Ideas for improving the 2LTE (2 Viewers)

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My bad didn't mean to send that last message lol. This site is crazy with their pop up adds and my slow phone doesn't compute well so I'm always hitting random stuff. Anyway. I was thinking just doing a 3" exhaust but put the 4" muffler in I'd just need some 3 to 4" couplers to make it work. I didn't think it'd be a huge deal but I'm also no mechanic either so there's that.

Expanding the pipe from 3" to 4" after the gasses have cooled some, is not going to do any favors for your flow through the system. Not an engineer, but I think that's a pretty safe bet.
 
Thanks.

I really need to re-write the first post in this thread. I've learned so much since I wrote it. It was basically my preliminary ideas and preconceptions, but now I've tried everything and gained a lot of knowledge. Ugh, with work and family it's so hard to find time these days.
I’d definitely be interested in hearing a new write up. I’m still very new to the L series (and diesels in general), although mine is a non-turbo, I’m sure a lot of stuff is similar.
 
Updated February 23, 2016

I own an LJ78 Landcruiser Prado (2LTE), and I love it. These vehicles are very well built and generally as tough as other cruisers with the exception of the small IDI turbo diesel 2LTE engine. I feel they are one of the most undervalued and unappreciated cruisers out there. Fix the engine issues, and you have a winner. With the exception of the engine and rear axle the light duty cruiser shares almost all major parts with the heavy duty cruiser lineup (1990+ 70 series and 80 series).

I think everyone knows that these engines are prone to overheating under high load conditions leading to cracking the head between the intake/exhaust valves into the coolant passage directly above. Head failure usually occurs when steam pockets form in the coolant passages in the head. The steam pockets cause uneven temperatures in the head (hot spots). Uneven temperatures cause stresses in the head which lead to the metal cracking. Poor maintenance will accelerate the problem. To understand how to prevent overheating issues, we need to understand exactly what is happening that leads to the problem.

The Prado was marketed as a light duty luxury sub-urban SUV in Japan, thus it was given a small quiet engine and soft coil springs with luxurious interior options, while retaining many of the components from the heavy duty land cruiser lineup. The 2lte engine is an Indirect Injection Diesel. This means it has a pre-combustion chamber in the head. This design was used in smaller consumer vehicle engines as it reduced diesel knock noise, and increased the usable power band. The main disadvantage with this design is that it is thermally inefficient. A large amount of heat is lost through the pre-combustion chamber into the coolant passages in the head.

On non-turbo diesel engines, the IDI design works very successfully. The entire non turbo series of Toyota L engines (2L, 3L, 5L) are known to be very reliable and long lasting with no over heating problems; yet they share the same head design as the turbo engine!! When a turbo is added with the accompanying extra heat (compressing more air, burning more fuel), the IDI engine becomes seriously disadvantaged. It is not mere chance that Toyota's only two IDI turbo diesel truck engines (2LTE and 1KZTE) both have head cracking issues, while the DI (direction injection) turbo diesel engines (13BT, 12HT, 1HDT, 1KDT etc..) are known to be very reliable with no cracking problems.

Toyota further aggravated the 2LTE IDI problem by maintaining a very high compression ratio, adding an emissions system, adding an electronic injection system, neglecting to intercool the engine, and using a small undersized fan/shroud. All of which add even more heat to the system than is necessary. They then put this small displacement 95hp engine into a 2200kg vehicle with a slush box auto transmission.

Add to that poor maintenance by the original owners in Japan, and we have a perfect storm. One wonders how the little motor lasts even as long as it does!!

So how do we counteract this turbo diesel IDI heat problem? There are three ways, one use a waterless coolant that does not allow steam pockets to form. Two, reduce the heat being absorbed into the head/coolant in the first place. Three, increase the heat being removed from the coolant.

I have discovered the 2LTE can be made into a sufficiently reliable, cool and powerful engine with the right modifications and driving style. I have done many modifications on my engine (with good success), and have shared my notes/experience below.

Disclaimer: The following mods may not be for everyone. I'm just sharing my experiences with the 2LTE. Feel free to add your own ideas to this thread, or criticize what I've said. I'll add to this thread as I further mod my engine and discover new ideas.

Following is my recommendation to anyone that already owns a 2LTE and would like to improve it:

- Download and read the manuals!

- This is a Denso manual that explains in detail how the 2LTE electronic diesel works. It's an excellent read:

V 3 P5ZGR01.pdf

- These are the engine manuals for the L series engines. They do not cover the electronic injection system, but everything else is applicable to the 2LTE motor:

RM520E (Main for 2L, 3L & 5L engines)

Dropbox - 2L 3L 5L ENGINE RM520E.pdf

RM582E (Supplement for 2L, 2L-T, 3L and 5L engines)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1joci2o0xtg6ujv/2L%2C2L-T%2C3L%2C5L ENGINE SUP. RM582E.pdf?dl=0

Finally, if it's a Prado you are working on, here is the manual that covers the rest of the vehicle (RM183E):

_KZJ70_HZJ_PZJ_chassis_body.pdf

This is a Youtube video that explains how the 2LTE injection system works:



- CHANGE TO A WATERLESS COOLANT!! I have done every modification below (except a turbo upgrade), and finally went to Evans High Performance Waterless Coolant in the Spring of 2015. I have to say, I am confident that this stuff is the ultimate protection against cracked heads in the 2LTE engines. If a person were to do NOTHING else (except basic maintenance), and only went to waterless coolant I have full confidence their cylinder head would never crack. The conversion will cost minimum $250 in coolant/flush agent alone, and is quite a bit of work. It is critical that all the old coolant/water be removed from the system for the waterless coolant to work correctly. I have put this stuff through the paces towing my 16' camper trailer and even running up to 240F coolant temps, and it works super well. I can't say enough about this stuff. Every 2LTE on earth should be running it. Note, your engine will run warmer with it, as Evans is not as efficient at transferring heat. This won't matter though, as the stuff does not turn to vapor until 380F!!! There are people on Mud that have run up to 270F on IDI engines (running Evans) with no ill effects!

- Install an EGT gauge immediately, and never allow post turbo EGT's to exceed 1000F. Drive accordingly. Always shift down on the hills to bring the rpms up. On the worst hills, keep the rpms between 3000-4000, and you'll see a big drop in EGTs. NEVER shut the engine off without proper cool down. Use your EGT guage and water temp to judge proper cool down time. Personally I let mine cool down to less than 400F post turbine on my EGT gauge, and ensure I'm at normal coolant temp before shutting the engine off. If really hot, turn the manual throttle control to 2000rpm to help the engine cool down faster. Generally after an easy drive this is a few seconds, after a really hard run it can be a few minutes.

- Buy and install a good quality aftermarket temp gauge. Never allow the engine to overheat (with regular water mix coolant). These engine will not tolerate being over heated. With the factory gauge, do not exceed the halfway mark. With an 82C thermostat, the gauge should be sitting around 1/4 normally. An 88C thermostat will put it around 1/3 normally.


- Bring all engine maintenance up to date:
- Oil change/filter,
- Fuel filter,
- Air filter,

- Coolant system service (pump, hoses, rad service if needed, new thermostat (82C), rad cap, new Toyota red coolant - or go to Evans High Performance Waterless Coolant as discussed above)
- Check clutch cooling fan for correct operation, replace it if necessary, or at least replace silicone oil in it. This is VERY VERY important. Check that the spring is intact. Open the unit, replace the fluid with 50ml of 10,000Cst Silicone oil, and test the turn on temperature. Blue fan clutch mod
- Add redline water wetter to your coolant (water based coolants). It reduces the chance of bubbles forming in the hot spots of the head. It's cheap, and may save your engine.
- New ECU coolant temp sensor

- Injector service if needed
- Injection pump repair if needed
- Timing belt job if needed
- New glow plugs if needed
- Turbo rebuild if it needed

- And of course make sure the rest of the vehicle is in good shape so as not to make the engine work any harder than it needs to (no dragging brakes, under inflated tires etc.)

- Do the free/cheap modifications first to reduce EGT's and improve power/efficiency:
- Remove the entire intake system from the turbo to the head and clean the sludge out of it. Also clean the sludge from the intake ports and valve stems in the head. Mine had 3/8" build up. The sludge is caused by emissions systems (EGR/PCV) dumping crap into the intake of the engine. The result of this sludge is that less air gets into the engine, making for a rich burn. A rich burn causes high EGT's, which in turn make for a hot/stressed head.

- Prevent future buildup of sludge by installing a PCV catch can, or just venting it under the vehicle (like the old cruisers did), and

- Remove the EGR system (all related pipes, VSVs, vacuum hoses), and fabricate/install block off plates at the exhaust and intake manifolds. Removing it will prevent sludge, but will also prevent hot exhaust gasses from feeding back into the intake.

- Remove the throttle plate in the venturi/throttle body. The throttle plate is there primarily to make the EGR system work. It also makes for slightly smoother idling and shutdown (again, a luxury thing) Removing the throttle plate will eliminate throttling losses, and thus allow better power at all throttle positions less than wide open. As it allows more air into the engine, EGTs will be reduced further. Throttle response and cold starting will be greatly improved. Do not remove or tamper with the throttle position sensor while doing this job!! (or it will need to be re-calibrated)

- Upgrade the undersized factory cooling fan with a larger one (such as the Toyota V6 'ring fan'). This will require a custom spacer or different fan clutch/hub to prevent the fan from interfering with the crank pulley and fan shroud. I have discovered that when Toyota shortened the front end design of the 70 series to the softer look of the Prado, they really screwed up the cooling and air flow capacity. There is not enough room for a proper shroud and fan. There is no where for the air to go behind the fan, as the engine sits too close. This I've found is one of the big mistakes of the Prado design.

- Upgrade to a high flow air filter. There is a K&N factory replacement filter available; not recommended for extreme dusty conditions though. However works perfect on highways. Allows more air into the turbo for cooler running and increased efficiency.

- Install an adjustable bleed valve on the vacuum line leading to the electronic boost sensor (there is a thread by pradocruzer on how to do this). The bleed off valve will trick the computer into thinking there is less boost than there really is, meaning there will be less fuel injected, and thus lower EGT's. Tune the bleed valve for good power and low EGT's. The tune of this valve will change depending on the work you do to your engine. Reducing 2lte egt's

- Increase the boost to 12psi using an Ebay manual boost controller. More air means lower EGT's. Don't turn the boost up beyond 12psi without an intercooler though, as the increased turbo heat will be negate any advantages of the increased air volume. With an intercooler, you can basically run as much boost as you want/can. I run 16psi, which seems to be about the max I can get with my setup.

- If auto, add a transmission cooler in-line before the radiator trans cooler.. This will reduce the amount of heat that the radiator has to dump. The trans oil will still need to run through the rad to maintain proper operating temp though (otherwise it would likely never get up to proper temp). The torque converter while out of lock-up will generate a substantial amount of heat which is transferred into the radiator. Once your engine is setup to make more power, you can stay in lock-up up hills and thus generate less heat.

- Run an 82C thermostat instead of an 88C. This will give a little more head room with engine coolant temps.

- For technically advanced owners, there are correction resistors on the fuel pump that effect injection timing and volume. Read the manual I posted above to understand how these work. I cut the wires for the resistors at my ECU, and installed my own adjustable resistors (potentiometers). I played around with this quite a bit, but in the end I found for my application that the factory resistors were actually the best values for power/temperature/efficiency. Don't advance the timing too much, or you will cause damaging diesel knock.

Do the expensive modifications to lower EGT's and improve power/efficiency:

Exhaust:
- Replace the entire exhaust system with a good quality free flow 2.5" or greater diameter system. I welded up my own aluminized mandrel piping with a Aeroturbine 2525xl, and it was a huge improvement.
- Buy or fabricate a dump pipe to remove the worst exhaust restriction which is at the output of the turbocharger. I have not done this yet, but did bore out my dump pipe which helped a lot.
- Better flowing exhaust/dump pipe lowers EGT's further. In my application, it dropped max EGTs by 150F

Intercooler:
- Install a front mount intercooler (more efficient than top mount). Pradocruzer demonstrates a highly efficient air/air front mount intercooler system which requires removal of the A/C. See post #6 here How to Install a Intercooler on a '91 Prado EX5 (2L-TE)?
I went with a water to air intercooler system so that I could retain my A/C. Here are details on my setup: LJ78 Air/water intercooler working! It dropped my EGTs by at least 250F max. This allowed me to crank up my boost and fuel all they way, and really transformed the power of the engine. It ran cooler and made at least 50% more power.

- Add a snorkel to gather cooler cleaner air near the top of the vehicle. This apparently can lower EGT's, and increase fuel economy. I have not yet done this, but will when funds permit.

- I have experimented with water/methanol progressive injection. In theory this can greatly reduce EGT's (water), and increase power (methanol). Some of the advanced kits only turn the system on at a pre-set EGT level, and then progressively increase injection volume with boost pressure. I installed a Devil's Own 250psi progressive system. Power was definitely up, but I have not seen the reduction in EGT's I was expecting. Perhaps I just need to play with it more. My 2LTE is an alcoholic

- Finally, if you have deep pockets, upgrade to a more efficient turbocharger as the factory unit produces a lot of heat at higher boost levels (as it moves outside of it’s efficiency range). A modern turbo from a 2.0l-3.0l displacement diesel engine would work well. Perhaps a Garrett GT2052 or similar. This will require custom fabrication etc.

- Tune the engine by way of the, boost controller, the spill control valve screw, and the boost sensor bleed valve. A final tune might be best done on a dyno. The above modifications will cool the engine down so much that it becomes possible to make significantly more power.

Feel free to post in this thread if you want more information on how to implement these modifications, and I'll try to answer your questions.

Here is my engine with pretty much all the mods listed above (except snorkel and new turbo) done to it. It is completely transformed from the lump I first bought. Unless towing I don't have to look at my gauges at all anymore. I can travel up 8% grades (often in OD) at 100km/h with my vehicle loaded with passengers/gear without high EGTs or water temps.

SAM_0069_zpslq9zglxt.jpg

Bump for a awesome thread this should be a sticky and also these important documents need to be posted and uploaded to resources tab.
 
Bump for a awesome thread this should be a sticky and also these important documents need to be posted and uploaded to resources tab.
Total mechanical novice here but I should be able to contribute something shortly as have a water to air intercooler setup almost identical to GTS's due to be installed in my 2LTE Surf around the middle of next month. I've had an EGT gauge in place for the last four or so years so whatever the result I know about it right away.

In the meantime, a couple of quick questions in case anyone can help:

• I'm wondering how I should go about tuning up after the intercooler install. Turbo and fueling are stock (as far as I know) but throttle plates and EGR are gone + 2.5 inch exhaust from turbo back. 180k on the clock, runs great. Cooling system has been a bit of a saga stretching over a number of years but finally I've got it working absolutely mint. The stock cooling in these trucks is absolute s***e! Anyway, not looking for huge power but naturally a nudge or two more would be welcome. At the very least it will be great to presumably be able to make full use of the power it already has. Would I be justified in adjusting fueling without touching the turbo? Or should I wait until I have a boost gague and controller then adjust boost and fuel at the same time? More pressingly, I'm wondering how safe it is to work an old turbo harder than stock (no reason to believe it's not original). I can't say I hear a huge amount of whine from it, possibly a little but hard to say as this is my first turbocharged engine. Seems to spool up just fine.

• I'm thinking of installing a PCV catch can if I can find space for one. Can anyone give me some pointers as to what type I should be looking for? Plenty of cheap Chinese options available but from the limited reading I have done it seems important that the can is free flowing enough that it's not overly restrictive thus causing excessive pressure build up. Also, I get the impression some are more or less 100% effective while others still let some oil through. Alternatively, how legit is just venting under the vehicle? And how bad is to get oil / crud into your intercooler?

• Does anyone have a diagram of all the 2LTE vacuum lines? Is there somewhere I can find more info on this?

Next up I plan to clean the MAP sensor filter and MAF sensor and will replace vacuum lines to MAP sensor when I tee in a boost gauge. Could be wrong but I don't recall these being mentioned prior in this thread.
 
Cheap Chinese cans off ebay have worked fine for me on both the 3B and 3L. I throw a little steel wool in to help catch the oil. The 3B and other older diesels came vented under the vehicle from the factory, I just have one with especially excessive blowby and didn’t like it dripping oil off the front driveshaft.
 
Cheap Chinese cans off ebay have worked fine for me on both the 3B and 3L. I throw a little steel wool in to help catch the oil. The 3B and other older diesels came vented under the vehicle from the factory, I just have one with especially excessive blowby and didn’t like it dripping oil off the front driveshaft.
Righto, cheers... good to know. I think for now I've decided not to bother with one but may revisit in future. The general gist of what I've read on catch cans is that the cheap ones are partially effective at best, the good ones with a some sort of proper filter media are much better. Probably the steel wools helps though.

Seems what I had assumed would be a MAF sensor (in the air-filter housing) is actually an intake air temp. sensor and there is in fact no MAF or any other sort of intake air flow sensor in my Surf. Anyway, gave the MAP sensor filter (little plastic can thing on the vacuum line to the MAP sensor) a good clean with the MAF sensor cleaner I bought. Just sprayed it through until it ran clear. A bit of oil / crud came out but not a huge amount. At first I didn't think it make a difference, but after driving the truck for a week I think had definitely improved throttle response and helped boost build faster. Subtle but there so definitely worth doing.
 
Righto, cheers... good to know. I think for now I've decided not to bother with one but may revisit in future. The general gist of what I've read on catch cans is that the cheap ones are partially effective at best, the good ones with a some sort of proper filter media are much better. Probably the steel wools helps though.

Might be a concern if you're plumbing it back into your turbo, but I route mine out to atmosphere and they don't drip any oil on the driveway - that's 100% effective in my book.
 
Hey fellas. First time posting, but have been avidly reading. I imported an LN108 Toyota Hilux to Canada in the spring. With the help of this thread and others I have slowly been making small modifications to increase longevity. So far I have done the following:

- replaced all fluids and filters
- removed egr system and cleaned everything out
- installed JRP dual boost and egt gauge (pre turbo sensor)
- installed front mount intercooler
- refreshed suspension with 2” OME kit
- JTX lighting headlights
- coolant circulator (for the cold Canadian winters)

In regards to the intercooler after a lot of research I decided to go with the front mount as I mainly use the rig for highway driving, as opposed to more serious off-roading. I was able to keep my ac and only had to replace the front grill to fit everything. I tried shaving the grill but couldn’t get it thin enough. Overall super happy with all the changes, my pre turbo egt’s stay around 400degC with normal use. With heavy hauling, going uphill on mountain roads i max out at about 700degC, but it drops back down nicely.

Here are some pictures to add to the thread.

Cheers!

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Does anyone know if it’s possible to swap a 10mm plunger from a 2lte pump into an early 2lt(1) injection pump? Which I believe is a 9mm. If possible, would it even be worth it?

I picked up a bunch of 2lt(1) parts for super cheap (block, head, cam, valve cover, exhaust turbo manifold, extra ct20, and a 2lte injection pump). Guy swapped a 2lte engine into his 85 2lt(1) truck but reused his original pump.

Trying to figure out if I can do anything with the 2lte pump or if I should just pass it along to someone that could use it. I was really hoping it had the tach pickup sensor on it so I could put it on my pump, but it’s the electronic version so no luck.
634812D2-7BF9-4B99-8688-443CB08BF971.jpeg

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Hey fellas. First time posting, but have been avidly reading. I imported an LN108 Toyota Hilux to Canada in the spring. With the help of this thread and others I have slowly been making small modifications to increase longevity. So far I have done the following:

- replaced all fluids and filters
- removed egr system and cleaned everything out
- installed JRP dual boost and egt gauge (pre turbo sensor)
- installed front mount intercooler
- refreshed suspension with 2” OME kit
- JTX lighting headlights
- coolant circulator (for the cold Canadian winters)

In regards to the intercooler after a lot of research I decided to go with the front mount as I mainly use the rig for highway driving, as opposed to more serious off-roading. I was able to keep my ac and only had to replace the front grill to fit everything. I tried shaving the grill but couldn’t get it thin enough. Overall super happy with all the changes, my pre turbo egt’s stay around 400degC with normal use. With heavy hauling, going uphill on mountain roads i max out at about 700degC, but it drops back down nicely.

Here are some pictures to add to the thread.

Cheers!

View attachment 3138412View attachment 3138414View attachment 3138415View attachment 3138417
Nice work! That intercooler install looks tidy. So those temps are quite a bit lower than pre-install? Did you find the longer piping runs to the front of the truck and back added much to turbo lag?

I'm currently eyeing up a supposed high-flow billet version of the CT20 that presumably would to a degree at least, bridge the performance gap between a stock CT20 and a more modern turbo. They claim faster spooling, and greater flow with a lighter and better designed wheel. More bang for your buck from your existing exhaust gas energy I guess. I've heard they give better performance in the lower rev range which makes sense and would be a welcome thing. Even with stock boost and fueling my truck makes reasonable power at full boost, it's just getting into the boost that's a bit slow sometimes. From a stop up a steep hill, getting into third can be hit and miss. Reeving the nuts of second does the trick but it'd be better not to have to do that. Presumably when I add more fuel that will improve pick up but I figure a more efficient turbo can only help.

 
Does anyone know if it’s possible to swap a 10mm plunger from a 2lte pump into an early 2lt(1) injection pump? Which I believe is a 9mm. If possible, would it even be worth it?

I picked up a bunch of 2lt(1) parts for super cheap (block, head, cam, valve cover, exhaust turbo manifold, extra ct20, and a 2lte injection pump). Guy swapped a 2lte engine into his 85 2lt(1) truck but reused his original pump.

Trying to figure out if I can do anything with the 2lte pump or if I should just pass it along to someone that could use it. I was really hoping it had the tach pickup sensor on it so I could put it on my pump, but it’s the electronic version so no luck.
View attachment 3143713
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The electronic pump heads won't work on the mechanical pumps from what I know.

Try playing around with the boost comp fuel pin setting on your 9mm pump and see how far that gets you. They can be turned for different curves, springs adjusted for more resistance (higher boost), and starting point changed. It is a bit of an art, so read into it carefully first. Also make careful note of original setting so you can return it back to stock if you want.
 
The electronic pump heads won't work on the mechanical pumps from what I know.

Try playing around with the boost comp fuel pin setting on your 9mm pump and see how far that gets you. They can be turned for different curves, springs adjusted for more resistance (higher boost), and starting point changed. It is a bit of an art, so read into it carefully first. Also make careful note of original setting so you can return it back to stock if you want.
That’s a bummer. Was hoping I could at least use it for something. Know anyone that needs one of these or wants one as a spare? Or better yet, would be willing to trade for a 2lt-1 pump?

Thanks! I’m pretty familiar with the boost comp. I was able to get it dialed in pretty nicely with small adjustments each morning before my drive to work. Did that for about 2-3 weeks and got a really good understanding of how everything works.
Right now it peaks at 20psi on WOT but mostly peaks around 15psi under fairly normal driving. EGTs under 1250F pre turbo. Minimal smoke unless I try to make it smoke.
I’ve got a “tuning hill” on my drive home everyday that’s about 2mi long and probably 4-5% grade. It’s where I see my highest EGTs and watch my temp gauge climb almost to the top during the summer. With the way I’ve got it tuned now, I’m able to hold 60mph in 4th gear for the extent of the hill with some 31” BFG ATs. Holds a steady 15psi. I used to be able to hold it in 5th with 28” street tires and alloy rims!
 
That’s a bummer. Was hoping I could at least use it for something. Know anyone that needs one of these or wants one as a spare? Or better yet, would be willing to trade for a 2lt-1 pump?

Thanks! I’m pretty familiar with the boost comp. I was able to get it dialed in pretty nicely with small adjustments each morning before my drive to work. Did that for about 2-3 weeks and got a really good understanding of how everything works.
Right now it peaks at 20psi on WOT but mostly peaks around 15psi under fairly normal driving. EGTs under 1250F pre turbo. Minimal smoke unless I try to make it smoke.
I’ve got a “tuning hill” on my drive home everyday that’s about 2mi long and probably 4-5% grade. It’s where I see my highest EGTs and watch my temp gauge climb almost to the top during the summer. With the way I’ve got it tuned now, I’m able to hold 60mph in 4th gear for the extent of the hill with some 31” BFG ATs. Holds a steady 15psi. I used to be able to hold it in 5th with 28” street tires and alloy rims!

Wow, that sounds great! To me, it sound perfectly dialed in, and your cooling system couldn't take much more anyhow.

Are you running the stock CT20 turbo still? That might be your next step for improvement. Go for a modern more efficient and faster spooling turbo? Power will come on faster, and you will have lower EGTs (higher boost and efficiency).
 
Wow, that sounds great! To me, it sound perfectly dialed in, and your cooling system couldn't take much more anyhow.

Are you running the stock CT20 turbo still? That might be your next step for improvement. Go for a modern more efficient and faster spooling turbo? Power will come on faster, and you will have lower EGTs (higher boost and efficiency).
I think so too! It took a while, but I like to tinker and really enjoyed the process. I forgot I also advanced the timing just a bit which definitely helped. FSM calls for .75-.87mm and I’m right around .95mm I believe.

That’s actually my next step! Gathering up the last of the parts now. I’m copying @RyanMiller and going with a TD04HL-15t since he seemed to have good results and because I found one local for cheap. I’m very eager to see the changes compared to the stock ct20!
 
Nice work! That intercooler install looks tidy. So those temps are quite a bit lower than pre-install? Did you find the longer piping runs to the front of the truck and back added much to turbo lag?

I'm currently eyeing up a supposed high-flow billet version of the CT20 that presumably would to a degree at least, bridge the performance gap between a stock CT20 and a more modern turbo. They claim faster spooling, and greater flow with a lighter and better designed wheel. More bang for your buck from your existing exhaust gas energy I guess. I've heard they give better performance in the lower rev range which makes sense and would be a welcome thing. Even with stock boost and fueling my truck makes reasonable power at full boost, it's just getting into the boost that's a bit slow sometimes. From a stop up a steep hill, getting into third can be hit and miss. Reeving the nuts of second does the trick but it'd be better not to have to do that. Presumably when I add more fuel that will improve pick up but I figure a more efficient turbo can only help.

The temps are quite a bit lower, I am pretty happy with it! I haven’t noticed any increased turbo lag… the ct20 still sucks and is laggy, but no more so with the intercooler.
 
I purchased a replacement head during Toyota's Southeast sale this spring. Just over $650. After 6 months of the dealership fighting Toyota to ship it to them, Toyota declined the order as the part was never available on a US model. Is this happening everywhere in the USA for the grey market-only parts or might it just be a Toyota of Southeast issue?
 
Fantastic thread, thank you to everyone who has posted so far! I can't wait to start putting some of these suggestions into action. Quick question, does anyone know of any significant differences in engine bays between the 2LTE Hilux pickup, Surf, and Prado? Just wanting to know for when I start to follow these guides if there's anything specific to each model or if it's generally the same. Thanks!
 
Fantastic thread, thank you to everyone who has posted so far! I can't wait to start putting some of these suggestions into action. Quick question, does anyone know of any significant differences in engine bays between the 2LTE Hilux pickup, Surf, and Prado? Just wanting to know for when I start to follow these guides if there's anything specific to each model or if it's generally the same. Thanks!

I think there's more room in the Prado 70 series engine bay. I did own both before. Hilux/surf is much tighter.
 
I think there's more room in the Prado 70 series engine bay. I did own both before. Hilux/surf is much tighter.

There are some differences between jdm and Oz markets as well, at least for the 3L trucks. The jdm configurations were more like the 70 series if I remember right. Things start to get tight compared to the 70s when you’re looking for places to stuff an intercooler.
 
Hey all. Slowly making more improvements to my truck (LN108 Hilux, 2LTE engine). I have noticed some power loss, white smoke, and increased EGT’s, so having injectors replaced. This has now led me down the rabbit hole of potentially upgrading my turbo.

I have read through the thread on turbo options. Just wondering guys thoughts TD04 vs Garrett GT25r vs Holset He221

From my research it seems that the Garrett and Holset are relatively similar and similar to the TD04. I saw this and it looked like a pretty slick option for an easy replacement that wouldn’t require a lot of fabrication. Thoughts?

 

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