12HT oil burning when cold. (1 Viewer)

[Fey1]

Hi all,

My 12HT has taken to burning oil when cold starting (below 60° ambient temp). After warm up, it clears a lot but still burning a little oil...

I am not qualified to try a rebuild myself. My questions are:

Does anyone have a complete rebuild kit available? Bearings, gaskets, pistons, everything, etc...

Anyone local in California who could rebuild it?

Thanks!

Cheers!

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Hi all,

My 12HT has taken to burning oil when cold starting (below 60° ambient temp). After warm up, it clears a lot but still burning a little oil...

I am not qualified to try a rebuild myself. My questions are:

Does anyone have a complete rebuild kit available? Bearings, gaskets, pistons, everything, etc...

Anyone local in California who could rebuild it?

Thanks!

Cheers!

Are you sure it's burning oil? Or could it be blue diesel smoke? When the injection system wears on Toyota's old direct injection diesels, they can put out blue smoke when cold and/or idling.

Are you finding you have to add oil to the motor? Have you smelled the blue smoke to see if it's oil or diesel smoke? They smell totally different.

If it is burning oil for sure, maybe start by getting a compression test.....

 

[Fey1]

From the smell, I'd have to say it is oil. The color is difficult to tell, but generally looks bluish / white. If it is running rich, it would be black. Only get that at higher altitudes.

 

[duncanrm]

How much oil are you going through between service intervals - and what is your interval?

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

From the smell, I'd have to say it is oil. The color is difficult to tell, but generally looks bluish / white. If it is running rich, it would be black. Only get that at higher altitudes.

Usually the black smoke only happens under load when it's too rich. At idle it's common to get the bluish/white diesel smoke. The HDJ81's are really bad for it....

 

[Fey1]

How much oil are you going through between service intervals - and what is your interval?

Less than a quart in 4 - 5k miles....

 

[Fey1]

Usually the black smoke only happens under load when it's too rich. At idle it's common to get the bluish/white diesel smoke. The HDJ81's are really bad for it....

Never had smoke during idle...

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Never had smoke during idle...

Ahhh, I see. So under what driving conditions do you see the smoke? This can point to rings vs valve seals.....

 

[Fey1]

Ahhh, I see. So under what driving conditions do you see the smoke? This can point to rings vs valve seals.....

Under load (accelerating) when stone cold. Sometimes happens when warm and accelerating, but not often.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Under load (accelerating) when stone cold. Sometimes happens when warm and accelerating, but not often.

So if that is engine oil smoke for sure, I'd think it would be an issue with rings then....

 

[roscoFJ73]

oes anyone have a complete rebuild kit available? Bearings, gaskets, pistons, everything, etc...

Yes, look at Engines Australia site. But before you start looking at rebuilds, there are other things that need to be checked. Is your glow screen working properly? Its normal for diesels to get smoky, the colder it gets. They rely on a hot combustion chamber to burn the diesel properly (as well as good compression)

 

[jakerudy]

Less than a quart in 4 - 5k miles....

At that rate you can buy a lot of oil cheaper than a rebuild and have an engine that should run a long time.

 

[duncanrm]

At that rate you can buy a lot of oil cheaper than a rebuild and have an engine that should run a long time.

+1.. doesnt seem that excessive at this time. It would seem a bit premature to move to a rebuild just yet.. in my opinion.

 

[too tall]

Might be worth checking the pump timing.

 

[Fey1]

Yes, look at Engines Australia site. But before you start looking at rebuilds, there are other things that need to be checked. Is your glow screen working properly? Its normal for diesels to get smoky, the colder it gets. They rely on a hot combustion chamber to burn the diesel properly (as well as good compression)

The glow screen is not even connected. (24V on a 12V system)... I know that when cold they will smoke more, but this has been getting slowly worse over the last few years. I am supposed to take it to Alaska in 2022, I don't want to have to push it over a cliff when the engine decides to crap out on me.

 

[Fey1]

Might be worth checking the pump timing.

Hadn't considered that.

 

[Fey1]

+1.. doesnt seem that excessive at this time. It would seem a bit premature to move to a rebuild just yet.. in my opinion.

Yeah, but in 2022, I'm driving to Alaska and back. I'd be really chuffed if it died on that trip.

 

[FJBen]

You are about 80 miles from Valley Hybrids @orangefj45. That would be where I would go if I was in your shoes.

 

[Fey1]

You are about 80 miles from Valley Hybrids @orangefj45. That would be where I would go if I was in your shoes.

Georg does much of my work. He is pretty clear that he does not rebuild 12HT's though.

 

[FJBen]

Georg does much of my work. He is pretty clear that he does not rebuild 12HT's though.

Interesting. I completely agree about doing a compression test.

Also timing could be some of it. Is it stumbling as well when it smokes? I originally after the rebuild set my timing at 0 instead of 14btdc on accident. This is what that looked like at startup in 50F weather.



Now after setting the timing correctly, It starts in single digit weather and only smokes a very little for a few seconds due to cold air/combustion.


I will put it this way, any decent shop that works on diesel engines can rebuild these. There is no magic sauce going on. My machine shop (1 guy) in a town of less than 5K did all my machine work and installed pistons/crank/cam and did an excellent job. I did the rest. He mainly works on industrial/agricultural farm diesels, and a lot of Isuzu diesels as they are used in Ag Pivots.
He said the 13BT was really similar to a 4BD isuzu family engine and built really well.

Depending on your skill level might determine what you are looking for IF it needs a rebuild. Full shop rebuild, just machine work and you assemble?