Throwing this one out for the collective, here...
Apologies for the length, but it's one of those problems that just doesn't fit into a paragraph. Please bear with me, as I relate my tale of woe.
I own a 1993 FZJ-80, late model year production, with the R-134 refrigerant. Has roughly 130,000 miles on the odometer, and I'm pretty anal about maintenance, although, not to an IdahoDoug level.
I bought it from a 'mud member, and, at the time, I thought I did due diligence, and was getting a decent rig. However, it appears I may have let one get by me.
After the first oil change, when I baselined all the fluids (PO did an oil change right before I picked it up), the truck started drinking oil like it was going out of style. First two thousand or so miles, it didn't consume much, at all. At the moment, about 2 years in, it's doing roughly a quart every 200 miles. Particularly when driven on the highway--around town, it's not so bad.
What's baffling to me, and every mechanic I've had looking at it, is that it's not smoking anywhere near what you'd expect for this amount of oil use, if it were the rings. All the minor seal leaks have been taken care of, and it's not dripping oil when parked anymore, at all. The plugs aren't fouled, but do have fairly heavy ash deposits. Compression is good, actually quite high for a rig that old, and all cylinders are about the same pressure levels, over 200 psi. (I think that's what the mechanic is writing down, here... It's within spec, and actually, pretty good.). No noticeable smoke in the mornings, either, when you start it. Not entirely sure if it smokes under load--nothing noticeable from the driver's seat, although, my sister says she's been told it smoked going up hills, when she was driving it while I was in Iraq. No details on what color smoke, or how much, due to the fact it was another chick following her somewhere...
What there is, is a lot of oil in the intake. Where it's coming from is another question, entirely. The PCV valve, and all the vacuum lines, appear to be serviceable, and properly installed, so we think we've ruled that out.
The only thing we can think is that the valve stem seals are gone, but there isn't any way to tell if that's the real problem, and I'd hate to spend $1100.00 to find out the problem is in the lower end of the engine, like the cylinder rings.
My issue is that we don't have a solid diagnosis for why this rig is drinking oil like this. The possibility exists that one of the previous owners may have overheated the engine, at some point, but it doesn't behave as though that happened, and I've never had the temperature guage go over the half-way point, even in the summer, on a mountain pass, with the AC going full-blast.
The 'mud member I bought it from did tell me he'd had to put in a new Toyota radiator (which recently started leaking around the tanks, just replaced it with an after-market CSF radiator due to availability issues) about a year and a half before I bought it. Unspecified reasons--just said it needed to be replaced. And, there were some posts he made on here about "a friend's" PHH blowing out while the friend's wife was driving their FZJ-80. At this point, I don't know what to think about the possibilities, but it does make me wonder. Who knows? I do question, now, if it was really my rig that had the blown PHH, and I wound up buying it without being informed. Why it didn't consume the oil it does now, until after I did my baseline, I have no idea. Which is why I can't really say. I really wish I'd saved that oil for analysis, though...
I think that's all the pertinent facts. If there's something I've forgotten to mention, please ask. If there's a test, or diagnostic I haven't done, please point it out. I think the only thing that we haven't done is a full-scale cylinder leak-down test, due to the lack of equipment at the shop that's looking at it. Mechanic also says that won't really tell me much, if it's the oil rings that are bad, and the compression rings are still good, which is what would have to be the case for the compression numbers to still be what they are.
What I'd like to know is if anyone out there on the board has a suggestion for something else I and the mechanics I've had looking at it may have missed (including one dealer recommended by the board, and an outside shop, recommended by Landpimp...). I really am at a loss, as to why this thing is burning this much oil.
My options appear to be, at this point, to either try replacing the engine with a rebuilt motor, which is prohibitively expensive (try 4300.00, plus core fees, from ATK, or 5300.00 from SOR), or buying a used engine from Cruiserparts.net for about 2500.00, and having that installed. Either that, or paying for a rebuild on the engine I've got now, which looks like it might come in around 4000.00-5000.00, and find out, mid-way through, that the engine isn't rebuildable, because it was overheated. Fourth option is, I could just have the top-end done, to take care of the possible problem with the valve stem seals, which of course, could turn out not to be the issue, as the actual cause for the oil consumption is something else entirely. Mechanic also tells me that he's not a big fan of top-end rebuilds, because they tend to be a waste of time--if the engine needs that done, then there are likely issues that will appear in the lower end, in short order. Particularly if the previous owner toasted the engine, and didn't tell me about it. I guess the valve stem seals tend to go first, in overheat situations?
Sadly, I've gotten nowhere near the amount of money out of this truck that I've put into it, and I rather like the way it drives, so I don't want to get rid of it. I also need a reliable daily driver, but at this point, am I throwing good money after bad? I'd like to be able to get a reasonable amount of mileage out of this thing, without having to throw much more money at it. I've probably got about 14,000.00, including all the work I had Toyota do on it, into the rig, and I owe another 2800.00 on it. I need a reliable daily driver for the next couple of years, while I go to school after I retire from the military. Plus, of course, the occasional foray into the forests...
The option of doing unto others as may have been done unto me isn't out there--I refuse to do something as unethical as pass this truck on to someone else, with this issue unsolved, and I just don't see finding someone who loves Land Cruisers so much that they'd take this issue on, knowing about it. Unless... Landpimp, are you listening?
I kinda doubt a dealer would be stu... Uhmm... Willing, yeah, willing, to give me much on the trade-in, either. Even if I was comfortable with doing that to them, so they could pass the issue on to someone else, down the line.
I suppose I could part the damn thing out, but, geez... That seems a waste for a rig that drives as nicely as this one does. Also, major hassle, and a long time to see my money come back out of it.
Any ideas, folks?
Apologies for the length, but it's one of those problems that just doesn't fit into a paragraph. Please bear with me, as I relate my tale of woe.
I own a 1993 FZJ-80, late model year production, with the R-134 refrigerant. Has roughly 130,000 miles on the odometer, and I'm pretty anal about maintenance, although, not to an IdahoDoug level.
I bought it from a 'mud member, and, at the time, I thought I did due diligence, and was getting a decent rig. However, it appears I may have let one get by me.
After the first oil change, when I baselined all the fluids (PO did an oil change right before I picked it up), the truck started drinking oil like it was going out of style. First two thousand or so miles, it didn't consume much, at all. At the moment, about 2 years in, it's doing roughly a quart every 200 miles. Particularly when driven on the highway--around town, it's not so bad.
What's baffling to me, and every mechanic I've had looking at it, is that it's not smoking anywhere near what you'd expect for this amount of oil use, if it were the rings. All the minor seal leaks have been taken care of, and it's not dripping oil when parked anymore, at all. The plugs aren't fouled, but do have fairly heavy ash deposits. Compression is good, actually quite high for a rig that old, and all cylinders are about the same pressure levels, over 200 psi. (I think that's what the mechanic is writing down, here... It's within spec, and actually, pretty good.). No noticeable smoke in the mornings, either, when you start it. Not entirely sure if it smokes under load--nothing noticeable from the driver's seat, although, my sister says she's been told it smoked going up hills, when she was driving it while I was in Iraq. No details on what color smoke, or how much, due to the fact it was another chick following her somewhere...
What there is, is a lot of oil in the intake. Where it's coming from is another question, entirely. The PCV valve, and all the vacuum lines, appear to be serviceable, and properly installed, so we think we've ruled that out.
The only thing we can think is that the valve stem seals are gone, but there isn't any way to tell if that's the real problem, and I'd hate to spend $1100.00 to find out the problem is in the lower end of the engine, like the cylinder rings.
My issue is that we don't have a solid diagnosis for why this rig is drinking oil like this. The possibility exists that one of the previous owners may have overheated the engine, at some point, but it doesn't behave as though that happened, and I've never had the temperature guage go over the half-way point, even in the summer, on a mountain pass, with the AC going full-blast.
The 'mud member I bought it from did tell me he'd had to put in a new Toyota radiator (which recently started leaking around the tanks, just replaced it with an after-market CSF radiator due to availability issues) about a year and a half before I bought it. Unspecified reasons--just said it needed to be replaced. And, there were some posts he made on here about "a friend's" PHH blowing out while the friend's wife was driving their FZJ-80. At this point, I don't know what to think about the possibilities, but it does make me wonder. Who knows? I do question, now, if it was really my rig that had the blown PHH, and I wound up buying it without being informed. Why it didn't consume the oil it does now, until after I did my baseline, I have no idea. Which is why I can't really say. I really wish I'd saved that oil for analysis, though...
I think that's all the pertinent facts. If there's something I've forgotten to mention, please ask. If there's a test, or diagnostic I haven't done, please point it out. I think the only thing that we haven't done is a full-scale cylinder leak-down test, due to the lack of equipment at the shop that's looking at it. Mechanic also says that won't really tell me much, if it's the oil rings that are bad, and the compression rings are still good, which is what would have to be the case for the compression numbers to still be what they are.
What I'd like to know is if anyone out there on the board has a suggestion for something else I and the mechanics I've had looking at it may have missed (including one dealer recommended by the board, and an outside shop, recommended by Landpimp...). I really am at a loss, as to why this thing is burning this much oil.
My options appear to be, at this point, to either try replacing the engine with a rebuilt motor, which is prohibitively expensive (try 4300.00, plus core fees, from ATK, or 5300.00 from SOR), or buying a used engine from Cruiserparts.net for about 2500.00, and having that installed. Either that, or paying for a rebuild on the engine I've got now, which looks like it might come in around 4000.00-5000.00, and find out, mid-way through, that the engine isn't rebuildable, because it was overheated. Fourth option is, I could just have the top-end done, to take care of the possible problem with the valve stem seals, which of course, could turn out not to be the issue, as the actual cause for the oil consumption is something else entirely. Mechanic also tells me that he's not a big fan of top-end rebuilds, because they tend to be a waste of time--if the engine needs that done, then there are likely issues that will appear in the lower end, in short order. Particularly if the previous owner toasted the engine, and didn't tell me about it. I guess the valve stem seals tend to go first, in overheat situations?
Sadly, I've gotten nowhere near the amount of money out of this truck that I've put into it, and I rather like the way it drives, so I don't want to get rid of it. I also need a reliable daily driver, but at this point, am I throwing good money after bad? I'd like to be able to get a reasonable amount of mileage out of this thing, without having to throw much more money at it. I've probably got about 14,000.00, including all the work I had Toyota do on it, into the rig, and I owe another 2800.00 on it. I need a reliable daily driver for the next couple of years, while I go to school after I retire from the military. Plus, of course, the occasional foray into the forests...
The option of doing unto others as may have been done unto me isn't out there--I refuse to do something as unethical as pass this truck on to someone else, with this issue unsolved, and I just don't see finding someone who loves Land Cruisers so much that they'd take this issue on, knowing about it. Unless... Landpimp, are you listening?
I kinda doubt a dealer would be stu... Uhmm... Willing, yeah, willing, to give me much on the trade-in, either. Even if I was comfortable with doing that to them, so they could pass the issue on to someone else, down the line.
I suppose I could part the damn thing out, but, geez... That seems a waste for a rig that drives as nicely as this one does. Also, major hassle, and a long time to see my money come back out of it.
Any ideas, folks?
