RICE RACING

You don't seem to come off as someone whose spent time in the trade, if anything you sound more like a service advisor or admin person at a workshop who is just assuming based on stories you've heard or things you've seen

Nice work on assuming my profession too btw, too bad i actually happen to be a mechanic

There is nothing manly about leaving a sump plug loose on your car and having a seized engine while the car is still under warranty

Yes apprentices and qualified mechanics hate doing services, but that doesn't mean that they drive your car in, wash the engine and drive it out

You do realise that most places have some sort of way for every tech to clock on to jobs and that if a car comes back with a problem the techhy could lose his job?

And don't give me the **** about me caring more about my car then a mechanic, thats a given and i never disagreed with you there

Caring is not the issue, having the knowledge and skills is, coz shining your car every weekend isn't gonna make it run better

The majority of people out there wouldn't know which end of a spanner to hold and would only create more problems for themselves

I'll make this short:

If you can or want to service your own car, then absolutely do it, its great and you'll save money, but make sure you read up on what you need to do and are confident in doing it and have the tools required and leave it to a workshop till the cars out of warranty

I rest my case, you are a tool.

viper33 you are a certified idiot, stick to the IT world and stop tryint to be something you are not ;)

Sludge will only ever happen IF you use factory oil like in stealerships.

Look up 1 million mile Mobil 1 on youtube and see why I use this oil or equivalents (ENEOS Nippon oil in Japan is even better). Only use these two and you will be right.

Also do not ever run longer than 10,000km between changes.

p.s. up to 100,000km if regularily serviced will not need a flush, even on crap oil like from a stealership.......... but over 150,000km use it for sure if dubious on maintenance and crap fed through the engine.

BUT ............. IF you think a 15 year old high school drop out who cant read or write being overseen by another 40 year old grease monkey who hates life and his job, is a better option than you then that is your own free choice, as Clint Eastwood said famously I cant respect a man who does not know his own limitations.

So best for you to accept you are scared and useless and let the stealership bend you over with their "quality services" LOL (that is a computer laugh for those who dont know, I only use it to communicate on a level familiar with the generation useless :) )

And are you telling me that if you do the same thing 5-10 times everyday for 5 days a week for a whole year you will still provide it the same amount of attention and care every time?

Coz yes a lot of apprentices have a careless attitude to servicing cars, but thats because they know it like the back of their hand

And yes this occasionally leads to mistakes like loose sump plugs, difference is if they leave it loose the workshop pays for a new engine, you leave it loose you pay for the new engine

I am telling you or anyone you are a fool if you think someone else will take the care you yourself can, simple.

Trust someone else at your own peril. Most lube mechanics HATE their job as they are getting screwed by the stealership, pumped for every minute they spend on a job, no care is taken as you have been told by another contributor of senior years experience of dealing with these clowns. You too would hate life being paid $15 an hour and being micro managed as to how long you too a crap for in a toilet at work........... think about it.

You and anyone who is relying on a stealership to do your own work anyone can do at home are playing Lebanese roulet with your engines and your families life.

Take charge and responsibility and be a real man, send the woman in the kitchen to cook and clean and YOU go out in the shed and get off the itnernet and do some real mans work and service your own car! your woman may even think you are a real man and give you a special reward when you get back in the house ;)

Free tip for the day.

Don't bring up a new generation USELESS, do it yourself, and put the stealerships out of business, they sure as hell do not deserve to be ripping off Joe average cause he is too scared to work on his own car, like our forefathers did :)

Recently made an enquiry with a dealer finance manager for a new quote for a new Kluger,

Anyone else experienced a bad service from a Toyota Dealer???

Car salesmen are just people who cannot get a real job.

!

Bow down to you! that is 100% as it is!................. Turd vagina = car sales man

I did three runs this morning back to back @ the lowest fuel weight 2010kg all up test.

This is on the United 100 octane. Still using the Mobil 1 5w-50 engine oil

6.96 seconds (yes! repeat of my fastest ever run, but this time on united 100oct)

7.04 seconds (would have been 6.90 if not for wheel spin on take off)

7.02 seconds (final run of morning)

So 3 runs all within 5 minutes time frame and spread of 0.08 seconds, that is consistent ......... and just hard core in my books.

Average peak power in 2nd gear is 184rwkw @ peak. Next oil change I will try the ENEOS 5w-40 oil and see if there is a performance & power advantage.

Lol rice racing you make some good points but some very bad ones too

Leave the servicing to toyota while its under warranty, if **** goes wrong you have proof that its been serviced at toyota and so they'll take care of it

If theres leaks or things wrong with the car which you may miss, but the "****ty first year" won't will lead to getting it fixed for free while its under warranty rather than you never realising until its out of warranty and then try and blame it on toyota

And LOL at toyota using inferior parts, yes coz the **** you buy from china is really a lot better for your engine than stuff made by the company who made the engine

I do however agree that once its out of warranty a lot of basic service items can easily be done at home and you can save yourself a lot of money

LOL@ you fool

The Denso IT2 scan and ECU reset tool is actually made in China!!!! Not by Toyota in Japan ;)

And YES Toyota stealerships use crap engine oil on a bulk workshop contract! fact! you will only get garbage oil put in your car on your factory service ;)

You WILL only get snot nosed apprentice who just had a pull at lunch time in the toilet working on your car, good luck to you, you will need it and your warranty IF you take it to a stealership to get serviced by a kid and rubbish bulk oil put in your car.

Believe what you want to believe, I know cause I deal with all the stealers across all brands and train their kiddies for a living so I am qualified to tell you how it is. If you want to make yourself feel better on the internet then go ahead, but dont come crying later as someone did not tell you what is happening behind your back at your local stealership.

SERVICE IT YOURSELF!

What a RIP OFF!

Buy your own parts on line, plugs, filters, oil! and do it yourself!

Benefits?

No apprentice butchering your pride and joy!

The job will get done right!

You wont have sub standard oils used in your vehicle lol!

These cars are too easy to work on, and stuff all needs to be done to them honestly. Madness to go to a dealer and get analy abused like this.

Hi Peter, sounds like you are an expert when it comes to servicing cars. How hard is it to change the oil and filter of Kluger? Do you need special tools for these?

Super easy,

You only need one special tool to undo the oil filter cartridge, you can buy it from the spares department at Toyota or on line (just google it or ebay it). I bought mine on E-Bay.

You need this special tool, if you try to undo it with stilseners like some "authorized service agents" you will break the plastic body like I saw on a 200 series land cruiser that dumper all its oil and cost the owner $8500 in repairs!.

Its a pleasure to change the oil on the Kluger, once learnt you will never ever send it to the stealership again :)

Hybrids are a con, I'd never ever own one, total false economy, actually far far worse for the environment (proven fact) and they are a total con job so far as cost to your pocket once you have to replace the batteries!

I would shoot myself before I would by a car that is powered by batteries.

Now a Mechanical Kinetic Energy Recovery System now that is real engineering and something that is actually FREE, when a maker brings this out in common cars like is used by Porsche in endurance racing and Williams in F1 I will think about "Hybrids" but battery electric Dildo cars???? no thanks! I'll leave that for the cougars and old 2$ pubbies to play with in the privacy of their own homes :)

Stealerships make their money from servicing, using slave apprentice labor and inferior consumable parts and fluids, you are a mug if you let a "workshop" ream you for a service @ the end of the day.

Hi Peter, what about the warranty if anything goes wrong?

Zero, there is NOTHING that states you cannot service your own vehilce, if it was so then many garages could not service your cars as they are letting un trained apprentices actually do the work in the majority, Toyota for example in many stealerships are allowing first year apprentices to do your car and learn as they go along and make mistakes on your $50k+ cars ;) I could share stoires with you where 100k Landcrusers engines have been destroyed through sump plugs not being tightened................... IMHO fill out your own service book, make your own stamp fill out the checkk points and No one will ever cast doubt on where you got it serviced, in reality if you do it then it will be to a far higher standard than letting some failed school kid rookie learn on your car at the stealership ;)

Next servie I do to my FJ Crusier (due in 4000km) I'll document the procedure for those interested and post it up here, pics, parts, cost, tools required etc.

There is of course some stuff you need to get, but just like my father did in the 1970's I remember him buying his first basic tool kit! which he still has! and you do not need that many tools really, especially for a Japanes car. Sure doing major repairs like an engine or a gearbox rebuild you need special tools etc, but servicing is dead easy and the investment in parts/tools is well worth it and the self satisfaction and quality control you have as you are doing the work is priceless.

Honestly recommend it to anyone who is not mildly retarded or a couch potate IT worker or Reality TV fan, if you are a real man you will service your own cars ;)

These engines are much easier than many others too.

No timing belts to change!

No valve adjustments to be done!

No high tension leads ever to be changed!

Very very simple engines, and as good as maintenance free as you can get.

Set of sprak plugs @ 100,000km

Fuel filter @ 100,000km

and simply consumables (like brake pads) etc between, oil filters, air filters and token stuff at 10,000km oil change intervals, it just does not get any simpler or cheaper really............. great motor, and very very simple.

These cars are too easy to work on, and stuff all needs to be done to them honestly.

Do you service your own cars? if so, can you make a video the next time you service your car and post it up here to show us how easy it is :D

Yes ever since I was 18 years old I serviced everyone of my cars, I learned off my father who said he got ripped back in the 1970's from dealers to serivce his cars and I remember when I was a kid him buying basic maintenance books and teaching himself how to do these things back then.

So our whole family has NEVER paid anyone to service any car, from Jaguars to 100 series turbo Diesle Landcruisers and every car imaginable in between, mechnics is not hard, start off with some basic tools and some enthusiams and anyone I repeat anyone can do this for them selves.

it is amazing how much money people waste on getting 16 year old apprentice mechanics to butcher cars and be charged hundreds of dollars an hour for the "expertise" LOL

For modern cars it is even easier. I bought my own Toyota Intelligent tester unit IT2 from a China company which allows all factory resets and scans to be performed, so there is nothing you cannot do from your own back yard (this tool from Denso is $7000, but from China who make it for Denso LOL is uner $600! shipped to your door.) It is not madatory, but there is nothing you cannot do yourself, it has never ever been easier to find your own faults, isolate the problem, source the parts from overseas at far less costs than a local rip of Australian stealership and use premium parts, premium fluids and do a 100% adult personal care job that only yourself can do................ and all in the comfort of your own home with very basic tools. And do it right and have full faith in the job done, no one will take the time like you your self will, no one will ever do as good a job as you yourself, and that is a fact.

I teach automotive apprentices by the way :) as a full time job, so I see the **** that goes on, and we teach factory or stealership mechanics lol........... I would never ever trust any of them with my own car, or a poor ***** fully qualified one who hates life being paid $24 dollars an hour, while his work is being charged out at $85 to $150 dollars an hours depending on your location (country or city) the apprentice who is actually doing your oil and lube changes or major services is only working for $15 an hour and still getting billed out that the same outrageuos hourlt rates on your service bills LOL.....

Do it yourself ;) its not hard and it will save you a metic shed load of money.

What a RIP OFF!

Buy your own parts on line, plugs, filters, oil! and do it yourself!

Benefits?

No apprentice butchering your pride and joy!

The job will get done right!

You wont have sub standard oils used in your vehicle lol!

These cars are too easy to work on, and stuff all needs to be done to them honestly. Madness to go to a dealer and get analy abused like this.

Well since adopting this shut off method I have never had any kind of this noise ever again, I even went away with work for a 4 days and came back to fire up RICEFJ and quiet as a mouse!

Try it..... it works for me perfectly.

p.s. I do use Mobil 1 5w-50 oil................ I recommend to anyone who is not an avid reader of my posts to ditch the econocrap oil weight Toyota recommend to meet emissions *at the expence of engine life!* and use a proper grade/weight of oil in their motors if they care about them.

Time for a shift kit......which means the engine is still stock :) Ill bet there's nearly half a seconds worth there.....plus less heat in the trans.

I've hit up Mike at MV Autos in SA to have a look at the valve body. Nothing a few bits of stainless pipe and heavy srprings can't fix.

Hook a brother up !!! :)

If it makes a difference send him a link to here, I'm good to test it ;) and document the improvements :)

p.s. Got the bad boy down to 1/4 tank and it just flat out hauls!, I mean really pins you back for a big slut of a 4WD that it is, I just love it, got a feeling it will do 6.8's ???as is on a cool morning.... I know my Mobil 1 5w-50 (Lexus LFA spec motor oil cost me a few bhp so I have some ENEOS 5w-40 on order and in a few weeks will drop the Mobil and see the difference the lower viscosity in premo Jap brand will offer

Eitherway the FJ Crusier is just stupid, IMHO it's 1 full second faster than the much heralded Toyota 86 LOL.

After 1,000km run in totally standard AWD KX-S did 8.07 seconds on same road same conditions, so compared to the FJ (less wheel spin 8.34 seconds) they were pretty much the same I'd say especially if the Kluger had a full tank of fuel too......

The FJ Cruiser did take very well to the minor tweaks I did to its MAF sensor and also the air box, it needed this as it is set up from the factory to be compatible with up to 20% Ethanol, so the air fuel mixture unlike the Kluger was very rich! and this was killing the power!!! also the factory air box was STUPIDLY restrictive, which I fixed as detailed before.

OK VBOX3 figures

First is of a speed check, 100kph on speed = about 96km actual speed on my KX-S AWD Klugie

Next I COULD NOT RESIST! 0-100kph test had to see if I broke in engine good and if it has advertised power

** My Kluger had well over 1/2 tank of fuel, has tow bar and extras that makes it heavier than normal ** This was my first attempt. Showing test road start, and pull up after end of test and photo of figure

8.07 seconds ! 0-100kph distance covered 128.89 meters

I will do my service now and put in the new Mobil 1 0W-40 oil and also let the tank go down to a 1/4 and remove all extra crap out of the vehicle

I have no doubt it will crack a 7 sec 0-100 time! which is better than the other VBOX official test figure, lol is a heap better right now

Looks like my break in method has worked though, not used one ounce of oil and with driving like a total maniac now and a crap load of idling (listening to all injectors and bearings with my Automotive stethoscope) and 1st gear crawling around the farm for 10km its at 11.6lt per 100km! I cant believe it

So here is a simple back to back of how much better I made my FJ Cruiser. *along with dates of tests and reports*

Same road, same time of year, same weather condition, valid comparisons for actual gains of mods, power increase = performance increases = WINNING ! :)

Test one is at full tank of fuel after 1,000km run in

(8.81 seconds) *allot of wheel spin at start (wet patch), see delta times to use best take off from last test -0.47 seconds still makes it 8.34 seconds 100% stock standard

155rwkw peak power (averages between test lines shown in report below (around 146rwkw)

Last test is at full tank, total run weight within 7kg 15,000km on vehicle

(7.20 seconds) 1.14 seconds faster to 100kmh if you take the best take off from this run and apply it to the first test to equalize take off difference.

192rwkw peak power (averages between test lines shown in report (around 174rwkw)

+1.10 seconds reduction in 0-100kmh time !

+28rwkw average power gain across rpm range (36.4kw or 48.9bhp)

Interesting what you've done.

I just read through from the very first page.

About theKluger as i only skim read through it.

What mods were done for you to achieve the 0-100 in 7.1 secs?

Zero mods to engine. Just running Mobil 1 0w-30 engine oil.

That test was done with the spare tire taken off, cargo mat missing, no tools, jack, etc *weight was listed 1974kg as tested* and on a 5degC morning, best ever time setting. All other averages were around the ~7.5 second mark at full weight and standard temperature and pressure days, as detailed.

Kluger was a quick SUV, and very efficient too.

Quoted from page 3 (up to page 9 even more test info)

Well last bit of VBOX testing, filled car to the brim with 65.5lt of 98 Ultimate today still had testing gear hooked so on way home made a diversion and did a simple test

0-100kph *box left in drive & just stand on gas, TC on* (temp 19 deg C, 1005kpa low pressure day, altitude 25 meters, heat soaked engine after sitting in servo fueling up)

7.65 seconds.

So there it is, I did more testing than I should have but can 100% say that 7.65 is the absolute slowest she will do fully laden up, and when low on fuel 1/4 tank and in colder conditions she will put down 7.10~7.20 region for the above speed test.

Hope I have not bored you all too much

For your Aural Stimulation............... can't beat a mildly tuned V6 for character OR performance.

7.26 seconds 0-100kmh, full tank, normal take off :)

I might test her again now that its a bit more run in and the weather is nice and cool, very sure on 1/4 tank fuel it would do a high 6 seconds 0-100kmh time , manual shifting the gearbox and "spooling it up a bit" before a take off.............

My prediction was right ^ :)

Here is a link to a supercharged FJ Cruiser, tested at 1500m altitude, and that robs a big chunk of power, probably increases times by around 0.5 seconds.

Either way my FJ is faster :) good to see there is someone else in the world who uses VBOX gear to verify actual performance of these vehicles ;)

O.K. I filled it with 62 lt of United 100 octane (10% Ethanol)

Increase in car test weight (going to work, carrying more stuff and fuel) is +53kg (all accounted for in power calculations :)

Anyway the FJ def makes more power on the 100 Octane fuel, tested in same location (see graph) and its around 5 to 7 rwkw more power.

Time is slower @ 7.20 seconds *but not much* (full weight test) which is still amazing, lots faster than my old Kluger when tested @ full tank. The power was showing at peak around 192rwkw!!!!!

When the tank goes down to same level I'll test at the lower weight and see how fast it is at its best setting.

Today & Yesterday setting various software options my VBOX3 for an upcoming interstate tuning trip I did no fewer than 25!!! 0-100kph calibration tests and 2 full x 0-400 meter tests, combined with a fair bit of stop starting and idle time setting (note: large level of engine heat soak!) my data logger and Lap Top.

As a side note the 0-100kph times varied from a best (starting from cold and 10km drive to the first test location) of 7.74 seconds (with a two way average of 7.75 seconds!) on half tank of 91 octane fuel carrying some extra gear to a worst Today *after 10 runs prior setting up equipment* then laying down 8.26 seconds in what is basically the worst conditions to run a performance type test (ran 8.25, 8.26, 8.28 back to back to back no cool down between with hot inlet manifold) *basically on a fully heat soaked engine* and ambient temp of 20 deg C........ after a small cool down driving to the next test location it then ran 7.94 & 15.96 @ 141.92kph time, and on the return run (30 seconds time from first test *turn around and run down other way*) 8.01 seconds & 16.04 @ 140.20kph 400m time.

So the Kluger even when in pretty much the lowest quality fuel, the engine having been tested all day, and everything quite hot will still crack a 15 sec 400m time and never do worse than a 8.3sec 0-100km time it's nothing short of amazing ! I was expecting to see a greater drop off in performance on the low octane fuel and in the punishing testing schedule.

So there it is:

Best of 7.15 seconds (two way average) on 5 deg cold morning with higher quality fuel (95 and 98)

Below are all normal take off's, just stand on accelerator with no foot on brake etc & gearbox left in D

Follow up 2+ months later with 91 oct cheapo fuel of 7.75 seconds 2 way average.

And an absolute worst of 8.26 seconds (three way average) on an extremely heat soaked engine, followed up by 7.94 seconds after a short cool down drive, again on cheapo 91 octane.

^ Still faster than a Toerag anyway you look at it ^

^ This was the summary of many tests on my Kluger on page 4 btw...