1997 Toyota Land Cruiser — Known Issues & Recalls

Your Land Cruiser is equipped with Interco TRXUSM/T snow tires (size 265/75/16), and you've experienced tire blowouts while driving on the highway at 62 mph. The rubber has separated from the bead (the edge where the tire meets the wheel) and burst through to the tread, and this has happened multiple times with only about 1,500 miles on the tires. The tire dealer is willing to investigate the damaged tires, but you're concerned about whether they'll be replaced and whether these aftermarket tires are safe to use. Resolving this will likely involve having the tires professionally inspected by the dealer or manufacturer to determine if there's a defect, and possibly replacing them if a manufacturing issue is found.

Your tires experienced two sidewall blowouts within two weeks of each other, both occurring at highway speeds (50+ mph) after only about 19,000-19,500 miles of use. The first blowout happened in December 2000, and a second one followed shortly after on the same vehicle. Fixing this issue would involve replacing the tires and inspecting the wheels and suspension for any damage from the blowouts.

While driving at 45 mph, one of your tires suddenly blew out at 33,000 miles. When you had the tire inspected, the shop found that all four tires were prematurely dry rotted and the rubber was separating from the tire structure. The tires were Michelin LTX 275/70R/16 model. You'll likely need to replace all four tires to ensure safe driving.

When you pulled out from a stop, your air conditioning vents suddenly blew a chemical mixture directly into your face that caused temporary blindness, severe hyperventilation, muscle cramps, and numbness in your arms and legs. Testing showed the air contained isobutane, butane, 2-methyl butane, pentane, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes circulating through your truck. The air conditioning system will need to be inspected and serviced to identify and remove the source of these chemicals.

When you run your air conditioning on recirculated air at full blast, toxic fumes are being released that have caused severe headaches, muscle cramps, burning eyes and throat, and numbness in your hands and feet. No one can drive the vehicle without becoming ill. The air conditioning system will need to be professionally tested and serviced to identify and eliminate the source of these toxic fumes.

Your air conditioning system is producing an unpleasant odor. When you contacted the dealer about this issue, they refused to pick up your vehicle for service.

Your fuel tank develops a crack on top and leaks gasoline when filled beyond approximately 10 gallons (about half full). The metal is particularly thin at this crack point, and the problem may be worse in hot weather, especially with modern ethanol-blend fuels that cause the tank to expand and contract more. This is a known issue affecting multiple 1997 Land Cruisers. The repair will likely require fuel tank replacement or welding/sealing of the cracked area.

Your fuel tank is cracking and leaking gasoline, especially when the tank is full, creating a constant fuel smell both inside and outside the vehicle. The leak poses a serious fire hazard since gasoline fumes are flammable. Fixing this will likely require either sealing the crack in the tank or replacing the fuel tank entirely.

Your brake pads are wearing out very quickly—every 2,000 miles—and causing your vehicle to need a longer distance to stop, which nearly caused a crash. The dealer was unable to identify why this is happening. The fix will likely involve inspecting your brake system for wear, alignment issues, or damaged components that are causing premature pad deterioration.

Your brake rotors are damaged. This is a component that helps your brakes stop your vehicle, so you'll want to have them inspected and likely replaced to ensure safe braking performance.

Your 1997 Land Cruiser has become unusable due to coolant leaking into the engine oil. This coolant mixing problem has been happening since 1999, and the repair facility has been unable to permanently fix it despite multiple attempts. The engine needs inspection to find where coolant is entering the oil system and prevent further damage.

When you applied the brakes, your vehicle locked up and flipped into an embankment. Your dealer is aware of this issue. The braking system may need a complete inspection and repair to prevent this dangerous locking behavior.

Your front driver's side wheel fell off while you were slowing down to make a curve at about 25 mph. At the same time, you lost braking ability with no warning signs beforehand. This could involve checking the wheel hub assembly, lug nuts, and brake system components to determine why the wheel detached and what caused the brake failure.

Your vehicle was involved in a crash at 35-40 mph when another vehicle failed to yield the right of way. During the impact, neither of your airbags deployed as they should have. You've already contacted both the dealer and manufacturer about this issue. The fix will likely involve diagnosis of the airbag system's electrical connections, sensors, and deployment mechanism to determine why they failed to activate.

Three of the four bolts connecting your steering knuckle to the wheel hub on the right front wheel broke off, which then damaged the seal on your front axle/differential. You first noticed the problem when you saw fluid leaking underneath the vehicle while it was parked. The full extent of the steering knuckle damage wasn't discovered until a mechanic inspected it. Fixing this will likely require replacing the broken bolts, the damaged steering knuckle, and resealing or replacing the front differential.

Your engine stalls and shuts off unexpectedly when you lift your foot off the accelerator pedal. The idle control valve appears to be faulty, causing the engine to either shut down completely or race at high RPMs. The mechanic will likely need to inspect and possibly replace the idle control valve to restore normal engine idle behavior.

Your front seats have stopped moving automatically, and you've found pieces of the seat mechanism scattered on your floor. This suggests the internal components that power the seat adjustment have broken apart. You'll likely need to have the seat motor and mechanical linkage replaced or repaired.