heads up

[surfenstein]

this is what this thread is for,to do our own internal investigation and to get some feed back as to what ,why and how the heads go,i agree there must be several reasons why they go. with the bad cooling system servicing,yes if we go offroad the rads do get bunged up with mud and crud.so preventative procedures should/could be put in place.with reference to the manual g/boxes it would be good to find out if any one with a manual g/box has had a head crack.or is it just the autos that are cracking. the radiators themselves,what state were/are they in when the heads go.etc,all this info needs to be put in one place,and peoples ideas need to be discussed and lets see if we can focus on a common cause.if there is one.

[Apache]

my opinion is the outlet on the rads bottom hose, its partly blocked by the tranny oil cooler.

I'm sure it doesn't help John, but have you seen how much the stat restricts the flow, even when open?

Could always fit a manual rad and a seperate tranny oil cooler, but I reckon just fitting a cooler helps enormously.

[Predictable Bob]

160,000 km
Factory Intercooled 3rd Gen
Bought with front accident damage at 60,000 from UK owner
Had local 4x4 company do a full service including all fluids

EGR Mod and ATF cooler fitted

Had overheating on long hills in the south of France while full loaded towing 1300kg caravan (Not sure if this was pre ATF cooler). Ambient temp 40 C !

Rad was probably holding some of Salisbury Plain despite several attempts at cleaning

Dr Anglegrinder fitted a replacement Roughtrax rad last year - the old one was full of gunge so the 4x4 company didn't do a good job of the fluid change !

Had some overheating a couple of months ago, Tony had the head off and checked - all OK BUT it appeared to have been off before and not replaced properly as a locating dowel was missing and the head gasket (Not OEM) was damaged. New Toyota gasket fitted

No problems since (but it's not really been asked to do any real work yet)

[mud skipper]

I'm sure it doesn't help John, but have you seen how much the stat restricts the flow, even when open?

Could always fit a manual rad and a seperate tranny oil cooler, but I reckon just fitting a cooler helps enormously.

nope, aux cooler didn't help my 2.4 nor did a kenlowe.

stat has to restrict the flow to enable the engine to get up to temp.
tranny oil has to get up to temp aswell.
over cooling is not an option its dangerous.

[JUDWAK]

i use a power full steam washer after every off roading done
i clean the rad out

i think my self that its mainly down to how its looked after

i batter mine but look after it too

if most of you with heads gone have not done the above after off roading
that could be a big cause for problems

also i notice that some have too many lights on the front bumper this stops air flow cooling the rad
some people are just lazzy and dont servise there surfs at all

for this to be a cause finding thread it needs to be kept honest

i may be luck that my head has not gone yet
but i servise mine a lot so i dont think iam lucky
i think my servise's keep it running sweet
i flush the coolant system at least once a year
how many people do that on here
i leave it flushing for about a hour
i worry about it over heating thats why

[tonupteabag]

i was thinking about this myself as i've been using the surf as my everyday vehicle, i was also very paranoid about the cooling issues associated with it. well after a bit of an inspection i found the rear matrix and pipework blocked so that was dealt with and flushed out, the next one was to take the front number plate off as this was a 71/2" x 11" this was replaced with a standard uk front plate that i mounted on the bullbar itself as it has a piece that runs in front of the bumper, this freed another fair sized area under the bumper for air flow, i have looked at the radiator and the bottom part of the fins are not looking too healthy so ive got have it replaced at some time in the future i also put a bleed section in the topmost matrix pipe for easier bleeding and yet i'm still paranoid about the cooling system i check the water every couple of days i've also fitted an after market temp gauge because of the useless toyota one being so inaccurate, and after all that i'm still looking for other ways of improving the cooling but on a very small budget as i'm as skint as a skint thing

[yoshie]

Check the hard pipes under the truck if you have rear heaters.
They rot like brake lines and lose coolant under pressure.

[BUSHWHACKER]

Check the hard pipes under the truck if you have rear heaters.
They rot like brake lines and lose coolant under pressure.

Thats the reason I don't re-connect the rear heaters in these conversions.

[s car go]

Mines a 1995 UK 4Runner with manual box
155,000 miles
Don't know if she's had another head or not as I've only had it sinche march.How would you know if its a replacement head???
I got a wadge of paperwork with it but no bills for a new head so I assume its the original.
Thought I had a head issue a couple of months ago as she was blowing off coolant at the top of the long up hill motorway drags over here.The last couple of months i've been using the 50/60 MPH RN routes ( B roads) and I have not lost a single drop of coolant.Think my issue is the viscous!

I had a 1990 Hi-ace a few years ago which I think is the same 2.4 ltr engine,but with a cast iron head,and that cracked the head.It still ran good though untill the piston partially siezed and knocked out the big end.

Regards

Mark

[DaveHMS]

I too was wondering how much the big rectangular front reg plate mounted on the A bar affected the airflow. I think that I might get a 'normal' plate mounted on the front bumper, out of the way .

[Koi]

My first Surf was a 2.4 manual fresh import ( no tranny cooler) but with air con rad behind main rad not underslung, .
Probably like others I did the minor things as soon as I got it, oil, filter change and new coolant. Old stuff that came out was like a thickish treacle.

Almost one year to the day the head cracked.

Fitted new head (from Stevo) myself then flushed the coolant system out as well.
Was surprised to see some of the old dark coolant still coming out. I used a hose off the mains and fixed it to every pipe i could and flushed the system out every which way, disconnecting pipes underneath truck to rear heater etc. Couldn't believe the amount of lumps of old coolant still coming out.
Filled system up with a good antifreeze ( this time it took more liquid than the first time i refilled it ? maybe so much old stuff still in it)
I also noticed that it took longer to warm up from cold, maybe that was because the pipes were pretty blocked with the old stuff and restricting flow?

Always cleaned rad fins out after off roading.

Two years later to the day I sold it no more problems.

I did read somewhere years ago the coolant they use in Japan solidifies in the climate over here?? so could restrict the flow around the system.

May be worth those contributing to this thread to state if they bought their Surf as a fresh import or if it had been in this country already for some time?

[JUDWAK]

my surf was imported by some bird in bury st edmonds
my mate got it off her for galaxy motors in bradford
it had some bad work done to it but the head was not one of them
i got it from my mate before he got life
it had done about 1000 miles or so since being imported

i have looked after it the same way since
my rad leaked and it over heated i had it in my head the head had gone
changed the rad it was fine

[BioHazard]

My old 2nd gen was a fresh import ..... the head never went on it ...... the water pump did though and i caught that , i also had it over heat with mud but caught that quickly as well when the bottom end died the head was sold and as far as i know still going strong on someone elses truck .......

The one thing i did do was clean the cooling system and replace cap and stat , the importer had claimed that it was done as part of the service .....but the lot got done again as well as a engine flush .........

I still say it is lack of care that causes the weak point to crack

[KERRSURF]

92 3.0 bought and ran for 4 years nearly, lots of mods, suspension and other mud stuff, nothing on the engine except block off EGR vac pipe.
Regular servicing, good quality air, oil and fuel filters used.

Towing on motorway and I noticed the temp going up, pulled over and let it cool.
Off roading I cooked off a bit of water/coolant on a very hot day, topped up and drove for a good few months, noticed very small amounts of coolant being lost.

Changed rad, flushed system.

Head went.

The truck still ran well (apart from the system being pressurised and the sauna coming out of the exhaust)

I think the head cracked in stages, when it came off it had 6 cracks but I think this was a gradual process and it didn't just suddenly go.

[mud skipper]

re Koi's post

when i flushed the system out on my old 2.4 i had different colour antifreeze coming out of different pipes. very poor circulation, never did the head go but for those that remember i had overheat probs.