2LTE engine heads failure rate appology

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Joined
Feb 10, 2004
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Location
Derwent Alberta
i must appologize to Denis for posting up wrong information.

in the previous thread about "should i buy this truck" i had posted:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/showpost.php?p=2485451&postcount=24

there i posted that there was a 40% failure rate...well i had my figures mixed up. it turns out the importer in Calgary had not replaced 20 out of 30 heads it was actually...30 out of 50 heads...

i am sorry Denis for posting the wrong information. it is actually 60% failure rate.
my bad.
 
Fair enough. Has the importer investigated the problem besides just deciding the engine is "crap ?
. The engine family is still being produced today by TOYOTA for application in "general market" countries for utility trucks, so it can't be 100% crap in the design, and a big part of the issue chould then be blamed on some particular variations or application. If all the energy put in destroying the L series engine familiy reputation was put towards assessing the real issue(s) of 2LTEs in LJ78s, surely some solution would be found ?
Then again I know nothing and only the controversial part of my posts are being read and replied to so I guess nobody is really interested in solving the issues. :doh:
 
I believed Wayne enough that I ended up selling a half cut that I imported to put into my hilux....

I figure I would rather put an engine in that I wouldn't have to worry about...


atleast Wayne was on the low side the first time.... 60% wow...


bk
 
Then again I know nothing and only the controversial part of my posts are being read and replied to so I guess nobody is really interested in solving the issues. :doh:

I have tried over the last couple years to solve the problem, spending untold number of hours and thousands trying to cure the problem. Denis, i love the LJ78/LJ71, they are wicked trucks but with a time bomb as i keep saying. just recently there was a gent that called me making some more suggestions of places i can go read up on a couple newer ideas.

well, Denis, you have stirred up my desire to persue this matter further so over the next couple weeks this thread is going to get loaded with "facts" from Oz, NZ and Canada and anywhere else i can dig up the info on these head issues. i will post what different people/companies/countries have tried to modify to stop or delay the head cracking issues.

i will also attempt to locate information about the KZJ engine as they also have a record of cracking heads in other countries. no use waiting till the engines fail here in Canada by the hundreds before doing the research.

i have to thank you Denis for reinvigorating my desire to look further into these engines.

cheers M8
 
Wow that's good to hear ! Now we can talk :D
The KZ also have a history of failure but there was a head update sometime in 1999/2000 that seemed to have cured the problem 100%.

The toyota IDI head cracking is an issue, but it deserves some investigating IMO. Right now I have a 2LT and a 2C timebombs going that have had some experimenting done to try and solve the problem, when I get some time I will work on my 2LT2 test mule as well and will report back if something interesting comes out.
 
longer hills, higher rates of speed, stronger head winds all contribute to the problem...
i "feel" if the unit is to be ONLY used around town then it might last a long time.
i "feel" if the unit is to be ONLY used on the rural roads in southern Ontario (or like country/terrain) then it might last a long time.
as soon as you add any of the above EVEN ONCE can kill the head. now this being said you might get away with the above more than that but then it becomes a "when" not an "if" the head will blow.

no matter what the extenuating circumstances the head and cooling design is faulty and a time bomb.
 
Wayne I totally agree with you, for some good reason my prado is still doing awesome I do the coq and Hope_ Princeton weekly some hills 2nd 4500rpm cools nice when it revs especially the egts, good luck going to Ontario
aaron kuit
 
I think an area to look is the precups. Heat sink right into the head due to combustion starting inside the head. Has anyone ever tried enlarging the holes in the precups to reduce the thermal stress inside the head? It would introduce harder starting though.

And Wayne...good. As one of the early people who warned of these head issues and was derided at times from talking abut it...I too have concerns about the KZ in Canada's driving environment.

I too think they could be a great around town vehicle when all the standard replacement items are looked after (cooling system done, 3L head, etc).

The statistics on Hilux vs Prado vs Surf would be interesting, as there was discussion at one point about engine bay design and room.

Denis, we've both been around this site long enough to have seen a few trends. I appreciate your candor.

gb
 
Denis, we've both been around this site long enough to have seen a few trends. I appreciate your candor.

gb

honestly I've been caught saying or shouting how crappy some designs were, only to be proven wrong as soon as I understood the ins and out, and why everything was done the way it was. In the case of a whole vehicle/engine design surely some reverse engineering and in-depth studies would be interesting.
 
And Wayne...good. As one of the early people who warned of these head issues and was derided at times from talking abut it...I too have concerns about the KZ in Canada's driving environment.
gb


Yes, Greg, you did warn the masses of the possible problems... one of my biggest problems is accepting without personal proof. I was mislead, as many are, by the beleif that Toyota wouldn't make a s***ty design...
man, was i ever wrong.

so far on the Oz forum the KZ is rated worse than the L series for head problems and engine failure but i am still doing the research so nothing posted yet...
 
Somebody needs to do a 5vzfe swap in these trucks. If I could find one with a blown engine and defeated owner locally I would pick one up to give it a whirl.
 
I'm not sure where the a/c condenser is located as we don't have much a/c here but I have a friend who had a custom rad made for his LJ73. Custom tanks with a 5-row core IIRC, only reusing the stock mounting brackets on the sides. The thing was about 5" thick and could take more than 10L of coolant by itself. It fit with no modification, since the added thickness was in the fron in an unoccupied space.
The KZJ7* series also have a much thicker radiator than LJs, I'll have to look at the mounting points to see if this could be a direct retrofit.
 
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