3L questions (1 Viewer)

[BadPaddler]

Does anyone have any specific pointers for buying a used 3L? I am going to look at a hilux in the next few days.

Thanks,

Seth

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Does anyone have any specific pointers for buying a used 3L? I am going to look at a hilux in the next few days.

Thanks,

Seth

Take it for a good hard drive up a long steep hill at highway speed. Make sure the temp gauge doesn't budge from t-stat opening temp. At the top of the hill pull over, leave truck running, open hood and make sure all looks good. These motors can have cylinder head issues, so make sure the cooling system is fine with reservoir not overflowing, and system not over pressurized etc.

Make sure the truck starts easy from cold. This is one of the biggest indicators of general condition. If starts hard and smoky, there could be injection system issues, low compression, glow system issues, etc. Make sure the engine isn't already warmed up by seller. That is a common trick to hide issues.

Also, make sure it runs clean and you're not seeing smoke out the back while driving.

 

[AirheadNut]

And when you pop the hood after the nice hard drive, pop the oil fill cap off and see how much oily gases are coming out. If the cap blows off, you likely have a compression issue. If it just dances around in the fill port it’s probably fine.

 

[BadPaddler]

Take it for a good hard drive up a long steep hill at highway speed. Make sure the temp gauge doesn't budge from t-stat opening temp. At the top of the hill pull over, leave truck running, open hood and make sure all looks good. These motors can have cylinder head issues, so make sure the cooling system is fine with reservoir not overflowing, and system not over pressurized etc.

Make sure the truck starts easy from cold. This is one of the biggest indicators of general condition. If starts hard and smoky, there could be injection system issues, low compression, glow system issues, etc. Make sure the engine isn't already warmed up by seller. That is a common trick to hide issues.

Also, make sure it runs clean and you're not seeing smoke out the back while driving.

What constitutes a cold start. Supposed to be pretty cold here the next couple of days. Right around 0. Would that could give it some crap right off the get go even if it is in good working order?

So a basic idea would be to check the oil dipstick for color, check coolant for any nastiness, get her started (after the cold start check), then run her up the hill and watch the temp, pull over, check for coolant bleeding back into the reservoir, pull the oil fill cap and do the ole blowby test. Also keep an eye for black smoke out the exhaust.

This would be the first diesel I would own. I am much more familiar with the ole 2F.

Thanks for your replies as well.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

What constitutes a cold start. Supposed to be pretty cold here the next couple of days. Right around 0. Would that could give it some crap right off the get go even if it is in good working order?

So a basic idea would be to check the oil dipstick for color, check coolant for any nastiness, get her started (after the cold start check), then run her up the hill and watch the temp, pull over, check for coolant bleeding back into the reservoir, pull the oil fill cap and do the ole blowby test. Also keep an eye for black smoke out the exhaust.

This would be the first diesel I would own. I am much more familiar with the ole 2F.

Thanks for your replies as well.

That's pretty cold alright. I haven't started mine often enough that cold to know exactly what you should expect. But yeah, I'd think it's going to be a bit of a smoky start even if the engine is in perfect shape.

Seller may have a block heater or something? Or maybe parked in a shop/garage? If the engine temp is above 15F, the truck should start easy if in good shape though.

Sounds like you got the right idea. Also, look for bubbles being pushed into the overflow reservoir too (pull lid off just enough that straw stays in the coolant - use a flash light to look for bubbles coming out).

3L's can be great engines and last a long time. But the 1989-1995 or so motors did have weak cylinder heads from the factory (prone to cracking if run hot too much). Many will have been replaced already. The replacement part number is much improved.

 

[BadPaddler]

That's pretty cold alright. I haven't started mine often enough that cold to know exactly what you should expect. But yeah, I'd think it's going to be a bit of a smoky start even if the engine is in perfect shape.

Seller may have a block heater or something? Or maybe parked in a shop/garage? If the engine temp is above 15F, the truck should start easy if in good shape though.

Sounds like you got the right idea. Also, look for bubbles being pushed into the overflow reservoir too (pull lid off just enough that straw stays in the coolant - use a flash light to look for bubbles coming out).

3L's can be great engines and last a long time. But the 1989-1995 or so motors did have weak cylinder heads from the factory (prone to cracking if run hot too much). Many will have been replaced already. The replacement part number is much improved.

Is there an easy way to see whether the head has been replaced?

Thanks,

Seth

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Is there an easy way to see whether the head has been replaced?

Thanks,

Seth

No, not really unfortunately.

 

[AirheadNut]

That cold it might require more than one glow to get started, and I would expect some white/gray smoke and a somewhat rough idle initially. That said, if it is in really good condition it should still start fine. I had a Hilux with 116k km on it and it started perfectly at 9ºF, one glow, one small puff of smoke and a smooth idle.