'93 HDJ81 - Turbo Upgrades and More

[GreenPump]

This summer, I acquired a 1993 HDJ81. Relatively high mileage at time of purchase, approximately 400,000 kms. I have several early and mid-90s Hilux, but this is my first 80 series. My initial impressions of the rig are very positive. More roomy and powerful than my other trucks, rides nice, and is happy at 120km/hr on the highway (will easily do 80mph which is the highway speed limit in these parts). The fuel consumption, however, is less than ideal. I struggle to get 250 miles out of a tank. Fuel capacity seems to be around 25 gallons. Plenty of grey/black smoke on startup, some grey/black smoke on heavy acceleration, nothing I would deem unusual for a diesel. Truck appears to have the "cold weather" package, although is not marked "snow version" like some others. Heated seats, fuel heater, and the weird blind which can be pulled down over the radiator. Starts on the first crank so far every time, we have had a few close to zero degrees F days, but nothing deep in the negatives yet. No obvious blow-by.

I performed the following maintenance items after purchasing the rig. Everything appeared to be kept up on, aside from BEBs, which were close to delamination.

• BEBs - ACL bearings & Conrod Bolts
• Transmission Maintenance (A442F Electronic)
  • All four solenoids replaced
  • Strainer replaced
  • Drain & refill with Redline DT4 ATF
• Front & Rear diff drain and refill with Amsoil SVG 75w90
• Transfer case drain and refill with Amsoil SVG 75w90
• Fuel filter & Petcock replaced
• Timing belt
• Water pump
• Glow plugs
• Engine air filter
• Oil Change & Filter - Amsoil Signature Diesel 15W40
• Grease all zerks (Driveshaft, spider joints, etc)
• Fluid film undercarriage for wintertime

As of this weekend, I pulled my turbo. Replacing the old and tired toyota CT26, which now has 420,000kms, has been on my radar for a bit. The stock turbo is beginning to leak fairly significantly into the intake side, and I am noticing oil coating the intake side of the block. However, I do not have any noticeable oil consumption on the dipstick. There does not seem to be excessive crankcase pressure.

I have read several threads on Mud about turbo kits; there are a plethora of options. But I am not sure if I have yet to come across my specific situation. I would like advice from those of you that have extensive experience in this area.

I am looking for a reliable setup which can bolt on to my stock exhaust and manifold with minimal or no modification. I would like to keep stock injectors and pump, although I understand I will need to tune my pump. Cost is a factor here; that being said, I would rather pay more for a reputable setup. I have looked at the PDI intercooler/airbox, but I do not know how important this really is. I would rather avoid the intercooler if it is not necessary. I have also considered having a local machine shop rebuild the stock turbo, I'm not sure if anyone has gone that route. I do a fair amount of towing, lots of highway driving, and I am almost exclusively at altitudes >5000ft.

Right now the Gturbo G300 green wheel seems like an attractive choice. I have ordered from HD Automotive in Australia in the past, but it looks like the kits can also be bought directly from Gturbo. Is there an American distributor? Kinugawa also seems like an "ok" option, but I am hesistant to put chinese/taiwanese parts on my rig.

Thoughts?

 

[GreenPump]

Had a guy who said his 1HD-FTE in an 80 got about 22mpg but I suspect this was mainly due to the driving style where he barely touched the throttle.

I have a lead foot... I drove up to Montana a couple weeks ago, and on the back roads (65mph) Fuel economy was very good. On the highway I can't stay off the gas. And I got pulled over.

Honestly 19mpg is still great for a big heavy 4wd truck.

 

[67azcruizr]

no extensive research here, just my 2 cents

if I was going to drop $2600+ on a Gturbo, I would highly consider having my CT26, injectors and I.P. all rebuilt and tuned
together. probably a $4500 package but its DONE and should not need consideration for another 300,000KM's.

If you opted for the Gturbo, you would/might still need your I.P. tuned and your injectors would still be an unknown.

again, just my 2cents

-Sean

 

[AussieHJCruza]

I have a lead foot... I drove up to Montana a couple weeks ago, and on the back roads (65mph) Fuel economy was very good. On the highway I can't stay off the gas. And I got pulled over.

Honestly 19mpg is still great for a big heavy 4wd truck.

I didn't get 19mpg regularly just to be clear
The rush of torque as she got full boost at about 1800 rpm was too addictive for that

 

[1HaytchZed]

Here is a side by side comparison of the Arashi CT26/CT20B with the original toyota CT26.

View attachment 3799558
View attachment 3799559
View attachment 3799560
View attachment 3799561
View attachment 3799562

I will be posting more on this thread after the Holidays.

Merry Christmas!

Why did you go with the CT26 CT20B option? they have the GT2071R and the Garret 60-1 options as well.
What will you be operating it at? 12-13psi? Looks like they come with various dump spring configs. which one on Arashi's config table are you using?

 

[mudgudgeon]

I measured the the fuel economy on two long highway trips, each over 250 miles. I was getting between 16.5 and 19.5 mpg, driving about 130-140km/hr both ways. Yeah.. I was hauling ass.

Anything above about 100-110km/hr these things drink fuel FAST.
The MPG you were getting is pretty solid for pushing it to those speeds

 

[duece71]

Man,

Don't believe them...

Never met a 1HD-T that gets better than about 19mpg (which was mine with fresh injectors, pump, Gturbo red wheel, intake, exhaust etc and driving fairly conservatively)
Had a guy who said his 1HD-FTE in an 80 got about 22mpg but I suspect this was mainly due to the driving style where he barely touched the throttle.

I would love 19-20 mpg. Getting about 15.5-16 on the highway. all original pump, injectors and turbo though. No idea on if it’s been tuned. Runs great however. great thread and info.

 

[GreenPump]

Update after running the Arashi turbo the better part of this year:

Initially, the truck performed better than my stock CT26. However, after a few months, the truck is running much smokier.

I don't run boost or EGT gauges on this rig, so I cannot comment on what the true numbers look like. But initially, green turbo light would come on around 1100rpm, and under load the orange light at 2800rpm.

Within a month the orange turbo light stopped coming on at all, and the time to spool up and throw the green turbo light has increased. Now it's coming on around 1700rpm, acceleration isn't great, and lots of chugging black smoke.

Yesterday I messed around with max fuel screw a bit to try and get a leaner mixture. Fuel consumption remains about 18mpg on the highway.

You get what you pay for I guess. I'll be looking at other turbo options in the near future.

 

[Dougal]

Update after running the Arashi turbo the better part of this year:

Initially, the truck performed better than my stock CT26. However, after a few months, the truck is running much smokier.

I don't run boost or EGT gauges on this rig, so I cannot comment on what the true numbers look like. But initially, green turbo light would come on around 1100rpm, and under load the orange light at 2800rpm.

Within a month the orange turbo light stopped coming on at all, and the time to spool up and throw the green turbo light has increased. Now it's coming on around 1700rpm, acceleration isn't great, and lots of chugging black smoke.

Yesterday I messed around with max fuel screw a bit to try and get a leaner mixture. Fuel consumption remains about 18mpg on the highway.

You get what you pay for I guess. I'll be looking at other turbo options in the near future.

Check your wastegate (if rod is adjustable) and for boost/exhaust leaks.

 

[HDJ80L]

Re: fuel consumption
Auto vs manual is a certainly a factor, those 4 speed autos typically had lower overall mpg ratings than the manuals.
According to the early model HDJ brochure the difference was very noticable in low speed / city driving (19.4mpg manual vs 15.4mpg auto), roughly the same on high speed / highway driving (both 15.3mpg) so 18mpg is not terrible if that data is correct.

I'm sure efficiency increased significantly throughout the 1HD evolution so 22mpg in an FTE 80 series doesn't surprise.
Lowest I got on the FT was also 22mpg so far, 23mpg are probably doable with standard tires

 

[Hblock]

Here is the Arashi turbo staged on the truck:
View attachment 3815319

I saw a YouTube video where a dude in Australia tried to install one of these kits, and the actuator bracket was too big. Arashi seems to have addressed this issue. The bracket fits, it is tight, but does not touch the block.

View attachment 3815325

Driving the truck, it isn't a huge difference from the factory turbo. I haven't touched my fuel screw at all. But, the exhaust seems to have cleaned up significantly. Since I am not running an EGT or boost gauge, my only indication is the factory boost lights. Orange light comes on if you put some foot into it, if you are passing on the highway pulling up a hill etc. Green Light is coming on at maybe 1300rpm. Maybe a bit quicker spool up than factory but not crazy.

It's hard to tell because I've done soooo much work, but something isn't quite 100% with the way it idles. If I shift into drive and let the truck creep forward, there is a weird shudder. Like it's about to die. Give a bit of gas immediately cleans up. Also the idle seems kinda low. I may have to mess around and check the FSM to see the idle and A/C idle up for 1HDT.

I still have ACSD installed... gross.

Oh, and it seems like a job well done by Gillet Diesel in SLC. These are the injectors when I picked em up..

View attachment 3815339

Anyway I've got a few kinks to work out, need to drive the truck a bit too.

I know what video you are talking about where the actuator was too big. Glad to hear that they have addressed that.

I just called Gillett Diesel today and told me that he can rebuild that injectors.

How are yours that they rebuilt doing?

 

[mudgudgeon]

Update after running the Arashi turbo the better part of this year:

Initially, the truck performed better than my stock CT26. However, after a few months, the truck is running much smokier.

I don't run boost or EGT gauges on this rig, so I cannot comment on what the true numbers look like. But initially, green turbo light would come on around 1100rpm, and under load the orange light at 2800rpm.

Within a month the orange turbo light stopped coming on at all, and the time to spool up and throw the green turbo light has increased. Now it's coming on around 1700rpm, acceleration isn't great, and lots of chugging black smoke.

Yesterday I messed around with max fuel screw a bit to try and get a leaner mixture. Fuel consumption remains about 18mpg on the highway.

You get what you pay for I guess. I'll be looking at other turbo options in the near future.

With no boost and no EGT gauge, any tuning is a stab in the dark.

Rough to judge the turbo on the performance of an untuned set up.

A small adjustment in the tune can make the world of difference to how these perform, and the overall driving difference.

Without doing a tune, you aren't doing the turbo, engine, truck in general justice.

You put a lot of money and effort into this to get it to 75-85% of what it could be.
Makes zero sense to me to not tune it.

Your lead foot will thank you, your turbo will probably thank you, and your engine will be happier for longer, and potentially not have to work as hard.

 

[TheBussman]

Update after running the Arashi turbo the better part of this year:

Initially, the truck performed better than my stock CT26. However, after a few months, the truck is running much smokier.

I don't run boost or EGT gauges on this rig, so I cannot comment on what the true numbers look like. But initially, green turbo light would come on around 1100rpm, and under load the orange light at 2800rpm.

Within a month the orange turbo light stopped coming on at all, and the time to spool up and throw the green turbo light has increased. Now it's coming on around 1700rpm, acceleration isn't great, and lots of chugging black smoke.

Yesterday I messed around with max fuel screw a bit to try and get a leaner mixture. Fuel consumption remains about 18mpg on the highway.

You get what you pay for I guess. I'll be looking at other turbo options in the near future.

sounds like a boost leak or drive pressure leak if the wastegate checks out ok. the wheel isn't stiff to turn by hand is it?

 

[John Young]

I recently bought a CT26 copy from AliBaba as an experiment. Here in Dubai a lot of folks, some of whom I respect, have been telling me that a lot of the big names are having their production done in China and some of the Chinese units are actually quite good.

I talked about it a bit and showed some photos here. I spent the 225 USD kinda just to silence folks who kept after me about the Chinese turbos but when I got it, well, have a look for yourself.

 

[Dougal]

I recently bought a CT26 copy from AliBaba as an experiment. Here in Dubai a lot of folks, some of whom I respect, have been telling me that a lot of the big names are having their production done in China and some of the Chinese units are actually quite good.

I talked about it a bit and showed some photos here. I spent the 225 USD kinda just to silence folks who kept after me about the Chinese turbos but when I got it, well, have a look for yourself.

If you want a straight replacement a chinese CT26 will likely be fine. The CT26 was already an outdated design by the 90's though so if you want better performance look at better turbos. Here is a guide to turbocharger turbines and how to spot the newer and more efficient ones: Turbocharger Turbines. - https://www.4btswaps.com/threads/turbocharger-turbines.77250/

A more efficient turbo (compressor and turbine efficiency multiply) boosts sooner, delivers more boost for the same drive pressure and chokes the engine less. So you get more power, more torque, better driveability and better fuel economy. With no other changes.

 

[John Young]

If you want a straight replacement a chinese CT26 will likely be fine. The CT26 was already an outdated design by the 90's though so if you want better performance look at better turbos. Here is a guide to turbocharger turbines and how to spot the newer and more efficient ones: Turbocharger Turbines. - https://www.4btswaps.com/threads/turbocharger-turbines.77250/

A more efficient turbo (compressor and turbine efficiency multiply) boosts sooner, delivers more boost for the same drive pressure and chokes the engine less. So you get more power, more torque, better driveability and better fuel economy. With no other changes.

Thank you for this post and pointers. The goal for this purchase was just to see if I could get a functional turbo to return the engine to service as part of the rebuild. The fact that it was quite inexpensive opens the door to my replacing it with something along the lines of what you are suggesting once I get a little time with this one.

My impression is consistent with your comments. This is not a sophistcated turbo. But the quality of the manufacture (don't know about the materails yet) was quite high.

 

[franklin40]

that’d be my biggest concern is quality of
materials. a cheap experiment can cost a lot of money if it blows metal parts into your engine!