1997 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER maintenance

New vehicle warranty
Your new vehicle is covered by the following Toyota limited warranties: For further information, please refer to the separate
Owner 's Guideº, Owner's Manual Supplementº or
Warranty Bookletº.
New vehicle warranty
Emission control systems warranty
Others
Your responsiblity for maintenance
It is the owner's responsibility to make sure that the
specified maintenance is performed. Part 6 gives de-
tails of these maintenance requirements. Also in-
cluded in Part 6 is general maintenance. For sched-
uled maintenance information, please refer to the
separate Owner's Manual Supplement/Mainte-
nance Scheduleº.
Accessories, spare parts and modification of your Toyota
A wide variety of non genuine spare parts and acces-
sories for Toyota vehicles are currently available in
the market. You should know that Toyota does not
warrant these products and is not responsible either
for their performance, repair or replacement, or for
any damage they may cause to, or adverse effect
they may have on, your Toyota vehicle.
This vehicle should not be modified with non genuine
Toyota pr oducts. Modification with non genuine Toyo-
ta products could affect its performance, safety or du-
rability, and may even violate governmental regula-
tions. In addition, damage or performance problems
resulting from the modification may not be covered
under warranty.

Publication No. OM60708U
Part No. 01999-60708
Printed in Japan 01- 9608- 00
Quick index If a service reminder indicator or warning buzzer comes on 54 . . . . .
If your vehicle will not start 136
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If your engine stalls while driving 139 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
If your vehicle overheats 139
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If you have a flat tire 140
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If your vehicle needs to be towed 146 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tips for driving during break- in period 114 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
How to start the engine 124
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General maintenance 157
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Complete index 197
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Gas station information
Fuel type: UNLEADED gasoline, Research Octane Number 91 (Octane Rat-
ing 87) or higher.
See page 126 for detailed information.
Fuel tank capacity: 70 L (18.5 gal., 15.4 Imp. gal.)
Engine oil: API SH, ''Energy- Conserving II'' multigrade engine oil or ILSAC mult igrade
engine oil is recommended.
See page 186 for detailed information.
Automatic transmission fluid: Automatic transmission fluid D- II or DEXRON [
III (DEXRON [
II)
Tire information: See pages 189 through 192.
Tire pressure: See page 207. 7
c

11 8
CAUTION!
When driving off-road or in rugged
terrain, do not drive at excessive
speeds, jump the vehicle, or strike
objects, etc. This may cause loss of
control or vehicle rollover. You are
also risking expensive damage to
your vehicle's suspension and chassis. Drive gently and avoid high speeds.
Your vehicle does not need an elaborate
break-in. But following a few simple tips
for the first 1600 km (1000 miles) can add
to the future economy and long life of your vehicle:
Do not drive over 88 km/h (55 mph).
Run the engine at moderate speed be- tween 2000 and 4000 rpm.
Avoid full-throttle starts.
Try to avoid hard stops during the first
300 km (200 miles).
Do not drive for a long time at any
single speed, either fast or slow.
Do not tow a trailer during the first 800
km (500 miles) FUEL TYPE
Your new vehicle must use only un-
leaded gasoline.
To help prevent gas station mixups, your
Toyota has a new smaller fuel tank opening.
The special nozzle on pumps with unleaded
fuel will fit it, but the larger standard nozzle
on pumps with leaded gas will not.
Do not use leaded gasoline. Use of
leaded gasoline will cause the
three-way catalytic converter tolose its effectiveness and the emission control system tofunction improperly. Also, this can
increase maintenance costs.
NOTICE
OCTANE NUMBER
Select Research Octane Number 91 (Oc-
tane Rating 87) or higer.
Use of unleaded fuel with an octane num- ber or rating lower than stated above will
cause persistant heavy knocking. If se-
vere, this will lead to engine damage.
Break-in period Fuel

121
Keep your engine in good running
order. Malfunctions in the engine
electrical system, electronic igni-tion system/distributor ignitionsystem or fuel systems could
cause an extremely high three- way catalytic converter tempera-ture.
If the engine becomes difficult to
start or stalls frequently, take your
vehicle in for a check-up as soon
as possible. Remember, your To-yota dealer knows your vehicleand its three-way catalytic con-
verter system best.
To ensure that the three-way cata-lytic converter and the engine
emission control system operateproperly, your vehicle must re-ceive the periodic inspections re-
quired by the Toyota Maintenance
Schedule. For scheduled mainte- nance information, refer to the
separate Owner's Manual Sup-
plement/Maintenance Scheduleº.
CAUTION!
Avoid inhaling the engine ex-
haust. It contains carbon monox-
ide, which is a colorless and odor-
less gas. It can cause uncon-
sciousness or even death.
Make sure the exhaust system
has no holes or loose connec-
tions. The system should be
checked from time to time. If you
hit something, or notice a change
in the sound of the exhaust, have
the system checked immediately.
Do not run the engine in a garage
or enclosed area except for the
time needed to drive the vehicle in
or out. The exhaust gases cannot escape, making this a paticularly
dangerous situation.
Do not remain for a long time in a
parked vehicle with the engine
running. If it is unavoidable, how-
ever, do so only in an unconfined
area and adjust the heating or
cooling system to force outside air into the vehicle.Keep the back door and back win-
dow closed while driving. An
open or unsealed back door and
back window, may cause exhaust gases to be drawn into the ve-
hicle. If you must drive with the
trunk lid open to accommodate a
large object, close the windows,
open all the instrument panel vents and have the heating or
cooling system deliver fresh air
into the vehicle by turning the fan
to high speed with the air intake
control set at the OUTSIDE AIR position.
To allow proper operation of your
vehicle's ventilation system, keep
the inlet grilles in front of the
windshield clear of snow, leaves, or other obstructions.
If you smell exhaust fumes in the
vehicle, drive with the windows
open and the back door and back
window closed. Have the cause
immediately located and cor- rected.
Engine exhaust cautions

122
FUNCTIONS OF ENGINE OIL
Engine oil has the primary functions of lubri-
cating and cooling the inside of the engine,
and plays a major role in maintaining the
engine in proper working order. ENGINE OIL CONSUMPTION
It is normal that an engine should con-
sume some engine oil during normal
engine operation. The causes of oil
consumption in a normal engine are
as follows.
Oil is used to lubricate pistons, piston
rings and cylinders. A thin film of oil isleft on the cylinder wall when a piston
moves downwards in the cylinder.
High negative pressure generated
when the vehicle is decelerating sucks
some of this oil into the combustion
chamber. This oil as well as some part
of the oil film left on the cylinder wall is
burned by the high temperature com-
bustion gases during the combustionprocess.
Oil is also used to lubricate the stems
of the intake valves. Some of this oil is
sucked into the combustion chamber
together with the intake air and is
burned along with the fuel. High tem- perature exhaust gases also burn the
oil used to lubricate the exhaust valve stems.
The amount of engine oil consumed de-
pends on the viscosity of the oil, the
quality of the oil and the conditions the
vehicle is driven under.
More oil is consumed by high- speed driving
and frequent acceleration and deceleration.
A new engine consumes more oil, since its
pistons, piston rings and cylinder walls have
not become conditioned.
When judging the amount of oil con-
sumption, note that the oil may become
diluted and make it difficult to judge the
true level accurately. As an example, if a vehicle is used for re-
peated short trips, and consumes a normal
amount of oil, the dipstick may not show
any drop in the oil level at all, even after
1000 km (600 miles) or more. This is be-
cause the oil is gradually becoming diluted
with the fuel or moisture, making it appear
that the oil level has not changed.
The diluting ingredients evaporate out
when the vehicle is then driven at high
speeds, as on an expressway, making it appear that oil is excessively consumed
after driving as high speeds.
IMPORTANCE OF ENGINE OIL LEVELCHECK
One of the most important points in proper vehicle maintenance is to keep the engine
oil at the optimum level so that oil function
will
not be impaired. Therefore, it is essen-
tial that the oil level be checked regularly.
Toyota recommends that the oil level bechecked every time you refuel the vehicle.
NOTICE
Failure to check the oil level regularly could lead to serious
engine trouble due to insufficient oil.
Facts about engine oil consumption

132
CAUTION
Always observe the following
precautions to minimize the risk of
serious per sonal injury or damage to
your vehicle: Drive carefully when off the road.
Do not take unnecessary risks by
driving in dangerous places.
Do not grip the steering wheel
spokes when driving off-road. A
bad bump could jerk the wheel and
injure your hands. Keep both
hands and especially your thumbson the outside of the rim.
Always check your brakes for effec-
tiveness immediately after driving
in sand, mud, water or snow.
After driving through tall grass,
mud, rock, sand, rivers, etc., check
that there is no grass, bush, paper,
rags, stone, sand etc. adhering or
trapped on the underbody. If the ve-
hicle is used with these materials
trapped or adhered to the under-
body, a breakdown or fire could oc-
cur.!
The driver and all passengers
should fasten their seat belts
whenever the vehicle is moving.

If driving through water, such as when crossing shallow streams,
first check the depth of the waterand the bottom of the river bed for
firmness. Drive slowly and avoiddeep water.
Take all necessary safety mea-sures to ensure that water dam-
age to the engine or other compo-nents does not occur.
Water entering the engine air in-take will cause severe enginedamage.
Water can wash the grease fromwheel bearings, causing rustingand premature failure, and may
also enter the differential,transmission and transfer case,
reducing the gear oil's lubricatingqualities.
NOTICE
Sand and mud that has accumu-lated in brake drums and around
brake discs may affect braking ef-ficiency and may damage brake
system components.
Always perform a maintenance in-
spection after each day of off-road driving that has taken you
through sand, mud, or water. Forscheduled maintenance informa-
tion, refer to the separate Own-er's Manual Supplement/Mainte-
nance Scheduleº.

136
TIRES
Ensure that your vehicle's tires are
properly inflated. See Chapter 7-2 forinstructions.
The trailer tires should be inflated to
the pressure recommended by the
trailer manufacturer in respect to the
total trailer weight.
TRAILER LIGHTS Trailer lights must comply with federal,
state/provincial and local regulations. See your local recreational vehicle
dealer or rental agency for the correct type of wiring and relays for your trail-
er. Check for correct operation of the
turn signals and stop lights each time
you hitch up. Direct splicing may dam-
age your vehicle's electrical system
and cause a malfunction of your lights.
BREAK-IN SCHEDULE Toyota recommends that you do not
tow a trailer with a new vehicle or a ve-
hicle with any new power train compo-
nent (engine, transmission, differen- tial, wheel bearing, etc.) for the first
800 km (500 miles) of driving. MAINTENANCE
If you tow a trailer, your vehicle will re-
quire more frequent maintenance due
to the additional load. For this informa-
tion, please refer to the scheduled
maintenance information in the Own-
er 's Manual Supplement/Maintenance Scheduleº.
Retighten all fixing bolts of the towing
ball and bracket after approximately
1000 km (600 miles) of trailer driving.
PRE-T OWING SAFETY CHECK Check that your vehicle remains level
when a loaded or unloaded trailer is
hitched. Do not drive if the vehicle has
an abnormal nose-up or nose-down
condition, and check for improper
tongue load, overload, worn suspen-
sion or other possible causes.
Make sure the trailer cargo is securely
loaded so that it cannot shift.
Check that your rear view mirrors con-
form to any applicable federal, state/
provincial or local regulation. If not,
install the rear view mirrors required
for towing purpose. TRAILER TOWING TIPS
When towing a trailer, your vehicle will
handle differently than when not tow-
ing.
The three main causes of vehicle-
trailer accidents are driver error, ex-
cessive speed and improper trailer
loading. Keep these in mind when tow-
ing: Before starting out, check operation of
the lights and all vehicle-trailer con-
nections. After driving a short dis-
tance, stop and recheck the lights and
connections. Before actually towing a
trailer, practice turning, stopping and
backing with a trailer in an area away
from traffic until you learn the feel.
Because stopping distance may be in-
creased, vehicle-to-vehicle distance
should be increased when towing a
trailer. For each 16 km/h (10 mph) ofspeed, allow at least one vehicle and
trailer length between you and the ve-
hicle ahead. Avoid sudden braking asyou may skid, resulting in jackknifing
and loss of control. This is especially
true on wet or slippery surfaces.

139

Avoid continuous speeding up and
slowing down. Stop-and-go driving
wastes fuel.
Avoid unnecessary stopping andbraking. Maintain a steady pace. Try
to time the traffic signals so you only
need to stop as little as possible or take
advantage of through streets to avoid
traffic lights. Keep a proper distance
from other vehicles to avoid sudden braking. This will also reduce wear on your brakes.
Avoid heavy traffic or traffic jams
whenever possible.
Do not rest your foot on the brake pedal. This causes needless wear,
overheating and poor fuel economy.
Maintain a moderate speed onhighways. The faster you drive, the
greater the fuel consumption. By re-
ducing your speed, you will cut down
on fuel consumption.
Keep the front wheels in properalignment. Avoid hitting the curb and
slow down on rough roads. Improper
alignment not only causes faster tire
wear but also puts an extra load on the
engine, which, in turn, wastes fuel.
Keep the bottom of your vehicle
free from mud, etc. This not only
lessens weight but also helps prevent corrosion.
Keep your vehicle tuned-up and in
top shape. A dirty air cleaner, improp-
er valve clearance, dirty plugs, dirty oil
and grease, brakes not adjusted, etc.
all lower engine performance and con-
tribute to poor fuel economy. For lon-
ger life of all parts and lower operating
costs, keep all maintenance work on
schedule, and if you often drive under severe conditions, see that your ve-
hicle receives more frequent mainte-
nance (For scheduled maintenance in-
formation, please refer to the separate
Owner 's Manual Supplement/Main-
tenance Scheduleº).
CAUTION
Never turn off the engine to coast
down hills. Your power steering and
brake booster will not function with-
out the engine running. Also, the
emission control system operates
properly only when the engine is run-
ning.!