopoint





Cheers

PeteS