Haunted by PO installed Chyna parts

[Ninja17]

When I purchased my '97 Land Cruiser, about 28 months ago, it had a freshly installed NEW radiator and alternator, both were generic xyz cheap chyna parts, that I anticipated having to change some day. The day before before Thanksgiving, BOTH threw in the proverbial towel on the same day, no less.
As time allows over the Christmas/New Year holidays I will be replacing both with new Toyota OEM parts. I plan on replacing the radiator hoses, and rad cap, belts, thermostat, and PHH at this time (just replaced all other heater hoses w/ Gates Green Stripe and Breeze clamps , along with leaky chyna Heater Control Valve a couple months ago).

I guess I would like some input if there is anything I am overlooking, or anything else recommended I should address at this time ?? Thanks in advance


PS: Why do I keep having to update my password here ?

 

[bwesty]

Oil pump seal, front crank seal, oil level sensor seal, delete rear heater and replace any old rubber hoses.

 

[Kabanstva]

Make sure you use an OEM water pump too. Or AISIN brand if you don’t order directly from Toyota dealer.

 

[bttygoose]

I don’t have much to add but 28 months as a unit of measurement for vehicle ownership made me chuckle.

I’d check the brake pads/rotors/calipers/master cylinder if you’re quick with brake work. My PO cheaped out on all that and I didn’t realize the difference quality parts/OEM parts made to the vehicles ability to stop until I swapped it all out even after a year of ownership with the old brakes.

 

[Ninja17]

I don’t have much to add but 28 months as a unit of measurement for vehicle ownership made me chuckle.

I’d check the brake pads/rotors/calipers/master cylinder if you’re quick with brake work. My PO cheaped out on all that and I didn’t realize the difference quality parts/OEM parts made to the vehicles ability to stop until I swapped it all out even after a year of ownership with the old brakes.

Yeah, I guess I was thinking more about the unit of measurement in terms of how long the chyna radiator & alternator lasted me. I addressed the brake issues very early on after acquisition

 

[sjpitts]

Oil pump seal, front crank seal, oil level sensor seal, delete rear heater and replace any old rubber hoses.

Don't you have to pull the harmonic balancer to replace the front crank seal? Do you really recommend doing that if there is no sign of leakage or broken balancer?

I just got another 80 and it was not on my list, but maybe it should be.

On the flip side, I would say that replacing the alternator idler pully and AC idler pully should maybe on the list. Since those are relatively cheap and easy to replace.

 

[BTLSHP]

Don't you have to pull the harmonic balancer to replace the front crank seal? Do you really recommend doing that if there is no sign of leakage or broken balancer?

I just got another 80 and it was not on my list, but maybe it should be.

On the flip side, I would say that replacing the alternator idler pully and AC idler pully should maybe on the list. Since those are relatively cheap and easy to replace.

My odyssey of replacing most rubber bit in a '94 began with a lucky catch on a failed harmonic balancer. The rubber NVH pad is simply not up to the life of cast iron.

Replace the thing, now.

 

[sjpitts]

My odyssey of replacing most rubber bit in a '94 began with a lucky catch on a failed harmonic balancer. The rubber NVH pad is simply not up to the life of cast iron.

Replace the thing, now.

Have you seen the price of those things lately? I wish I had bought some when you could get the Dorman version for a reasonable price.

 

[baldilocks]

Get only the OEM balancer. I simply don’t mess with after market parts where it’s critical which is most everything in my book. Look on PartsOuq. Their prices are much lower than online sources here even with shipping around the planet.

 

[LongDuck]

Add an OEM Radiator Cap to the list - it's cheap insurance. The OEM Radiator may come with one installed, however. Worth considering to have a spare,

 

[BTLSHP]

Have you seen the price of those things lately? I wish I had bought some when you could get the Dorman version for a reasonable price.

Yeah, not cheap even ordered from Japan. It was an ugly start with a 2k budget in mind…

My daughter had driven it 100+ miles up from Richmond the night before .

 

[mudgudgeon]

even after a year of ownership

You mean 12 months, right?

 

[mudgudgeon]

Don't you have to pull the harmonic balancer to replace the front crank seal? Do you really recommend doing that if there is no sign of leakage or broken balancer?

I just got another 80 and it was not on my list, but maybe it should be.

On the flip side, I would say that replacing the alternator idler pully and AC idler pully should maybe on the list. Since those are relatively cheap and easy to replace.

That 30 year old rubber harmonic balancer is likely in the same condition as all the rubber hoses

 

[BTLSHP]

I am not certain what signs we had of pending failure in our HB. I looked over the engine prior to her trip to Richmond and back. I am pretty sure but not certain I would have noticed any major misalignment of the belts, but not certain. I noticed a strange belt noise the first time I started it after the trip.

We had an odd idle a few hundred miles earlier at a stop. The car idle and oil pressure momentarily dropped to really low levels and then recovered. This was at the end of a 150 mile day. We had it inspected nothing was found and it did not return. I am only speculating that is when the rubber in the HB went, but we do not know.

Bottom line, $700 bucks hurts especially when you add to it redoing the front end of the engine. But, it is better to do it on your time than in the road and we did no damage to bits like the radiator.

 

[sjpitts]

So as I recall someone in the past discovered that the Dorman harmonic balancer was identical to the OEM-- at a much cheaper price. But I don't think that is true anymore. So I wish I had jumped on that bandwagon.

So now I three 80's at 152K, 199K and 282K miles. I have pulleys, belts, and a water pump in my pile of uninstalled parts for the 282K mile 80 that was planning on replacing in the next year before my son takes it away to school. It sounds like I should add the HB and main seal to that list.

 

[BTLSHP]

I saw the Dorman part and was tempted because in another industry I know, you often find that different brands sourced from the same factory. That is not the same as saying they are produced to the same standard. The original lasted 235k miles and 30 years so I bit the bullet.

The thought of handing my daughter a 30 year old vehicle even as a 3rd vehicle with open questions on basic reliability drove most of the spending. The interior was the major exception. The spare had a 12/94 DOT production date stamped on it.....

The car still has issues I did not resolve like questionable valve seals (they are fine on Delo XSP 400 15w40) and a poorly re-built cooling fan.

 

[TheBussman]

So as I recall someone in the past discovered that the Dorman harmonic balancer was identical to the OEM-- at a much cheaper price. But I don't think that is true anymore. So I wish I had jumped on that bandwagon.

So now I three 80's at 152K, 199K and 282K miles. I have pulleys, belts, and a water pump in my pile of uninstalled parts for the 282K mile 80 that was planning on replacing in the next year before my son takes it away to school. It sounds like I should add the HB and main seal to that list.

My experience as a pro tech for the last 20 years is that almost everything Dorman is junk, I have not seen any one Dorman part that looked like it was factory and re-boxed.