1998 HDJ80 with 1HDT - Refresh (2 Viewers)

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The replacement downpipe from Torqit arrived in just a few days. Impressive. It is made from 304 stainless.

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However, I have decided to pursue an exhaust from Beaudesert based on @SNLC and @jomelo as well as non-Mud reviews. This build is aiming for something quiet.
I opted for 304 stainless with a resonator in the engine pipe and the round muffler.
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One review I read compares the decibel of a factory exhaust to the Beaudesert and its very close. See full article here

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I am working with @AussieHJCruza to purchase the Beaudesert exhaust and have it shipped to the US. Hoping to get it soon. Thanks again, Ed!
Beaudesert exhausts have had a solid reputation as the pinbacle of quality in Aus for decades.
Good choice 👌
 
Took some photos of the @Lutz Auto Gauge during the test drive. When I had the IP serviced I had them turn it up some. I suppose it was minimal and there is a little bit more room left with the OEM turbo that is currently putting out 12-13psi.
Pyro readings below are during a hill climb and flat ground going 110kph.

The gauge has a colored bar graph showing the EGT temp. Doing 110kph on flat ground I get between 750-850F and the graph is in the yellow/red already. Are those figures considered normal and not close to hazard? Should the graph be scaled down some so the yellow comes in at a later temperature? Thinking of someone driving this who has no idea what anything means except red=bad.

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Doing 110kph on flat ground I get between 750-850F and the graph is in the yellow/red already. Are those figures considered normal and not close to hazard?

The flat ground figures are irrelevant.
The EGT give an indication of how much fuel you're burning. This is controlled by your right foot.

The only time you need to worry about EGTs is in cases of extreme high load.
Towing a boat up a mountain range etc.
Then, you're burning a lot of fuel, engine is under load, air fuel ratio gets richer.
It's typical to tune so your peak EGT in these conditions do not go beyond a safe limit.
If your hill climb EGT is after a long sustained full throttle climb from say 2000rpm, foot flat all the way to close to redline, driven like you some it, its pribably safe. If you only pushed it a little, keep testing.

You'll see this peak in maybe about 1-5% of your driving, if that. (epending on location, hobbies, driving habits etc)
1320⁰f is 715⁰c, which is well below 750⁰c that is widely seen as safe.

A bit more boost would lower EGTs too, but don't boost beyond 15psi with the stock turbo

Heaps of chat about this in diesel tech section.

I tuned for a peak of 850⁰c about 1400⁰f. Occasionally saw higher.
Ran it like this for a few years before tearing down the engine. No sign that anything was unhappy with this.

FWIW, I tuned mine over weeks, and months.
Tweak, drive for a while, observe changes. Tweak again.
 
The flat ground figures are irrelevant.
The EGT give an indication of how much fuel you're burning. This is controlled by your right foot.

The only time you need to worry about EGTs is in cases of extreme high load.
Towing a boat up a mountain range etc.
Then, you're burning a lot of fuel, engine is under load, air fuel ratio gets richer.
It's typical to tune so your peak EGT in these conditions do not go beyond a safe limit.
If your hill climb EGT is after a long sustained full throttle climb from say 2000rpm, foot flat all the way to close to redline, driven like you some it, its pribably safe. If you only pushed it a little, keep testing.

You'll see this peak in maybe about 1-5% of your driving, if that. (epending on location, hobbies, driving habits etc)
1320⁰f is 715⁰c, which is well below 750⁰c that is widely seen as safe.

A bit more boost would lower EGTs too, but don't boost beyond 15psi with the stock turbo

Heaps of chat about this in diesel tech section.

I tuned for a peak of 850⁰c about 1400⁰f. Occasionally saw higher.
Ran it like this for a few years before tearing down the engine. No sign that anything was unhappy with this.

FWIW, I tuned mine over weeks, and months.
Tweak, drive for a while, observe changes. Tweak again.
Super helpful information here. Thank you!
 
I have been running without any of the cluster vents/trim after the Lutz Auto gauge install to make sure its working as I want. That testing has concluded successfully so I replaced the cluster clear housing, vents, and vent trim with new oem. I also swapped over a MPH speedometer.
While I was there I replaced all the cluster bulbs with new.

These are the bulbs required for my truck. I believe these are the same for the 08/1996+ year 80's.
83120-60010 is a gray socket bulb that is higher 14v and 2.0W. This bulb is for the seatbelt/airbag indications. My truck does not have airbags so it is only a single quantity.

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I was able to find an OEM blower fan on Amazon that matched my part number 87103-26020 - decided to try it since they have a great return policy. My existing fan was not moving enough air for my liking.
The new fan is identical. Same markings and dimensions. Bolted right up and it does in fact move more air than the existing. The old fan was not loud by any means but this one is dead quiet.
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I have been running without any of the cluster vents/trim after the Lutz Auto gauge install to make sure its working as I want. That testing has concluded successfully so I replaced the cluster clear housing, vents, and vent trim with new oem. I also swapped over a MPH speedometer.
While I was there I replaced all the cluster bulbs with new.

These are the bulbs required for my truck. I believe these are the same for the 08/1996+ year 80's.
83120-60010 is a gray socket bulb that is higher 14v and 2.0W. This bulb is for the seatbelt/airbag indications. My truck does not have airbags so it is only a single quantity.

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Looks sharp!

Did you need to replace the entire cluster?
Or just speedometer parts?
 
Looks sharp!

Did you need to replace the entire cluster?
Or just speedometer parts?
I swapped over just the speedo.
Mine is a strange setup as it looks like an FT/E but is for a 1HDT.
I picked up an FT cluster that was busted but the speedo was okay.
 
Next up was to refresh the climate control buttons. I took everything apart to clean. Replaced the light bulbs (3 x 84999-70015) and all buttons with new.
Existing bulbs were slightly off color but worked. The buttons themselves have a window where the light comes through to show if its on/off. These windows are damaged by UV/age and are yellow. This likely impedes light from being as bright as designed. I have had a tough time seeing them during day hours. Hoping this will solve that. I am waiting on replacement bulb for the rear AC button. Once I have it I will get this installed.

There is a faceplate trim piece that surrounds the buttons which can be removed. Under there is a soft gasket material that just crumbled from age. I could not find a part number for it but think its just for dampening the sound of the buttons when pushed. Most of it just fell out and the rest I picked out. The 3rd photo below is of this material. You can see it poking out center frame.

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Next up was to refresh the climate control buttons. I took everything apart to clean. Replaced the light bulbs (3 x 84999-70015) and all buttons with new.
Existing bulbs were slightly off color but worked. The buttons themselves have a window where the light comes through to show if its on/off. These windows are damaged by UV/age and are yellow. This likely impedes light from being as bright as designed. I have had a tough time seeing them during day hours. Hoping this will solve that. I am waiting on replacement bulb for the rear AC button. Once I have it I will get this installed.

There is a faceplate trim piece that surrounds the buttons which can be removed. Under there is a soft gasket material that just crumbled from age. I could not find a part number for it but think its just for dampening the sound of the buttons when pushed. Most of it just fell out and the rest I picked out. The 3rd photo below is of this material. You can see it poking out center frame.

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I have a few buttons that are popping out, needs a refresh for sure.
 
Got the bulb for the rear AC dash switch and installed the climate control unit.
While the dash was apart I replaced the hazard switch with a red one that I had in my bin.
Huge difference in visibility of the control buttons during the day. Before I could not tell what was on and now it’s very easy to see. Both photos below taken during day hours with no additional exposure time.



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Got around to deleting the snorkel. I previously obtained a new OEM fender for the HDJ80 which includes the cutout for the side turn marker. I had it painted by a local shop. They used a paint scanning tool that pulls up all sorts of colors and to our surprise it pulled up the factory code as best match - 3H4. However, the front door needed some blending due to the new vs older paint. The photos below is of it right after the shop so it has not been cleaned or buffed and hence the color difference between front/rear doors.

I also finally installed the ABR bumper that I picked up from @Ecliff5 a while back. I am going to keep the factory winch but will replace the cable. I ordered a Warn 5742 roller fairlead. Reading on the forum, Warn changed the design at some point of this fairlead and people had issues with a direct bolt on installation compared to previous version. However, looking at the one I purchased it looks to be the older version. Will report back once it arrives.

To retain the factory winch I will need to fabricate bracing for the front part of the winch and the ARB bumper. I am going to see if I can design something to be made via CNC so it can be essentially a bolt on. Otherwise I will weld up some bracing.

With the added weight of the bumper, I installed 1" front spring spacer from @Delta VS .

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I started to work on valve clearance. Took some measurements today and ordered new shims to get back in specification. Overall most of them were out of specification on the low end. I don't have any history of this job being performed so this will be my first data point for this motor. I put together a spreadsheet to double check all the simple math. I aimed for the middle of the specification range because the equation the FSM provides would tell you not to order a new shim if the clearance was either 0.20mm for intake or 0.40mm for exhaust. Based on that math logic the target is the middle of the range.
I plan to shuffle some of the existing shims where they fit per table below.

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While I wait for the shims to arrive later this week, I got around to doing a few things starting with the fender turn signals. New ones are still available so I replaced them and the gasket underneath. Old ones were very faded.

Next, I installed an OEM temperature sensor behind the front bumper and wired it to the @Lutz Auto multi-gauge. These sensors were found on the LX450 and Collector Edition/40th Edition 80's in the US. If you have the "auto" button on the climate control then you have this sensor. Mine does not so I added it for outside air temperature reading.

Both of my side mirrors were wobbling. I repaired them in the past but original materials keep failing. The aluminum that the mirror mounts to had recently failed causing the mirror to fold in while driving. I repaired this with a through bolt but it continued to wobble. OEM chrome mirrors were available for very reasonable price so I picked up both sides and installed them. What a difference!

Lastly, the hood never had a liner and the skin was flopping due to failed adhesive with the ribs. When the hood was shut it sounded very hollow and like a tin can. I picked up SEM 39477 seam sealer to bond the ribs and skin. I removed all the old sealer and had some help shaking/flipping/rotating the hood to remove any loose material inside. Using a vacuum and various tools we were able to get all the noise makers out of it. It did take some time. Prior to applying the seam sealer I created gaps between the ribs to gain better access for a good bond. Once the product was applied (10minute working time) I flipped it over so it would be in its natural state. Finally, a new OEM liner was installed and hood put back on the 80.
When I was buying the sealer I was not able to get the gray that I wanted so ended up with beige. If I did it again, I would get the gray. The beige is more visible on darker paint. 39337 is the part number for gray.
Also, this sealer is very messy and quick to set. I think adding some sort of protectant in areas where you dont want the sealer is smart. Tape/paper/etc.

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I have the “auto” button on my HDJ81 (1990) and have that Temp sensor behind the front bumper just in front of the condenser. I found it dangling by the wires, so I remounted it and it took care of the jumping tach needle. Too bad that temp sensor couldn’t have been hooked up to an OAT gauge somewhere in the dash. 🤷🏻‍♂️ I need to refresh my fender indicator lights as well, been on the list for a while.
 
The Beaudesert exhaust came in 3 weeks ago and I finally go around to installing it. Very nice product. I can't say visually it is any better than the Torqit that I removed. The dump pipe is a single part instead of two pipes welded together that Torqit did. Packaged well and delivered by @AussieHJCruza to me in the USA.
Installation was straight forward and exactly the same as the Torqit. About an hour to install.
I had 2 area of rubbing:

1. Pipe with flex joing, right after the dump pipe, rubbed on the body. You can kinda see it in the photo below. It only makes contact when it turns off and the motor comes to a shaky stop. I will either bend or trim that area.

2. Rear section that wrap around the rear cross member. There is a heat shield that is held in place with nuts. The stud is long so it contacts the pipe. I trimmed this with a rotary tool to create clearance.

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