High Mileage 1GR?

[lt1fire]

Anyone here have a high mileage 1GR rig (4.0 V6) specifically a FJ Cruiser but really interested in how well the motor holds up or any major defects to look out for. I think they are pretty much bullet proof if memory serves but needed some first hand accounts so i'm putting out feelers on various boards. @lowtops I believe you have one in your tacoma?
Reason is we are kind of inbetween cars for Andrea. Her las SUV got stuck in a pile up, which is why i've been working so much on the subaru which was sitting in limbo for so long. She doesn't seem completely sold on it for some reason. She likes the manual as we only drive them in cars and the power is around 300hp so she likes that but something doesn't sit right with her and in the back of my mind its a subaru and even with a brand new engine I can never fully trust it lol. I'd have her drive the tundra and me the subaru since i've put so many hours into it but it stranely has the leasat amount of driver leg room in any vehicle we have ever owned, despite being a fairly big station wagon, so that's out. So we found an FJ cruiser locally with a 6-speed manual and 284k. Price is right but wanted to see if there is any major thing I should look out for on it as I have zero experience with this package and finding a manual SUV is getting harder and harder.

 

[UZJ105]

@BMThiker (Rick Carswell) out of Atlanta has an FJ Cruiser he wheels pretty hard. He might be a good guy to talk to. His Instagram is the same as his mud handle.

 

[BMThiker]

Al should know better. We go way back

 

[BMThiker]

I've got 338K on mine at the moment. I replaced the A/T transmission at about 300K. I replaced the radiator circa 280K. Valve cover gaskets around 265K. I've gone through two sets of manifold/cats. Replaced coils once and had injectors rebuilt once. I have a timing chain and front main seal on the horizon. Other than that, it's been good all around. the one you found probably has the engine bay cracks near the hood struts - not a deal breaker and you can probably just patch that area with some sheet metal.

 

[lt1fire]

Al should know better. We go way back

Damn Rick, I have to apologize on that for some reason when I was thinking high mileage 1GRs in the area I could only think of Brad and Jerry. Not sure how I can forget digdug and the red wheels.

Thanks for the feedback. The miles don't really scare me on the FJ, although they do Andrea so I said i'd ask around to make sure they don't have any common issues that i'm not thinking of. How are the timing chain guides on these? I know on the 3UR its fairly common for them to start making noise early on but will do so for hundreds of thousands of miles. Mine does on the tundra but it drives amazing at almost 350k so i'm not anxious to pull the front of the motor apart to replace it. Its always the inner one on the right side of the block for some reason on every tundra, 200 and sequoia i've read up on.
Not entirely sure if its even a thing that may happen. I need to finish up the suspension on the outback and get it all aligned and the adjustable links set up correct before Andrea will make her choice on that. Another option that popped into her radar are a few Focus RS as possible DD replacements but that was the only manual yota SUV we could find which she had said to look for before. The FJ seems to be the last yota suv that came with a manual from what I read. I could have sworn the 4runner from the same years had one but looks like I was wrong.

 

[fjc-man]

If they’ll let you inspect it, there is a 3 inch square cover just under the right cylinder head on the timing cover. Unscrew it and you’ll be looking right at the main chain tensioner. The plunger on a maintained 1 gr will be sticking out 8-10mm, it’s a ratcheting tensioner. After 8 to 10 you will see rings for each click out compensating for wear. Also you will see if the engine is all sludged up, bad omen.
P.S. mine is at 259,000 miles. The picture is almost upside down, my bad…

 

[1911]

I have in excess of 250,000 miles of hard use (mostly work, on bad oilfield roads) on mine. I use the trip odometer between fill-ups, so I haven't looked at the actual total mileage for a while. It doesn't burn or leak a drop of oil between extended changes (bought this truck new, and have always used synthetic oil in it).

I did have the timing case cover gasket replaced under warranty a long long time ago, was leaking slightly as I remember; no problems since. I have done nothing else to this engine other than routine maintenance. Not even a thermostat, nothing.

I did a full flush of the auto tranny and replaced it with full synthetic ATF somewhere around 80-100,000 miles; probably due for that again but the trans is still working perfectly.

I have blown up and replaced the rear diff gears twice, but those were (mostly?) my fault, though the early ones like mine (2007 model purchased in 2006) were known to have a batch of weak rear diff gears. Like Rick's, mine is highly modified also.

Last year I had to replace the front wheel hub bearings, again after a lifetime of hammering them on caliche roads at speed. My front A-arms (non-stock) and the Icon coilovers need rebuilt soon also, for the same reason.

My paint is oxidized pretty bad now, and some has peeled off. It's been parked outside for the last eight years in the Texas sun.

My overall conclusion is that the Japanese build quality is there on these FJC's. I have been more than happy with mine, and would drive it across the country tomorrow without any prep or a second thought.

I wouldn't have a problem buying a high-mileage one as long as it was well maintained.

Good luck with your search.

 

[BMThiker]

Damn Rick, I have to apologize on that for some reason when I was thinking high mileage 1GRs in the area I could only think of Brad and Jerry. Not sure how I can forget digdug and the red wheels.

Thanks for the feedback. The miles don't really scare me on the FJ, although they do Andrea so I said i'd ask around to make sure they don't have any common issues that i'm not thinking of. How are the timing chain guides on these? I know on the 3UR its fairly common for them to start making noise early on but will do so for hundreds of thousands of miles. Mine does on the tundra but it drives amazing at almost 350k so i'm not anxious to pull the front of the motor apart to replace it. Its always the inner one on the right side of the block for some reason on every tundra, 200 and sequoia i've read up on.

No worries, just yanking your chain.

When I swapped out my transmission I think I nudged the upper oil pan too much and developed a small leak near the back - I thought it was the rear main seal, but it was the oil pan FIPG. I finally dropped the pan and resealed it and that's when I found a few plastic bits from the timing chain guides. Not big enough to panic over, but it needs to be addressed.

I forgot to mention that a couple years ago I had a weird experience while we were driving across country to run the Rubicon. Made it all the way to Nebraska with no issues and stopped for one of many gas stops. A dozen miles later, it really started struggling on the interstate and I chalked it up to bad gas. It continued all the way to Cali and I would have to pull the neg battery cable for 15-20 min to hard-reset the ECU. Scan gauge codes indicated air/fuel mix was off. Lots of messages to the Toyota brain trust and we were guessing a leak in the intake, but we never nailed it down. I changed a couple coils on the way and all new plugs. On the trail it never had an issue, but then reared up again on the interstate. Struggled all the way back to GA and we figured out it was best to drive at night.

Once I got back home I went through the entire intake system, replacing the intake gasket, all vac lines and the throttle body. Also replaced the fuel pump. That's when I had the injectors tested and cleaned.

 

[lowtops]

Anyone here have a high mileage 1GR rig (4.0 V6) specifically a FJ Cruiser but really interested in how well the motor holds up or any major defects to look out for. I think they are pretty much bullet proof if memory serves but needed some first hand accounts so i'm putting out feelers on various boards. @lowtops I believe you have one in your tacoma?
Reason is we are kind of inbetween cars for Andrea. Her las SUV got stuck in a pile up, which is why i've been working so much on the subaru which was sitting in limbo for so long. She doesn't seem completely sold on it for some reason. She likes the manual as we only drive them in cars and the power is around 300hp so she likes that but something doesn't sit right with her and in the back of my mind its a subaru and even with a brand new engine I can never fully trust it lol. I'd have her drive the tundra and me the subaru since i've put so many hours into it but it stranely has the leasat amount of driver leg room in any vehicle we have ever owned, despite being a fairly big station wagon, so that's out. So we found an FJ cruiser locally with a 6-speed manual and 284k. Price is right but wanted to see if there is any major thing I should look out for on it as I have zero experience with this package and finding a manual SUV is getting harder and harder.

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You want me to talk about the 1GR in my Taco? Just don't throw me in that briar patch!
I can't say enough good things about this motor. Decent power for what it is, and I bet a manual trans will make it feel even better.
I'm sitting at 422K miles, and the only thing I have replaced on the motor is the alternator. The valve covers are weeping a little, but no leaks or drips. This has been the least problematic engine I have owned, by far.

Issues that might be leading to bigger problems are:
-Oil consumption- I was changing the oil at 10K miles for years until I noticed it was almost a quart low between oil changes. I moved back 7K oil changes and still had about a quarter quart consumption. Now my oil change interval is 5K with no consumption.
-Pinging- I noticed pinging under load at low speeds. I moved up to mid-grade gas, and the pinging went away. Not sure what this means exactly.
-Engine vibration at cold start- I drive my Taco 2-3 days per week, and it sits for 4-5 days without cranking. So maybe once per month, (no rhyme or reason to it), when I cold start after sitting for several days, the engine will run terribly, shake, and blow white smoke out of the exhaust for about 5 seconds. Then it clears up and runs normally. I assume oil is bypassing the valves into the combustion chamber.

Here is my oil analysis from last year and 399K miles...