Hilux 4x4 Forum

Good day to all !

I am the happy new owner of a 2002 Toyota Prado VX V6 3.4 AT. So far only joy after several years of driving a "certain British product" or two ! Some bad memories and expenses especially after dealing with a rather crooked second hand dealer in Mossel Bay !

Quick question regarding this vehicle : did it come out with a standard fitted auxiliary petrol tank ? According to the local Toyota garage not so.My vehicle does have such a tank with a switch that activates a pump that pumps fuel from this tank to the main 90L tank. What would the capacity of this tank be ?

With the gauge showing about 1/4 left (not knowing if the auxiliary tank was pump over, but it sounded like it was) I filled up and put in 120L - my common sense says that there must have been approximately 20L left if on 1/4, which would indicate that the auxiliary tank could hold about 50L??

Hope someone can clarify this matter for me.

Thanks !
Daan van Danabaai!

Welcome Daan.
What a awesome vehicle.
I have a 1998 and it does not have a second tank.I can not help you much on the second tank.
Do you have a separate gauge for the sub tank?
We got a few guys here with the second tank and the will let you know shortly.

Enjoy

Hi George!
Thanks for the welcome! I always said "eendag as ek groot is wil ek ook n Prado he" ! The vehicle's traction control amazed me greatly when I got to do with them at Vleesbaai's Dune Route.

Mine has no separate/second fuel gauge for the sub tank. Hoping to hear soon from anyone else that might know.

Welcome Daan.

There are different makes of extra tanks and some are even home fabricated, so it's difficult to say with any accuracy how much it holds. I would estimate closer to at least 60 or 65 lit.

Remember that once your gauge hits empty, you still have about 15lit in reserve. Gauges aren't accurate either, but with the gauge on ¼ tank you should then have in the region of about 35 - 40 lit in the tank and if you filled it with 120lit it means your 2nd tank is about 65 to 70 at an estimation.

To find out accurately, get the supplier specs - or - take it's measurements and calculate the cubic meters which can be converted to litres. (1 cubic metre = 1000 litres) - or - you can drain the tanks completely and then measure the volume to fill them.

Hi Andy!
Thank you for the welcome and informative feedback - makes a lot of sense! I will try the suggestion of measurement first!

Hi Daan

Welcome to the club and enjoy your Prado .I have a 1997 version ,which does not have an extra tank .
As far s i know later version came out with extra tanks and rear difflock

Martin

Welcome Daan,

Prado in my eyes is an awesome Cruiser. I hope you enjoy it

South African versions did not come out with an Aux Tank at all.

How ever if it was an Direct Import from Japan it would have that extra feature. Some of the Moz Spec Prado's of certain years would have.

Happy 4x4íng

Thanks Martin & Louis!
Can't remember when last I have met so many nice people in such a short time ! Having only been able to afford "british 4x4's" in the past have made miss out on a lot of friendly guys!

Welcome Daan,

The Prado that had a factory Sub tank with separate gauge fitted held 69L. These are only to be found in Australia with these tanks.
The Front Runner Aux Tank hold 70L in total that would be fitted to your vehicle. All the 1997-2002 models in SA all had only a 90L single tank fitted. Thus when Filling up with fuel from empty you should be able to put in approx 140 - 150L depending on how empty you ran the tanks.

It is a really amazing vehicle and Mine does not have traction control but only centre & rear locking diffs. just as a point of interest, when mine's low fuel warning light goes on, it is approx 18L left in the tank which gets me about 72L of fuel to be put in on the main tank.

Enjoy the Comfy side of off roading.

HiHo Daan,

Welcome to the Prado fraternity!

PraDog is a 1998 V6 model without second tank or rear diff-lock. I suspect it does however have a limited slip rear diff as it has never yet got stuck anywhere in places where other vehicles seem to require diff-locks.


-F_D

Hallo Johan en Eric!
Voel sommer al lekker tuis en behoorlik verwelkom ! Thank you for the feedback and great info! Meer inligting as wat enige boek of Toyota Dealer beskikbaar het !

Planning to drive to Cpt and back soon to see how it does on the open road (and if PetroSA has enough in stock to back me up!) But it is already soooo much better than my previous V8 British efforts that could not get 5kms to the liter going downhill!!

The step-up to Toyota power should make any tree hugger happy!!

Daan.Ongelukkig is hier reels.
Ons glo jou eers as ons die foto's van jou prado gesien het

Geniet die rit af Kaap toe.Moenie skrik as jy 8kl per lieter kry nie

Daan, the last trip I did from Klerkies to Durban and back yielded 8.3km/l going to Durban, and about 7.1km/l on the return trip. We were four adults with luggage and the return trip had a fierce headwind all the way, hence the higher fuel consumption. Travelling was at the specified fuel limits at all times. My Hiluxes (4-cylinder, 5-speed boxes) yield much the same fuel consumption figures as the 3.4-litre V6 with auto-transmission.

The Prado is just so much more comfortable!


-F_D

Menere! Nou maak julle my lus en nuuskierig vir die langpad oefening. Can't wait to try it out and will definitely give feedback!

While running the risk of sounding stupid (I am BC - before computers!! ) - how do I go about adding a photo of my car?

Belowe ek neem een so gou dit ophou reen hier in Danabaai! (miskien more, voordat ek begin gras sny )

Daan, the pic first has to be resized to max 600 x 800 pixels (best is to copy the pic into a new folder and resize that one so that you don't modify / loose the original).

Once resized, you can post it by scrolling down (below the text box of the post you are preparing) to the "Attachments" button. Click on that and you will see an "Add files" button - click on it and it will bring up a mini "explorer" window where you can locate your resized image. Double click on the image (or click on it and then click on "Open") and the image will upload.

If you want to upload multiple images (there is a maximum of 8 at a time), select the images and click on "Open" - they will upload.

Once uploaded the images will appear at the bottom of your text in the post by default after submitting the post, but if you want to place them at different points in the body of your text, you would use the "Place inline" button that appears next to each image.

Give it a go.

Trying with my limited skills to add photo. Got it sized correctly.

Jeeeehaaaa!! There is hope for me yet ! Nou ja - daar is hy! Foto van my 2002 Prado VX V6 3.4 AT.

I like the colour! The silver & dark grey ones look the best :)


-F_D

Yahooo! Now I'm cooking ! Sommer nog n foto ! Die keer van skuins agter.

Thanks Eric! Ja - it does look good and it looks clean for longer ! Saving water and all that you know !!

Welkom Daan, mooi Prado wat jy het.

Dankie Roger! Voel baie tuis tussen al die vriendelike mense!

Netjies
So wat se modifikasies is eerste.'n SNorkel of so iets?

Welcome Daan, neat Prado you have there

Hi Darren! Thank you! (spent some of the best years of my life (1969-1998) in Pretoria!

Dankie George! Nee jong - voorlopig bly dit eers "stock standard"! Ek is tans in n oorlog gewikkel om my geld terug te probeer kry van n skelm "2nd hand dealer" wat n "bum" LR aan my verkoop het en nie sy waarborg wou nakom nie!

Maar as dinge reg loop is die idee om uiteindelik n mooi stel Kumho Mud's op te sit vir n begin.....

Good morning to all the friendly guys!

Finally got round to measuring the additional tank - rough calculations put it at approx. 60 L. Andy - you were spot on with your first "guestimate" ! That gives a total of more than 150 L and a spot over R2000 to fill up from empty!

Now for the consumption exercise to Cpt and back which should be done easily on "full" fill-up, to see how cheaply we can run it!

At which speed/revs do you guys find optimal consumption? With my previous old V8 Range Rover, 90km/h gave 4.3km/l and 110km/h gave 5.1km/l !! Mainly due the revs affecting the torque converter ....

Daan I tend to drive mine around 2500 rpm which is about 115/120. I do switch off the overdrive on a long hill if i notice it to drop below 115 and just keep the foot steady. I also tend to keep my foot light and just cruise mainly.


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Dankie Johan! Is jou ervaring dat 115-120 ligter op petrol is as bv. 110 ? Of gaan dit maar oor die vloei van verkeer en algemene gemiddelde spoed?

Sal dit beslis ingedagte hou en laat weet hoe dit verloop het na volgende week se trippie Kaap toe!

Daan dit gaan maar oor die algemene vloei van verkeer en die terrein en vrag. Ek ry maar soos die pad toelaat en ook dan hoe haastig ek is.


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Dankie vir die great advies Johan ! Sien die resultate onder my nuwe "post"!

Don't forget also that tyre pressures (and tread patterns as well) make a difference to your consumption. A more aggressive tread pattern offers more rolling resistance and therefore uses more fuel. I normally pump between 2.1 and 2.2 bar on long trips (depending on how I am loaded). As the tyres heat up they can increase by as much as 0.1 bar but that's still within the recommendations for my tyres. A harder inflated tyre offers less resistance but you have to be careful not to over inflate because then you get excessive centre wear across the tread - you also don't have optimal traction which could be hazardous. (But you probably know all this already).

Enjoy your trip.

Oops! I see you've already done the trip with good consumption figures. Hope you enjoyed it and the advice still stands for the next one.

Thanks Andy ! Yes - ran with the tyres at 2.1 at operational temp. Currently fitted with two new BFG K02 AT's at the back and two of the older BFG AT's in front (which will have to be replaced soon) but the intention is to go for Kumho MT's or similar. Had a look at the Kumho's "cheaper brother" called "Goodride" - basically the same tyre and tread pattern but a good bit less expensive?!?