1985 fj60 engine hard knocking - help (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Feb 8, 2016
Threads
3
Messages
14
Location
Salt lake city, utah
'85 Land Cruiser fj60
2F engine
Parked for 8 years

This Cruiser was given to me from a friend who couldn't let it go, but his wife was done with it parked in the drive for the past 8 years. I have done some minor work on it, changed the fluids, dropped and attempted to clean the rusted fuel tank, etc.

The problem is it just started knocking in the engine pretty loud from what appears to be the passenger's side around the 3rd cylinder at or below the valve cover. Have a shop manual, but it doesn't have a troubleshooting section. I have read a number of forums but can't find a good answer. Since its in the top of the engine I am guessing a valve problem? Any suggestions on where to look and what to tackle first would be appreciated.

Also, the engine was sluggish, not a lot of power before this all happened. I have it parked, ordered an engine gasket kit, and will remove the valve cover when the kit comes. I've no experience with an fj60 and am hoping for some direction.
 
First and foremost, post a video if you can so that we can hear the knock.

Secondly, how many miles are on the engine?

Depending on the exact sound, it could be an exhaust leak, it could be a rod knock, it could be a stuck exhaust valve or it could just be a loose part of some kind. Adjust the valves when you have the gasket kit and see if the sound improves.
 
SHERMAN FJ62

Thanks, the Cruiser has 182K miles on it. I posted a video of the knock here:

I guess I should say that after changing out the fluids, messing with the rust in the gas tank, and getting it to run, I have been driving it on and off for a couple weeks. No road trips, just enough to heat the engine up.
 
Oh wow. I've heard that before, that's a hellacious rod knock. Motor is fried. Time to pull and rebuild or find another 2F.

It's worth pulling the valve cover and verifying that the valves are operating properly to make sure, but based on my experience, that motor is toast.

@Rice would you agree?
 
But the million dollar question is.... Did the engine run ok for a bit then develop that knock?

Or has it been like that since you've got it started?

Yeah this was going to be my question along with why did your buddy park it for so long?
Start by pulling the top end apart and see if you can find any indication in there. Then pull the valvetrain and pull each rod after the valvetrain is off. Make sure you are keeping not of which rod goes where but I would probably start with cylinder #3 since that is where you thought the knock was coming from. At this point pulling things apart, marking everything of course, will lead you to a lot of information just by looking to see what is what.
 
With engine running, pull a spark plug boot off each plug one at a time, replacing on plug as you go. If the knock goes away or lessens markedly when you pull the boot off the offending cylinder, you've found the rod knock. If the knock does not go away, it's most likely in the valve train.
 
With engine running, pull a spark plug boot off each plug one at a time, replacing on plug as you go. If the knock goes away or lessens markedly when you pull the boot off the offending cylinder, you've found the rod knock. If the knock does not go away, it's most likely in the valve train.

Good call Spike! I like that test.
 
That knock has just enough "ting" in it that it could be a stuck valve. Plus, it's normal for a bad rod bearing to have a slightly different knock on the power stroke than on the intake stroke.

Easy test .... if a valve is stuck compression test will tell you. See what the compression numbers are.
 
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wow...don't run the engine much longer....something is going to come loose shortly. I would also vote on connecting rod issue. Time to full rebuild or swap engines..etc.
 
Death rattle is what it sounds like to me. The crank will be toast.
 
any followup on this issue? Find anything?
 
I attached two photos. I finally got around to draining the oil and pulling the valve cover and found what was making the noise. Two of the valve push rods were toast. Only drove it home when it started making noise so I am hoping I can just pull the rocker valve assembly and replace the two rods. Tested all the cylinders and all but the two with the faulty rods tested ok. Tomorrow will look to see if the valves themselves were stuck.

phone 3.18.16 400.jpg
phone 3.18.16 401.jpg
 
After this fix, test the oil pressure with a mechanical gauge, and report back. You want to be sure everything is healthy in there, even after the pushrod fix.
 
Next question, any good online place to buy push rods? All the large local autopart stores do not carry them. Amazon sells them in packs of 6.
 
Glad you found it. Post up in the classified section you're in need of a couple push rods. There have to be a few boxes of them sitting under a workbench someplace.

When the new stuff is in be sure to rotate the engine by hand to see if those valves open. It's likely the pushrods were the victim and not the culprit.

Also, when you go back with the new push rods and get the lash adjustment done do a careful measure of the lift to be sure it didn't wipe out a cam lobe. If it did wipe one of the lobes it will also reveal itself as a valve tick that won't go away even after the valves have perfect lash.

Good luck.
 
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I had a similar thing happen on the 2F in my 40. For me, replaced the push rods, adjusted the valves, and I was good to go. Hopefully, you'll have the same results.
 
Be aware the rocker arm assy can get twisted around when you remove it. The rocker shaft is directional for oiling. Note the notch. This is in the FSM
 

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