Builds Last of the BJs: 1989 BJ60 restoration, 15B-T swap

[Eurasiaoverland]

Engine disassembly 2

The rear timing gear/oil pump housing in my 'parts washer' (bowl of diesel and a brush).

The oil pump checked out fine, but there wasclear wear on the drive gear splines, and when checked, the backlash on the crankshaft drive spline was far too much.

I knocked the gear forward with a chisel...

Then pulled it off with my favourite Kukko puller.

That is a lot of wear! The oil pump drive gear splines were just as bad.

New parts ready to fit.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Camshaft bearing inspection

Whilst scraping amazingly hardened gasket debris off the front face of the engine block, I noticed that the No.1 camshaft bearing is not looking very well! Chunks seem to be missing. Having read a bit on MUD, it seems that this is not uncommon on high mileage 3Bs.

Looking down the camshaft bore, it seems that other bearings are intact.

But looking later from the bottom of the block, with the sump (oil pan) removed, I see that No.5 bearing is quite worn, though not disintegrating.

Happily, the camshaft looks mint - no sign of any wear on the journals and all lobes look good (apologies for the awful picture).

For sure, if this block will be used, it needs a new set of bearings. The bearings are numbered and from 1 to 5 and drop down in diameter in steps of 0.25 mm from 1 to 5. If you attempt this job, the FSM also advises to replace the 58 mm rear core plug which has to be knocked out for access. Interestingly, Toyota only sell a STD (standard) size, but Taiho, the manufacturer of these OEM bearings, will sell you a set of -0.25 mm bearings in case you need to grind your camshaft. These pictured are genuine Toyota. It will be my first time installing these type of camshaft bearings. That, though, is for later.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Oil pump assembly

I sometimes wonder if there is a rationale behind what Toyota include in an engine rebuild kit. No doubt there is, but I can't fathom it. The 3Bii gasket kit, 04111-58061 includes copper washers for the oil cooler housing, which doesn't erally need to be stripped down as there are no pistons in the thing, but does not include the washer for the oil pump relief valve which should definitely be checked during a rebuild. So I had to order that part separately. Also a new piston with the original spring and plug.

New drive gear, other parts original.

Packed the pump with petroleum jelly to get a prime on first start-up (nit sure how useful this really is as the engine will have been hand cranked so many times during assembly - but it can't hurt).

On with the cover...

Those splines are looking much better.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Oil cooler assembly

Oil cooler bracket (after a lot of scraping of hardened paper gaskets which had turned into something like kevlar) and oil cooler with new gaskets and O-rings (from the gasket kit).

Ready to fit

New copper washers for the bore plugs.

Looking nice for a 33 year old piece with more than half a million kms under its belt.

Ready to go on the engine.

The B series engines have a separate filter housing bracket (with an oil pressure relief valve) which is pristine on mine, but I'm going to change it for a downward facing type which can accommodate the larger filter 90915-30002. So that will have to wait (until I find one).

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Engine disassembly 3

With the precious 3Bii sump removed (the 14/15Bs almost always come with a winged sump that doesn't fit Landcruisers without modification). Time for a look into the engine. I was astonished - absolutely clean! This thing must have had fresh oil every 5000 km - there is no sludge at all. Also no sign of having been worked on, everything looking present and correct. I even suspect I broke through the original silicone (it was mid grey - does that sound correct?). The fact that there were not vintages of silicone over-applied on top of each other suggests that the mechanics have not been in here. Zero detritus on the pick-up. Compare this to the disaster that was the transmission (and transfer) and it's even more surprising. The engine number confirms it is original to the vehicle.

With the valve cover off, I removed the rocker shaft and pushrods, and the head is ready to come off. The head casting is genuine Toyota. One interesting thing is that the head has double valve springs, whereas the EPC suggests the model only has the larger, outer springs. Must be a(nother) mistake.

Once I had located 17 mm (head bolts, big-end caps) and 22 mm (main bearing caps) twelve-point sockets, it was time to really take this thing apart. I was hesitant to take what was a running engine apart which looked to have survived for so long, but I need to look inside and check that the block has not already been overbored or, horror of horrors, had liners inserted (the preferred method here to save buying new pistons).

The head bolts were TIGHT! Even with a 1 m box section extension they were tough and made creaking sounds like firecrackers. That set the neighbours dog off again...

It's always a tense moment for me pulling the head off an engine I really want to be good. Immediately I see that the head gasket is incorrect. That is confirmed by the number - 58090. This is a 14B* gasket (for an engine without pre-combustion chambers). It's also 1.60 mm thick, an intermediate size. Strange. It seems unlikely this is a factory mistake, but again there are no signs of anyone having been in here. From the amount of crud on the exposed parts of the head gasket, it has clearly been in for some time.

All the pistons are original - marked 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 in line with the stamped size marks on the block. They have a lot of carbon on the crowns - I suspect the previous owner let the car idle a lot, as he did not use it but ran it regularly to keep it in condition. There are some faint witness marks in the carbon (not the pistons) which may well have been me when the timing gears were off.

Piston No.1 has clearly seen some small bits of metal, though nothing too serious. Does not look enough to be a pre-combustion chamber or valve, though I am no expert. There is no damage to the cylinder walls. I can't see any sign of there being liners and I can catch the original machine marks on the deck of the block in the light of my phone.

All the cylinder walls have faint ridges at the top so, as would be expected, this would suit a re-bore. By now it was dark and I called it a day outside.

The cylinder head. The rust is from having sat outside - very superficial. All those nasty pre-combustion chambers have cracks in. They really are hateful things. No.1 chamber looks somehow worn, as if it was loose, or someone had pried around the edges. The valves all look original - the intake valves have '14B' stamped on them (they share the same vavles) but the exhaust valves have '3B stamped on. For reasons which I do not know, the 3B shares the same 41.0 mm diameter exhaust valve with the 14B-T (though they are separate part numbers), whilst the 14B has a 38.5 mm valve.

So, so far it looks like everything is original and the engine has never been worked on. The incorrect head gasket is puzzling... this is not a Land Rover so I would not expect such a mistake from the factory. But there is no sign of any reason why the engine would have been worked on.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Engine disassembly 4

Next day. I was cautiously optimistic that in the full light of day no horrors would be revealed; no liners in the bores or other shoddy machine work (one of the improvements of the 3Bii over the 3B was the use of a parent bore, rather than liners). But something in the back of my mind was telling me that local mechanics must have put that head gasket in and will no doubt have screwed things up.

Scraping all the old head gasket material away, my heart sank when I ran my fingers over a smooth depression in the deck of the block, right where the No.1 pre-combustion chamber is held between the head and the block. Without the extra profiles for the chambers which the 3Bii head gasket has, I suspect that the flat 14B* gasket has allowed combustion gasses over the years to escape the cylinder and undermine the head gasket around the pre-combustion chamber. It's hard to see in this photo, but you can see it matching the shape in the piston crown. How I hate pre-combustion chambers!

A step has been worn at the edge of the block, though I am not so worried about this as it will partially come out in the rebore, and hopefully any remainder can be chamfered. But with a straight edge and feeler gauge I estimate (very roughly) that the depression is up to 0.30 mm which would be right on the limit for piston protrusion, before the pistons would need to be turned down.

Cylinder No. 1 is the worst by far; No. 2 is perfect with all the original machining lines still visible. No. 3 has just a shadow of imperfection but all machining lines still present, and No.4 is just starting to erode. Had it been only one cylinder, I would maybe have suspected component failure, but the fact that it is present on 3 out of 4 cylinders indicates to me it was either the incorrect gasket, or incorrect installation of pre-combustion chambers in the head. Either way, the mechanics strike again. And have I mentioned how much I hate separate pre-combustion chambers!?

What a disappointment. I though the engine was the one thing that had escaped sloppy maintenance (and I believe the previous owner must have serviced the engine religiously) but shoddy, incompetent mechanics have potentially ruined this too. I'll take the block to a machine shop and see how much comes off in order to make it flat.

Nothing to do but continue to strip down the engine.

Before taking the pistons out, I measure the thrust clearance of the connecting rods. Standard clearance is 0.20 - 0.32 mm, with a limit of 0.40 mm.
1) 0.21 mm
2) 0.23 mm
3) 0.24 mm
4) 0.285 mm

With the pistons out, the crankshaft thrust clearance is checked. Standard is 0.04 to 0.25 mm, and I measure 0.09 mm.

I'm astounded at the condition of the moving parts of the engine - as well as the perfect tolerances of the connecting rods and crankshaft, the pistons emerge one after the other looking perfect - all rings are intact and free, no visible wear in the ring lands, no skirt wear, and even the oil control rings don't look worn. All the crankshaft bearings are perfect with only the lightest signs of wear, no scoring. They are standard size Taiho bearings and I am quite sure are factory original. From what I see, the journals look perfect. I feel bad for the previous owner - he has clearly meticulously cared for the engine (shame he neglected the transmission and transfer!) but has been scuppered by our mechanics.

So, overall, the bad news is that the block will need significant machining, perhaps to the point of needing to turn the pistons. On the up-side, the block has not previously been machined, rebored or had liners fitted, so might come good after machining and a +0.50 mm rebore.

Time for some machine work and to buy a second engine.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Piston damage

No.1 piston on the right, No.2 on the left. Looking in more detail, I see that there is a clear, deep stamp from the pre-combustion chamber in the crown of the No.1 piston.

The offending pre-combustion chamber. Looks pretty beaten up. The black band across the combustion chamber is the fire ring of the 14B* head gasket.

The top (head) side of the head gasket - No.1 piston on the right. The gasket seems to have sealed the pre-chambers against the head.

The bottom (block) side of the head gasket - No.1 piston on the left. Here you can see how combustion gasses have undermined the gasket - worst on cylinder 1, then 4, then 3, then 2, matching the erosion of the block surface.

There is a visible warp to the edge of the head gasket where the No.1 pre-combustion chamber sits.

So it looks like the No.1 combustion chamber was being pushed out of the head, slamming into the piston and slowly eroding the block away. I believe this is all due to the incorrect head gasket being installed. My guess for a storyline is that some foreign object got into the No.1 cylinder, causing very ligjht piston damage and maybe a noise that caused them to take the head off, and then fit the incorrect gasket when reassembling the engine. Does anyone have any alternative ideas?

This does potentially solve a mystery. When I drove the car (and I drove it maybe 20 km in all before stripping it), the engine made a strange whooshing sound, a bit like the sound a pigeon's wings make when it takes flight. I assumed it would be a power steering belt or a leaking vacuum hose. While there were some rock-hard vacuum hoses on the engine, I never found anything which clearly explained the noise. Perhaps it was the sound of combustion gasses escaping around the pre-combustion chamber.

And one last though... I think this engine may not have been far off catastrophic failure with a dropping pre-combustion chamber. More than ever before, I'm sold on a direct injection engine.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Engine shopping 1

So last weekend I found that the block of my previously-considered-immaculate 3Bii has been damaged by loose pre-combustion chambers. On Monday I called Ah Siong at Kinaway (one of the engine importers / vehicle breakers in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia). When I was there in August he had a 14B-T which caught my eye.

Same block as a 3Bii, a 3.7 litre, 8 valve direct injection turbo diesel. Being visually very close to the 3Bii, it would make a great swap candidate. It's a rare, non Japanese market version (I believe it came from Taiwan) which should be 12V, lacks the annoying cold-start device, and also for some reason lacks the so-called stiffening plate between the sump (oil pan) and engine block. I had my reservations about it as it looked like it had been inexpertly worked on (silicone on the injection pump ports and dipstick tube, misaligned piston oil squirtera, missing turbo heatshields etc etc.), but they are so scarce I was prepared to give it a try. Alas, while it was still tantalisingly sitting in his warehose, it had already found a buyer.

(On a side note, @Owyhee Jackass has detailed my favourite engine swap on MUD of a 14B-T into a previously 3Bii-powered BJ75 here: Builds - Owyhee J.A. BJ75 Troopy Journal - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/owyhee-j-a-bj75-troopy-journal.938217/ )

However, the same day, my friend Mienol told me about a very rare and interesting B engine at Powergine (a vast importer and workshop for Japanese vehicles) which he had watched being removed from a half cut of a Toyota BXD10 Megacruiser.

Roland, owner bringing the Megacruiser engine and transmission out of the parking lot of dozens of used Japanese engines.

Set down, we connected fuel, 24V to the injection pump and then started her up. She rumbled straight to life with a smooth (for a large 4 cylinder) purr and a great turbo whistle coming from the high-mounted CT26. No blowby, minimal smoke from the turbo outlet elbow.

One of the mechanics removing the kick-down cable (whatever that is) prior to removing the A443F Megacruiser transmission.

I spied a 275 mm (11") flywheel on a 15B-FT which was bolted onto the Megacruiser engine.

Then, just to be sure, an old 3B/H55F setup was brought across, the bell housing removed and offered up to the Megacruiser engine just to check. I know it would fit on a regular 14B-T, but this is a military-only engine and there could have been modifications. There were not.

So what is the Megacruiser engine? It's a 1994 15B-T. This was an earlier version of the 15B-FT which from the outside is a 14B. It has the same block as the 08/1988 on 3B, 14B and 14B-T, except both '3B' and '14B' have been machined off and '15B' stamped into the are where '14B' was originally cast. Internally, I assume that the block has been bored out from 102 mm to 108 mm, making the 15B's 4104 cc displacement. But I have not heard of anyone opening one up to check. This engine has never been sold to the public, and there is no Toyota EPC listing that I know of.

More pictures to follow

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

More B engines 1

A walk around the premises of Powergine turns up many of the B series family, I'll show a few which were never fitted to Landcruisers.

An old 11B. I believe the 13B (not the 13B-T) was the first direct-injection engine in the B family, as early as September 1984 (making it maybe the first Toyota DI diesel). The 11B soon followed in January 1985 and was a direct-injection version of the 2977 cc 'B'.

An August 1988 onwards 11B, (I suppose we should call it an 11Bii). This shares some components with the other late B engines, and has the same flat-topped valve cover as the Bii, 3Bii, 14B* (and 15B-T). These engines were made until 1995 I believe. I believe they all came with a rotary pump.

Just as the 3Bii and 14B share a block casting, so do the Bii and 11Bii. You can see where 'B' has been machined off, leaving the '11B' casting.

I think this is a Daihatsu 11Bii. Notice that the valve cover has a decal with 'B DIESEL ENGINE' instead of the 'TOYOTA' casting. It has an old-style fuel filter which I had always associated with in-line injection pumps, but this one was rotary.

A rotary-pump 11Bii would be a good modernisation for a 40 Series I reckon, and (unlike a 3B) a great platform for turbocharging.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

More B engines 2

Now onto the larger B engines; the 14B and 15B. Unlike the 11B, 13B and 13B-T, these were not upgrades to earlier indirect injection engines. There is a 4B but curiously the 4B (1999) came long after the 14B (1988). Contrary to some spurious MUD posts I have seen, there is no such thing as a 5B, only the 15B series (starting commercially in 1995).

A 14B block, identical to the 3Bii block save for the name area.

A 14B in a 60 Series. This looks identical to my 3Bii when it was installed in my BJ60. The colour scheme is, to be polite, not to my taste. The day the guy comes to set the valve clerances, he'll be sorry (don't worry - highly unlikey ever to be checked!).

Two 15Bs. The 15B in the foreground may be a bona-fide 15B-FT, or a 15B-F with a turbo. I didn't recognise the turbo but it looks to be on a custom high-mount manifold. The upper thermostat housing looks to be from a Landcruiser.

Two more 15Bs. On the left is a 15B-F with the venturi intake. That on the right looks to have been 'tuned' with a non-standard turbo. Not sure I would want an engine which has probably been ragged to death in the jungle then sold when it started making noises.

This 15B has a non-standard inspection port in the engine block. Local off-roaders reckon the 8 valve 14B-T is a stronger engine than the 15B-FT due to the latter's 16 valve arrangement suffering from valve-float above about 3300 rpm. That is below the governed top speed of the engine, or the FSM maximum (zero-load) speed. That is one of the things which put me off the 15B-FT. Regardless, the destruction of the big end bearing was almost certainly due to poor maintenance. The No.4 piston has 4 valve witness marks and was washed clean.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

New engine!

So back to the important matter - do I buy this engine? Let's see..

For
-The perfect combination. I initially wanted a 15B-FT for its power and displacement, but a 14B-T for its near-identical 3Bii appearance and compatibility with the BJ60 accessories. Latterly, I also learned that the 16 valves of the 15B-FT are a weakness when the engine is pushed to high RPM which slightly put me off that engine.
-It's a Japanese ex-military engine fresh from a Megacruiser half-cut. So almost certainly very well maintained and low kms. The engine gives every appearance to be completely original, I can't see a single out of place fastener or aftermarket part, save for the oil filter (which is Japanese). Other engines on offer are not in anywhere near such nice condition and I would assume would need work or even a rebuild to be reliable.

Against
-Any parts specific to this engine are not available. The major worry is the head gasket which cannot be either a standard 14B/14B-T gasket or a standard 15B-F/15B-FT gasket. So that would mean either modifying an existing gasket, or having a custom gasket made. As a worst-case scenario, the engine could be rebuilt with the 3Bii block and 14B-T pistons to make a standard 14B-T. This was in fact my initial plan. This does not really worry me too much as, in my experience, deisels do not just blow a head gasket, but invariably crack the head. So that is a major engine failure regardless of model. Unlike the indirect injection engines, I do not commonly read of cracked cylinder heads on direct injection engines.
-Most likely less economical than a 15B-FT (though I wonder how much of a difference 16 valves make compared to 8 on a low revving diesel engine). Maybe also less economical than a 14B-T, though I am not sure. I think the fuelling setting in the injection pump are probably more important.

Most likely I would not get the opportunity to buy a preserved 15B-T again, and I'm pretty sure I would regret that. 15B-FTs are much easier to come by. So I took the plunge and bought it.

The entire transaction was conducted on Friday afternoon - as Saturday was a public holiday in Sabah (Malaysia). I put down the largest wad of cash I have ever handed over to anyone (151 bills), the engine was wrapped and I was given the number of a 'runner' (courier) who would bring it over the border to me in Brunei. I thought about putting this (perhaps 300 kg) engine into my RAV4 DD but the suspension is not in it's first flush of youth, Sabah's roads are pretty rough, and I don't fancy attempting the customs paperwork to enter Brunei with the engine. The engine would be picked up on Saturday, taken into Brunei on Sunday, and delivered to me on Monday. That beats waiting months for a container.

A friend of mine came to set up a sling and chain block from my a garage roof beam on Sunday. At around 21:00 on Monday the runner arrived in a Navara and reversed into the garage. I hooked on the chain, lifted the engine and he drove out.

Unwrapped, flywheel removed, engine stand bracket securely bolted on.

Sitting safely on the engine stand.

First job will be to take off all extraneous pieces which will not be used on the BJ60 - the Megacruiser power steering, heater lines, vacuum lines, engine mount brackets.

Then I'll partially dismantle the engine to replace all seals and gaskets (except the head gasket), check the timing gears, oil pump and drve spline. I'll service the turbo and injectors, and rebuild the injection pump with new seals. Then clean and paint the enigne and put it back together.

Problems I can see needing to be solved are:
-modifying the metal 3B heater pipe to run past the turbo
-how to route the turbo coolant hoses, given that I can't use the 15B-T upper thermostat housing (faces the wrong way)
-how to connect the lower radiator hose
-how to connect the airbox to the turbo
-how to route the crankcase ventilation hose into the air intake upstream of the turbo.

Anyway, finally, after around three years of thinking about it, I have the B engine I want.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Partial engine strip-down 1

A big reason for buying this engine was that it came fresh from Japan - and at that, from the Japanese Ministry of Defence (I assume). I expect it was meticulously maintained and had an easy life compared to most 14B-Ts (which were only ever fitted to Dyna trucks). However, it is still a 1994 engine so I think a partial rebuild is warrnated. Firstly for peace of mind that there are no nasty surprises inside, and secondly as I'm sure some of the seals and gaskets could do with renewing. Unless things go badly, I do not expect to touch the valvetrain, pistons or bottom end of the engine.

The Megacruiser steering pump is huge! Perhaps not surprising given that it had four-weel steering with two steering boxes. According to the EPC, the pump has dual rotors. Nice thing! The PAS fluid return hose to the reservoir is almost as large as radiator hose - much too big for the BJ. I also think it will be pretty tight against the chassis rail, even in the 60.

The reservoir is similarly vast, I reckon it could hold easily a litre of PAS fluid. It also has a serviceable filter under the cap, and the whole reservoir opens like the airbox with one central nut so that it can be easily cleaned out. That would be a ncie feature on a Landcruiser....

Nice hardware, but I'm going to run with the original BJ steering pump because:
-It will look far better, matching all the original steering pump hoses and pipes
-If it fails, it only needs the belt removing to be diabled
-There is no chance of it blowing a seal and diluting my engine oil with PAS fluid.
-The Megacruiser pump is a big lump that will probably get in the way of various things.

Like all non-Landcruiser B engines as far as I have seen, the thermostat housing points to the right of the vehicle, so needs to be replaced with the old 3B thermostat housing (which has seen better days sadly). Annoyingly, this means having to find new places to plumb in the turbo coolant lines. The radiator cap-type screw top on there is just a plain top with no spring loaded plunger. The sprung cap was on a separate tank as far as I know. It's also on a very retro chain, like an old fuel tank filler cap. This is the first time I see the large front port being used on the lower housing, which runs to various heater pipes. On the right is a very tall outlet union. Two temperature senders - one for the dashboard (grey plug) and one for the heater screen timer (green plug). Inside was an 88º C thermostat. Here in SE Asia I will use an 82º C thermostat but I'll keep the original for cold areas.

Heater control valve - looks like the valve in my Hilux, but with a name plate and a strangely large (but not machined) ball on the handle. I wonder if this was meant to be manually operated from outside. Not sure how much a heater would do when the roof is a large piece of canvas! Also not sure what the tee is for - maybe two heater units.

One less than thrilling discovery - the coolant passages in the head look extremely rusty for some reason. This will need remedial action I feel. Time to order a full set of core plugs...

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Partial engine strip-down 2

I put a post out on MUD asking if anyone had any experience of this engine, but if there are any people on MUD who own one, or have worked on one, they didn't reply. On the 15B engine conversion Facebook group, there was a guy who had worked on a few in Japan, but no solid technical information. Hopefully I can post a bit up here as I get into the engine.

With engine mount brackets, engine to transmission stiffener brackets, alternator bracket, water pump and thermostat housing removed, all open ports plugged or taped (except the block coolant drain), I wash down the engine and flush out the coolant passages with a hose. I also wheel out the 3B block to make a comparison.

3Bii and 14B blocks are identical save for the machining of the engine name casting. A 14B-T block is the same as a 14B block, just with the oil retun passage drilled near the oil cooler. Comparing the two pictures, there is one clear machining difference. On the 15B-T block the recesses for the oil nozzles have not been drilled. Assuming that the block has been bored out, this would make sense. The 15B-F and 15B-FT (and I assume -FTEs) had different oil nozzles. While the 3Bii/14B nozzles are knocked through from outside, the 15B-F* nozzles are held in by check valves inside the sump pan.

From: 3B, 14B, 15B-F, 15B-FT engine repair manual. May, 1995. RM464E. © Toyota Motor Corporation

The above excerpt shows both types of oil nozzle. 3B(ii)/14B on the left, 15B-F/15B-FT on the right. I have not yet removed the sump pan to check, but I fully expect to find them there.

Both '3B' and '14B' have been machined off the 15B-T block. '15B' has been stamped into the machined-off '14B' casting area. But up here on the 15B-T block, behind the fuel injection pump, there is a new '15' cast into the block. You can see there is no such casting on the 3B block picture above (just above the gentle recess between first and second core plugs from the left).

There are at least two oil leaks on this engine - one from the air intake to turbo hose (dripping down onto the exhaust manifold) and one which seems to originate from the rear timing civer gasket, roughly behind the camshaft. It might also have dripped from something else (the crank ventilation hose), but I'll replace the gasket regardless. Here I've cleaned the front of this side of the engine with diesel, then industrial degreaser, then high pressure water so that when I take the timing cover off, I don't have dirt falling past the exposed front of the block (with direct access to the crank) and don't need to clean close to it.

This side of the engine is identical as far as I can see on both engines. On the 3Bii, the tops of the bolt holes have been machined down a bit further toward the sump pan, catching the humps where two of the sump pan bolts go, but that is of no significance as far as I can see.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

3B camshaft bearing removal

(Note this is the old 3Bii block - I'm not this far into the 15B-T yet!)

As per Post #122, I could see that camshaft bearing No. 1 was in a bad state, and No. 5 looked pretty worn. With the block waiting to go to a machine shop to see if it is salvageable, I thought I would knock out the camshaft bearings.

First, this 58 mm core plug gets knocked out to allow the No. 5 bearing to be oushed out of the back of the block. Seems a shame as it's in perfect condition and the new ones don't have the nice yellow passivate.

No. 5 bearing is out.

Mid-way through driving out No. 3 with the camshaft bearing tool. It's Made in China but the quality feels good. Works really well!

No. 2 bearing driven out, held securely on the rubber-lined expander.

All out.

I'm very pleased with this camshaft bearing tool - it's very easy and intuitive to use. I think fitting new bearings will be straightforward...

Detailed bearing pics in the next post.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

3B Camshaft bearing removal 2

I am absolutely not an expert in analysing bearing wear/failure, so I would be very grateful to hear some experienced opinions. I will say that I have read a thread or two on here mentioning camshaft bearing wear on high mileage (old) 3Bs. It seems to be something of a weak point, though my 567,000 km engine can be forgiven for some wear and tear - and the camshaft journals look perfect (though I have not got a good enough micrometer to accurately measure them).

Bearing No.1. This is the only grooved bearing, which gets two oil holes. Yet it is in the worst condition. There is severe spalling (flaking/delaminating) around the bearing. It seems most common from an edge, or from the interlock, but close to the pictured oil hole is an area in the middle of the bearing material which has spalled.

Bearing No. 2 has a tiny bit of spalling on the edge of the interlock but otherwise just has what looks to me like normal wear.

Bearing No. 3 has pitting near one of the oil holes. The form and location of this pitting looks different from the spalling on bearings 1, 2 and 4, so makes me think it is a separate process.

Bearing No. 4 has severe spalling on both sides at one point, and at the interlock (not pictured). There also seem to be some radial scores close to the oil hole. Ignore the edge damage on the far side seen here, that was me not having the expander snug inside the bearing.

Bearing No. 5 has no spalling that I can see, but is well worn.

Replacement bearings are cheap. From the UAE, a genuine Toyota set (11802-56030) cost me USD 37. I also later bought a set of OEM Taiho bearings (C048LSTD) for USD 8 (which as far as I know are the same thing). Unlike the crank and conrod bearings, there are no marks on the factory camshaft bearings. The new genuine Toyota set do have marks (see Post #122). Toyota will only sell you STD (standard) sized bearings, but Taiho make a set of 0.25 mm undersize bearings (C048L025) in case you need to grind your camshaft. They are USD 11 from the UAE. I would be checking camshaft lobe height to make sure the lobes will still pass thorugh the No. 5 undersize bearing.

The 3Bii block is now totally stripped down and ready for decking.

EO

 

[lacalvette]

Do you have a link for your camshaft bearing tool?

 

[roma042987]

Nice to see this thread as I have a spare 3bii engine currently. Hopefully installing the new bearings will not be an issue, I installed new bearings in a 12ht I was building and the last bearing I installed caused the camshaft to not turn easily. I assumed I installed it incorrectly but was told by my machine shop that often times they need sanded with Emory cloth to fit. I did not feel comfortable doing this myself so from that point on allowed my machine shop to fit them. I had made an installation tool from threaded rod. A 4 cyl engine should be a bit easier since there are less bearings.

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Nice to see this thread as I have a spare 3bii engine currently. Hopefully installing the new bearings will not be an issue, I installed new bearings in a 12ht I was building and the last bearing I installed caused the camshaft to not turn easily. I assumed I installed it incorrectly but was told by my machine shop that often times they need sanded with Emory cloth to fit. I did not feel comfortable doing this myself so from that point on allowed my machine shop to fit them. I had made an installation tool from threaded rod. A 4 cyl engine should be a bit easier since there are less bearings.

The 3Bii is a great engine to have. You have the block of a 14B/14B-T, the crank of a late 13B-T, and the rods from a 14B. Plus all the Landcruiser specific accessories and pipework. I would love to find a 3Bii BJ75 and do the same conversion on one of those.

From what I have heard, engine blocks can slightly warp/move with age and the original camshaft bearings will wear with this movement. Put a new set in and they don't fully align. Line boring is the solution I believe... I think emery cloth works if you've caught the edge of a bearing during install and need to chamfer it off.

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Do you have a link for your camshaft bearing tool?

I just typed 'camshaft bearing tool' into ebay and bought the absolute cheapest as they all seem to be the same Made in China model (blue blow-moulded case). This is the seller I bought from:

Universal set of Camshaft Cam Bearing Tool Auto Engine Installation Installer | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Universal set of Camshaft Cam Bearing Tool Auto Engine Installation Installer at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[roma042987]

The 3Bii is a great engine to have. You have the block of a 14B/14B-T, the crank of a late 13B-T, and the rods from a 14B. Plus all the Landcruiser specific accessories and pipework. I would love to find a 3Bii BJ75 and do the same conversion on one of those.

From what I have heard, engine blocks can slightly warp/move with age and the original camshaft bearings will wear with this movement. Put a new set in and they don't fully align. Line boring is the solution I believe... I think emery cloth works if you've caught the edge of a bearing during install and need to chamfer it off.

Yes it does seem to be a quiet an improvement from the 3b engines. Even the vacuum pump system is a big upgrade in my opinion, since you no longer have the failure points of an oil feed and return to a difficult to source vacuum pump alternator. I have installed a 15bf in my 40 and recently acquired a 15bft and 15bfte.

both the 15bft and 15bfte are megacruiser engines so appear to be in great condition and the correct sumps, they even still had toyota red coolant in them.

I'm committed to the B engines I suppose you can say at least for this 40 series. I machined the 15bf block for an oil return with the intention of turbocharging it but now have the 15bft in hand and a decision had to be made.