HELP- Possible Engine Rebuild?

[KTMaverick]

Sunday while going up a hill on the freeway I felt the LX bog a little
and began to hear a clicking in the engine-

Took it to the Post Falls Idaho Altons Tire and they said that the engine
was Bone Dry- it took 7.5 quarts of oil- I Put Royal purple in the truck about
6000 miles agos- Alton's Said that they can use 1-2 Quarts a month-

I have had NO Blue Smoke and Nothing on the Driveway or Garage floor-
It has been running Smooth as Silk up until this weekend-

The engine light has come on at about 3000 miles out- but it sorta comes and
goes-

1. Should I take it to Toyota/Lexus for them to look it over- Yikes what is that
going to cost-?
2. Anyone know anyone in the Spokane Washington/Coeur d'Alene Area that might be able to help figure out what the clicking noise is?
3. Engine Rebuild- What do I need to know? Where do you Recommend, Where should I avoid- I live in Northern Idaho/Post Falls- 15 minutes outside of Spokane Washington-

The guy at Altons said it might go for 1 week or 30,000 miles before something
happens- The clicking is pretty noticeable but other than that it still runs very smooth- and is still VERY Nice

HELP-

Suggestions, thoughts, comments-

 

[Romer]

Put oil in it and keep an eye on the oil and see how it goes.

Check your oil level every fill-up

 

[john_eckels]

Some of the synthetics leak out of old engines very quickly. My brother-in-law put Amsoil in his wife's camry with over 200K miles and he had a huge puddle on his garage floor the next day.

A lot of people here, including myself have had excellent results with Mobile 1 High Mileage. I need to add a quart every 3K miles. You may want to look into Rotella too. A lot of people on this forum swear by it.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

If it was really empty, there is no doubt you did some serious damage to the motor.

What did the oil pressure gauge show before?

Was the add oil light on?

7.5 quarts does not disappear quickly, so there had to be some warning of this.

I would not put expensive oil in it now-that's just throwing away money. I'd do an oil and filter change with some 15w-40 Conventional oil for roughly$10 per gallon. Run it and see what happens. If you have rod knock or other bad noises, your motor is probably ruined.

Good reason to check your oil!

 

[Ting]

You should probably talk to IdahoDough. PM him. I think he lives around your area.

 

[SBFJ60FIG]

Clicking noise sounds like top end. As in you starved the camshaft and valvetrain of oil. Which is not the worst thing that could happen. If you heard any sort of noise I'd just about guarantee some damage was done, but it doesn't sound like there is a rod knock.

If it's currently running, but just clicking and ticking keep going and see what happens. If it's a rod knock DON'T DRIVE it. you'll do even more damage and then have an engine that cannot be rebuilt.

I bought a 1997 FZJ80 last year with engine problems and did a bench rebuild on it. Cost me around $1,200 in parts and machine shop work, if that, and sold it to a forum member who is still driving it. They are easy motors to work on for sure.

If you end up needing an engine and cannot do a rebuild yourself plan on shelling out upwards of $6,000. Good luck.

 

[KTMaverick]

Well it appears that NO ONE can get a motor for the truck- GRRRR

I have a friend that thinks that maybe a lifter is not responding and was going to drain some of
the oil and add some Transmission fluid with alot of detergent to see if the clicking will stop
or reduce-

It the event I do need a new engine what do I do?

Heck for $6000 I might as well walk away...
Where do I even begin to find a new engine?
One Guy I talked to this morning mentioned that he cannot get a Lexus Motor-
Uh-? It appears to say Toyota on the back half-

It runs really good still- The motor still seems to have a good amount of power-
Yea it sounds a little bad- but it has plenty of power-
Someone else said that if it still has good power that that is a good thing-

Someone else said where did all 7.5 quarts of oil go?
It blows not blue smoke- The Driveway and Garage are clean- No leaks-

Does it sound right that all 7.5 quarts could have disappeared that fast?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Well it appears that NO ONE can get a motor for the truck- GRRRR

I have a friend that thinks that maybe a lifter is not responding and was going to drain some of
the oil and add some Transmission fluid with alot of detergent to see if the clicking will stop
or reduce-

It the event I do need a new engine what do I do?

Heck for $6000 I might as well walk away...
Where do I even begin to find a new engine?
One Guy I talked to this morning mentioned that he cannot get a Lexus Motor-
Uh-? It appears to say Toyota on the back half-

It runs really good still- The motor still seems to have a good amount of power-
Yea it sounds a little bad- but it has plenty of power-
Someone else said that if it still has good power that that is a good thing-

Someone else said where did all 7.5 quarts of oil go?
It blows not blue smoke- The Driveway and Garage are clean- No leaks-

Does it sound right that all 7.5 quarts could have disappeared that fast?

I've seen used complete 1FZs on this board for $750, so if it really needs a new motor, I'd just install a complete old motor. Call Chrito Slee and see if he knows of one. Oleg in Colorado had one for sale a while ago.

Your friend with the goofy lifter idea is clueless. Stay away. This truck has overhead cams and does not have lifters. Even if it were an earlier motor, the lifters were solid, not hydraulic. Don't let your firiend fawk with it.

Take your truck over to Eric V's house in mountain home and see if he will give it a listen. You need someone with Cruiser experience as you are getting some bad info.

The 80 series has 2 ways of keeping track of oil-the light for the oil level, and the pressure gauge. What were these showing before this debacle? To answer your question, 7.5 qts could disappear in 6000 miles, but your should of had a warning.

 

[Romer]

I know Oleg has a used engine. PM IRBIS here

 

[cruiserdan]

How could one drive a vehicle that distance and never check the oil?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

How could one drive a vehicle that distance and never check the oil?

I know many well meaning individuals with expensive cars, who don't even know that's it's possible to check the oil. Not kidding. Actually, my wife would fit that description.

In my view, the inside oil level monitors are the best thing ever for the mass of drivers out there. They are not going to open the hood, but they will pay attention to a warning light.

If all you have is an oil pressure monitor, it's usually too late by the time the light comes on.

 

[cruiserdan]

The innital post indicates that the level light came on from time to time and evidently that was ignored for some 3,000 miles.

 

[KTMaverick]

Yea your right how could someone run the truck with out checking the oil-
it's called being busy and Stupid- I actually read something somewhere where they tested 10,000 NYC Taxi Cabs and Oil Changes- They found that there
was no noticeable engine wear until after 10,000 miles- They felt that driving longer than 3000 miles on the same oil was not damaging- ( so long as there was oil still left in the vehicle- which in my case there was none ) HAHAHA- let me be the fool who learned the hard lesson- So everyone who reads this be for warned that you LC/LX can use alot of oil- Even though everyone I have talked with cannot understand why there was no evidence of noticeable oil use- No smoking, no dirt/oil on the engine, No leaking... nothing-

I guess I just usually get the oil changed at a pretty regular time frame-
YES- Closer to 3000- So I guess I am to Blame- The Oil Light and Pressure-
I cannot remember the pressure and the oil light would come on an off- My
Wifes LX450 does the same thing- We hardly ever drive hers-

I just drove it about 15 miles and it Runs Great- Except for the Engine clicking-
Great Power and smooth everything-

How can the engine be shot if it is still running so well?
The sound- sounds like it is coming from the top of the motor-
At Highway speeds it is pretty quite- at least inside-

I keep hearing "Cam" is it possible to have a damaged cam or something on
top that is easy to fix...? Sorry for my ignorance- That's why I don't post much-
I read alot of the posts and learn all I can-

One mechanic today walked out and said- Yup you need a new motor and got on the phone and said cannot find one- and my labor is $1700-

My ignorance with the problem is frustrating because if it is something easy-
Which I'm sure it is not- But if it was- I get the feeling that each place just wants to put a new motor in and call it good- I am thinking heck it runs Great
and except for the clicking I might as well keep driving it until it really is shot-
Just tell everyone that looks- that the motor has issues- I guess like me-

Would love to meet a IH8MUD member who is close to help-
Would love to find someone who knows a little about the motor-
I guess in Northern Idaho they only know about Big V8's-
Should I try and engine shop? I talked with one guy who said you have to
take it out first before they will look at it- Yikes-

Please keep the Criticisms, Comments and Suggestions coming!!!

 

[mac]

I'm just north of you and have a great running 1FZ-fe for 500 bucks. I did a 2500 mile road trip recently and the oil level barely moved. PM me for more info if you wish.

 

[Ting]

Again, you should PM IdahoDough He lives around Coeur d'Alene if I remember it correctly.

 

[SBFJ60FIG]

If the motor is noisy it's not an easy fix. The camshafts ride directly in the cylinder head so if indeed you've got top-end issues the head would need to be replaced if there was damage where the camshafts ride in the head.

Now, the mechanic that looked at it and said "Yep, needs a motor" is playing CYA. You could try to cheap out on a fix, but then you're playing the guessing game. Pull the valve cover, see what looks worn, do some testing and further tear-down, replace some stuff put it together and see if it still makes noise. As a paying customer you'd be pissed if someone did work, charged you say $2500 for a rebuilt head and install and it still made noise right?

Indeed if the motor is making noise severe damage could have been done. Will a motor that's about to toss a connecting rod through the block still have good power? Yes it will. Survey says if it makes noise, it's f-ed up internally. Whether or not that means you need a head, cams, rockers, etc and she'll be good, or a bottom end too is anyone's guess. In fact you might have an okay bottom end now, slap on a new head and have a rod knock in 4500 miles. Or could swap the head and never have a bottom end issue at all....tis a crap shoot my friend.

The oil and lack of smoke...normal. I worked as a service manager for 10+ years at various new car dealers and the worst oil consumption I've ever seen was a quart every 300 miles and there was no sign of consumption, i.e., blue smoke. Engines use oil....that's normal (a quart every 300 miles however is NOT normal).

It's a tough lesson to learn that's for sure and it will never happen to you again.

 

[IdahoDoug]

You have a PM.

DougM