Builds ROTW: "El Diablo" (1 Viewer)

“El Diablo”

1997 LX450

From Cruiser Outfitters:
OME 860 Rear, 850J Front coil springs. Castor Correction and Steering Dampener.
ARB Bull Bar
ARB Rear Locker
ARB Fridge/Freezer

From Slee Offroad:
Washer Bottle Relocate Kit
Rear Swaybar drop down bracket
Stainless Steel Extended Brake Lines

From 4 Wheel Parts:
Piaa Driving Lights
High Lift Jack
Optima Yellow Top Second Battery
Bull Dog Gutter Mount Clamps

From Hellroaring:
Battery Isolator

Currently running 33” Cooper Discoverer STT's
Warn 8000lb winch from Ebay. Thanks again Romer for picking it up 2 years ago.
Custom “George's” Designed Sliders
John Curnett Aluminum Blocks for front swaybar
Custom “J Moose” Aluminum Roof Rack

The History:

My family and friends in Utah have deep roots to the mountains and so over the years I've had several 4X4 vehicles which served as a means of getting us where we wanted to go. I've owned an International Scout II, a Ford Ranger mini truck, a full sized Bronco, and a suburban. My doctor, and current Wasatch Cruiser's President Dan Davis, had an old 1972 FJ40 which I had to walk past on a daily basis. When I talked with him I would comment on how much I liked it and joked about if he ever wanted to sell it. That day finally came about 5 years ago. With the purchase of my first Land Cruiser and membership in Wasatch Cruisers, I realized that the 4X4's had intrinsic value and weren't simply a means to get into the back country. I'll always remember on my first club run that the idiots in front of me went right over the rock piles, even though there was a clear path around them. I've gradually learned that taking the path over the obstacles can be exciting, although sometimes costly.
After buying Dan's FJ40, I called it “Live Rust” A fellow Neil Young Fan and past Wasatch Cruiser President Dave Connors helped with the name. I joined this forum about that time and ended up using it as a user name because I couldn't think of anything else at the moment. One day I'll get around to changing my user name. Live Rust evolved with a taller lift, SM465 tranny, 4:88 gearing, Rear Locker, Winch etc.

While my previous 4X4 vehicles failed to generate much excitement in themselves, I was always passionate about dual sport bikes. My last bike was a Honda Transalp. My friends and I would strap our gear on back and head out of town for several days, bombing down fire roads and basically doing our best to avoid civilization.

In Wasatch Cruisers I became introduced to the 80 series Land Cruisers. I have 4 children, 1 wife, and a big dog. The FJ40 was very cool to drive, but very hot too, and cramped. Where Live Rust was suited for Moab, it wasn't ideal for longer multi day trips with all our camping gear. I convinced my wife we should sell our suburban and buy another land cruiser for our family car. I began checking ebay ads on a daily basis. That's not quite true, I would log on and look many times a day and the addiction deepened. I discovered that the auctions on the lexus versions were actually running less than the toyota versions pretty consistently. One day I notice this one that caught my eye. It looked very clean but didn't have lockers. I figured if the price was right I could always add ARB lockers. I watched and the bidding didn't go up much. Finally, with an hour left on the auction and the current bid at less than $8000 I decided to place a bid. I ended up getting it for $8,015. The new lexus looked very clean except for the front bumper. The bumper in the pictures had rust or flaking paint which bothered my wife. I explained how I was planning on replacing that bumper anyway. I called Kurt and had the ARB bumper delivered before the Lexus arrived on the truck from Missouri. We sold the Suburban and I became a two land cruiser owner. As fate would have it, when I went to register it at the DMV the next license plate in the pile was “666”. With the red hi lift jack mounted over the headlights it looks like red horns at night. Hence “El Diablo” . I was very pleased with the new Lexus, with the exception of a funny noise coming from the engine. Everyone noticed it. I had a few different mechanics listen to it. No clear diagnosis. I tried additives, I tried changing to synthetic oil. The little noise continued. It was a knocking or ticking sound that was worse when the engine was cold, improved some as it heated up but still present. It was most noticeable at low idle. Most importantly though it ran great! We took it the first month on a trip to California with the family and loved it! I have gradually been making the buildup. The bumper and lift first. Then the winch etc.. Last year I had Kurt install my ARB locker and compressor. Before I got around to hooking up the electrical leads for it, I ran into a problem. I was loaded up with camping gear driving up and over a long mountain pass when I noticed the noise was louder. I stopped for gas and popped the hood and the noise was indeed much louder! And the noise seemed to be isolated more to one side. Will Carrol, a toyota master tech in the club helped me over the phone. He had me pull the plug wires one at a time and start the engine and listen for changes. Sure enough when I pulled the plug for what I think was the 4rth cylinder, the noise went away. He suggested I tow it home. The lexus was still running on it's own, but he said it may save me money if I don't drive it. I had a friend bring a trailer and we towed it back into Salt Lake. It was a terrible site to see my cruiser parked up there on that trailer. Ever since I got the lexus and heard that funny noise I couldn't stop thinking about it. I took it on some long trips but always was nervous about that noise. I had told people that my FJ40 was my engine overhaul. I couldn't afford both. Scott Howe, another toyota tech in the club pulled the oil pan on the lexus. I have no mechanic skills of my own, but I know all that metal in there wasn't a good sign. By towing the lexus home, I think we saved the head and the block. I ended up having Scott pull the engine

I took it down to a machine shop and they machined it. Our club gets a pretty good discount with a local toyota dealership on parts and I had them hook me up with everything I needed as far as parts go. Scott put it all back together for me and it runs great now. And most importantly it's quiet. With the quiet, I also have a lot of piece of mind. When he had the engine apart I had him replace everything that is easier to replace while it was apart. New hoses, belts, pumps, etc..
Looking back. One of the options floated for me was going with a new “short block”. Not wanting to appear stupid, I never bothered to clarify what a “short block” was. I assumed it was some how inferior to a “long block” and figured a long block was what I had. I later learned that a short block refers to the bottom end of the engine. You can buy a new short block from the factory with our discount for around $2600. That would be toyota factory stuff. I think I may have saved a little by going my route with the rebuild, but maybe not too much. If I had it to do over again, I think I would go with the new short block. I know Scott has told me he wouldn't agree to do it for the price he charged again as taking out the engine and putting it back in was quite labor intensive. In the end, with parts, labor and machine work, it all cost me around $5,000 for the new engine. It would have been cheaper if I could have done some of the work myself I'm sure. I didn't do any of the work. And there in is maybe some of the piece of mind. If I had done some of the work I'd worry every time I turned the key. So, I sold “Live Rust” on ebay for $6,800. It paid for the overhaul and had some money left to pay some other bills. I miss the FJ40 but have thoroughly enjoyed the Lexus. It's ideally suited for long multi day expedition trips, like my Transalp, but I can take my family with in the lexus!

Eventually I may go with 35” tires. I would like to removed the factory dented rear plastic bumper and replace it with a nice steel one with a tire carrier. I would probably need to go with lower gearing with the larger tires. I bought a used set of J springs for the rear. As currently configured I sit pretty level and rides great. Problem is when I load it down the butt end sags too much with my mediums. Maybe heavies would be a better way to go, but I saw some used J's for sale and picked them up. With the rebuilt engine I plan on having this rig for many years to come!

Troy

here are a few shots of the engine parts for those interested.

last of the engine stuff. It's depressing!

last pictures, to end on a happy note.

Nice rig and write up. Sure is nice to know so many handy people.

TR

ROTW stories are great! Nice looking rig and good read on the history.

When the motor was out did you ever explore changing to another motor? Something like a Chevy 350? I only ask because I'm curious to see what expense you might have been looking at if you did consider that option.

I never considered a 350. I resisted going that route with my FJ40, I wouldn't do it with my Lexus. I wanted to stay Toyota.
I did consider going with a used engine but seemed like the expense of swapping out the engines was so big I didn't want to have to do it again in a couple years by putting in an engine that already had a hundred thousand miles on it. And for the most part I wouldn't have know the maintenance history on the used engine. I did miss out by a few months on buying a friends freshly rebuilt engine when he totaled his 80. I thought about it since mine was making the noise, but it had been running strong for a year and I didn't feel like buying an engine and having it sit around waiting for who knows how long. That turned out to have been not too long, but who knew.

Makes sense. I know what it costs to put another 80 motor back into an 80 at a dealership - whether going with a new motor or used one the cost is ridiculous (more than most 80's are worth), but the price of a basic 350 can save you thousands. Labor, kits, and adapters.....that could be a different story.

Thanks for the response, and keep up the good work on your LX450 - I look forward to seeing it with the 35's!

Nice Pic post# 6 lots of rod bearings metal inside the oil pan. Or maybe not too much, it just mixed with oil pan silicone gasket. Wonder how many miles when you dropped and rebuild the motor.

LX_TREME said:

Nice Pic post# 6 lots of rod bearings metal inside the oil pan. Or maybe not too much, it just mixed with oil pan silicone gasket. Wonder how many miles when you dropped and rebuild the motor.

Click to expand...

that's mostly metal. Some were huge chunks. hard to believe that stuff was circulating through the system.

Engine had about 170,000 at the time of the rebuild.

Just remembered a couple more things.

I sent the injectors off to Witchhunter for cleaning while the engine was being rebuilt. Their analysis of those was that they weren't too bad. 5.6% balance before cleaning. 1.8% after cleaning.


And I did finally get around to putting in the CDL switch this year. Much nicer to be able to disengage the ABS when cruising down the dirt roads chasing Dave Connors. I imagine it will be nice on the snow packed roads as well this winter.


Troy

Thanks for contributing Troy!

Did the mechanic do a post-mortem on the bearing failure? Poor oil change history by the PO? Prior overheat?

-B-

Great write-up and a sweet rig.

So what, actually, failed on the engine. Did the autopsy say "crank bearing", or was it something else?

I was jealous as all hell when Troy got his LX so cheap. I've wondered if the seller knew about the engine when they sold it. Still, for what you're into it, you've got a great truck and a great motor for what most others are paying for a truck with an unknown motor (head gasket and PHH).

Looking forward to a few years when my kids are older and don't mind camping, hopefully we'll be out there with you.

Nice read Troy. Great to have you back in the saddle again!!!

Beowulf said:

Thanks for contributing Troy!

Did the mechanic do a post-mortem on the bearing failure? Poor oil change history by the PO? Prior overheat?

-B-

Click to expand...

well

The original owner evidently took the lexus in to the lexus dealership faithfully so they have nice records. At 90,000 miles there was a head gasket failure and overheating. I need to call Lexus and check again but I believe they said there was some top end engine work at that time as a result of the overheating. Warped head? Anyway, it was fixed at that point and the original owner kept it for another 30,000 miles and sold it to the next owner. I'm the third owner. The second owner didn't take it back to Lexus so I have no records past 120,000 miles. I have always wondered if the noise was present since the 90,000 head gasket failure and they didn't do a good/ complete job on the repair at that point.

When Scott took off the head to rebuild it, the replacement headgasket was looking great!

I heard Scott use the term, "spun bearing" to describe the engine problem.

People have asked if I noticed a lot more power after the rebuild. Not at all really. The performance was great with the old engine. I don't see a difference.