Hey y’all, I’m deciding to part with my bj73. I met a lot of you all in March/April this year and know some of you have seen it in person, at least momentarily. It’s a Spanish import and has the VM 2.5 TD engine mated to an H55F, stock gearing, part time 4x4 with manual hubs, 12v conversion, working A/C, and an FRP top/folding windshield. I had been saving throughout the year for a 1HD-T swap, but a motorcycle accident last month drained most of that fund, so I’m giving up on the project and hoping it can go to someone who has the resources to put some real work into it.
I purchased the truck last January and drove it down from Seattle over the course of two days. The truck ran pretty well on the highway, and for the most part I could cruise at 70-75 no problem on the interstate. Since then it alternated as my daily/work truck and camping/light off-road vehicle, and has put on 20,000km under my ownership. The odo currently reads 238,066.
I’ve changed the oil every 5,000km, so most recently changed at 238,000. Fuel and air filters changed every 10,000, so those were done at the same time. Other than that, the truck hasn’t needed a whole lot of work. I adjusted the injector pump a bit as the truck was running extremely rich at altitude here. It still runs a bit rich but not quite as bad as it was.
The #3 injector developed a leak in mid-November, so I removed and rebuilt it using parts from a NOS injector from the same family (same internals, but I had to reuse the original nozzle). This rebuilt injector runs a bit out of time now, my guess is due to the shim & spring tension relative to the other injectors, and has a tick under moderate acceleration.
There is a small diesel leak from the fuel lift pump - a few drips on cold start - that I will address with a rebuild kit i ordered last week. Other than that and some oil mist that blows out of the filler cap during summer, the truck has had no leaks while I have owned it.
The previous owners have a well-documented service history they gave to me upon purchase of the truck in Washington. It’s in Spanish but I am happy to look through and translate it in person if needed. The truck has had regular, professional services throughout its life, with its most recent major mechanical services occurring between 180,000 and 200,000km. At this time, the truck was also stripped, sanded and repainted, the frame and underside of the body were undercoated, and the interior was redone, with leather front, rear bench and jump seats, as well as aluminum & steel trim plates for the rear of the truck. The original carpet and jute underlayment were re-used; the carpet is in great condition but the jute is ready for replacement.
The only rust or body damage I see is the front passenger side fender. The PO said there was a low speed incident, I think with a light post, if I remember correctly, and the subsequent dent was bondo’ed over. This bondo is cracking beneath the paint and there is visible rust underneath. That said, the fender is its own piece and can be easily removed, stripped, sanded and painted off of the truck, and OEM replacement panels are available from partsouq for about $500.
The interior is really nice; the seat reupholstery was done very well and there is no sagging or damage anywhere. The altimeter and tilt panel works perfectly, the speedo and tach are accurate, and fuel and temp sensors (for what that’s worth) are functional as well. There is no oil pressure sensor, no radio, and no clock; this was the case when I purchased the truck. The PO labeled wires inside the dash for the radio hookup but it wasn’t a priority of mine. The electrical system was converted to 12V while in possession of the PO.
Mechanically, the engine is audibly wearing down, though it hasn’t actually given me any trouble. My most recent trip was to Breckinridge in October, an 8 hour drive, which I did in one stint. The truck maintained 70-75mph and had no issues at higher altitude, no issues with heat and did not appear to burn any oil. However, the audible tick under acceleration, which I suspect is the injector but could be something else, should definitely be addressed if you plan to continue driving with this motor.
The turbo is solid and runs very strong; it really picks the truck up if you need to lay into it, and can get up to highway speeds pretty quickly. The turbo has an intercooler, which came stock with the truck.
The transmission shifts well and hasn’t given me any issues, and never lost or dropped a gear, though there is often grinding going into reverse, which I am able to avoid by double clutching and shifting slowly.
The suspension is a bit stiff but adequate for what I did with it. I’d expect more serious off-roaders to consider it worthy of replacement, same with the tires.
I have collected some oem parts that I’ll include - air and fuel filters; a set of glow plugs; 3 injectors i was able to order from Germany last week; aisin clutch master and release cylinders; a set of glow plugs; and a few other miscellaneous parts given to me by the PO.
Okay, hopefully that covers most parts of this vehicle; feel free to write here or DM me with questions. I am asking $12,000 for the truck but am open to offers.
VIN is TW0V0BJ7309506365 for anyone curious about parts availability.
