250,000 km 12ht any problem areas? (3 Viewers)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Sep 20, 2004
Threads
24
Messages
520
Location
Vancouver Island, BC
I am going to look at an '88 hj61 this week with 250,000 kms on it. anyhting I should look for? good thing its a 5 spd with cable lockers! obviously I will check brakes, birfs for leaks, rust etc. but what motor stuff?
 
Adjust your valves, check your timing, test the injector spray pattern.

Hoses - check them all carefully.

Check the water pump, coolant and thermostat.

~John
 
. but what motor stuff?

Leaks from the fuel pump.
Ask the owner if you can see it start dead cold after standing overnight.
Any compression problems are amplified when cold.
Check to see if the wire ties are still on the pump controls.This tells if you if anyone has fiddled with the pump settings.
 
at those km's 12ht is barely broken in, so a basic diesel-check up should be enough... as in, ask him to start it cold (check the engine actually is cold before he starts it), check if it smokes badly or smells of diesel... Assuming its 24v 12ht it should start the moment key is turned on start, if it doesnt check your account balance and think carefully about buying it :p...

Also you should take it for a little test ride, couple km's should be enough to see if it pulls allright and acts like it should, oh, and if it starts acting like kangaroo when youre driving dont worry, its driver error....
 
if it starts acting like a kangaroo thats def. me learning to drive a 5 spd with my LEFT hand! :D thanks guys I will see how it goes.
 
good luck! i have the same truck, albeit w/ the auto. LOVE IT!
 
well we will see tonight I guess. I am hoping I can sell my LWB samurai and almost pay for an HJ61 with cable lockers and a PTO winch! Its a tough call as I love my samurai and have put alot of sweat and blood into it. But if I want to start roaming farther from the island I either tow the samurai or sell it.
 
at those km's 12ht is barely broken in, so a basic diesel-check up should be enough... ....

sort of hijack:
the above statement is put in here so often, but it is blatantly wrong. While these engines can hold up for many kms when maintained properly, a 250k engine is not a young engine, no matter how you look at it. In the best case it is still in good shape, but will have wear can last another 250k. In the worst case it was neglected and is actually shot and will die soon. Same with the 5 speed. In any case the injectors are worn, the pump O rings are tired, the glow plugs are burned, the alt is on its way out, the power steering pump will leak soon and the waterpump needs replacement.

I don't think we are doing ourselves a favor by pretending that these machines are unbreakable and will last forever. Of course now someone will chime in with the famous 1 million km 3B, but there are many, MANY more out there that were in dire need of a rebuild after 300k.
hijack over.
cheers,
J
 
...the glow plugs are burned...
cheers,
J

I agree that a 250k kms diesel engine should not be thought of as "new" or problem free...at the same time, I will have a lot more confidence in a 250k km diesel engine than I would in a 250k km gas engine.

BTW...no glow plugs in a 12H-T...it has a manifold pre-heater screen. Cheers.
 
sort of hijack:
the above statement is put in here so often, but it is blatantly wrong. While these engines can hold up for many kms when maintained properly, a 250k engine is not a young engine, no matter how you look at it. In the best case it is still in good shape, but will have wear can last another 250k. In the worst case it was neglected and is actually shot and will die soon. Same with the 5 speed. In any case the injectors are worn, the pump O rings are tired, the glow plugs are burned, the alt is on its way out, the power steering pump will leak soon and the waterpump needs replacement.

I don't think we are doing ourselves a favor by pretending that these machines are unbreakable and will last forever. Of course now someone will chime in with the famous 1 million km 3B, but there are many, MANY more out there that were in dire need of a rebuild after 300k.
hijack over.
cheers,
J

So true and you beat me to it Jan. I have seen 12HT well and truly fawked at klms lower than 250000.
It only takes a brutal owner who doesnt give a damn about oil changes and you have a very tired engine.
Treating them as though they are indestructable is just BS
 
I totally agree. One should be careful about reputations.
Who knows how these things get started, or what they're based on.

Check out the following hypothetical, which I made up, with ficticious numbers:
In 1980 they made 1,000,000 cars x.
For whatever reason, neglect, ignorance, fabrication mistakes, design flaws, abuse, etc... 900,000 of them had died by 1989.

So, 90% failed to make it to the age of 10 years. Therefore, it can be considered a poor quality car, and many original owners were more than happy to part with car x.
That leaves 100,000 cars x who still kept going. They were well maintained and loved, and owners stuck with them no matter how big the maintenance and repair bills got. These lucky 10% continued on.

By now it is 2010, 30 years on. Nobody remembers owning these things in 1989. Most owners have moved on to more powerful and more efficient pastures.
By now a new generation of owners has come along. And what do they see:
Those 100,000 that survived, 90,000 of them are still kickin'. That's a 90% succes rate.
That can be considered a pretty darn good car. That's car x reliability for ya. They keep going and going.


So yeah. Again, I made it up. Any resemblence to any actual cars is purely coincidental. ;)
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom