yeah that's too bad. that's probably the rarest bird of the north american imported diesels. '81-83's had the 2.2 L non-turbo engine and was only available in 2wd. quite a few of these were sold. with the body change in '84 they updated the engine to the 2.4 2L. here's where it's a little tricky. the trucks were non turbo and onl;y available in 4wd except in cali where they only came in 2wd. '85 was the only year imported with a turbo (2LT). just like the '84's they were all 4wd except in california where they were 2wd.
So finding a '84 2wd here the midwest is quite a find.
if you get on the diesel forum here on mud, everyone will dog the L series motors. 98% of these folks have never owned or driven one. '87 and older L series motors had rocker arm valve train and later L motors had bucket and shims (2L-II). Most of the L powered 70 series cruisers imported from Japan have head issues. it is rumored that the japenese don't keep up on maintenance or something. There have been a lot of these cases with cracked heads. But these cases all involve the later engines with bucket and shim valve train.
my '85 with the older rocker arm valve train has 220miles and runs great with no issues. It uses a Denso pump that's a copy of a bosch VE injection pump which can take any and all of the mods the cummins and vw guys do.
not as much power as a 22r and engine braking and torque is great.
uses a timing belt and the engine is interference.
economy is decent. I have gotten 30 hwy and normally get 22 in town
