Prado Diesel

G'day Lozza,

I have a 2001 GXL Prado T/D to which I added a Tunit chip, also a Turbo Smart boost controller and best of all is a 3 inch exhaust including a 3 inch dump pipe.

I'm running around 15lb boost and have been for around 4years now. I tow an Aussie Swag camper and also a 13 1/2 ft Viscount caravan which I've rebuilt for off road use. Power is no longer a problem.

The order of installation would be,
1) The exhaust.
2) Boost Controller.
3) The Chip.

Safe travells Jim-Bob.

being a diesel I'd concentrate on the torque rather than the kw. If you compare yourself to petrols kw you'll always be disapointed!

larger exhaust is a great start and you will feel a difference with daily driving. Bigger isn't always better though. Most engines prefer a 2.5 inch rather than a 3 inch.

I'm in the old days with my GQ so I'm limited with what I can do with mine. As your is a CRD the chip is the other option as you have mentioned. I have no experience with the chips but going by the graphs I've seen and comments on this forum that might be a bigger bang for your bucks if you didn't want to do the chip and exhause together.

I'm no expert but I'd steer clear of playing around with the turbo boost if you plan on having your vehicle a long time. There is much better ways to improve performance that doesn't affect the longevity of the engine.

I also have the same model as yours and have found it adequate for our uses and which includes towing 1100kg camper and a double axle trailer load with 1.5t plus of fire wood up one of the steepest roads in our district to our home. I would wonder how many kms your car has got on it,is the clutch in a good working condition. It maybe also related to a fuel pump ,or injectors or fuel filter that may require some attention/service.
I have thought about some of the mods suggested above,with my preference being ,1 exhaust ,then 2 a chip.
To clarify a couple of points above the 1KZ T E the motor that we share it is not a CRD motor but does have electronic injection [the E in motor designation with T being turbo]
Also mention above the torque is the important figure in any diesel.
For good info on the Prado i suggest you look over at
http://www.pradopoint.com/content.php
cheers Russ

I have a 2004 3 Ltr diesel Prado with 4 speed auto.

I have a fair bit of gear on it and weighs 2700kg. Only mods to the drive train is a straight through muffler and a snorkel and I tow a 1600 kg caravan no worries at all.
Will comfortably sit on 100kmh all day on the flats.

I regularly travel up Cunningham's Gap to Warwick and have no dramas sitting on 45-50 kmh on the climb up.

May I suggest putting the vehicle on a reputable dyno to see whats doing because your Prado being a manual Trans should do it easier than mine.

Cheers Steve

I agree with Steve. Father-In-Law had a 90/95 series with that motor and towed a tandem axle van around Oz without too much difficulty. Pretty sure he took it over the Great Alpine Road (Mt Hotham) down to Lakes Entrance. He did say it slowed up going up steep hills but never stopped! He's got a D4D now.

I have owned both the 90 series in diesel form and petrol, both autos and both grande's. Personally (no offence intended to anyone) but I reckon the 1kz turbo diesel motor in the prado's are quit gutless, and personally think they perform a whole heap better in manual form (better gearing). I always use Hawksbury hill and Mooney for my testing/comparing grounds. The prado was gutless from day one pulling up these hills, with out towing would see it drop back to under 100k on both these hills and foot buried to the floor before it would kick out of O/D then jump to 3 1/2grand and slowly drop off from there there till I got over the hill (way out of the torque band) pulling my camper my old V6 3.4 90 would kill the diesel turbo and the fuel usage for a diesel I thought was pathetic (same as V6 some times more) V6 without towing would be around the 12L per 100k the diesel around 11.4L if kept under 110, push 110/120 and you would see 14's. Now my vehicles are serviced as if the things need to last me 100 years, oil n filter (genuine) every 5k (without fail) run 38/40psi in tyres (for freeway/round town) , both vehicles were set up exactly the same, same steel arb bar, barrier,BFG A/T's, the only difference was the snorkel which Im convinced dropped 5 to 8k OFF the speed of the diesel and used more fuel, if I had seen the way Safari had so many bends in the thing was ridiculous, restricted big time, I wouldnt have had it fitted. Now at 103k I copped the dreaded head syndrome (remembering I ran everything genuine down to wiper blades) so it wasnt due to lack of servicing or neglect thats for sure and never ever over heated even when the head went. I now have a 120 V6 with the 5 speed auto, last two trips up the coast loaded (vehicle standard except bullbar) and I achieved 11.6 and 11.8L per 100 and the last trip (11.8) I wasnt hanging around either and did an emergency dash to the hospital for one of the elderly ladies who ripped her leg open on a patrol side step (needed skin graft). The 1kz has an electronic pump but is not like the new D4D which will eat a 1kz in the power department even with a chip and exhaust. I never went down this track as after the head went I wasnt game to put any more stress on the engine but in saying this I havnt heard of the 1kz in the 120 cracking heads ?? My mate has a 120 with 1kz and had a chip fitted and exhaust (he's on Pradopoint) and all it did was blow excess black soot and crap all over his camper so he had to back it down to 3 (range was 1 to 9) he had it on 6 to start with, he did it all at different stages and reckons the exhaust was a total waste of money (wasnt a taipan or beaudesert brand I dont know what brand it was, i do know the brand of the chip but wont say on here which one it was but is very popular) He is in the process of updating to D4D 150 series, he has obviously tested the D4D and said the difference between the two vehicles is like chalk and cheese but the 150 also has 5 speed auto his current 120 is 4 speed. I have driven the 1kz in manual form and is totally different to drive to auto, seems to have more pull, and holds gears better with out the need of jumping around like the auto does. I still think the gearing in the auto is the issue in regards to getting the power to work for you.....I think you may have other issues but as you shouldnt need to go to low range 1st on a sealed rd with a moderately steep hill and especailly with out trailer....Might be time to get injectors checked out and pump, ............

Before you jump in and add a chip and exhaust system, make sure the engine is performing in standard form how it should.
We had a Hilux Surf with the 1KZ-TE engine and were also feeling that it was down in power. So took it to a local tuning shop with a dyno.
Sure enough - they diagnosed what my seat of the pants had already told me. It was a slug!
They found that the MAP sensor was not getting the correct information due to a blocked MAP filter.
The small filter was replaced and the dyno showed an amazing 71% increase in power.

Unfortunately the cleaning/replacement of the small filter is not part of the normal serviceing proceedure.
The filter is easily removed and cleaned with carby cleaner.
The EGR system on the engine is responsible for the fouling and blocking of the filter. Fortunately Toyota have designed the filter into the system - between the inlet manifold and the MAP sensor. At least the MAP sensor is protected from contamination by the small filter. Many other brands - eg Ford Ranger/ Mazda BT50, Nissan Patrol have the MAP sensor directly into the inlet manifold and they do gunge up causing poor performance.

There is a CRC product - MAP/MAF sensor cleaner, that is available from auto parts shops - like Repco - specifically for the job.

We had a 120 series Prado 3lt diesel and I agree with the "gutless" statement.

Towing a full size 2200kg caravan at any reasonable speed, so as not to be road block, it was also fuel hungry.

A very disappointing experience.

Sold it after only two years and 20,000km's.

Toyota in the main, nearly always underpower there vehicles.

Boring but reliable, that's Toyota.

KenM

What size tyres are you running? I had a 2002 TD Prado and it became a slug when I upsized the tyres and they were the heavy MTRs too.

I added a Tunit Chip ($600 for refurbished unit on E Bay) , took it into the Dyno Guys and picked up low down torgue and 15Kw of power. No rocket ship but it feels much better off the mark and will happily pull the 1400 Kg Camper Van at 100kmh.

Regards