Bad Day... Head work or (Second!) Replacement Engine? (1 Viewer)

[FrankieJoe14]

So need some insight on what I am up against here with my 2001 LC. I have owned it about 4 months, which I have thoroughly enjoyed. It was bought as a project truck if you will - its not my DD but I have put around 6000 miles on it during this time, bringing it to baseline. It is sitting at 183k. I live in NJ but bought it on Vacation near GA and drove it home so its is fully rust free.

About two weeks ago I get a flashing check engine light. Codes say misfire on cylinders 5 & 8. After some searching here I got a new set of plugs, three new coils and changed them out - clearing the check engine light and assuming I was good. None of the plugs came out with anything that would give me a concern.

Last week the light comes back on again - same issue. Started looking to injectors, but putting the meter on them didn't show them being bad. Stumped, i brought it to my local Toyota dealer for a diagnostic.

Turns out I'm loosing coolant. I did add some a few weeks back and didn't think much of it. The dealer said that exhaust gases are getting into the radiator and cant really tell me much more without spending a lot of time with diagnosing (at $150 an hour). I took the truck home and here we are.

Some More Info:
According to the Toyota owners website, there was an engine replacement ALREADY that was done at 99K in 2009 at a Toyota dealership in South Carolina. From the website:
VEHICLE IS OVERHEATING AGAIN DIAG AND ADVISE LAST TIME IN WE REP LACED FAN CLUTCH ASSEM AND THERMOSTAT ~|~HEADS ARE LEAKING COOLANT INT O MOTOR ~|~REPLACED MOTOR

A jasper engine was installed AT a dealership. I figured if anything this would mean I wouldn't have to worry about major engine issues. Turns out I was wrong.

SO ultimately. What would you do?

Do i tear into the heads and see how things go? Do I start looking for another replacement engine? Does anyone have a good engine they would be willing to sell? Even though my wife would kill me, do i cut my losses?

Anyone in the NNJ area who likes making new friends and working on Land Cruisers?

Thanks.

 

[Benjamin Ebrahim]

Went through the exact same with my 01, ended up about $1.5k in fixing it (warped heads) and had the truck down almost a month. In hindsight, these engines are normally pretty bulletproof so if you have access to a donor LC/LX engine, I'd just do a swap

 

[FrankieJoe14]

Trouble I am seeing is to find that donor engine. Searching car-part shows them being in the 2k range for lower-ish miles.

If i can get away with head work for $1500, id do it. I'm afraid of it being more than that.

I do see one on car-part for $900 not too far. What do I do to know its in good shape?

 

[Benjamin Ebrahim]

Yeah, I searched for a donor but no dice, and since it is my DD I went ahead and fixed it. Check the classifieds/parting out sections and see if there's any around you that'd work.
If you want to know more about the condition of your engine and have a few banana's under your belt, then do a compression leak down test. If a few cylinders are leaking (probably #3/4/5/6) and the engine runs well, then you've probably got warped heads from running it too hot.
Its worth it to note, that I never got a CEL from the warping, just gradual loss of coolant on short drives, overflowing reservoir on long drives and low compression on center cylinders, so I can't say you'll have the same problems, but I'm a newbie so take all of this with a bucket of salt, and hopefully a more experienced member will chime in

 

[gatormark91]

Did they pressure test the cooling system? You can't really know anything until that is done. Also, 5 and 8 cylinders are in opposite banks of the motor. You would need to blow cylinder heads to have a cooling issue affect both sides.

 

[gatormark91]

*blow both cylinder heads

 

[FrankieJoe14]

Pressure test and compression tests will be done this weekend. My uncle is going to come give me a hand and has about 20 more years of experience with engines than I do.

I agree that since 5 and 8 are on opposite heads there could be another issue at hand. What else could cause a misfire and coolant consumption?

 

[Berkut10r]

Frankie, I am a recent transplant from Mopar community and Jasper engines for RAMs are notorious for grenading themselves for no reason. I wish you best of luck with sorting this out.

 

[FrankieJoe14]

thanks man

The jasper has been in there for 9 years and 84k miles!

 

[Biga27110]

in for compression test results

 

[suprarx7nut]

Compression test is a must here. BHGs on both banks seems really odd. I'm not sure if that's common on V8 engines, but don't see how it could be. [fingers crossed]

 

[Spike555]

You can buy a exhaust gas coolant test kit for like $20, that will tell you for a fact if you have a blown head gasket.
It works like a pool ph test, you open the radiator cap, stick the test strip in, if it turns color "Y" you're good, if it turns color "X" you're not good.
Simple and easier than a compression test. Takes literally 5min.

Then you can go from there.

 

[2001LC]

Heads replacement is a very big job. Robbie, well known in Land cruiser community an mechicain with his own shop in Boulder CO. Said 20 hours for one head gasket replacement.

@ponytl, recently stated he did a engine swap with T-belt job in 10 hours.

Find yourself an LC or LX 00-02 engine and it's a straight swap. 89-99 or 03-05 you'll want your throttle body and a few brackets.

You can also go with other 2uz-fe from other makes such as GX and 4runner. Sticking with Japanese built is best. Non 100 series engine mean stipping done to long block and swaping many parts with your engine, adding tones of time

~ 150K / 200k mile engine with good history of oil, oil filter, air filter and coolant flush will be better than any retail available rebuilt.

Check out the first link, in my signture, look for section on engines.
Look at The Unicorn for a non 100 series engine swap.

Inspected at head gasket with mirrors, camera from underneath and under intake manifold for clues of head warpage.
Look for coolant leak and warpage at head gasket.

Warpage at head gasket

Any coolant in engine oil for two weeks or scoring in cylinder (borescope), then don't even consider heads replacement.

$20 borescope hooks up to smart phone, not great but works.
Scored cylinder from coolant entering and overheating

 

[Eicca]

Subscribed for results

 

[FrankieJoe14]

Ok boys. Did the compression test. Looks like I'm ****ed.

1-190
2-197
3-190
4-205
5-95
6-210
7-190
8-89

Still wondering if it's worth doing the head job or just plop a new motor in .

 

[Benjamin Ebrahim]

With those kind of numbers, even if the head is the only problem, its probably so warped that it can't be salvaged. If you've got the time, pull an i-Force 4.7 for cheap, rebuilt it and swap all the LC parts over. Then you'll probably be in $1-2k, but have a motor that'll last you another 200k without a blink

 

[Eicca]

The fact that two motors died in the same way makes me very suspicious of some bigger hidden problem

 

[2001LC]

Second engine being a rebuilt was probably at end of useful life. Unless you know rebuilder, they use USA made engine, substandard parts and never can or do they get the tolerance as we see from Japan's factory built engine.

Most just go with use engine if heads warped or valve bad, just head gasket, well still a ton of labor. But One would expect to see two cylinder weak next to each other if head(s) warped in most cases. Cost of replacing engine is about the same or less as rebuilding two head, but less lorbor involved for sure.

If milkshake for oil, then for sure replace engine.

Was wet test the same or is this just dry. If wet test gives better compression reading than forsure replace the engine.

 

[FrankieJoe14]

Oil looks good. No evidence of water in the dipstick or the cap. The dealer said I was getting exhaust in the coolant. I notice now that there is a very faint white smoke out the tailpipe .

We threw some oil in cylinder 8 and re tested compression and it was the same.

Anyone have an engine? Or a good source for one?

 

[nissanh]

I too agree with the poor quality of rebuillt engines. If you find a good used Japanese engine, then you are at luck.