Hello my name is nacho and in from spain but living in ecuador ,sorry for my bad english firts , i have buy a Lexus lx450 from 97 with 150000 miles in the clock , the car seam to be in a very good form , the last owner is a ih8mud reader and a car have somes hacks in it. This is not my first offroad car, i have previusly a nissan xtrail , a land rover disco I , a toyota 90 , and now this , it only with me a few days and im discovering it yet but i believe that is very good construction . Im going to read and ask a lot.
Registry 3FE Owners Check-In (17 Viewers)
- Thread starter alkaline747trio
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ppc
M Go Blue
Welcome nacho. Just wanted to let you know that your Lexus has the superior 1FZ-FE motor not the underpowered 3FE. You should post in the "80 series registry" thread instead and introduce yourself there.
LS1FJ40
SILVER Star
Hello fellow 3fe owners! I have recently joined the landcruiser bandwagon but my newly acquired fj80 has white smoke coming from the exhaust with low coolant levels. Has anybody experienced burning coolant and have a fix?
LS1FJ40
SILVER Star
Low coolant level or losing coolant?
Head gasket failure is very rare on the 3FE (91-92 model years). Like a handful that I have ever heard of. Have you checked all of your hoses for leaks?
And are you sure the exhaust is white? Does it smell sweet? Are you using a lot of oil (much more common than a head gasket failure)?
It isn't burning oil, the smoke starts AFTER it runs for a minute or two. The smoke isn't really thick either. I haven't noticed much if any power loss (maybe because there isn't much too lose 
). I don't think there is coolant in the oil either, as it isn't "chocolatey".
). I don't think there is coolant in the oil either, as it isn't "chocolatey".
I have a '91 that has slightly white exhaust, no oil/coolant mixing, but significant power loss. Also low coolant levels. I would recommend taking a look around the cylinders and seeing if there's any sort of leak or anything. Possibly pull spark plugs to check. I had some black gunk (similar to an exhaust pipe) around cylinder 6, which makes me suspect a head gasket failure.
Well s***.
How many miles does your rig have?
LS1FJ40
SILVER Star
If the spark plugs have black stuff on them then it sure as hell isn't a head gasket. If it's a head gasket the spark plugs would look like they were steam cleaned because, well, they are. Black gunk means you are using excessive oil...
I shouldn't say gunk, but more like unburned fuel and exhaust not exiting the cylinder correctly
LS1FJ40
SILVER Star
I still say, the plugs would look super clean if the head gasket was blown. Like too clean. They wouldn't have gunk on them. If they have gunk on them it is indicative of other issues.
LS1FJ40
SILVER Star
HG failure would be one of the last things I would think of to be a problem with a 3FE. They just don't have HG failures. They use a s*** ton of gas and a s*** ton of oil but they don't generally blow head gaskets...
Hmm. I just assumed my 6th cylinder was so dirty because the compression wasn't good enough to clear out all of the exhaust. What other issues could that be then?
LS1FJ40
SILVER Star
Valve seal? Plug seal? Bad plugs? Timing? I'm sure there are smarter people than me that could chime in...
my cruiser has 149k, thought I scored haha.
Alright, so tomorrow I'll check the spark plugs and try a coolant flush and check for leaks.
I'd be very surprised if it's a HG then.
