Updates on 1HD-T big end bearing problems

The following information is offered as a service to our 80 Series Owners Online members and reflects the group's direct experience.

Update from Toyota: "Toyota Australia is aware of complaints from owners of '90 - '94 1HD-T (factory turbo diesel) 80 Series Cruisers regarding big end bearings. If someone suspects their vehicle is suffering, or has suffered from this problem, take the vehicle to your Toyota dealer where you will now receive a very sympathetic hearing."

A service notice has gone out to all Toyota dealers regarding Toyota's more responsive stance on this issue.

This is a heartening approach from Toyota which displays that Toyota sees Land Cruiser owners as being of great value to the company.

It is important however that your vehicle has an unquestionable service history.

Update: Since negotiations with Toyota took place, they have been most responsive in now approving past and current out of warranty claims for this failure. All claims to the group's knowledge so far have been approved. Dealers have been notified of the apparent problem.

The group's sincere thanks go to Toyota for reacting quickly and fairly.

Update: Some sizes of big end bearings are in short supply. At least 2 sizes at the moment. There have been a number of instances where vehicles are sitting in dealers' workshops for 2-3 weeks waiting for parts. In some cases, bearing shells the next size up are being installed to finish the job. Whilst this may still be within tolerance, it is by no means optimum.

An option for 1HD-T owners in this situation may be to use aftermarket bearings. ACL for example supply a copper/lead bearing which may in fact be superior to the factory aluminium/tin bearing. There may however be an issue with Toyota paying for any aftermarket bearing.

Again, hats off to Toyota for their attention to this issue. Generally the response from members has been one of praise for Toyota. There have however, been a number of instances where dealers (not Toyota) have been reluctant to act.

To our knowledge, all claims have been honoured. These include repairs performed by 4WD workshops.

Update: Looks like the parts supply problem is getting better with a better stock level now kept in Sydney. The notes of thanks to the group and to Toyota keep coming in and the repair seems to be quite routine now with dealers and good 4x4 workshops. Toyota are still routinely paying for the repair however there were some whispers about a note to dealers instructing them to affect repairs only when the problem became terminal.

Norm repaired another recently when bearing particles were found in the sump oil. May be a good idea to check sump oil from each service.

Update: Toyota warranty people have been backing away from paying the full amount when checking bearings. There have been a number recently throughout Australia where Toyota had agreed to pay only 1/2 of the cost. The vehicle age and mileage does not seem to affect their decision. This isn't a big deal if it's only a change of bearings. It simply means that one needs to chip in a few hundred dollars.

There have however been a handful of cases recently where crank journal damage was discovered as a result of failing bearings necessitating the removal of the engine and either grinding or replacing the crankshaft. In these cases, Toyota have not moved from their position of paying for only half the work. The bill to the owner understandably increases markedly.