2008 Land Cruiser - what would you do and what's it worth? (1 Viewer)

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lcgeek

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Dec 26, 2005
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Goodyear, AZ
I've owned a 2008 LC for about 5 years and currently have 260k miles. Only major issues was a broken valve spring a couple years ago . That was repaired right and the truck is always kept up on maintenance. Other than valve spring and up until 2 weeks ago ran flawless. A few weeks ago she lost coolant, got hot, and shut down. The cause of coolant loss was some plastic fitting. I flatbedded to mechanic, he replaced the fitting, added coolant and tested engine and systems. Surprisingly? All tested good, she ran great...for two weeks. One morning, I noticed a misfire on startup for a few minutes. You guessed it. She's now got a head gasket leak, about 1 teaspon in cyl 5 under 30 minutes of pressure testing. After a few minutes of coolant burnoff she runs great. I'm no mechanic so any repair path means $$$
Here she is
28652826697_5d5eeb76ad_k.jpg


While I contemplated repair options, I went ahead and bought a 2010 LX570, looks kind of similar huh?
52323006098_298e49c221_k.jpg


Normally I'd just foot the bill on the HG service (although not cheap since I have to pay someone) and call it a day. But she got hot and she's got 260k - just thinking out loud of going down that hole.

Next option, assume block is gonna be good, and plan to spend the coin to do all the "while you're in there stuff"

Next option, find a much lower mile replacement 5.7. $Ouch

Next option, I can't believe I'm writing this next part, throw some Bar Leaks in there and see if it seals the HG and drive on as a tertiary vehicle.

Next option - sell as is. Any guesses what she's worth as is?

Curious what the collective here would do assuming you're not mechanically inclined enough like to me to repair with blood, sweat, and tears :)
 
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I also have a 2008 with 262k miles, minus the checkered engine history, so I've had what-if kind of thoughts about this before.

Assuming you don't really need the truck because you have bought a replacement, I'd do the cheapest reasonable quality repair, which would be a head gasket job. Do as little of the while you're in there stuff as possible. You're likely out $3k or so. I'd surmise that after the documented repair you could sell the truck for ~$12-15k pretty easily, maybe more. (Blue book will be around $19-20k, but you may have a hard time getting that with the given history). In non-running condition, you'll probably be lucky to get $8k, so you're ahead on getting this one fixed.

Alternately, if you are going to keep it catch up all of the while you're in there maintenance, do the head gasket, and drive it another 100k miles if you want to, then sell it for $10k 5-6 years from now.

I think the worst option is to try and sell as is, as there are very few people that will pay top dollar for non running vehicles. Unless you just want to be done with it, in which case let her go to the highest bidder and move on.

Good Luck!
 
Well you already bought the upgrade 🔥, so unless you "need" a tertiary vehicle, seems like your answer is selling it either before or after fixing it. LCs still a pretty hot ticket, so probably worth selling fixed. If it was a Highlander, I'd say sell it broke and not worry about it.

@TimCFJ40 beat me to the same answer...
 
Just to close this thread out, for those that care, not that anyone does...lol

I ended up having a friend at a local shop source me a used Tundra engine, swap out a few parts, and the 2008 is back in service $10.5k later.

Public service announcement- change those heater T's!

So now have 260K on the LC with a 92K motor.

20221112_101631.jpg
 
Just to close this thread out, for those that care, not that anyone does...lol

I ended up having a friend at a local shop source me a used Tundra engine, swap out a few parts, and the 2008 is back in service $10.5k later.

Public service announcement- change those heater T's!

So now have 260K on the LC with a 92K motor.

View attachment 3171640
Thanks for sharing the PSA to replace the heater T after 150k and the hoses. It’s a cheap replacement and needs to be done. It seems these engines aren’t as bulletproof as I was hoping for. Did you find out the root cause of the dead engine?
 
Thanks for sharing the PSA to replace the heater T after 150k and the hoses. It’s a cheap replacement and needs to be done. It seems these engines aren’t as bulletproof as I was hoping for. Did you find out the root cause of the dead engine?
Blown heater tees means lost coolant, means overheated engine… that’s more of a maintenance issue than a lack of “bullet proof.” Not many engines go long with no coolant..
 
As a Land Rover owner of an Aluminum Engine V8..

Head Gaskets are a normal maintenance thing for us.. (about 75-100k miles or so it seems)

basically they fail, it over heats, hopefully you catch it before it goes critical, and your fine..

Remove heads, machine flat, new gaskets, bolts if needed and whatever else while your there parts (thermostat, belts, hoses, etc)...

Not the end of the world..

Not saying the LC Motor is like a Land Rover V8, but basically same concept with more parts to remove.. it's not a black box.
just get a good indy shop to do it, or now that you have another truck to daily., take your time and DIY it..

(I just had to pull the front cover completely off my Defender because the distributor drive gear wore out... nothing lasts forever), I did it at home for about $120 in parts and fluids.. a shop quoted me $5k
 
Thanks for sharing the PSA to replace the heater T after 150k and the hoses. It’s a cheap replacement and needs to be done. It seems these engines aren’t as bulletproof as I was hoping for. Did you find out the root cause of the dead engine?

Not bulletproof but very robust.

valley plate leaks
cam tower leaks
head gaskets
valve springs can fail
water pump fails
and starters go out
timing chain tensioner guides…

chain guides just need heavier oil. Easy to prevent probably but what do i know?

thats about it though and i cant figure out why the seals go so much.
Is it the Toyota sealant? Anyone successfully prevent this with something proactively? Although that is borderline insane to do teardown as PM.

Other than the leaks ( which ive never read an explanation for ) , there really nothing to worry about outside your heater ts, PCV, and radiator blowing up.

Great engine but also great hype.

Oh and add cracked exhaust manifolds.

Edit 2: fuel pump
 
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Root cause was loss of coolant and being an idiot to not recognize it in time to shut the motor down immediately. doh! Live and learn, new motor running great!
 

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