3L vs. 5L vs. 1kz

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hiluxjeremy

hiluxjeremy

10 Year
Joined
Jun 25, 2012
Threads
22
Messages
445
Location
Delburne, Alberta
Current ride is a 1990 LN106 with original 3L diesel w/ct20 turbo. Racking up the km like nobody's business these days. This engine doesnt show any signs of giving up, but it definitely isnt new anymore. Lots of blow by, small leaks all over the place. Gearing and tire size mean it has spent alot of time at high rpm tearing down the highway from one end of the country to the other, and back.

Has anyone on here ever tried swapping a 5L in place of the 3? (I rode in a n/a 5L hilux in australia last year that seemed to have plenty of jam.) Is the 5L still a fully mechanical injection engine? If so, foreced induction could wake one up nicely. Or should a guy bite the bullet and make a 1kz family engine work? Or rebuild the 3L with a few enhancements. A bit of porting perhaps, better turbo, intercooling. Has anyone tried any of this?
 
The 1KZ is the only one of those designed to take a turbo. So slightly lower compression and should also have stronger pistons, harder crank and piston squirters.
A vehicle certifier here told me about 3L engines wearing out the crank when turbocharged, but I haven't seen it first hand. The 5L often came with an electronic pump, but the mechanical pump would be a straight swap.
 
The 5LE has an electronically controlled fuel pump
 
We had a bunch of 3L/5L N/A work hiluxes, went forever and a day without issue. Only seen a couple of turbo ones, low boost and seemed to last ok. My mate swapped a 1KZT into his Hilux and it has been really good once properly tuned.
 
Hulsty said:
We had a bunch of 3L/5L N/A work hiluxes, went forever and a day without issue. Only seen a couple of turbo ones, low boost and seemed to last ok. My mate swapped a 1KZT into his Hilux and it has been really good once properly tuned.
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When you look at through the lists of Hiluxes and Hiaces in the classifieds there is large numbers of them with 300000klms + and still running well
 
i've got a 5L with aftermarket turbo (AXT turbo (Garrett)), 8-9psi, no issues, 320xxx km. Like all toyota diesels, regular maintenance will see 500000 km easy from the motor. Oil is cheap ;)
 
Rob1983 said:
i've got a 5L with aftermarket turbo (AXT turbo (Garrett)), 8-9psi, no issues, 320xxx km. Like all toyota diesels, regular maintenance will see 500000 km easy from the motor. Oil is cheap ;)
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The things that kill them aren't going to be stopped or fixed by changing the oil more often!
 
compression tested before turbo, no problems there, regular oil changes are key to longevity in any machine...failure due to inadequate lubrication is generally fairly catastrophic
 
Rob1983 said:
compression tested before turbo, no problems there, regular oil changes are key to longevity in any machine...failure due to inadequate lubrication is generally fairly catastrophic
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Failure from loss of oil is pretty rare too. The only times I know of it happening involve oil lines coming apart or sumps being punched through. I've actually done both of those myself. Luckily I was able to shut-down before any major damage occured. Turbos are the mine-canaries of oil pressure.
 
yeah i've seen a few sumps smashed! more common than you'd expect :(
 
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