1KZ recommendations

[Bj70swb]

Hi.

I am going to get a 94 hilux surf tomorow (hopefully) and was wondering what the best mods to give it after i buy.

From the search I gather a 2.5in straight pipe exhaust system with dump pipe is a good option. (Where is a good place to get this done?).

Also an aftermarket trans cooler sounds like a good option also.

Any other recommendations/warnings about a 1KZ powered surf?

Cheers.

[kbushnz]

You have just opened a pandora's box with that question

As said, exhaust / dump pipe made a huge improvement...
Trans cooler will help...
Remove EGR system and clean out intake manifold.
Remove butterflys in intake system.
Push Boost to just under 14psi (fuel cut hits at 14 ish)

That should be enough to get you into trouble...
Search the forum....for each topic...heaps of info...

[SMOKEY]

FIT EGT GAUGE.

FITZY.

[kbjj]

70series, Prado, 1kz, what next? Do you still have that $500 that you need to spend? Are you going to ask more "how to" questions, waste peoples time who put the effort into replying, then do nothing?
Come on dude, you need to 1st work out what 'your' ultimate plan/vehicle is going to be, and work towards that.

[Bj70swb]

Yeah alright kjbb, settle

I don't know much about 90s or surfs, so i needed to know opinions before i bought, what's wrong with that? Anyway, who told you I 'do nothing'??
I'm trying to sell my 70 so I can fund the surf now, because this is 'my' ultimate plan, it just took me a while to get there.

Many thanks to the people who replied, I got the 1kz today and the mechanic said install a new main radiator (a radiator out of the manual model)?? . I'll then get a decent exhaust also.

Cheers.

[tallsam66]

Yeah alright kjbb, settle

I don't know much about 90s or surfs, so i needed to know opinions before i bought, what's wrong with that? Anyway, who told you I 'do nothing'??
I'm trying to sell my 70 so I can fund the surf now, because this is 'my' ultimate plan, it just took me a while to get there.

Many thanks to the people who replied, I got the 1kz today and the mechanic said install a new main radiator (a radiator out of the manual model)?? . I'll then get a decent exhaust also.

Cheers.

If its an auto id keep the original style radiator as the trans cooler in the factory ones are extremely efficent..juat put an extra trans cooler in to assist it.

[tweake]

If its an auto id keep the original style radiator as the trans cooler in the factory ones are extremely efficent..juat put an extra trans cooler in to assist it.

bugger that.
factory trans cooler may be efficient but in the early models it disrupts the flow out of the radiator and it heats up the water your trying to cool the engine with.

if your going to replace the radiator put a manual one in and fit external trans cooler.

[Bj70swb]

Yeah, forgot to mention, its an auto

The reason I'm thinking of replacing the radiator is because the mechanic said it would prevent cracking the head when towing etc. The current radiator is actually in good condition . He said replace it with an alloy rad for a manual surf, and get an external alloy rad for trans.

Is the radiator underneath the engine the air-con rad (some people say its for trans some say its for air-con? cant get a straight answer).

[jonossiksilvia]

rad under the engine is the ac one - thats if its roughly close to the same size as the rad then yes ac

[tallsam66]

If its an auto id keep the original style radiator as the trans cooler in the factory ones are extremely efficent..juat put an extra trans cooler in to assist it.

bugger that.
factory trans cooler may be efficient but in the early models it disrupts the flow out of the radiator and it heats up the water your trying to cool the engine with.

if your going to replace the radiator put a manual one in and fit external trans cooler.

The opening for the bottom pipe is way bigger than the opening of the thermostat when fully open ...so it doesnt make any difference....water has to flow thru the radiator relativliy slowly so it has time to cool.

[tweake]

afaik with the early ones the cooler goes across the front of the pipe. i don't know how much it blocked off but plenty of reports that removing the cooler helps a lot.
no doubt a big part of that is no longer having the cooler heat up the water your trying to cool the engine with.

[andrew007]

best advice i could give is get a exhaust temp gauge,drive by ,especially when towing.trans cooler so you don't cook the auto.remove egr.lastly take to toms offroad & get solid front installed.

[Bj70swb]

Thanks for the replies.

Have been reading up on other post here as well. So should I get an external alloy trans cooler and a good thermostat for my 1KZ And just leave the main radiator as it is?

[tallsam66]

Thanks for the replies.

Have been reading up on other post here as well. So should I get an external alloy trans cooler and a good thermostat for my 1KZ And just leave the main radiator as it is?

Thats what i have done ...but did get the tanks taken off radiator & it rodded to make sure was no gunked up.
The cooler i have got is a plate type as opposed to ther cheaper pipe type.

[Bj70swb]

Okay, so your main radiator is just the standard factory one? How does it go when towing or going up big hills etc?

Edit: Do you bypass the in radiator trans cooler completely?

[bronx89]

Whatever you do DO NOT get a fin and tube cooler, they do nothing and are a complete waste of money. Get a big 8cyl plate and fin cooler (spend the $$ on it and you will not be let down) then ditch the in-rad cooler altogether. Make sure you flush both the in-rad cooler and radiator out thoroughly and join the inlet and outlet of the in-rad cooler.

Also go to Toyota and get a genuine 72'c thermostat.

Check the fan clutch has fluid in it, if not then fill it right up.

Get a water temp gauge and EGT gauge.

Trust me, if you have an auto 1KZ then the very first things you will want to do are as above. Then you know she will be running very very cool and do not have to worry about the extremely annoying overheating and high temp engine and gearbox issues they have. You will also avoid fault code 42 and your truck will not die on the beach.

Then go for snorkel, 15x8s, 33x12.5s, lift, exhaust, boost etc.

[kbushnz]

Do you bypass the in radiator trans cooler completely?

Some people do and some don't...
I have mine going thru the after market trans cooler first then into the original internal radiator one next...
Never had an issue... even with beach driving....

As with all decisions... the call is yours, you will get all sorts of "points of view"...

[kbushnz]

Whatever you do DO NOT get a fin and tube cooler, they do nothing and are a complete waste of money.

Hey Bronx89, please explain this comment....I have been running one for over 10 years and its sweet... Works fine, drops temps.....Easy to clean and cheap.

[bronx89]

Sure, had one in my auto surf, did absolutely ZERO to temps in bith gearbox and engine. Got same size plate and fin and dropped temps of both engine and gearbox dramatically.

Down to personal preference I suppose but from my experience the tube and fin coolers are a complete waste of time if you have serious overheating or heat issues (as the auto surfs do when offroad or even pushed hard onroad).

So instead of wasting their time and money on a tube and fin I would advise going straight to a plate and fin.

And yes ditch the in-rad one. Leaving it in series will only bring back the heat issues. Before lets the hot gearbox fluid reheat the engine coolant, after lets the engine coolant reheat the gearbox fluid. The only result I got was by forgetting about the in-rad one altogether.

[zukmeista]

And yes ditch the in-rad one. Leaving it in series will only bring back the heat issues. Before lets the hot gearbox fluid reheat the engine coolant, after lets the engine coolant reheat the gearbox fluid. The only result I got was by forgetting about the in-rad one altogether.

So you are saying that having the trans fluid at it's proper operating temp is a bad thing? Why not just remove your thermostat as well, it will make the engine run nice and cold because of course the colder it is the better, operating temp, what a stupid idea.

[bronx89]

As soon as you take it offroad the trans fluid is not at its operating temp is it..neither is the engine.. If all transmissions ran at operating temps under all circumstances do you think there would be such a thing as an external cooler? They are available for a reason, not all standard coolers work efficiently for what the vehicle is used for. And the kzn130 auto surfs ones are barely up to the task of towing or carrying loads or steep long hills. You obviously don't have one.

EDIT: in case you had not noticed my comments are assuming it is going to be used offroad and not just as a run around town truck otherwise I don't think he would have initially asked about the trans cooler and radiator stuff.

[zukmeista]

There is no reason why the fluids shouldn't be able to remain at normal operating tempature offroad, I am not disagreeing with the fact that they may need additional cooling to do so. What I do disagree with is removing the factory trans cooler from the system, as once the aftermarket external cooler has done it's job the factory cooler setup brings the fluid to the right tempature for the transmission. IMO removing that is like removing the thermostat, yes it will run cooler but that is not what you want, you want it to be at operating tempature. As for owning a Surf or Prado, no I don't own one and never will but that is a topic that would be best discussed here.
http://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=33769

[tweake]

just to add to this...
i'm told running an auto cold is not a really bad thing, unless its well below freezing.

also the point that the stock in radiator trans cooler warms the trans oil up i think is a bit false. after start up the engine will warm up but radiator flows no water so its still cold, so no way thats going to warm up the trans.
when engine is hot the trans will already be more than hot enough from its own heat. lastly bottom radiator temp will be fairly cool, even if the trans is stone cold its not going to heat up it bugger all anyway.
so i think using the stock trans cooler to regulate temps is not very practical.

if your worried about it just fit a thermostat to the trans lines. there is some on TM at the mo.

[bronx89]

As tweake (someone who knows what they are talking about) said, avoid the in-rad cooler if possible as it just does not do a good job of cooling the trans when it is hot, or warming the trans when it is cool. Getting an external cooler and still running the internal, in my opinion, is completely pointless because no matter where you put it you will still be either heating up the engine coolant more than necessary or the trans fluid more than necessary, that is assuming you are going to be wanting it to run fine when it is taken offroad. And more than necessary heat in a Surf = overheating issues.

As tweake also said, I have been told by transmission experts that a an auto trans running cooler rather than hot is absolutely fine.

[BigSkellsy]

So what size would you guys recommend for a trans cooler on a kzn130?

[jonossiksilvia]

So what size would you guys recommend for a trans cooler on a kzn130?

http://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/Forums/ ... 22&t=33569

[BigSkellsy]

Thanks for pointing out my useless ability to use the search function. Though if I did things that way I'd never post!

[bronx89]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=541032072

Hit this guy up, he hasn't got any listings at the moment but that's the one you want, don't go any smaller. Some guys debate this but I agree that mounting it with the inlet and outlet on the side, and the outlet (return to gearbox) on the top to help prevent air locks and blocks is the way to go. Refer to picture I posted in the thread mentioned above (PS if you're good enough you don't need to take the bumper off to install, only the bash plate, headlights and grille).

Make sure you flush out the in-rad cooler real good too, so if it did ever crack it wouldn't contaminate your coolant with old trans fluid.

[1justin]

iv got the oil cooler as pictured above brought from b n t

ive got a manual alloy rad and going up porters pass with mid throttle it still started to creep up when i got to the top

my mates got a 90 series prado can foot to the floor up porters pass and his dosnt heat up at all

mine does have 33 tho and his has a egt guage

buy a trans cooler and a egt guage, and water temp if you actually want to know what your water temps doing

cheack radiator and lines for blockages cheack thermostat is working, then just drive to your egt gauge and you should be fine worry about the other things futher down the line once youve had the truck for a while and know if its having any problems with over heating

[BigSkellsy]

Thanks for all the help!
I did have a scare the other month when the temp gauge hit the roof. It turned out to be a tired rad cap. Funny how a $20 part has the potential to cause thousands of damage. Luckily I wasn't around the coast when I discovered the problem and managed to crank the heater and limp home without drama.
Put a new themostat in although it is the stock replacement and not a cooler one. A silly mistake as I remember putting a cooler one in my V8 mustang a while back.