Mechanic Says Blown Motor (2 Viewers)

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given the distance and gas mileage, you might consider renting a vehicle for your trip. It would be more dependable, less worry and the cost of gas may offset the rental cost.
The destination is the El Dorado National Forest. Thinking might have friend trailer it home.
 
The mechanic is giving other mechanics a bad name by seemingly trying to take advantage of you. Having actually thrown a rod in a 1FZ before, I can see nothing in particular about your engine that would necessitate replacement, nor would I let some random mechanic do that in an 80 - in the extremely unlikely event that you need that done, contact a specialist as suggested in this thread.

Others have mentioned that the coolant is a bit dirty, but other than that, your truck seems fine. I am sure that if you nitpick enough, you will find something to fix on your truck.

As for the stinky startup, no vehicle I've ever seen produces quite as much white smoke on startup in cold conditions as the 80 series. It's just water vapor. When we start ours in the extreme cold of the High Rockies, it looks like a naturally aspirated diesel for a few moments! It also tends to run rich for awhile. I doubt that short drives are your problem - our 80 is our around town vehicle (and often the only one in town that can navigate the roads!). However, because water is a product of combustion, if you don't let it get up to temp, it will not boil off all the water, leading to really, really cloudy startups. This isn't harmful, just tends to magnify the already impressive clouds the 80 makes.

Most mechanics are honest. Looks like you found one who either is dishonest, or who simply doesn't want to deal with a finicky Land Cruiser owner. For whatever it's worth, the Land Cruiser community in general is one of the best, and most honest automotive groups in existence. When I ruined our engine, entirely my fault, someone here offered a used one to us for free. We already had one by that time, but I haven't forgotten their offer and it reflects well on the community. What I mean by this is if you take it to someone in the community, you're likely going to get an honest diagnosis.
 
Sounds like a singer stichomatic button holer. If it is just some knuckle heads uneducated opinion about your motor dying, I would just drive it. I wish I had the ability to diagnose a vehicle by just seeing a picture, had a guy bring one in with a nicer looking engine bay with a blown head gasket but it looked clean .:flipoff2:
 
You tube link to my video of motor at start up.



Well that sounds like........a perfectly normal 80. Seriously if a motor is blown then it won’t idle.

What’s in el dorado national forest? So many cool places to go much closer to you. Unless I somehow missed some thing here.
 
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Well that sounds like........a perfectly normal 80. Seriously if a motor is blown the it won’t idle.

What’s in el dorado national forest? So many cool places to go much closer to you. Unless I somehow missed some thing here.


I agree. For comparison's sake, here is mine right after I first started it after a rebuild and refresh of the top end along with a billion other things. It did have a small exhaust leak at the time, but it sounds pretty much the same.

 
The destination is the El Dorado National Forest. Thinking might have friend trailer it home.
You would be surprised at the places you can go with an AWD RAV4 or a Subaru.

Like is mentioned above, if the engine were blown, it wouldn't even start and/or there would be a pool of oil under the vehicle.
You likely have a head-gasket issue if it has never been replaced. there are several 'Mud members in your area who I would trust to diagnose it. and since you are in a place without much weather, it is possibly something you could tackle yourself if you have another vehicle to drive in the meantime(maybe the tacoma?).
 
Arizona truck with engine trouble? Sell it to me so I can put a 6bt in it!

Good luck with your trip! Im about to drive from FL to AZ and truck would not start this morning :)
 
I drove my Cruiser 508 miles over 8 hours when I bought it and I had been sitting for almost 2 years without being driven. The coolant looked like this (see below) ... after I actually put coolant in it. A combo of what looked like BARS stop leak and mud. It made the trip just fine. These engines are hard to kill. If it sounds like a tractor once it's warmed up, then it's all good.

All my trucks smoke on startup. One is burning almost a quart of oil per tank of fuel. I still wouldn't hesitate to drive any of them cross country on a moments notice. I would suggest purchasing a SanGuageII from AutoZone or wherever, I run one in all my trucks to monitor coolant temp and voltage especially. You will see where the truck runs normally temp wise and then be able to notice if temps spike and you can prevent a problem from becoming a catastrophe.

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Sounds pretty good for a 'blown motor'.

I have 305K miles on mine (even original head gasket) and its still going strong.

Sounds about the same as yours.
 
... The coolant looked like this (see below) ... after I actually put coolant in it. A combo of what looked like BARS stop leak and mud. ...

Looks like rust mud to me, ie, run without coolant.

... I would suggest purchasing a SanGuageII from AutoZone or wherever, I run one in all my trucks to monitor coolant temp and voltage especially. ...

I prefer the UltraGauge OBDII Scan tool and Information Center bigger display, shows more items without scrolling and less $.
 
... Worth it just for the alarms. ...

They can be excessive/annoying, IIRC, have all turned off but coolant temp at ~210F.
 
The mechanic is giving other mechanics a bad name by seemingly trying to take advantage of you. Having actually thrown a rod in a 1FZ before, I can see nothing in particular about your engine that would necessitate replacement, nor would I let some random mechanic do that in an 80 - in the extremely unlikely event that you need that done, contact a specialist as suggested in this thread.

Others have mentioned that the coolant is a bit dirty, but other than that, your truck seems fine. I am sure that if you nitpick enough, you will find something to fix on your truck.

As for the stinky startup, no vehicle I've ever seen produces quite as much white smoke on startup in cold conditions as the 80 series. It's just water vapor. When we start ours in the extreme cold of the High Rockies, it looks like a naturally aspirated diesel for a few moments! It also tends to run rich for awhile. I doubt that short drives are your problem - our 80 is our around town vehicle (and often the only one in town that can navigate the roads!). However, because water is a product of combustion, if you don't let it get up to temp, it will not boil off all the water, leading to really, really cloudy startups. This isn't harmful, just tends to magnify the already impressive clouds the 80 makes.

Most mechanics are honest. Looks like you found one who either is dishonest, or who simply doesn't want to deal with a finicky Land Cruiser owner. For whatever it's worth, the Land Cruiser community in general is one of the best, and most honest automotive groups in existence. When I ruined our engine, entirely my fault, someone here offered a used one to us for free. We already had one by that time, but I haven't forgotten their offer and it reflects well on the community. What I mean by this is if you take it to someone in the community, you're likely going to get an honest diagnosis.
Thank you for your response! It made complete sense and made me laugh a little. You are probably right about the mechanic. And yes that must be it, it seems to run very rich at times. That must be the smell I'm smelling. Thank you for allowing me to be finicky.
 
Well that sounds like........a perfectly normal 80. Seriously if a motor is blown then it won’t idle.

What’s in el dorado national forest? So many cool places to go much closer to you. Unless I somehow missed some thing here.
The Rubicon resides there. It's really snowy there now and a beautiful place to play.
 
Sounds great to me. Merry Christmas!
 
Well that sounds like........a perfectly normal 80. Seriously if a motor is blown then it won’t idle.

What’s in el dorado national forest? So many cool places to go much closer to you. Unless I somehow missed some thing here.
Thank you for the comparison. Sounds the same as mine. I'm leaning towards the possibility of it not being the motor..., and possibly the evaporate canister. It would make more sense than an HG since that was done 100,000 miles ago. The gas cap hisses when I open it.
 
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