We recently had a fleet companies Toyota Hilux come in for some diagnostics.
Only 93,000km on the clock… but the kind of kilometres that hit different. Mine site kilometres. Dust, heat, idling, stop-start, repeat.
The customer’s words are simple:
“It’s got a weird knocking sound.”
“And there’s excessive blow-by.”
We plug in the laptop first.
DPF readings? All clear.
But when it sits there idling a little longer, we spot it — a whitish-grey smoke starting to drift out. Not a big cloud. Just enough to tell you something’s not right.
Bonnet up.
We check blow-by and it’s wild — the kind that splatters instead of just puffing.
Then we dip the oil.
It’s black, burnt, and so thin it barely feels like oil anymore. No viscosity left. No protection left. Just cooked.
And then we check what it’s been breathing.
A quick look at the intake tells the truth straight away — this thing has been eating dust for most of its life.
Mine site conditions will punish anything that isn’t protected properly.
Dust sneaks past filtration, oil breaks down faster, idling loads up soot, and wear stacks up quietly… until one day it turns into a knock, smoke, and blow-by you can’t ignore.
The good news? It came in before it became a roadside failure.
Now we can inspect properly, confirm what’s going on internally, and make a plan to fix it the right way.
If your ute or light truck is doing hard, dusty kilometres — especially with lots of idle time — don’t wait for the knock. Bring it in early and we’ll check blow-by, oil health, and intake condition before it turns into downtime.
Same-day checks where possible. No drama. Just results.
