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Prado problems


Jo79inWA

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Hi! Newbie here. Just having some problems with my 03 diesel prado. After 114000km's, car started getting hot and dumping all the coolant out of radiator into overflow. Have sorted out the heat problem but the car still losing all the coolant. Dealer wants to look at cracked head possibility and that worries me as I thought that with only 114000km's we wouldn't be looking at these problems...... Has any one had any similar problem? Also transmission queries with this same car??? Thanks, Jo

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Hi Ben, yeah, head is where we leaning towards now,... expensive little job that one is apparently! The transmission has been worrying me for a few months. Everytime we tow with the prado, anything bigger than a box trailer, we get transmission fluid somehow ending up in the engine bay . Toyota have checked it time and time again but said the fluid levels are right so they don't know either. Also the auto taking too long to change gear just when driving it everyday. Just really revs out before gear change. Even toyota tech guy picked up on this when he test drove it. Just don't know whats going on with this car and being a chick, it's hard to get answers from anyone which is why I have turned to this chat site. Going back to the head issue, should the prado be doing this after 114000 km's??? Thanks Jo

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  • 2 weeks later...

Auto's will always struggle and possibly slip when towing, thats just how they are after a bit of time...

My best guess is that the auto fluid is boiling and spirting out the dipstick tube... Flush the fluid out, put some new stuff in and see if that makes any difference...

You can never really tell when something is gunna go wrong with a car... Could be today, could be tomorrow, could never happen...

Best thing you can do is take care of it and hope for the best that everything inside the engine and it's operation is as it should be...

Have you got it checked out???

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  • 3 months later...
Hi! Newbie here. Just having some problems with my 03 diesel prado. After 114000km's, car started getting hot and dumping all the coolant out of radiator into overflow. Have sorted out the heat problem but the car still losing all the coolant. Dealer wants to look at cracked head possibility and that worries me as I thought that with only 114000km's we wouldn't be looking at these problems...... Has any one had any similar problem? Also transmission queries with this same car??? Thanks, Jo

Hi Jo,

Slightly different scenario, But I thought at 58,000k's I would be fine with my Prado but The engine Blew up and needs to be replaced. Its hard to accept when you have forked out almost $60,000 when purchased new. Toyota Australia were not helpful at all as well as the dealership (Anthony Smith Toyota) especially the issue I had with them and leaking oil over my driveway first drive back from the dealership after service. Full details are posted on my thread listed 58,000kl's Blown engine. In a nut shell I will never trust dealerships with my vehicle, I will find a good local mechanic who can look at my vehicle from a customers point of view rather than putting you in the production line at the dealership to cash in at the end. I will be taking my story to the highest level possible Nationally as well as Toyota in Japan etc WHY Japan because Toyota Australia were not interested. keep in touch on my thread for progress.

You can only be in a position to judge a company or dealership when issues arise and how they deal with them, dealerships should look at problems as an opportunity to improve their skills/knowledge as well as their product but there is no profit in it so you and I are a problem to them.

Regards,

Maba

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114,000km's should not screw a box or a motor given the cars been looked after and serviced accordingly etc etc. If your running through coolant and your not sure what the problem is take the oil filler cap off the engine and check to see what the oil looks like, if it's a creamy strange looking substance you can tell that the coolant is mixing into the oil via a head issue, if the oil is still fine then it could possibly be a faulty thermostat thats stuck open. As Ben said the transmission fluid would almost have to be coming out of the dipstick area otherwise the leak would be much more noticable etc. As for the transmission you should take it to be assessed by a specialist as it has obvious issues if gear selection is delayed. Even being Automatic it should still be extremly capable of towing and it really is unlike a Toyota especially of such low mileage to be experiencing these issues.

Good luck with getting the car sorted out and i hope we can help you.

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  • 2 years later...

Hi! Newbie here. Just having some problems with my 03 diesel prado. After 114000km's, car started getting hot and dumping all the coolant out of radiator into overflow. Have sorted out the heat problem but the car still losing all the coolant. Dealer wants to look at cracked head possibility and that worries me as I thought that with only 114000km's we wouldn't be looking at these problems...... Has any one had any similar problem? Also transmission queries with this same car??? Thanks, Jo

I had 2001 3.0TD Auto and at similar kilometres I had a cotostophic failure where the exhaust chamber blew through to the top of No. 4 cylinder head. It start with the temperature guage going very high then after a few minutes returning to normal. I pulled over and had it towed to the nearest dealer where they replaced the head. They were fantastic, Because the car was out to warranty they still footed the bill for a new head and the labour costs to change it. I paid for oil, timing belt and consumables. Thanks Toyota :)

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Hi! Newbie here. Just having some problems with my 03 diesel prado. After 114000km's, car started getting hot and dumping all the coolant out of radiator into overflow. Have sorted out the heat problem but the car still losing all the coolant. Dealer wants to look at cracked head possibility and that worries me as I thought that with only 114000km's we wouldn't be looking at these problems...... Has any one had any similar problem? Also transmission queries with this same car??? Thanks, Jo

I had 2001 3.0TD Auto and at similar kilometres I had a cotostophic failure where the exhaust chamber blew through to the top of No. 4 cylinder head. It start with the temperature guage going very high then after a few minutes returning to normal. I pulled over and had it towed to the nearest dealer where they replaced the head. They were fantastic, Because the car was out to warranty they still footed the bill for a new head and the labour costs to change it. I paid for oil, timing belt and consumables. Thanks Toyota :)

Wow, you hit a lucky streak there...usually getting anything out of toyota is hard enough with a car that is still in warranty!

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  • 3 months later...

hi jo

114000kms isnt a lot kms for a prado , my old prado had 200000kms on it and never had minutes problem and it was auto i have towed big trailers with it and never a problem. this might seem a silly queston when was the auto trans fluid last changed i would get transmission a good service and see how it goes. but saying that it should not leek fluid in the engine bay.

i have heard from people who tow caravavs on hot days the autos do over heat .

can be fixed with after market transmission cooler .

regarding the engine it sounds like a head gasket or crook head.

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  • 7 years later...

Hi all, I just recently purchased a 2003 toyota prado grande, & I have some issues that I'm hoping you can assist:

Problem 1- with the orange light flashing on dash (diagram below)...

/--/

 X

x--x

 

*How can I fix this issue so this orange light stops flashing on dash?

 

*And the original stereo/sat nav headunit (Toyota Headunit 18002):

Problem 1- the stereo will not accept "tilt" & "open" function. I have recently changed over to a new car battery. Can anyone please explain (may have deactivated these functions when I changed car battery?), or know how to get these functions to work?

Problem 2- I wish to know if this headunit is compatible with a reserve camera function? (I checked back of unit, & found 3 empty slots, from left to right- a white slot, blue slot, grey slot).

 

*Please feel free to msg me, & thank you in advance for your help.

 

Regards,

James.

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Hi all, I just recently purchased a 2003 toyota prado grande, & I have some issues that I'm hoping you can assist:

Problem 1- with the orange light flashing on dash (diagram below)...

/--/

 X

x--x

 

*How can I fix this issue so this orange light stops flashing on dash?

 

*And the original stereo/sat nav headunit (Toyota Headunit 18002):

Problem 1- the stereo will not accept "tilt" & "open" function. I have recently changed over to a new car battery. Can anyone please explain (may have deactivated these functions when I changed car battery?), or know how to get these functions to work?

Problem 2- I wish to know if this headunit is compatible with a reserve camera function? (I checked back of unit, & found 3 empty slots, from left to right- a white slot, blue slot, grey slot).

 

*Please feel free to msg me, & thank you in advance for your help.

 

Regards,

James.

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  • 2 years later...

Really old thread, but just for the sake of anyone who comes across it when searching .......

A 2003 or similar Prado Diesel has a 4 speed automatic gear box.  When towing up any hill (or even into the wind with a decent load) the box will automatically shift back into 3rd gear and because there is no automatic torque converter lockup, the torque converter will slip like buggery.  The gearbox will rapidly overheat if allowed to run like this for extended periods.

As soon as the gearbox automatically shifts back to 3rd, or even better when the driver anticipates it will (which means any incline on the open road or speed under 80kph) manually shift back to 3rd gear.  Doing so invokes a torque converted lockup.  Drive in 3rd gear at any speed under 80 kph e.g in town, when towing a decent load.

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Hi John, Not knowing much about your car's service history, I'd probably start with a transmission service. If you're doing a fair bit of towing, it will add more strain on the transmission and heat up the fluid quicker resulting in fluid degradation, so get the fluid flushed or pan drained etc and install a separate transmission fluid oil cooler.

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