1990 BJ73 Engine Question/Advice ( VM 2.5 td motor)

[28 tid]

This is my swap, 3.600 6 cyl at the place of the little brother 2.500.

 

[joekatana]

Hello, i have a VM motor!
Mine is a 2.5 cc 5 cyl turbo not intercooled, original from factory, but there is a version 4 cyl intercooled mounted on the last version of portuguese BJ 73.
The spare parts of VM are the same of mercruiser turbo diesel and BMW marine motors of the '90's year.
My engine has 330k km whitout major issues, at around 300k i refreshed the head .
This is the only problem for the VM, knowin all the world, but if you treat it well(warm up and especially cool down) will last forever as a diamond!!!!

View attachment 1558884

VM and last forever used in the same sentence

Do you happen to be that guy that also owns the reliable Alfa Romeo and Ducati

Just joking I know some people will never have an issue with their cars/bikes but the simple truth is that most of the VM powered cruisers are either at the junkyard or on their way to it unfortunately,same goes for the VM powered early 90's Jeeps and Rovers in Europe.

 

[Dalexa001]

I bought this truck and replaced the VM with a 3b with turbo. Have never been so satisfied!! First two photos are original VM and last two are of the replacement. Cheers!!

 

[MyCruiserisaHogBeast]

That is really not what I want to do. Who makes a adapter plate for the 4bt to bolt to the H55f transmission?
So no one knows anything about these VM motors?

There’s a lot of hate for the 4BT, but I’ve owned a 4BT powered Cruiser and if you like loud, rowdy motors then it’s a lot of fun and super simple. You can buy parts at any NAPA.

The downside of a 4BT is its paint shaker-ness. You’ve got some options for some big hydraulic motor mounts, mine wasn’t bad at all. It did chew up driveline parts though, the low end torque is unreal. It would be a blasty blast in a 70 series. I’ve owned two Toyota diesels, I currently have a 13BT powered rig. The 4BT is a different experience.

You can do a GM configuration and run any old Chevy conversion to the H55F. Mine had an advance adapters set up and was perfect.

 

[FJBen]

There’s a lot of hate for the 4BT, but I’ve owned a 4BT powered Cruiser and if you like loud, rowdy motors then it’s a lot of fun and super simple. You can buy parts at any NAPA.

The downside of a 4BT is its paint shaker-ness. You’ve got some options for some big hydraulic motor mounts, mine wasn’t bad at all. It did chew up driveline parts though, the low end torque is unreal. It would be a blasty blast in a 70 series. I’ve owned two Toyota diesels, I currently have a 13BT powered rig. The 4BT is a different experience.

You can do a GM configuration and run any old Chevy conversion to the H55F. Mine had an advance adapters set up and was perfect.

how would you compare the 13bt to a 4bt? I know the 4bt is a rattler...

 

[MyCruiserisaHogBeast]

how would you compare the 13bt to a 4bt? I know the 4bt is a rattler...

The 4BT and the 13B-T have some similarities, but the 4BT is everything in extreme.

As mentioned, it vibrates like crazy, so we can get that out of the way. It’s got a really long stroke and you feel it, and because of the configuration of the crank and how low it operates, it’s like a jackhammer on your drivetrain. It ate 5th gear on my H55F 5 times (it was modified with a Marlin Toy Box which created a weak link, but still... if it wasn’t for this I would still own the truck). It likes low RPM and if you’re smart you won’t let it rev past 3200, and for idea fuel economy you want RPMs below 2000. After you get passed that stuff, it’s a really fun motor. It is the least stallable motor I’ve ever driven, and in low range it’s sort of like steering a freight train. The torque peak is way down low, so it had near instant oomph. You can also get some pretty wild fuel economy. I could get 25mpg out of a 6000 lbs cruiser on 37s, and it would eat biodiesel, WVO and pretty much anything else I tossed in the tank (after I replaced the fuel lines). With a 3” exhaust it has a very satisfying snort to it, and a VE pump model is super easy to tune. Upgrades are easy to source, and you can buy parts for it from NAPA, generally you just order for a 12v Cummins powered Ram W350 and you’re good.

The 13BT is fun, I like it. Has enough oomph to get me around, does whatever I ask it to on the freeway, I get fuel economy in the low 20s. It’s a little rattly, It’s kinda stinky and smokey (but I haven’t started tweaking on it yet, so I don’t know how much I’ll be able to dial out), it’s a little grumpy when you wake it up in cooer weather, but it’s clearly designed for a passenger vehicle and is really easy to live with. Having had a 1HZ powered rig, all things said and done if I were you I’d drop in a 1HZ after you consider everything, but a 13BT and a 4BTA are still great choices for different reasons.

 

[FJBen]

The 4BT and the 13B-T have some similarities, but the 4BT is everything in extreme.

As mentioned, it vibrates like crazy, so we can get that out of the way. It’s got a really long stroke and you feel it, and because of the configuration of the crank and how low it operates, it’s like a jackhammer on your drivetrain. It ate 5th gear on my H55F 5 times (it was modified with a Marlin Toy Box which created a weak link, but still... if it wasn’t for this I would still own the truck). It likes low RPM and if you’re smart you won’t let it rev past 3200, and for idea fuel economy you want RPMs below 2000z After you get passed that stuff, it’s a really fun motor. It is the least stallable motor I’ve ever driven, and in law range it’s sort of like steering a freight train. The torque peak is way down low, so it had near instant oomph. You can also get some pretty wild fuel economy. I could get 25mpg out of a 6000 lbs cruiser on 37s, and it would eat biodiesel, WVO and pretty much anything else I tossed in the tank (after I replaced the fuel lines). With a 3” exhaust it has a very satisfying snort to it, and a VE pump model is super easy to tune. Upgrades are easy to source, and you can buy parts for it from NAPA, generally you just order for a 12v Cummins powered Ram W350 and you’re good.

The 13BT is fun, I like it. Has enough oomph to get me around, does whatever I ask it to on the freeway, I get fuel economy in the law 20s. It’s a little rattly, It’s kinda stinky and smokey (but I haven’t started tweaking on it yet, so I don’t know how much I’ll be able to dial out), it’s a little grumpy when you wake it up in cooer weather, but it’s clearly designed for a passenger vehicle and is really easy to live with. Having had a 1HZ powered rig, all things said and done if I were you I’d drop in a 1HZ after you consider everything, but a 13BT and a 4BTA are still great choices for different reasons.

great info!

I’ve driven the 6BT in various forms quite a bit, but never the 4BT. I like the 6BT, but not sure I’d swap that into a cruiser. All the impressions I got about the 4BT were pretty similar to what you say gobs of torque, industrial rattly.
I just rebuilt the 13BT in my BJ74 completely, injectors, IP and turbo so I hope I don’t have to think about engines or such for quite a while

mine is pretty quiet and smooth with only the boost turned up to 10psi, not much smoke or stink. it gets around decent for a heavy 30yr old cruiser. I plan on turning up boost a little more, little more fuel and bigger exhaust, maybe intercool but not a lot of room. The machine shop was pretty impressed with the 13BT on how it was built. He said it was very similar to the Isuzu 4BD1t that he works on a lot. seems like a better comparison than the 4BT

i agree on the 1HZ just for parts availability in the future.
Just kind of curious on how you felt the 2 diesels compared.

 

[Toyland250]

Have a chance to buy a really clean non rusted BJ73. Its a 1990 BJ that has
a Salvador Caetano engine in it. That really is a VM 2.5 td engine. HR 588 is the model #.
So everything I have read about these VM diesel motors has been negative. You can't find
parts, manuals, heads are nickle plated, prone to over heat and the list goes on.
Does anybody have a input about these Italian VM diesel motors?
Anyone know where and if parts are still available?
Are these VM diesel's any good or is everything I read true?
Don't want to buy this BJ and then have to put a 4bt in her. The truck is just to cool and mint to
pass up.

Now when I went to see and test drive, it wouldn't start cause the glow plug relay was toast. She
was more than 2qts. low on oil. When I did finally get her started she really never stopped smoking.
Had to use a pinch of starting fluid to get her to finally start. I don't like doing that but I drove a
little ways and reallly wanted to test drive it.
The BJ73 drove really well. Had tons of turbo lag. Still wasn't the slowest thing but still not enough power to merge into traffic in the city.
Any input here would be great. Thanks

Good afternoon. Are you still working on the VM 2.5 TD 5-cylinder engine?
I've rescued the vehicle we had at home, 15 years after trading it in to buy the Land Cruiser 90 in 2001.

The VM engine runs, but it's blowing air from the cylinder head breather. I'm looking to get some spare parts.

- Cylinder liners
- Pistons
- Piston rings
- Connecting rod bearings

Of all these parts, I've only been able to find piston rings.

I look forward to hearing from you. I must say, the VM engine has a wonderful sound.

Best regards.

 

[bj70bc]

not worth spending money on, dont bother, get something reliable and that you CAN get parts for, that was built by toyota

 

[Toyland250]

Hola. Hay muchos comentarios negativos sobre este motor, pero para mí, el mayor inconveniente es la falta de repuestos disponibles.
El motor turbodiésel de 5 cilindros VM tiene un sonido que te transporta a los años 90, con el maravilloso sonido de sus cinco cilindros en marcha y el turbocompresor zumbando... es una delicia.

Espero que alguien tenga piezas de reproducción para este motor HR588 2.5 TD...GRACIAS.