3FE Owners Check-In (4 Viewers)

[Froski]

Wondering if I can get peoples feedback about there experience with the 3fe engine on there 80 series.. I am looking into one with 147k miles and I hear so many people telling me to stay away from 91 and 92. So any help would be greatly appreciated

Well, this is the one thread where you’ll find lots of love for it.
Pros-
low end torque
Doesn’t blow head gasket
Lasts a long time (300-500k if maintained)
Sounds cool
Cheaper than fzj80
Styling- more truck, less soccer mom machine

Cons-
Slow - you’ll find yourself motivated to mess with every little thing that might improve performance (wait is this a con or a pro?)

Doesn’t come triple locked (see cheaper)

 

[CarcaineProblems]

I have one and the engine is fine. The transmission is the questionable piece. BUT.

Desmog it
Keep in maintained (engine and trans)
Dial in the transmission shift cable near the throttle cable

...and it works pretty good. The FZ certainly has a bit more power and the transmission seems better, but a 91 and 92 FJ80 is a fine land cruiser

 

[ethingnow]

I have one and the engine is fine. The transmission is the questionable piece. BUT.

Desmog it
Keep in maintained (engine and trans)
Dial in the transmission shift cable near the throttle cable

...and it works pretty good. The FZ certainly has a bit more power and the transmission seems better, but a 91 and 92 FJ80 is a fine land cruiser

Thank you guys for your reply, now there is one that is no rust California life good shape, 147k miles they want 10k. You think that’s a fair price?

 

[CarcaineProblems]

probably. how is the maintenance history? The seats can be a good sign of how hard a life it has had. watch for rust if it was near the ocean

 

[ethingnow]

probably. how is the maintenance history? The seats can be a good sign of how hard a life it has had. watch for rust if it was near the ocean

So the guy got hurt and can’t drive anymore so a reputable land cruiser off road people are selling it for him. It needs a good cleaning.

 

[CarcaineProblems]

Looks alot like mine use too. Depending on the undercarriage, it looks fine. Can you drive it?

 

[ethingnow]

Looks alot like mine use too. Depending on the undercarriage, it looks fine. Can you drive it?

Yea it’s drivable and ready to go.. can I see how yours used to look and how it looks now please

 

[CarcaineProblems]

Let me ask the question better - is the car local to you so you can go and drive it?

If not, accept a certain amount of risk in buying it sight unseen

Here is mine: Build: Snowball, the 91 FJ80 - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/build-snowball-the-91-fj80.1281766/

 

[ethingnow]

Let me ask the question better - is the car local to you so you can go and drive it?

If not, accept a certain amount of risk in buying it sight unseen

Here is mine: Build: Snowball, the 91 FJ80 - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/build-snowball-the-91-fj80.1281766/

I have to fly to California from Chicago to see it.. don’t know how I would get it back here to Chicago. Transport company. Drive it myself? Any advice?

 

[CarcaineProblems]

Depends if you have the money. I used uship.com to reverse auction the shipping project.

You could drive it, assuming you are confident in its ability

 

[ethingnow]

Depends if you have the money. I used uship.com to reverse auction the shipping project.

You could drive it, assuming you are confident in its ability

How much did u get yours for, beautiful rig.. also if u notice on driver seat for the one I’m looking at, the side is ripped.. anyway to fix that?

 

[Marco Lau]

Wondering if I can get peoples feedback about there experience with the 3fe engine on there 80 series.. I am looking into one with 147k miles and I hear so many people telling me to stay away from 91 and 92. So any help would be greatly appreciated

Put it this way, unless you are running a V8 swap or FI, any 6 cylinder powered 80s will be slow in modern standards. There are pros and cons for any engine platforms, do a search on MUD and you will see the majority of ppl have 1fz-fe due to production numbers. It all comes down to what you want out of your rig... Personally, I have owned my 3FE for over 7 yrs and I love it. Simplicity and reliability is key for me.

 

[ethingnow]

Put it this way, unless you are running a V8 swap or FI, any 6 cylinder powered 80s will be slow in modern standards. There are pros and cons for any engine platforms, do a search on MUD and you will see the majority of ppl have 1fz-fe due to production numbers. It all comes down to what you want out of your rig... Personally, I have owned my 3FE for over 7 yrs and I love it. Simplicity and reliability is key for me

Well said I’m looking for simple and reliable as well. I just want to lift it 2 inches and put 35’s and drive it to work and home

 

[ethingnow]

Put it this way, unless you are running a V8 swap or FI, any 6 cylinder powered 80s will be slow in modern standards. There are pros and cons for any engine platforms, do a search on MUD and you will see the majority of ppl have 1fz-fe due to production numbers. It all comes down to what you want out of your rig... Personally, I have owned my 3FE for over 7 yrs and I love it. Simplicity and reliability is key for me.

Do you have pics of yours

 

[CarcaineProblems]

I pad $13k for it stock, including the arb bumper. I think that was a deal

 

[ethingnow]

I pad $13k for it stock, including the arb bumper. I think that was a deal

That’s awesome looks really good.. so I should jump on that 147k for 10k 1991 white I should you?

 

[McFabLC]

I don't think it's unreasonable given the prices of any land cruiser nowadays. I bought mine at 180k and even though it was "low miles" I spent a solid 6 months dialing everything in. So be prepared for maintenance no matter what. Being 30+ year old trucks, some parts just go bad.

 

[ethingnow]

I don't think it's unreasonable given the prices of any land cruiser nowadays. I bought mine at 180k and even though it was "low miles" I spent a solid 6 months dialing everything in. So be prepared for maintenance no matter what. Being 30+ year old trucks, some parts just go bad.

Is it hard finding parts for it? The 91 and 92?

 

[McFabLC]

Is it hard finding parts for it? The 91 and 92?

I haven't ran into anything that had failed that I couldn't find a replacement for yet.

But I have some good used parts that I've had to install instead of new, and I've had to reuse parts that I would've rather replaced but they aren't made anymore.

 

[ethingnow]

I haven't ran into anything that had failed that I couldn't find a replacement for yet.

But I have some good used parts that I've had to install instead of new, and I've had to reuse parts that I would've rather replaced but they aren't made anymore.

Oh ok I’m hoping we can still find parts 10 years from now