Thread: Toyota Prado 1996 (ish)

Originally Posted by GWH

Hey mate,

Yeah mines a '96 1kz, but the auto.

Yeah the head only becomes an issue if overheated, and the overheating is often just caused by a faulty Rad cap, also at that milage the radiators can become quite blocked up, so if it hasnt already been replaced, you'd def pay to get it taken out and flushed and inspected and checked for blockage etc at a minimum, some people just replace at that milage.

If the cooling system is looked after and engine not overheated, then the heads are normally fine.

The radiators in the auto also have an oil cooler for the trans in the bottom tank which causes a restriction and also dumps extra heat into the water, which is really hard on the cooling system especially when doing heaving towing - But being a manual you shouldnt have to worry about that.

Often the guys with auto prados, fit a radiator from a manual and fit a seperate transcooler, or just fitting a seperate trans cooler helps a lot on its own.

Also you want to have the front ball joints checked very well by someone who knows how to check them properly. The original ones after quite a few miles do tend to break, causing a front wheel to fold back under the vehicle, not something you want to have happen at all, let alone at speed.

But those things aside, i love my old truck, just keep up the regular oil and filter changes and she keeps on chugging, it suits my purpose perfectly. It gets me where i need to go hunting etc and Nothing to flash to leave at Public road ends.

Cheers mate exactly what I needed to hear