- Joined
- Oct 28, 2014
- Threads
- 4
- Messages
- 48
- Location
- Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras
- Website
- matthewhilchey.postach.io
Ok, I have a situation with my truck and I need some advice and opinions. I've gotten some, but since I have a bit of time before making a final decision, thought I'd get some more. I have a 1980 BJ40 with a B engine. I've only owned it for about 3 years, and it was not exceptionally well taken care of. It is located in Honduras. A couple years back it had some serious engine issues. It was in the care of a friend, and he saw to it that it got repaired, I was unable to oversee the repairs as I was out of the country or in another part of it.
From what I understand, the crankshaft, connecting rods, rings, and gaskets were all replaced. No new sleeves or pistons, I'm not sure about the bearings. The injection pump also had some work done to it: replaced the diaphragm, injector nozzles, just some overall servicing. It had been puking white smoke, so they figured the pump was the issue. It all got working well enough to drive back to my area of the country, 1200 metres abound sea level (it had been on the coast).
The next day, a friend wanted help towing his VW van back from where it had broken down, and stupidly I agreed. The LC wasn't ready for the test, and she seriously overheated on the way back, since it included uphills. Motor kept shutting off, so finally I had to get myself towed. Thankfully not by a Patrol...haha!
I pretty much left her for a few months thereafter...not being able to start her without plumes of white smoke. I tried to do some tests to see if the head gasket was the issue, but it didn't seem to be. I was assured it was new.
My other issue was no oil pressure was showing. After useless tinkering, just by driving her I got the oil pressure up, so at least I knew that was circulating. Previously, I had had to replace the timing gears and oil pump gears and timing cover because it wasn't circulating.
I have recently had the radiator replaced, a shroud put in (mine was missing) and a new fan installed. That seems to have fixed the overheating issue. White smoke continues at startup and when she's cold (the mechanic doesn't want to put in the thermostat, so she's not really running at optimum temp often). But I've been slowly losing power. I can still go up the steep hills, but only with the truck empty or in L4.
A recent compression test pegged the cylinders at:
#1: 300
#2: 200
#3: 280
#4: 280
Abysmal, I know. I read somewhere here that the compression of #2 could be too low for combustion, perhaps contributing to the white smoke?
In any case, now what? Full rebuild? Or try some smaller fixes first? gerg has been a very helpful support and recommends Auto-RX to help restore lost compression. Sounds like a good inexpensive option. Anyone else had success?
I have a friend coming to Canada soon who could easily bring me a rebuild kit from Pilbara 4x4 in Australia and I could bring that down to Honduras in August no problem, so if a rebuild is imminent, it's a decent option for me. Labour is cheap in Honduras... and I have a mechanic who is experienced at rebuilding LC stuff. I could try to source parts "locally", maybe in Costa Rica. The only real time constraint is if I'm going to get parts from Australia. Assuming my crankshaft and other parts are still good, maybe it's not necessary, but I know someone who'd buy the decent condition parts off me, though he'd expect a bargain. Buying a new motor isn't really a good option for me at the moment (both monetarily and the fact the truck isn't legally in my name, and so if I put in a new motor, it'll never be in my name), so I'd kinda prefer to work with what I got.
Please give me any opinions, as trivial as they might seem, ask for any clarification too. I'm not much of a mechanic myself and relatively new to Land Cruisers. Thanks in advance!
From what I understand, the crankshaft, connecting rods, rings, and gaskets were all replaced. No new sleeves or pistons, I'm not sure about the bearings. The injection pump also had some work done to it: replaced the diaphragm, injector nozzles, just some overall servicing. It had been puking white smoke, so they figured the pump was the issue. It all got working well enough to drive back to my area of the country, 1200 metres abound sea level (it had been on the coast).
The next day, a friend wanted help towing his VW van back from where it had broken down, and stupidly I agreed. The LC wasn't ready for the test, and she seriously overheated on the way back, since it included uphills. Motor kept shutting off, so finally I had to get myself towed. Thankfully not by a Patrol...haha!
I pretty much left her for a few months thereafter...not being able to start her without plumes of white smoke. I tried to do some tests to see if the head gasket was the issue, but it didn't seem to be. I was assured it was new.
My other issue was no oil pressure was showing. After useless tinkering, just by driving her I got the oil pressure up, so at least I knew that was circulating. Previously, I had had to replace the timing gears and oil pump gears and timing cover because it wasn't circulating.
I have recently had the radiator replaced, a shroud put in (mine was missing) and a new fan installed. That seems to have fixed the overheating issue. White smoke continues at startup and when she's cold (the mechanic doesn't want to put in the thermostat, so she's not really running at optimum temp often). But I've been slowly losing power. I can still go up the steep hills, but only with the truck empty or in L4.
A recent compression test pegged the cylinders at:
#1: 300
#2: 200
#3: 280
#4: 280
Abysmal, I know. I read somewhere here that the compression of #2 could be too low for combustion, perhaps contributing to the white smoke?
In any case, now what? Full rebuild? Or try some smaller fixes first? gerg has been a very helpful support and recommends Auto-RX to help restore lost compression. Sounds like a good inexpensive option. Anyone else had success?
I have a friend coming to Canada soon who could easily bring me a rebuild kit from Pilbara 4x4 in Australia and I could bring that down to Honduras in August no problem, so if a rebuild is imminent, it's a decent option for me. Labour is cheap in Honduras... and I have a mechanic who is experienced at rebuilding LC stuff. I could try to source parts "locally", maybe in Costa Rica. The only real time constraint is if I'm going to get parts from Australia. Assuming my crankshaft and other parts are still good, maybe it's not necessary, but I know someone who'd buy the decent condition parts off me, though he'd expect a bargain. Buying a new motor isn't really a good option for me at the moment (both monetarily and the fact the truck isn't legally in my name, and so if I put in a new motor, it'll never be in my name), so I'd kinda prefer to work with what I got.
Please give me any opinions, as trivial as they might seem, ask for any clarification too. I'm not much of a mechanic myself and relatively new to Land Cruisers. Thanks in advance!
