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Service Intervals & Off Road Maintenance


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For any vehicle doing every week offroading is considered as an extreme or adverse condition and all service schedule should cut by half or slightly more than that.

I use 10k km fully synthetic oil and change that at 6k km.

For those still at mineral oil, please switch to fully synthetic oil for better all round lubrication under high revs during offroading.

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That’s a great tip and great info @Gaurav. I will do that going forward...

Question: for those of us who use the dealer every 10k for service, would we then shorten the dealer service visits to every 6k? Or do we change oil/fluids every 6k and then still go to the dealers every 10k for regular service (filter cleaning, brake check, AC filter, etc)?

¡Now I’m confusing myself! I don’t have the mental propensity to process such complex matters 🤣

Edited by Ahab Shamaa
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This is what I do ( maybe overdoing to some while peaceful to my mind ) 

1. weekly 

After each drive ,using my air compressor , i open the bonnet and air jet the surface then comes the air filter and its box. 
I take the car and lift it up and inspect what ever can be seen ( mainly lower arms , bushings and tow points especially after tugging and being tugged that day ) after that complete jet wash. 
( probably my X is the only one which doesn’t squeak ! )🤪

offcourse routine check to the fluids by self just day before the event 

2. At 8k I change the engine oil I use personally the 5W40 fully synthetic and feels like driving on cotton ( smooth rumble as if not heard ) and along all other checks 

3. I check half way specified time for rotein service and for me breaks and suspension is number 1 priority 

 

Edited by Mohamed Seidam
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24 minutes ago, Ahab Shamaa said:

Now I’m confusing myself! I don’t have the mental propensity to process such complex matters 🤣

@Gaurav thank you for this guidance. 
 

@Ahab Shamaa see I wasn’t going crazy trying to make this puzzle fit :) ... having a service pack complicates all this as it’s a great idea for the regular services but now we condense certain maintenance works (oil etc) we need to now plan how and when to best use the service entitlement vs doing work in an independent.  
 

I’ll give the dealership a call  in the new year and reply back here their recommendation and even quote for the oil etc.  if you (or others) beat me to it ... please do post a reply here.  
 

isnt this community powerful!  The above info isn’t easy to find via Google (or Bing :) ).  Thank you again all that replied so far to this thread 

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With more off roading you will become almost a mechanic or half mechanic I would say 🤣. You will learn to do your oil checks, air filter cleaning , checking your diffs for oil leaks, inspecting and understanding your car in more detail.

Halve your service interval times if you are doing weekly off roading or more  as Gaurav mentioned,  will save you from a lot of surprises on sand.

Generally FJC are great cars which give very less trouble if maintained properly. Good luck buddy

Edited by Chaitanya D
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@Mohamed Seidam thank you for sharing!  This care for our cars I don’t believe is over the top and people like me, with zero mechanical skills or background, it helps us start building these new skills/competencies. 
 

I actually inspect the underside when I wash but will now need to look at the suspension parts you mentioned and learn what to look out for!  Will hit up YouTube this evening to see what to spot and again appreciate you sharing your routine! I want a squeak free and cotton like ride forever also 
 

@Chaitanya D I cannot wait to become a 1/2 mechanic :) I will shake hands if I get to even 1/100 as today I am completely hopeless ... Again joining this community is more than just learning to drive Offroad it is helping add these mechanical self taught skills also 

Edited by Niki Patel
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4 minutes ago, Niki Patel said:

isnt this community powerful!  The above info isn’t easy to find via Google (or Bing :) 

Definitely it is and I believe it’s power comes from its nonprofit advices other than making every one to feel safe on the sand 🚙🙏🏻

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@Mohamed Seidam, I bet you’re a great doctor, and no wonder you are a doctor! ¡Such meticulousness on the car! I can only imagine how your work on us mere humans 😀 Thanks for the oil tip. I’ll ask the dealership to use that oil going forward. 
@Niki Patel, great points you bring up. Let’s find out as much as we can on this and share here. You’re gonna have to do the heavy lifting on this brother; I’m leaving to Houston on the 3rd 😂

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  • 5 months later...

@Ahab Shamaa as promised (and a little late) i have settled on the following Service Schedule:

#1 Keep my Service Pack for the standard 10k intervals

#2 between the Toyota Services (every 5k) i visit a offroad garage to have them perform a interim Service 

#3 I have found the attached guide (pls keep/print) to help me ensure the 'interval' and 'official' services cover the right right tasks.  This is extracted from the Service Guide and brings the entire book into a single table with guidance on what to cover if car is used for off-roading.  

Why am i not using Toyota for all services (its not price) - when calling them to schedule a 5k interval service they pushed me to not book and wait for 6 months or 10k ... I referenced the owners manual and gave them the page, they called me back having consulted their mechanic and still insisted I come after 6 months/10k.  Also  I find it easier to instruct a smaller garage where you can speak to a mechanic on what we want done vs a sales rep on a desk. 

Later today I will tag many more of our FJ Owners in as we have a lot of new members and this may help them also. 

final thanks - to you wonderful Americans/Canadians/Australians - you do all the hard work for us and post on these forums!! i suspect working on your own car is part of that culture (plus having space for a garage vs us Europeans/Asians helps :) ) 

image.png.5c7fcc628115dbbfeadd3ec43f0879cf.png

FJMaintenance.pdf

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