1HD-T Engine Failure - Calgary, AB - Advice/Tips welcome!!

Rebuild 1HD-T or source another motor?

  • Rebuild 1HD-T

    Votes: 11 64.7%
  • Source new motor

    Votes: 6 35.3%

  • Total voters
    17

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So are you saying the 1HZ and the 1HDT can use the same rods and crank then? Interesting.....

HD-T rods and pistons use a larger wrist pin than HZ. A common upgrade when rebuilding HZ for a turbo install is to run HD-T rods, and turbo spec pistons (HD-T wrist pin)
Crank is the same.

HD-FT IP is very different. Different cam plate profile delivers a lot more fuel mid range, and injection pressures are double that of HD-T
 
A big part of it is that the rest of the truck is pretty rough. While it sat, I had forgotten and myriad of smaller issues that contributed to a frustrating vehicle.

In no particular order:

Seatbelts lock and take forever to slowly prod them to a sufficient length that they can be used
Rattles. Everywhere.
Painfully slow windows
painfully slow wipers - motor is HDJ81 specific
Useless rear defrost
Rattling mirror
Leaky windshield
RDL not working
Brakes suck!

Motor specific:

the motor pollutes so much it's embarrassing - even when it's warm and running relatively clear, the exhaust is cancer. literally. NOx for days.
Starting in the winter smokes out the entire block for 10 minutes
Performance isn't really that impressive even with the GTurbo @ 20Psi. LX has more HP and torque no doubt.
Fuel economy not impressive (often 20l/100km in the city, worse in the cold)
Cost of the motor rebuild would've bought my LX outright
Short oil change intervals. 2UZ did 16,000kms, 1hdt does 6000kms.
Always keeping an eye on the EGTs
The motor is reputed to be stout but I'm also paranoid since it failed once already. Feels like it's made of glass after spending $15k++ rebuilding it.
Diesel - $1.16c/L
Gas - $0.90c/L
Constantly fiddling with the boost compensator, trying to get a proper mix of fuel but not run too rich and kill fuel economy. I could see these motors being so much better in the FTE trim.

Highway fuel economy of a fully loaded LX on 33" ATs with RTT and supermoto on the back - 13.9L/100km
HDJ81 is doing about the same on 33's with the RTT.


I'm now into this truck for almost twice what I paid for my 2006 LX470 (which I just sold). The LX was better in every single way. Especially the motor. But also the chassis. I don't do the most extreme wheeling, but I never found myself missing diff locks where the lx had ATRAC. on-road, no comparison - 100 series all day.

I guess my only advice is to think long and hard about the money you're spending. How clean is solid is the rest of your truck? Mine has a lot to do with having a rough truck to begin with. If it was a super clean, tight and rattle free cab, I'd probably feel differently. Even then, it's painful to drive when -30'C hits and is infinitely less comfortable than my LX. It's hard to justify owning the 80 given the cost.

Sounds like you bought a pup. No matter how much you rub it, you can't polish a turd.

A lot of what you describe is not normal, not typically of a hdj80.
20l/100km screams "problems".
My hdj81 fueled up on a stock turbo would do 15-16l/100km every day of the week driven hard in traffic.
Mine loved the cold weather. Anything sub 10c it ran much better. Loved cold, dense air.

I also have a HZJ105, and its definitely got more creature comforts to it.
 
Cracked piston crowns are not uncommon in turbo HZ. Never heard of a rod failure.

I think it's a while you're in there deal
 
Sounds like you bought a pup. No matter how much you rub it, you can't polish a turd.

A lot of what you describe is not normal, not typically of a hdj80.
20l/100km screams "problems".
My hdj81 fueled up on a stock turbo would do 15-16l/100km every day of the week driven hard in traffic.
Mine loved the cold weather. Anything sub 10c it ran much better. Loved cold, dense air.

I was thinking the same thing. The worst fuel economy I've seen is 17l/100km and that was after doing short trips and having the truck tuned where the shop was doing WOT hill runs to get it all set up. Usually, in heavy commuting traffic I see 13l/100km or a bit less.

Where I'm located, it doesn't usually get too cold, but it's been around -8 C lately in the mornings. The truck is a bit smokey on start up, but after driving a bit it definitely cleans up, and once the coolant reaches around 60 C (not sure what the oil is at) the truck runs really well.
 
Zipdoa have you ever gotten your engines timing checked. Sounds like there is something going on with it. I use to feel the same as you about all of little frustrating things on my 60 series. Finally I decided to sell it and fixed all that pesky stuff and after doing that it was actually a nice relaxing fun truck to drive. Should have taken the time to fix that stuff years ago. Now someone else gets to enjoy it.
 
Having an old Cruiser as DD it's hard .. I did it for a while but it will depend on how much time ( or $$$ ) you have available to keep fixing stuff .. and while you do it right the first time, again it's an old rig, some parts might not be available, that means you will need to create, adapt to make it work .. and it will wok for a while, until you need to fix / create / swap something else ..
 
Sounds like you tried to love the 80 but it just wasn't working out for you. It's unfortunate, but everyone hast their own tastes in LC's.
 
Zipdoa have you ever gotten your engines timing checked. Sounds like there is something going on with it. I use to feel the same as you about all of little frustrating things on my 60 series. Finally I decided to sell it and fixed all that pesky stuff and after doing that it was actually a nice relaxing fun truck to drive. Should have taken the time to fix that stuff years ago. Now someone else gets to enjoy it.

That’s the plan, I bought the SST and I’ll check it out. The motor was timed without the tool when it was rebuilt, the builder advanced it slightly from the factory timing mark. Other things I’m checking are the washers under the injectors and getting clear fuel lines connected to the IP.

My motor is a 1990 build but I had the pump and injectors modified to accommodate the later 92+ style 42.4mm pistons. I assume those are working fine since they only have 20,000km since being rebuilt (as does the motor.

There’s a lot of residual oil that collects around the intake piping (mostly from the charge hose off the turbo) so I wonder if those flaps in the valve cover need adjustment or if something else needs to be addressed.

Either way, will get just over 350km on 83L of fuel this tank. It gets started in -28c every morning and the trips are short, so I’m sure that contributes, but it’s still unaffordably inefficient.
 
Setting timing by aligning pump to marks on the housing is woefully inaccurate!

You seriously should be seeing around half that level of fuel consumption. (Between 12-15l/100km would be a normal range)

A very small shift in pump timing will make a big change!
Going from the low end of factory timing spec, to the high end only takes a mm or two of rotation of the pump housing.

The match marks on the pump housing might just getting you through the gate into the parking lot at the ball park. You really need to set timing properly.

In regards to oil in the intake, fit a quality catch can to the PCV hose, then vent to atmosphere.
In my experience, bending the tabs under the rocker cover won't change a thing.

Next question, what was done to run it in a rebuild?
Really common for people to wrap a rebuilt engine in cotton wool and baby it.
For diesel engines, it means it will not get run in properly, rings don't get bedded in.
Then people experience oil consumption and blow by.
Plan a couple of weekends of spirited driving through the mountains somewhere (after you reset pump timing). Go and take all your disappointment and frustrations out on it. Drive it like you stole it. REV the snot out of it. Bed it in or break it. Get it HOT

Mine loved cold weather. Started instantaneously, ran crisp! Was noticeably different the way it ran.

If you're doing short trips in -28c, maybe you need to put a blind over 1/2 - 2/3 of the radiator so it comes up to temp
 
That’s the plan, I bought the SST and I’ll check it out. The motor was timed without the tool when it was rebuilt, the builder advanced it slightly from the factory timing mark. Other things I’m checking are the washers under the injectors and getting clear fuel lines connected to the IP. I could have lent you mine. You will want to set it to the upper end of the spec with ACSD removed. 17mm 12pt line wrench crowfoot is your friend for loosening injector lines. Experienced techs can get timing really close by ear though.

My motor is a 1990 build but I had the pump and injectors modified to accommodate the later 92+ style 42.4mm pistons. I assume those are working fine since they only have 20,000km since being rebuilt (as does the motor. Who rebuilt the pump? I tried rebuilding injectors and just bought new the third time around (25k kms and $2k later). NO ONE in NA can rebuild 2-stage injectors worth a sh!t.

There’s a lot of residual oil that collects around the intake piping (mostly from the charge hose off the turbo) so I wonder if those flaps in the valve cover need adjustment or if something else needs to be addressed. No, baffles are fine stock. Who did your rebuild? How many kms?

Either way, will get just over 350km on 83L of fuel this tank. It gets started in -28c every morning and the trips are short, so I’m sure that contributes, but it’s still unaffordably inefficient. I would have thought this to be impossible, unless all 4 of your calipers were seized. That's what I get in 4Lo
 
Next question, what was done to run it in a rebuild?
Really common for people to wrap a rebuilt engine in cotton wool and baby it.
For diesel engines, it means it will not get run in properly, rings don't get bedded in.
Then people experience oil consumption and blow by.
Plan a couple of weekends of spirited driving through the mountains somewhere (after you reset pump timing). Go and take all your disappointment and frustrations out on it. Drive it like you stole it. REV the snot out of it. Bed it in or break it. Get it HOT

It definitely wasn't driven nicely, but I didn't get to tow a heavy load like I initially planned to break it in. Oil consumption is negligible each time it gets changed.

No biggie, it was only $110. I appreciate it though - are you local in Calgary?

IP + Injectors done by Okanagan Diesel Tuning - this is what they said about the build:

“I tested the injectors, and they dont require nozzles. Operation is like new. I will, however, need to adjust the pre-lift, and reset the 2nd opening pressure, as it differs from 90-92 spec by around 400psi. They will be fully cleaned and refurbished. I am tracking down the thicker base gaskets that are necessary for proper engine operation with your choice of pistons. They have been done once before and the previous shop/installer used non-toyota gaskets, which is a no-no.

As for the pump, it will require full teardown, as the parts required to match your setup (pistons and injectors) require many parts to be changed out. The camplate, advance mechanism, throttle shaft and spring, and a few other small things are completely different or updated parts for the 93+ models.
Also, I need to know if your truck is automatic trans or manual.
I can then verify the proper pump number and base settings, and we may be able to find a complete pump at a more competitive price to build up instead of patching together a frankenstein pump. Because some parts are either discontinued or unavailable from Denso, it may be difficult to build a truly 100% 93+ pump using your 1990-91 pump. The 1hdt is pretty finicky, so I am not a huge fan of using incorrect bits in the pumps whenever possible. Especially when you are building a brand new new motor.
I can give you a quote on either option and you can decide what you want to do.”

I did opt to build my ‘frankenpump’ since I could not find a later model pump back in 2016.

Motor was built by a mudder.

No clue why fuel consumption is so bad. Hopefully adjusting timing makes a difference. Calipers definitely aren’t sticking. Diffs all have fresh 75w90. Tcase is freshly rebuilt and trans has 60k ish on a rebuild and it’s running dex3 syn.

Motor just doesn’t feel very torquey. My old TDI felt livelier (I’m sure having a VGT helped).
 
are you local in Calgary? Yes, Bow Valley
IP + Injectors done by Okanagan Diesel Tuning Well, I take that back. That would be the only shop I trust

Motor was built by a mudder. A machine shop? A good builder should be able to diagnose concerns with a stethoscope. If timing doesn't solve your problems - I have a leak down and compression tester with adapters you can borrow.

No clue why fuel consumption is so bad. Hopefully adjusting timing makes a difference. Calipers definitely aren’t sticking. Diffs all have fresh 75w90. Tcase is freshly rebuilt and trans has 60k ish on a rebuild and it’s running dex3 syn.

Motor just doesn’t feel very torquey. My old TDI felt livelier (I’m sure having a VGT helped). Hopefully just retarded timing. If ladies say "it's really quiet for a diesel", chances are you need to rotate the pump.
 
I think, start with setting the timing. From everything you've said has been done, it really stands out as first thing to look at.

It would be a shame to miss out on enjoying what should be a fun truck to drive for the sake of a couple of hours shed time.
 
Alright - I got the timing tool. Following the FSM to check timing, I have to set the Cam, IP and Crank to TDC.

Cam and IP line up together at TDC, but the crank is slightly off - Could this explain all my issues?

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Boy, it looks pretty damn close to me really. If it was truly off a tooth it'd be way more than that.
 

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