B engine rebuild 1979 BJ40 (1 Viewer)

[modeststeve]

When I first bough her, she was a little bit smokey and seemed a bit loud... I thought the somewhat loud pinging was perhaps injector nailing. I drove her for a few hundred miles and figured, what the hey... why not have the injectors cleaned, and ensure that they are opperating at spec. I never thought of doing a compression test or anything like that (Wish I would have) Got the injectors back from the shop, slammed 'em back in and i was off again.

So, there I was driving the truck of my dreams when... bam... Lots and lots and lots of grey smoke... Luckily I was only a few blocks away from home.


I eased her home and i crossed my fingers for a blown headgasket.
As you'll see below... She'll need more than that.

She has the original B engine in her, so I reckon parts are going to be extreamly difficult to track down; so i'm turning to the cruiser community for guidance throughout the process.

ENGINE SN: 0192118

I've had a thousand an one different individuals tell me that i should just slap a 4BT in and call it good...
I do not want to do that... I'd prefer to stay with the B if possible.

Here is where I'm at:

Prior to diging in....

Pulled everyting out.
Radiator looks like it will need to be recored, top and bottom look good.
Broke the small tab that the hose attaches to on the radiator reservoir... I'll need to replace the reservoir...

Valve cover, injectors, intake and exhaust maifolds removed. There was a good bit of oil up top, which from my understanding is a normal. Lot's of rust in the cooling ports, proof that i need to recore the radiator.

Looked into the #3 cylinder and saw what i thought was a large amount of carbon build up... Rotated the cylinder up and cringed at the sight of the #3 Piston....

I can actually move the #3 piston with my hand, though the cylinder wall looks to be in good shape...
I'm thinking that I blew the rings on this piston, but im not sure why it looks so damaged. After ferther inspection Piston #2 looks like it had made contact with one of the valves at some point as well. #1 & 4 look great, but i have slight play in #1. All 4 Cylider walls look good and have no obvious signs of unusual wear.

As Roger Miller once said "knuckle down buckle down do it do it do it"..
Let's rebuild this bastard...


I have the common part resourses such as: SOR, Cool Cruisers of Texas and cruiserparts.net
Hoping there are others that are outside of the states and a bit cheeper.

Right now, I'm looking at Specter Off-Road's B Diesel Standard Engine Kit PN (038-510B1-1):

Fits 2/74-4/80 B DIESEL - Comes with STD piston & rings, STD main bearings, STD rod bearings, rod bushings, cam bearings, piston liners, and gaskets. Order Diesel Engine Assembly Lube Kit 200-25 separately.

This kit runs $1300

I'm going to take the head into the shop tomorrow to have it magnafluxed...
I'm sure that i will find that i have crackes, just like everyone else, between the exhaust and intake valves.
Does anyone have a good non US sourse for a replacement head? SOR wants 1545 for a new one without valves.


I'll continue to update the thread as I move along through the process.

 

[Wes]

This would be a good thread for you. As for the coolant overflow tank, @Racer65 sells the tank and the cap.

 

[78fj40mg]

When I first bough her, she was a little bit smokey and seemed a bit loud... I thought the somewhat loud pinging was perhaps injector nailing. I drove her for a few hundred miles and figured, what the hey... why not have the injectors cleaned, and ensure that they are opperating at spec. I never thought of doing a compression test or anything like that (Wish I would have) Got the injectors back from the shop, slammed 'em back in and i was off again.

So, there I was driving the truck of my dreams when... bam... Lots and lots and lots of grey smoke... Luckily I was only a few blocks away from home.


I eased her home and i crossed my fingers for a blown headgasket.
As you'll see below... She'll need more than that.

She has the original B engine in her, so I reckon parts are going to be extreamly difficult to track down; so i'm turning to the cruiser community for guidance throughout the process.

ENGINE SN: 0192118

I've had a thousand an one different individuals tell me that i should just slap a 4BT in and call it good...
I do not want to do that... I'd prefer to stay with the B if possible.

Here is where I'm at:
View attachment 1365528

Prior to diging in....

Pulled everyting out.
Radiator looks like it will need to be recored, top and bottom look good.
Broke the small tab that the hose attaches to on the radiator reservoir... I'll need to replace the reservoir...

View attachment 1365529

Valve cover, injectors, intake and exhaust maifolds removed. There was a good bit of oil up top, which from my understanding is a normal. Lot's of rust in the cooling ports, proof that i need to recore the radiator.

View attachment 1365548

Looked into the #3 cylinder and saw what i thought was a large amount of carbon build up... Rotated the cylinder up and cringed at the sight of the #3 Piston....

View attachment 1365549

I can actually move the #3 piston with my hand, though the cylinder wall looks to be in good shape...
I'm thinking that I blew the rings on this piston, but im not sure why it looks so damaged. After ferther inspection Piston #2 looks like it had made contact with one of the valves at some point as well. #1 & 4 look great, but i have slight play in #1. All 4 Cylider walls look good and have no obvious signs of unusual wear.

As Roger Miller once said "knuckle down buckle down do it do it do it"..
Let's rebuild this bastard...


I have the common part resourses such as: SOR, Cool Cruisers of Texas and cruiserparts.net
Hoping there are others that are outside of the states and a bit cheeper.

Right now, I'm looking at Specter Off-Road's B Diesel Standard Engine Kit PN (038-510B1-1):

Fits 2/74-4/80 B DIESEL - Comes with STD piston & rings, STD main bearings, STD rod bearings, rod bushings, cam bearings, piston liners, and gaskets. Order Diesel Engine Assembly Lube Kit 200-25 separately.

This kit runs $1300

I'm going to take the head into the shop tomorrow to have it magnafluxed...
I'm sure that i will find that i have crackes, just like everyone else, between the exhaust and intake valves.
Does anyone have a good non US sourse for a replacement head? SOR wants 1545 for a new one without valves.


I'll continue to update the thread as I move along through the process.

Don't forget Onur @beno he's the Toyota parts man and I'm sure he could obtain most of the parts you need. PM him and I'm sure he'll be glad to help.

 

[Gengis]

the B has a lot in common with the 3 B and spares are not prolific, but certainly still available. Engins Austalia will sort you for most of them.
I cant tell where you are from , but as mentioned above lots and lots of help on this forum.

 

[roscoFJ73]

She has the original B engine in her, so I reckon parts are going to be extreamly difficult to track down; so i'm turning to the cruiser community for guidance throughout the process.
.

No ,they are in fact quite easy considering their age. These engines were used in Coaster buses and Dyna Trucks in many countries and plenty of them are still on the road.
They kept making a variation called the 11B ,which is a direct injection version of yours with a rotary pump well into the 90s maybe longer.
Have a look at Engines Australia home site. They have their own quality kits and the air freight price to the US is very fair.
Are there any pics of your BJ40 on the other MUD forums?

 

[Mr Cimarron]

Bummer. Maybe keep an eye out for a used 3B unless you are determined to stay with the B. I was able to get an engine gasket kit from @beno. The few times I looked at Engines Australia they had everything available to rebuild it.

 

[roscoFJ73]

Maybe its a good time to ditch the B engine and keep a look a look out for a rebuildable 3B,the later type with all the bells and whistles.
Unless you want to keep it original which isn't a bad idea either.

 

[OGBeno]

Personally, I would get an OEM engine gasket kit since they are still available.

The rest I would get through Engines Australia. They have nice kits for all of these old diesels .... way more than we can say about Toyota.

 

[simonliew]

I've a good low mileage B engine from a 79 bj40 but I'm in Winnipeg,canada,complete with 4 speed n transfer case

 

[RedHeadedStepChild]

Engines Australia Toyota catalog page

 

[RedHeadedStepChild]

Add 4wheelauto.com to your list, they sometimes have things others don't.

 

[modeststeve]

Thanks to everyone for the help! I'm currently living in Paso Robles, California. There are some great part leads here, and I'll definitely be making use of them.

I'm starting to think this is a chop shopped Costa Rican Cruiser... I uncovered the Frame SN which was BJ45-002512...
Bummer.... I have read a few threads that the say Costa Rican cruisers are "spare part" trucks... Not sure if that is true or not but it gives me a little hope that maybe the frame is original... In any case, the frame is in excellent condition so...

Magnafluxed the Head and there are the typical cracks between intake and exhaust valves... I've read that quite a few people keep running them with those cracks, so I may consider that if I can't find anything at a reasonable price.

Pulling everything off, and out of the block tomorrow and taking it to the machine shop. I don't see any apparent issues with the block...
Found a lot of smaller metal pieces down at the bottom of the oil pan, Probably from the rings?

Everyone's seems to strongly recommend Engines Australia; I'm going to give them a call as soon as I know that there is no issue with the block.

No ,they are in fact quite easy considering their age. These engines were used in Coaster buses and Dyna Trucks in many countries and plenty of them are still on the road.
They kept making a variation called the 11B ,which is a direct injection version of yours with a rotary pump well into the 90s maybe longer.
Have a look at Engines Australia home site. They have their own quality kits and the air freight price to the US is very fair.
Are there any pics of your BJ40 on the other MUD forums?

Great, thank you for the lead. This is my first post, I've been diging through the rest of the forums and plan on participating in them when I get a bit more time.

This would be a good thread for you. As for the coolant overflow tank, @Racer65 sells the tank and the cap.

Thank You for that, I'll contact @Racer65 when after I get the block back together!

 

[modeststeve]

Update:

I searched near and far for a decently priced new head to no avail....
I decided to go with a new Head through Engine Australia.
The new head cost me about 450 bucks and came with vsg and precaps installed.
Also purchased new valves and complete bottom-end rebuild kit.

All together (rebuild kit, head, valves and shipping) it cost me around $1250, and arrived in about 5 business days.
I needed grind the crank, so the main & rod bearings needed to be 1m undersized, which was no problem for them.

The only difference in the head is an oil drain cut in the ports where the rods go; I was assured by my machinist that this would not be an issue.

I did all of the tear down myself, so that saved me a grip of cash....
The block has been vatted and is in the process of having the new sleves placed & honned.
I will let everyone know what that cost me when I get the bill.

While i have the engine out i decided to match the paint in the engine bay, since the PO just did the outside...

 

[Wes]

That splash plate under the radiator is hard to find. If you decide you don't want it anymore, I would gladly take it off your hands.

 

[modeststeve]

Alrighty,

Five months later and we've got the engine in...
Total cost for full rebuild with machine work up to this point, roughly $2500

I'm having trouble finding a replacement fuel kill switch... Mine is cracked, hence the awesome owl ducktape!
If anyone knows where I can get one id be stoked!


Got all the lines primed, but getting fuel past the IP was a pain in the ass...
Once i got that, I bled the lines and she started right up.

Lots of gray smoke at the start-up, which was concerning, but i heard break-ins can be smokey. I know that gray smoke means unburnt fuel so I re-bead all lines and continued to let her run. After she warmed up, I noticed she was idling way too high...
Killed the engine and checked to see if the Vacuum side of the ventri plugging the hose on the opposite side (essentially checking the Pneumatic Governor Diaphragm of the IP. There was very little suction, so ill be replacing the Diaphragm... I am praying very very hard that this is my only issue...

At least she turned over

 

[mayben1001]

Hey modeststeve,
just checking on the status of your rebuild! I have a 1976 BJ from Honduras and have finally gotten around to rebuilding myself. I am located in Ojai... Not too far from you and have taken mine to the machine shop got it back and am just assembling... Any advice you can offer would be much appreciated. I am so stoked to get it going again it has been 6 years... I'll send some pics sometime soon.
Cheers,
Mayben1001