Outer Limits 4x4 Board

hello, i am looking at upgrading my trusty feroza to a larger more comfortable ride. in my town there is a '93 3.0 liter turbo diesel auto surf for sale, has ~280k on the clock and looks rather neat and tidy inside and out.

just wanting to know the pro's and con's of these surf's. my folks had the oz delivered 4 runner years back with the v6 and it seemed a comfortable and capable 4wd.
i know the surf is a import, so that brings questions on part availability if things go wrong. i beleive it's the same engine as a prado? what else is the same? what can go wrong with them? eg. comon faults.

are they a capable off roader? i do a lot of beach fishing, so handleing sand is a must. the odd rock track etc. do they come with a stock lsd etc?

thanks to anyone that has some experience with these 4wd's.

Surf's and 4Runners are the same vehicle in most respects, the Surfs ussually have a higher standard of trim and turbo dieseasels in them. The 3.0l os the same as what is found in early Prados and T/D Hiluxs (1997-2004??). Many of the mechanical (and body) parts for them can still be bought brand new and shouldn't be hard to find 2nd hand.

Faults: some have head and overheating issues from memory have a look here http://www.toyotasurf.asn.au, friendly bunch of people who should be able to help you with any Q's you may have.

I reckon they are great vehicle allround and pretty capable for an IFS truck

To be honest I would steer clear of any automatic surf. Nothing but overheating problems caused by inadequate auto transmissions.

There is a surf forum that has a wealth of knowledge on these vehicles.

http://www.toyotasurf.asn.au" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I think.

thanks mico for the promt reply. i will have a gander through the surf forums.


UhhOhh, do you beleive it's the transmission itself? or rather lack of decent factory cooling for the transmission?

overall i would love a dual cab colorado/d-max, but just cant afford one of them. haha.

Hi mate you can read different peoples opinions on why they overheat as it's all pretty speculative. The constant seems to be that they do.

The two main arguments seem to be: inadequate oil cooling for the transmission, the oil cooler is small and blocks the coolant inlet (something that can be fixed) and the second being a small torque converter that causes the hot oil which can't really be fixed. Anyway like I said the forum knows heaps more about this than I do but that's the jist of it.

ive got a 3.0td auto surf, the problem is the tranny cooler blocks the bottom outlet in the radiator, changing to a manual radiator and fitting a big auto cooler fixes it

thanks for the replies fellas. i've scoured through the surf forum. even though there is certainly a over heating issue with the auto, the owners still seem to be happy with their surf.
i've read about the radiator issue and about installing a external trans cooler, both things are easily done. i have a good mechanical abilities.

i will take it for a drive when i get home next week, if it drives smoothe and impresses me then i might consider buying it if the selling accepts lower than what he has it advertised for as i do not beleive it's worth as much.

thanks again.