New Truck

[Sausage]

Evening All

Well after no luck finding my truck after some so and so's stole it over easter ended up buying a 96 KZN185 all stock at the moment but plan on the usual eventually, just got a couple of questions from those of you in the know.

1. I assume these have the same over heading problem as the KZN130 with the auto trans e.g trans cooler in the bottom of the radiator restricting flow?

2. with 16's now whats the biggest tyres i can fit without too much issue prob just put 1 inch spacers in as dont want anything too high.

3. rear window wont go up and down with the key but will from inside all wiring seems ok in the back door is there a fuse somewhere that could of blown?

4. Any other specific problems that these have over the 130?

Any and all information appreciated

[KIWI_TERRANO]

hey mate, not so much of over heating issues but highly recomend aftermarket temp gauge.

The rear window wont go up or down if you have window lock on, you probably allready know that though.

bummer about your old truck , had seen it around was very smart looking!

[Sausage]

thanks mate yeah will sort a temp guage soon and yeah not the window lock it works fine with the button in the cab just the key not working will look into it more over the weekend, yeah still gutted about the old truck o well life goes on just gotta start again i guess. cheers for the help

[KIWI_TERRANO]

my mate has a pretty sweet kzn185.
4inch lift 3inch body and 35s , custom turbo set up and big front mount heaps of go

[Sausage]

hmmm bit over the top for me i think mate parob just gonna do a small suspension lift, bigger tyres, snorkel, some lights and that will prob do. But would love to see some photos of your mates

[Sleepn]

Good choice with the KZN185, they are a nice truck if you ask me.

I've just sold mine, you might have seen it on trademe at some point, listing is still up at the moment http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =376898645

I did a 50mm lift on that to fit the 33's, needed a bit of the guards chopped out though.

There is a relay in the back door which quite often craps out which may be the problem, I had the same thing. I have a spare one left over if you need it, if you take the cover off you can listen for the relay clicking or not.

[haydgq]

Well after no luck finding my truck after some so and so's stole it over easter ended up buying a 96 KZN185 all stock at the moment but plan on the usual eventually, just got a couple of questions from those of you in the know.

1. I assume these have the same over heading problem as the KZN130 with the auto trans e.g trans cooler in the bottom of the radiator restricting flow?

Is your's the factory intercooled version.? if yes they have the bigger radiator and also with the intercooler dont seem to overheat or have the head cracking probs of the non-intercooled surf's and hiluxs with the 1kzte, if yours is non-intercooled then it could have the same overheating issues as the other 1kz's.

Maintence is the key with these engines espically keeping the cooling system in tip-top condition and maybe even a larger Zorst to get some of the heat away from the engine quicker.? others might have a better idea if this is a worthwhile mod to these motors.

[crazyclark31]

if you want to put some long term reliability into it i'd recomend putting a bigger exhuast on(2.5in) and get an intercooler fitted.

The main reason the intercooled surfs dont have as many head issues is because they have colder intake temps.

Would also look at getting a trans cooler fitted esp if do a bit of towing. Helps take the heat out of the radiator.

[KIWI_TERRANO]

if you want to put some long term reliability into it i'd recomend putting a bigger exhuast on(2.5in) and get an intercooler fitted.

The main reason the intercooled surfs dont have as many head issues is because they have colder intake temps.

Would also look at getting a trans cooler fitted esp if do a bit of towing. Helps take the heat out of the radiator.

All surfs have 2.5 inch from factory, best upgrade is 3inch, and the overheating issue in the kzn130 is caused by the egr thing that every1 blocks off,
The kzn185s have a different block with bigger water flow but can still over heat cause of the egr, the intercooled ones are safer as they have the intercooler.

But with egr blocks and a 3inch exhaust it will have more go less fuel and less chance of cracking head

[crazyclark31]

if you want to put some long term reliability into it i'd recomend putting a bigger exhuast on(2.5in) and get an intercooler fitted.

The main reason the intercooled surfs dont have as many head issues is because they have colder intake temps.

Would also look at getting a trans cooler fitted esp if do a bit of towing. Helps take the heat out of the radiator.

All surfs have 2.5 inch from factory, best upgrade is 3inch, and the overheating issue in the kzn130 is caused by the egr thing that every1 blocks off,
The kzn185s have a different block with bigger water flow but can still over heat cause of the egr, the intercooled ones are safer as they have the intercooler.

But with egr blocks and a 3inch exhaust it will have more go less fuel and less chance of cracking head

Oh didn't realise they were that big in zurst. Am still learnong about the 3ltr surfs. But yeh def get rid of the egr crap
That by itself makes a noticable difference.

[Sausage]

righto so get rid of the egr how/where can i do that??? Thanks

[KIWI_TERRANO]

righto so get rid of the egr how/where can i do that??? Thanks

www.toyotasurf.asn.au

look through there they should have it, it runs behing had motor, i have just disconnected the vacum for it but am removing properly when fitting intercooler

[Sleepn]

+1 for that Aus forum, more specificially in the tech site you should find it, http://toyotasurf.asn.au/techsite/performance.htm

I haven't heard so much about the EGR causing the cracked heads as Kiwi_Terrano but it may be the case, it is stopping hot gasses recirculating into the intake manifold after all.

I took might right off and put plates over it, its a pretty easy job to do once you get into the bolts, can be a bit fiddly.


They have lots of useful bits on the KZN185's on the forums, I'm not sure I would agree with all surfs have a 2.5" exhaust, my factory 185 exhaust measures 2 1/4" might not be much but its close to a 25% increase in area. Regardless anyway, the biggest restriction is commonly seen as the dump pipe, it goes down to around 2" at its smallest, fitting a 2.5" or 3" dump pipe and then a 3" exhaust will help greatly, some are of the theory a 3" dump pipe will let the turbo over spool.

My 185 got quite hot on many trips up the ski field, factory auto and 33" on it, a large chunk of the problem in my opinion was the trans cooler heat exchanger that runs through the bottom of the radiator, firstly it is blocking the outlet port of the radiator partially, and secondly was the fact that without the torque converter locked up, if the vehicle was really working there is roughly a 20% loss in drive train through the torque converter, this can add up to a massive amount of heat been thrown into the radiator for it to soak up as well because its going through the bottom tank, I fitted a torque converter lock up and where I could use it (had to be going faster it made a big difference)

Other things to look at? The factory viscous fan, some people replace the oil in them, easy test to see if the fan is all good, get the vehicle hot, turn engine off, spin the fan by hand and if it goes more than 1/4 of a turn it may need looking at.

Apart from that the 185's are generally seen as less succeptible to head cracking than the older gen 130's but it definitely happens, mine definitely got warm on a few occasions but I could never find any signs of head damage etc!!

I did find the front mount intercooler I knocked up on mine helped a lot as well, never been a fan of top mount intercoolers for the heat soak factor, but a lot of people go on about getting mud in the intercooler...

In that case in my opinion if my intercooler, which was over 1/2 way up the radiator was full of mud, then my radiator would have been so full of mud it wouldn't have made any difference, and having a front mount intercooler caked with mud is no worse than having no intercooler!

Hope this heaps a little! Just some of my experiences on the 185's for you.

[Sausage]

wow! thanks for all that ok so next question from all of that is tourque converter lock up how? why? what? do the 185's normaly have an extra wee cooler in front mounted on the grill? ill try get a photo and put it up just thinking it may already have a external trans cooler

[tallsam66]

Wow...youve opened a massive subject.
All the 1KZ-TE motors can crack heads.There are many different opinions on why ...but the general concensus is because of overheating from various places.
Here are some of the most common reasons why it might happen..no single thing alone is thought to cause it but a combination.
Exhaust size too small....install a big bore exhaust & remove the massive muffler & resonator & replace with a low restriction type.A dump tube will also help to get rid of the exhaust gasses faster (& heat faster).
Install a Turbine Inlet Temperature Guage (EGT gauge) before the turbo...this will allow you to monitor pre turbo temps so you can keep your exhaust temps down (Also helps you drive more economically)
Install a lower temperature thermostat...the late model Prado thermo stat opens at 71 as opposed to the factory one at 82.
Install a trans cooler in addition to the factory radiator cooler.
Disconnect & remove the EGR..this stops hot exhaust gasses intering the combustion system & also the ingress of gunge.
Top up the fluid in the viscous fan hub...this will make it more efficent.
Modify the factory temp gauge to make more sensitive..this will allow you to see earlier if the temp is going up.
When doing any towing dont use overdrive..this will tend to overheat your auto & put extra heat into radiator.
Remove the aircon ...the aircon radiator tends to block airflow of the radiator.
In aussie they sometimes move the factory transcooler to the side moving it out of the way of the bottom hose.personally i feel this doesnt make any difference ad the opening is still way bigger than the thermostat opening & you dont want water to flow thru the radiator too fast anyway as its needs time to cool down.
Thats all i can recall for now ...lots of info on it here
http://toyotasurf.asn.au/forum/

[crazyclark31]

Wow...youve opened a massive subject.
All the 1KZ-TE motors can crack heads.There are many different opinions on why ...but the general concensus is because of overheating from various places.
Here are some of the most common reasons why it might happen..no single thing alone is thought to cause it but a combination.
Exhaust size too small....install a big bore exhaust & remove the massive muffler & resonator & replace with a low restriction type.A dump tube will also help to get rid of the exhaust gasses faster (& heat faster).
Install a Turbine Inlet Temperature Guage (EGT gauge) before the turbo...this will allow you to monitor pre turbo temps so you can keep your exhaust temps down (Also helps you drive more economically)
Install a lower temperature thermostat...the late model Prado thermo stat opens at 71 as opposed to the factory one at 82.
Install a trans cooler in addition to the factory radiator cooler.
Disconnect & remove the EGR..this stops hot exhaust gasses intering the combustion system & also the ingress of gunge.
Top up the fluid in the viscous fan hub...this will make it more efficent.
Modify the factory temp gauge to make more sensitive..this will allow you to see earlier if the temp is going up.
When doing any towing dont use overdrive..this will tend to overheat your auto & put extra heat into radiator.
Remove the aircon ...the aircon radiator tends to block airflow of the radiator.
In aussie they sometimes move the factory transcooler to the side moving it out of the way of the bottom hose.personally i feel this doesnt make any difference ad the opening is still way bigger than the thermostat opening & you dont want water to flow thru the radiator too fast anyway as its needs time to cool down.
Thats all i can recall for now ...lots of info on it here
http://toyotasurf.asn.au/forum/

yep what he said

[Sausage]

Ha fantastic thanks again for the weath of information appreciate it. just one thing on the tyres, how big can i go on the standard toyota 16's with only a small suspension lift?

Cheers again in advance

[KIWI_TERRANO]

Ha fantastic thanks again for the weath of information appreciate it. just one thing on the tyres, how big can i go on the standard toyota 16's with only a small suspension lift?

Cheers again in advance

My mate had 285/75 r16 (33 in old terms) but had 3inch body 3 inch suspension.... trying to get some photos for you

[Sleepn]

I had exactly the same tyres on mine with just a plain 2" suspension lift, had to take the running boards off and play around with a few little bits that stick out under the guards but never rubbed.

The torque converter comes on automatically above 80km/hr I think it is anyway, but if you're towing at lower speeds it can help a bit, the switch just lets you manually select it, most of the issues have been fairly well covered now.

[Sloop]

I have a 2000 model with intercooler I put 8 seater Prado springs in it on standard struts. front about 1.5% lighter, rear about 10% Heavier. Surf sits 3/4" higher, handles a lot better and takes a load better too.

As for tires I am running 265/75 R16 A/Ts on standard rims with no mods

As to heads cracking I have been informed there are four versions of the head the last of them the best of the lot but I have on idea as to how to identify them.