Hilux Surf 2LT starts but doesn't move

[souptaco]

So I looked through some threads to try and find out if someone experienced something similar but I can't find anything. Basically the engine turns over and runs fine but when I put it into gear it moves like a snail. This happened about three weeks ago going up a hill I go up every day to work. Towards the top of the hill I shift into fourth gear and once I got to the top i noticed i was lacking power and it just felt weaker and weaker.

About a minute later I noticed something was wrong and I pulled over and lifted the hood and I smelt burning rubber but it was not coming from the tires and I'm positive it was coming from the engine. I drove it back home which was less than two miles but I couldn't get passed 35 mph. So my question is does anyone have an idea on what could be the issue? I just pulled the timing cover off and it looks all correct. I just received a new timing belt (thought it might have been the issue) and a new fuel filter. So ya any help would be much appreciated. A little more info on the vehicle: 1989 Hilux Surf, 2LT, 5 speed, odometer reads 170k KM's.

 

[ozcrusier]

Maybe you bumped it into low range. If the engine is running fine this would be the first thing to check.

 

[Locked79]

I vote burned up clutch

 

[souptaco]

No it is not in low range and the clutch still works so I don't think its either of those sadly.

 

[Locked79]

So is it low on power or just no power going to the wheels

 

[ozcrusier]

The burning rubber could be from the harmonic balancer have you checked.

 

[souptaco]

Seems like no power going to the wheels. I didn't really inspect the harmonic balancer but I'll take a closer look at it today.

 

[ozcrusier]

No that wont cause your issues unless you tried to time the engine but it could have caused the smoke.

 

[souptaco]

Right I have a new timing belt I'm going to put on because I have it all pulled apart at the moment but like I mentioned before everything looks correct timing wise which sucks because I was hoping that was the issue. But the engine was not making any odd or different exhaust smoke.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Right I have a new timing belt I'm going to put on because I have it all pulled apart at the moment but like I mentioned before everything looks correct timing wise which sucks because I was hoping that was the issue. But the engine was not making any odd or different exhaust smoke.

I've had a huge sudden loss in power a couple times on my 2LTE. Both times it was a vacuum line popping off the boost sensor. Equivalent on yours would be the boost compensator on the top of the injection pump. Make sure the vacuum line from the intake manifold to the boost compensator is in good shape with no leaks. If you've tee-ed a boost gauge into the line, make sure that is ok too. Maybe you melted a vacuum hose somewhere.

I've also lost a tooth on a timing belt before on a gas engine. Reduced power by a huge amount. I suspect this is not the case with yours though, as you'd be seeing a few more problems.

Make sure fuel is getting to the pump? Maybe you're running super lean for some reason. Fuel filter ok? Lines ok?

 

[souptaco]

Thanks gts I'll look into that later today. Apparently I was sent the wrong timing belt. The one I bought is too big... where do you typically buy parts for your LTE gts?

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Thanks gts I'll look into that later today. Apparently I was sent the wrong timing belt. The one I bought is too big... where do you typically buy parts for your LTE gts?

We have a number of local suppliers here in western Canada (Rocky Mountain Imports, RADD Cruisers, ATEB, jdmparts.ca, 4wheelauto.ca etc.). I also buy from Ebay Australia.

Is your motor a 2LT or 2LTE?

 

[souptaco]

I'm in Washington state and the vehicle orginally came from BC. I tried getting some parts through ebi cruisers and they just seemed flaky and couldn't ever get anything from them. I'll check out some of those links though. It's a 2LT

 

[MonsterCruiser]

Have you tried pulling the part numbers off toyodiy and contacting @beno or @cruiserdan or another club vendor? Seems like if you just give those guys the part numbers they can usually get stuff for your JDM.

 

[souptaco]

So I put the engine back together and got it running again but it's still having the same symptoms (obviously). It is puffing out some blue exhaust when I give it some throttle but it does not happen every time. Could the head have a crack? The oil looks good and so does the coolant though. I'm relatively new to diesel engines so still learning ha.

 

[souptaco]

A small little update. I had a good amount of smoke coming out from around the turbo side of the engine. I'm wanting to think the turbo might be bad? Still kicked out some blue smoke too but that could be from the turbo leaking oil into the exhaust perhaps correct?

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Turbo issues would explain your power problems. Can you post some pictures of that side of your engine?

 

[souptaco]

It doesn't have any shaft play really and the turbo has had some oil and dirt stuck to the front of it ever since I bought it but I can't tell if that's alot of new oil or not lol.

 

[souptaco]

I'll look at pulling it off tomorrow after work to give it a closer look I suppose. If the turbo is bad what would be a good sign of that other than like the shaft being very lose; which it doesn't appear to be.

 

[IanB]

You could try firing it up with the intake hose off so you can easily see if the turbine is spinning, but don't run it that way for long as it can suck in dirt.