Newbie advice for taking care of car

For the OP:


A link to Toyota PDF of the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser maintenance guide.

One thing to note: spark plugs are due every 40,000 miles!

Otherwise take the oil change intervals and cut them in half. Every 5K miles.

Personally at 10-15K miles I would dump out the front and rear axle gear oil and replace it with the highest quality synthetic gear oil I could lay my dirty mitts on. Same for the transfer case. Get the original factory fill out if there to get rid of all the particulate matter from the gear sets burnishing in with one another during break in. The gear oil will probably look like hell the first time. After that you can run a good synthetic gear oil for a shockingly long time in an axle or transfer case and have it pour out 100K later looking like it’s damn near new.

The lifetime transmission fluid fill is total horse shit if you plan to hold the vehicle a long time. Drain the trans pan and refill every 60K and you’ll boost the longevity of the 8 speed to never need to worry about it unless you get it hot. If you ever get the transmission hot, do not keep that fluid in there get it all changed out ASAP just don’t do a pressurized flush out. If you plan to tow regularly or do a lot of low speed off road driving or you live in a hot area adding a stand alone transmission cooler will help your transmission out a lot.

As pointed out if the driveshaft and slip yoke have grease zerks use them.
 
Engine oil is becoming thinner and thinner, at least in Toyota land. 0W-8 is standard fare for the latest normally-aspirated 4-bangers. To think I used to run 20W-50 in VW beetles while operating in the southern Nevada summers. Of course I am sure the bearing clearances were much more liberal than nowadays.
 
RUN-8 said:
For the OP:


A link to Toyota PDF of the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser maintenance guide.

One thing to note: spark plugs are due every 40,000 miles!

Otherwise take the oil change intervals and cut them in half. Every 5K miles.

Personally at 10-15K miles I would dump out the front and rear axle gear oil and replace it with the highest quality synthetic gear oil I could lay my dirty mitts on. Same for the transfer case. Get the original factory fill out if there to get rid of all the particulate matter from the gear sets burnishing in with one another during break in. The gear oil will probably look like hell the first time. After that you can run a good synthetic gear oil for a shockingly long time in an axle or transfer case and have it pour out 100K later looking like it’s damn near new.

The lifetime transmission fluid fill is total horse shit if you plan to hold the vehicle a long time. Drain the trans pan and refill every 60K and you’ll boost the longevity of the 8 speed to never need to worry about it unless you get it hot. If you ever get the transmission hot, do not keep that fluid in there get it all changed out ASAP just don’t do a pressurized flush out. If you plan to tow regularly or do a lot of low speed off road driving or you live in a hot area adding a stand alone transmission cooler will help your transmission out a lot.

As pointed out if the driveshaft and slip yoke have grease zerks use them.
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I wonder at the reason for 40K plug changes? Not long-life iridium or platinum tipped any more?
 
They probably are still iridium.

My guess is cylinder pressures and combustion temps from forced induction beat them up.
 
Nuke said:
I wonder at the reason for 40K plug changes? Not long-life iridium or platinum tipped any more?
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The "Car Nut Guy" indicated they were iridium......

Reading the PDF looks like it's for emissions satisfaction.
 
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RUN-8 said:
They probably are still iridium.

My guess is cylinder pressures and combustion temps from forced induction beat them up.
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Well, hopefully they should be relatively easy to access. Some of the laterally mounted V-6's are a real chore, as I suspect the Tundra and GX500 are. Hey, possibly that is why Toyota opted for no engine cover. Right... LOL!
 
At least on the T24A-FTS there’s only one bank of cylinders and the DOHC layout means the coil on plug packs and spark plugs are right up top. Easy to access. Probably a 30 minute DIY job with the spark plug socket plus 6” worth of extensions. At least that is how deep the spark plugs on my Tundra 3UR-FE were in the cylinder head.
 
Nuke said:
Well, hopefully they should be relatively easy to access. Some of the laterally mounted V-6's are a real chore, as I suspect the Tundra and GX500 are.
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Tundra, Sequoia, LX600, and GX550 are quoted at about $600 for spark plugs and it’s probably not DIY friendly.
 
RUN-8 said:
At least on the T24A-FTS there’s only one bank of cylinders and the DOHC layout means the coil on plug packs and spark plugs are right up top. Easy to access. Probably a 30 minute DIY job with the spark plug socket plus 6” worth of extensions. At least that is how deep the spark plugs on my Tundra 3UR-FE were in the cylinder head.
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I hope so! Have noticed on the CarCareNut some of the dual-injection 4-bangers are not easy...
 
OP, I love hearing more people engaging on their own maintenance and car care. It's a dying skillset. Personally, I never take my vehicles to automated car washes because the brushes they use are brutal on the paint, and I don't like other mechanics touching my car because they're less interested in the outcome than I am.

Okay, that said, regarding the car wash kit, Chemical Guys will be an okay start. Or Adams. Over time you'll replace components with new chemicals and tools. Here are some basics you'll need from a kit regardless of what brand you choose:
  1. You need two 5-gallon buckets, each with a grit guard in the bottom. One will be filled with soapy water, and the other with rinse water. Dunk your mitt in the soapy water, wash a panel, and then rinse the mitt in the rinse water. Re-dunk in soapy water, and repeat.
  2. Drying cloths. Don't use home towels, which will scratch the paint. Make sure you get waffle weave automotive-specific cloths. My vehicles have a type of coating applied called graphene, and it's hydrophobic enough that a little forced air blows most of the water off, and I finish with a single waffle weave cloth. You'll want 3 to 4 large towels to dry a car.
  3. Wash mitt. I use a Chemical Guys chenille microfiber wash mitt for the most of the car, but I have another one that is a scrub mitt with more texture for removing stuck bugs. Use the softer one for most of the car and only resort to the scrub mitt for the bad areas where the chenille fibers aren't enough to clean off the gunk.
  4. Wheel mitt and tools. Don't mix tools/mitts between the wheels and body of the car. Have a separate set so you don't contaminate your body mitts with metal dust from the wheels. Bad things happen when you cross contaminate. Be sure to clean your wheels every time you wash the car, and do what you can to access the barrel of the wheel, which is where various tools come in. Brake pad and rotor dust builds up fast, and if ignored, can be exceptionally difficult to remove without strong acids.
  5. Auto glass cleaner. You'll see plenty of variety on the shelves. Stay away from home-based cleaners that use ammonia. It's best to buy an auto-specific variety, and personally I like Armor All. Cheap, readily available, and does a nice job cutting the bugs on the outside and the weird offgassing film on the inside. Stoners is another good option.
  6. Tire and plastics treatment. For this I only use 303 Aerospace Protectant. No silicones to sling and stain paint. No greasy feeling. Great UV protection. I use it on my boat and all my vehicles.
  7. Tire dressing (303) applicator. Find the little sponges made for applying dressing to tires. Spray some 303 on it, and then apply the dressing to the tire. 303 will start out looking wet, and then it'll absorb into the tire and turn a nice, dark matte finish. No gross glossy crap that slings all over your wheel well and paint.
  8. A bunch of microfiber towels. I recommend the Costco kit of yellow towels. I use these to dry the areas that are tough to clean during a normal wash. Think about the door frames and door edges that you don't see when the door is closed. Same with the rear hatch and the hood. After you wash and initially dry the car, open the doors, the hatch, and the hood, and use those yellow towels to the clean/dry all those areas. Also, I use the same towels to dust/clean the interior. Soak one clean towel in water and clean the interior surfaces, and dry with a second towel.
  9. Glass microfiber towels. I know, I know. I microfiber just for glass? Trust me on this. Most any brand will do, and they do make a big difference. The weave is WAY tighter on glass towels and leaves less lint behind. Worth it.
Okay, there's your basic starter kit for washing your car. This is kind of like looking down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland. How deep do you want to go? On one end of the spectrum you have automated car washes, and on the other you have concours show quality.
 
Oh, one thing I forgot: leather. Most "leather" these days is just vinyl. For vinyl, water and microfiber towels will be good for all the typical cleaning. The LC FE has some real leather. For real leather, quarterly to semi-annual cleaning and leather treatment. Tons of brands out there. Personally I like Lexol.
 
Nuke said:
Oh, there is a special threaded funnel one can purchase to make adding the motor oil much easier, and less likely to make a mess. Presumably this applies the LC, as it has for all of our Toyotas in recent memory. Amazon.com
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I think I read that the oil container itself has a matched thread and you can save one used container to cut in half and use as a funnel.
 
EOD Guy said:
To add to what the others stated......... Don't skimp on quality parts! Use genuine Toyota Oil filters, Air Filters, and lubricants. Most of the time they aren't that much more expensive than the box store ones and I know they are of the highest quality.
Many box store brands tout this and that about their QC and back in the day it was true, they were equal or higher quality than OEM. With so many knock-offs companies shipping parts and box store franchise owners may or may not have ethics, I just don't trust them for things like filters.

Oils are different, a formula is a formula, I personally use Toyota 0w20. I keep an eye out for Dealer sales events and purchase cases at a time. Some love Amsoil and swear by it, some Mobile One etc......... as long as whatever oil brand you decide, meets the min specs, they'll be ok as long as you actually change it!.

Concerning the interior, leather is a different animal than vinyl or cloth. For the first few years a damp cloth is probably all you need. I use Meguire's "Leather Conditioner" for my annual wipe down conditioning (NOT to be confused with Armor All plastic stuff). If and when leather seats get scratched or start to crack, I use "Doc Bailey's Black Leather detail kit" Hands down the best I have EVER used! It'll take a hard dry leather seat, hide the cracks and make the leather supple again.
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Regarding the oil filters, I saw an engineering-level comparison of oil filters and the Toyota filtration in that test was....disappointing. Normally I stick with OEM branded parts, but for the Toyota oil filter, I'll probably use USA-made aftermarket parts (Mobil 1 or Purolator).

If a lubricant is special to a manufacturer without an equivalent, then I definitely stick with OEM. Honda VTM-4 as an example. But I've found that lubricants get better with time and sometimes sticking with OEM may lead to using inferior fluids as a vehicle ages. Engine oils have gotten better with time, and same with transmission oils, differential lubricants, etc... Some OEM fluids have evolved with time, too, but many haven't. The most important criteria is that fluid meets OEM specs, and preferably exceeds it.
 
utahguy said:
"Regarding the oil filters, I saw an engineering-level comparison of oil filters and the Toyota filtration in that test was....disappointing. Normally I stick with OEM branded parts, but for the Toyota oil filter, I'll probably use USA-made aftermarket parts (Mobil 1 or Purolator)."
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Wish there was a method to procure the Japanese-made filters which are on the engine when manufactured. Well, IF the engine is manufactured in Japan. For the LC, I think yes... The thing is, during the warranty period, I tend to use OEM oil filters so as to not mess with a possibly warranty hassle/denial. On the tests I saw, the Toyota filters were not exceptional, but adequate.
 
My thought..... structurally the Toyota filter is good, filter media IDK, but ok I guess. I change oil and filter at 5K (give or take a couple 100 miles) regardless of where I'm at. With such a frequent refresh, doubt I'll ever have any issues......... well at least so far in the many vehicles I've owned....... except for a "Fram" issue.
 
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I’m a standard 5K mile filter and oil change guy too. Apparently it’s particularly important with the hybrids, but I have always done it with the big V8s too. It’s not expensive and it greatly extends the life of the engine.
 
Nuke said:
Wish there was a method to procure the Japanese-made filters which are on the engine when manufactured. Well, IF the engine is manufactured in Japan. For the LC, I think yes... The thing is, during the warranty period, I tend to use OEM oil filters so as to not mess with a possibly warranty hassle/denial. On the tests I saw, the Toyota filters were not exceptional, but adequate.
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All this talk of oil and filters reminds me of old RD Mercer. I miss that guy from KMOD radio.
 
shwazz714 said:
Okay I’ll admit this is my first real car purchase that I’m super excited about and have finally picked up some handy skills - nothing crazy but getting confident enough to try doing things myself knowing I won’t fully mess it up.

That said - I’d love to take control of maintenance for this Land Cruiser myself. My main question is - how do you know what to do when? I know there is lots of info on oil change frequency but how do I know about all the other things? Is there a generic timeline that should be followed or does it vary depending on car type??

Bonus question - going to buy at home car wash kit, what’s everyone’s favorite? For ease looking to just get a bundle like the ones chemical bros offer.
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Get PPF! Especially if you plan to take it on the trails.
 
ryroam250 said:
Get PPF! Especially if you plan to take it on the trails.
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Would this protect from, at least to some degree, brush scrapes? I see the value in PPF especially from highway gravel being thrown up and dinging the vehicle frontal area, especially with a white color.
 
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