Toyota Land Cruiser 2007 Problems

Coolant leaks can be very tricky things, often starting at one point and then running down a hose, bracket or wire to drop on the ground where you’re not looking for them. If you definitely can’t find a leak, however, you need to start looking for another problem which could even be a leaking head gasket which is allowing the coolant to enter the engine’s cylinders.

The first thing I’d do, however, is change the radiator hoses., If they’re flattening out when the engine is running, that suggests they’ve collapsed internally and are unable to cope with the suction created by the engine’s water pump (which circulates the coolant around the engine). Even if the hoses look fine, they can be damaged inside and, left this way, can cause a blockage in the cooling system which can lead to the engine overheating. Perhaps this is already happening, and allowing the boiling coolant to escape the system via the pressurised radiator cap or the overflow system.

Toyota's super-conservative service intervals — like its tow ratings — are a pain but the company is not money grabbing. They have just about the cheapest capped-price servicing plan in the business and in many cases will give you six services for less money than you'll spend for three with another manufacturer. They also have a better reputation for reliability than the Europeans and the parts are cheaper.

Toyota Australia spokesman Stephen Coughlan says a filter change is part of the 40,000km service. He also says the most likely cause of your problem is dirty fuel, which is common in remote areas, and agrees a spare filter is a good precaution for any vehicle tackling a long run in the Outback.

You won't buy anything new for that sort of money; a used 2007 Landcruiser would still soak up all of your budget. Perhaps go for something like a used Ford F250; that would have all the towing capacity you need.

For starters you need to find out what caused it to stop, there is any number of things that could have caused it to stop, and depending on what is found you might have some recourse to Toyota.

The offer that Toyota has made is a pretty standard one across the industry, one that's generally determined by the age of the vehicle. In this case the car is seven years old and has done 180,000 km, so it would be a stretch to say you had a claim for the whole cost of the rebuild. The question is how much Toyota should contribute and that's hard to answer. Half of the cost of the parts I would think isn't enough; I would say that the bill should be split down the middle.

It’s hard to say. If the piston was holed or melted because of an issue with the mixture and the piston failure caused the engine to seize it could possibly be blamed on the LPG, but it’s unlikely that the LPG caused the problem.