blkr6

Changing ATF is cheap insurance. i change my ATF every 32k KM and until this day my transmission shifts like the day it came out of the assembly line. (even after towing stuff thats not supposed to be towed with a car ) change them atleast every 40KM and your transmission will last a long time.

ill be flushing my brothers ATF tomorow and ill write a DIY for you.

change your fluid out i belive it uses nissan Matic D oil. most modern day universal Dextron III ATF meets Matic D specs.

i personaly think 15w-40 will work well in an old car in Sri lankan weather. the W next to the 15 stands for "winter" which is for cold weather starting, so the first number is not a huge consern in Sri Lanka. when the car gets older i would use a thinker oil. Older engine shouldnt be based on the miles or years. Miles are just a number, age of a engine is significantly based on how you have maintained and driven it etc... my car has 130k Miles (208km) and i have always used 0w-30 full synthetic. eventhough i have a heavy foot i burn oil only 300ml for every 5kmiles. to me thats a good engine and i will continue to use 0w-30. when my engine start burning more oil and compression numbers are lower than specified then i would switch to 0w-40.

What i Personaly use 1. foam Cleaner from Turtle wax that works awsome 2. Blue coral Cleaner 3. Tide Laundry detergent with terrabytetango's method (safe and works very well)

Run the engine hard as possible. (there is a process to it). i usually do it on a dyno.

1. Properly Maintained car (kavvz's points) 2. Clear Head (no alcohol or lack of sleep) 3. Clear windshield, good wipers, working headlights (keep them on even in the day time because you can be seen) 4. follow the speed limit (its there for a reason) 5. Keep the proper distance between you and your car front of you 6. stay between the lines again lines are there for a reason. 7. Slow down when its Raining or foggy 8. if you see an animal crossing do not make panic maneuver to change lanes or stop suddenly. you can easily kill you self or others on the road. Human life worth way more than a life of a animal.

if its a rebuild engine there are two ways to break-in. one is is you drive it like you stole it (cannot be done legally in anywhere in the world), other way is keep your rpms low and do not keep in steady rpm for long. this is how my buddy breaks-in his motorcycle

I had an old 89 Volvo 240 wagon for 3 months. ugliest car ever but they will run forever!. i cant tell the same for the Volvo's made in the past 10 years.

i havent heard of coolant damaging the radiators. coolant actually extend the life of the radiators.

I left Sri Lanka when i was a kid and visited Sri Lanka last June after 10 years. I took a bus from petta to Trinco. after that i took a three wheeler to Nilavali Beach. Met some Germans had the best time of my life with them. check out pegion Island, its the best place on earth!

thats the first time i ever heard that. coolant does the completly oposite.

toyota dont focus much on design. they are more focused on reliablity, fuel economy etc. I love to buy a new Ford explorer because they are sexy but reliablity is kinda questionable. i want to see a manifacture that make it a win-win.

Prado and 4runner shares the exact same Frame

You are Welcome! let me know if you have any other repair related questions. i love help and i am glad to hear feedback!

in Sri Lanka you don't actually needs coolant. because weather will not get hot or cold enough to modify your boiling and freezing points. in these situations water will cool the car better than coolant. Benefits of coolant in Sri Lanka Would be rust prevention and Lubrication. Coolant is not that expensive if you consider the benefits. Radiator, water pump, hoses going to last much longer and there wont be any rust at all. Coolant these days are very advance and they will last a long time. my 1979 Toyota pick up has the original radiator and i changed the original water pump last year (not because it went bad i changed it because its old) My 1991 Camry water pump failed after 21 years my 1998 Avalon has the original coolant and hoses, yes i NEED to change it but still looks like the day i bought it. (manufacture recommends to change at 100k miles)

just the regular green coolant. works way better

i know you are lil bit slow im just letting know..... its not an argument or selling point etc.... its just a disscussion about coolant

Dexcool eats away headgaskets in certain GM engines. so many engines like 3.1, 3.8 and Notrtsar Caddilac engines all have head gasket problems. i have changed my buddys transam headgasket twise and found out its the Dexcool coolant is causing it.

dont expect much, but it is a realiable mediam range brand. Brands like jenson, Power Acoustik and Dual offer good bang for your buck.

what kinda car?

water has the best cooling properties but it has its limitations 1.water has lower boiling point and when the water starts boiling engine overheats. 2. water has higher freezing point and in colder climates water freezes (freezing water=cracked block) 3. corrosion Antifreeze/Coolant extend the freezing and boiling points of water while preventing corrosion. you have to use manufacturer specific coolant because some cars are sensitive what kinda coolants they use on their car. Ex: VWs use G12, Chevy uses dexcool (even though dexcool is the worst coolant ever!)

use to not much anymore and i was in Baltimore last week for a meeting.

Statisticaly speaking problems are very minimal with toyota hybrids. there are always bunch of lemons in any car manufacturer. i know a taxi guy with 302k Miles (486km) on his camry hybrid. that dosent mean all toyota hybrids go 300+ either.