Bought Turbo Landcruiser and engine went within 150 miles. Need suggestions.

[v8killer]

I bought a nice custom lifted,TURBO 96 Landcruiser about a week ago. Went to L.A. to look at it and bought it. After about 150 miles into my ride back to Phoenix it starts running rough and blowing smoke out the exhaust. Pull over pop the hood and there is oil all over the engine bay. Stranded in the California desert at midnight. HA HA on me! Had LC towed back to the sellers shop. Pulling the head revealed heavy damage to pistons 3 and 4. It looks like I am stuck holding the bag on my "as is purchase".

Looking for options to rectify my situation. Possibly looking for a used 1fz-fe engine. I also found this rebuilt long block https://www.carid.com/replace/oe-re..._H8fjUl7V94c1WP1XYqJTF0LBF8edAmZCJhoC-rTw_wcB . Another option is to rebuild what I have with a set of forged pistons. Are there any of options out there that you guys can suggest and what the cost will be?

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Cause for the failure?
What turbo set was it running?
Do you know the amount of boost?
With high boost stronger bottom end could be worth it for longevity.

 

[v8killer]

Pics

 

[v8killer]

This is the LC I bought. 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser 4 Door | eBay

 

[v8killer]

Here is the build from this forum. Seemed like a solid build to me. DIY Turbo V1.0, Boosted 80 = Happiness

 

[IanB]

Looks like a really nice truck, but the ad doesn't say anything about what they've done for tuning with the turbo. Looks like a fuel pressure regulator under the hood, I hope that's not all they were relying on to keep things together. Looks like it has a wide band AFR gauge, what was the reading while blasting down the highway leading up to the failure, and how much boost in those conditions?

 

[bhicks]

Was this purchased from another mud member? I know there was a couple turboed 80s here in Socal for sale from mud members. I actually considered one of them.

 

[v8killer]

More pics. https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=ekJhOEJRQWNIMjlUNzN4RnhfdEZLb1lBcFVsODlB

 

[scottryana]

Yep, what was the AFR at cruise? I suspect you ran it lean for an extended amount of time. Certainly not your fault, but definitely something to be aware of with any forced inducted vehicle. When you put fuel in it, what fuel did you use? If you were using say 85 octane could have been detonation that just rattled it apart.

 

[inkpot]

Was this purchased from another mud member? I know there was a couple turboed 80s here in Socal for sale from mud members. I actually considered one of them.

Kinda makes you wonder why folks go thru all the trouble of doing the work and engineering to build a turbo setup from scratch and then within a year or less they are for sale. Kind of a RED FLAG to me that there are still unresolved issues with them? Used to see this same scenario frequently on the monsterized pickup trucks. " $50,000 invested, for sale for $35,000." Next time just hand me $15,000 cash and we can call it fair. You wont even have to get your hands dirty!!

 

[scottryana]

Not limited to turbo's, any modified car or truck is always buyer beware. You have to have understanding of what you are buying. If you bought a new 3link/4link coilover 80, but knew nothing about them and did no research and got in it and tried to drive it and it sucked, the seller has some responsibility but the buyer is not responsibility free. I have always said no matter the project if you want "get in it and drive", buy a new car and leave it stock. We are fortunate for the most part in the 80 community that just about everyone sticks to the pretty prescribed OME lifts, but go to the mini truck world and people use crazy s*** like 2x4's for lift blocks, etc. Even though we are a pretty solid community, buyer still needs to do their homework. Like we asked earlier what was the AFR? What fuel did you use? Did the seller talk to you about any driving precautions or differences with the setup? Without all that info it's impossible to know what happened. And if the seller said only use premium and the buyer put 85 in than this is a consequence. If the seller said sure throw 85 octane in and that is what the seller did, there could be some seller liability.

Kinda makes you wonder why folks go thru all the trouble of doing the work and engineering to build a turbo setup from scratch and then within a year or less they are for sale. Kind of a RED FLAG to me that there are still unresolved issues with them? Used to see this same scenario frequently on the monsterized pickup trucks. " $50,000 invested, for sale for $35,000." Next time just hand me $15,000 cash and we can call it fair. You wont even have to get your hands dirty!!

 

[benjrblant]

An episode of Engine Masters added NOS shots to a 350 v8 until it blew. Pistons looked exactly like your photos. I think their determined mode of failure was that the excess heat caused the rings to expand and without filing the rings down, shattered the pistons.

 

[NLXTACY]

Hey that's John's rig

 

[canman]

That sucks. IMHO, adding a turbo without an intercooler is just a bad idea. Adding power and heat subsequently, will have negative consequences unless dealt with properly. Good luck. Hope it all works out.

 

[scottryana]

And to more specifically answer your question, I would not trust that rebuilt engine.

If you have the room, I would buy a 1FZ and rebuilt it in your garage and swap it when you're ready, you don't need a forged bottom end if the fueling is done correctly for the amount of boost that turbo was pushing. I am afraid that, that was your problem, the truck was running lean which is always a concern when you turbo a NA vehicle. I think you could still salvage the setup, but you would need to take some time and educate yourself on safe turbo setups. AFR's of less than 12 when in boost are just asking for issues. I have mentioned many times if you don't get the turbo size just right you will be boosting while in closed loop and the truck is attempting to stay at 14.7:1 bad news.

I bought a nice custom lifted,TURBO 96 Landcruiser about a week ago. Went to L.A. to look at it and bought it. After about 150 miles into my ride back to Phoenix it starts running rough and blowing smoke out the exhaust. Pull over pop the hood and there is oil all over the engine bay. Stranded in the California desert at midnight. HA HA on me! Had LC towed back to the sellers shop. Pulling the head revealed heavy damage to pistons 3 and 4. It looks like I am stuck holding the bag on my "as is purchase".

Looking for options to rectify my situation. Possibly looking for a used 1fz-fe engine. I also found this rebuilt long block Replace® 850A - Engine Long Block . Another option is to rebuild what I have with a set of forged pistons. Are there any of options out there that you guys can suggest and what the cost will be?

 

[bhicks]

More pics. https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=ekJhOEJRQWNIMjlUNzN4RnhfdEZLb1lBcFVsODlB

Yep. That's the one I considered buying. He seemed like a really stand up guy. I'm doubtful he new there was going to be an immediate and major issue.

 

[jcardona1]

Whoa. I almost talked my buddy into buying this rig. He sure would have been mad at me!

 

[FastCarGuy]

I bought a nice custom lifted,TURBO 96 Landcruiser about a week ago. Went to L.A. to look at it and bought it. After about 150 miles into my ride back to Phoenix it starts running rough and blowing smoke out the exhaust. Pull over pop the hood and there is oil all over the engine bay. Stranded in the California desert at midnight. HA HA on me! Had LC towed back to the sellers shop. Pulling the head revealed heavy damage to pistons 3 and 4. It looks like I am stuck holding the bag on my "as is purchase".

Would think the anti-knock sensors would have prevented most of that damage if they were working properly

 

[inkpot]

So, how/when can you tell IF and HOW MUCH your knock sensors are pulling timing back??

 

[v8killer]

AFR/boost gauge was inop. The seller claimed the the 58 mm turbo was pushing 9 psi. Fuel was Shell 91 oct. from the station the seller suggested. I Read his IH8MUD thread that was 21 pages from April 2013 to present DIY Turbo V1.0, Boosted 80 = Happiness. Test drove the truck around the neighbor hood before buying it and ran fine. This is a quote from his EBAY ad
ALL PM DONE, NEEDS NOTHING TO TAKE IT TO WHATEVER CONTINENT YOU WANT.
I have 3 other turbo cars, 91 NSX (560rwhp) 89 944 Turbo (370rwhp) and 78 Trans AM (750rwhp). I really do not think the seller had any bad intentions just he ran this system for 3 years and 7000 miles and it blew on my watch. I intended to put a water/meth kit on it when I got it home.

What I would really like to know is best options and sources to help me fix it.
1. Buy rebuilt long block for $3400 from CARiD like this that has 3 year unlimited mile warranty. https://www.carid.com/replace/oe-replacement-engine-mpn-850a.html?gclid=CjwKEAjw-uDABRDPz4-0tp6T6lMSJADNoyPbqClGrqEGQW3szxsdwkqsfkvYAqoiZ-57dKe3ruRdUxoCI03w_wcB
2. Find used 150k mile or less engine and roll the dice. $500+.
3. Rebuild what I have(Have someone $$$) with Cometic hg,ARP studs, and forged pistons. How much will that cost???
4. Does anyone sell a short block for these?

I will be planning on bigger injectors, water/meth or intercooler.