Mechanic Says Blown Motor (2 Viewers)

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i'd start by asking first mechanic what exactly he means by blown engine.
 
In the pic of the engine bay, on the right side of the pic (left side of engine) at the top of the intake manifold, near the brake booster looks like it's missing a hose. Is that what im seeing?
 
In the pic of the engine bay, on the right side of the pic (left side of engine) at the top of the intake manifold, near the brake booster looks like it's missing a hose. Is that what im seeing?

I think you are seeing the EGR temp sensor in that pic. Looks fine to me.
 
i'd start by asking first mechanic what exactly he means by blown engine.
I think it was to get rid of me. Jk, but....humm.....
There is a deep unburnt exhaust smell that sticks to your clothes and your body. He told me to keep driving it till it blows up, and take it easy and to rebuild it would be 5 to 10 whoppers.
 
I think you are seeing the EGR temp sensor in that pic. Looks fine to me.

Got back on the computer and I agree with you. It's OK.
 
"unburnt exhaust". Not raw fuel. Probably normal blowby smell.

5-10K for a professionally done rebuild is about right. Depends on just what exactly is being done. There is a wide latitude for what is called "rebuild". I have jobs in hand at the moment that span that range.

BUT!!! you can't keep driving a "blown" engine. So whatever is wrong is far less serious than that. It may be very minor or it may be something that really should be addressed before it causes bigger problems. You just need more info to make that call.

Mark...
 
How many miles on the engine?

A blown motor is generally unlikely under a zillion miles assuming nothing foolish has been done (overheated, no oil, never changing the oil, ect).

It could be a blown head gasket, which is what your symptoms seem to point toward (assuming stinky means an antifreeze odor).

If that's the case there really is no temporary remedy, other than replacing the gasket.
Unless I’m mistemembering, @NLXTACY bought himself another 2 years on a blown head gasket with some kinda filler goop.
 
Unless I’m mistemembering, @NLXTACY bought himself another 2 years on a blown head gasket with some kinda filler goop.

Highly dis-encouraged. I have seen too many 1FZs fail catastrophically when the slow headgasket seepage finally lets go. Blown up radiators are not uncommon when that happens. And you don't limp the rig home. Unless you want a warped/cracked head.

Leaking head gaskets should never be ignored or have repair put off "until it goes". I have a total rebuild (requiring a new head as well) waiting for attention at the shop because of that.

Mark...
 
You definitely need an oil change. Last change was at 242600 and now has 257000. That''s 15K on an oil change. Unless you're running Mobil one, it needs changed. That could be what the heavy fuel smell is from.

And engine needs to be driven for 30+ minutes to get up to temp and boil off some of the moisture and fuel in the oil and other areas in order to keep it healthy.

Take it for a LONG drive and then check your oil and see how it runs. This also helps the catalytic converters so they heat up and burn off the impurities. Helps keep them from getting clogged.

If you change your oil, consider doing a Blackstone Oil Analysis. This will give you a baseline for your truck. It's $25-$35 and it will show you whether or not there are traces of water, fuel, or dirt in your oil.
Blackstone Laboratories – Oil Analysis – Learn What's Going On In Your Engine

Through Blackstone, I have learned I can push my engine oil to about 7000 miles on the regular non-synthetic dino oil (5w-30 Quaker State) and still have a little range left.

If you only run short trips, the fuel trim stays in open loop and can dilute your oil with fuel since it's running "cold" and over time, the oil gets diluted and loses its lubricating properties.

Get an oil change done ASAP with a TOYOTA filter. (NOT WIX OR NAPA)
 
Took my 1996 80 to mechanic for rough idle, super stinky start up and a bit of white smoke at start up.

That sounds like every Land Cruiser. Mine does the same. Don’t worry. Just drive it.

A Land Cruiser will always get you home. I wouldn’t have any issues driving your truck across the country and back.

PS. Your engine is not blown. You have leaky valve stem seals. The head will have to be rebuilt at some point, but it’s safe to drive it as is. You’ll just have unusually high oil consumption. Check your oil level at every fuel up and add oil as needed.

Have a great Christmas back home with your family. Your 80 won’t let you down.

Also... stay away from that mechanic
 
What are the day/night ambient temps where you live?

I don't think anyone has addressed the transmission shifting issue. The normal operation of the transmission is not shift into overdrive until the engine comes up to operating temp in order to promote faster warmup and lower exhaust emissions. Other gears are not impacted.

Old oil will smell. Change it and run for 500 miles and see if you have the same and as strong of a smell.
 
The pictures of the engine bay really do not provide any info. Just shows an absolutely normal engine. While it might have shown a particularly dirty or oily one, that would not have really given any info to offer opinion either.
And "mechanic says blown motor"... that really tells nothing as well. :(

Details? What did he tell you was wrong with the rig? What sort of symptoms of possible problems does it exhibit... knocks, vibration lack of power... anything? The symptoms you do mention sound more like minor tune-up and service type stuff if I was to make a guess.

A 1996 FZJ80 is not an exotic animal. It really *should* not take a specialist to work on it. Any competent and experience mechanic *should* be able to maintain and repair it with no issues. That said, AS a Land Cruiser specialist, I see an awful lot of rigs that come to me because other non-specialist can not maintain and service them properly. :(

Generally speaking, I reserve the term "blown engine" for a catastrophic failure, or at least one which renders the engine inoperable. If you drove it in with what sound like minor complaints, I have trouble calling that a "blown engine". Beyond that many many shops do not actually do major repairs on engines, much less rebuild and overhaul. They simply replace the engine when it needs major work. As a business model. for most vehicles and most shops that makes the most sense.

Ask your mechanic for full details. Both facts and opinions/impressions. Make sure you understand which is which as he provides them. If you don't understand what he is telling you... tell him so and ask him to explain so that you do.

Then you will have a better idea what to pass on here, what to inquire about from other sources and what your options are with him. This will also tell you what you can expect from the rig and give you data to consider if you do not repair it right away.

Mark...

Thank you Mark! This is great advise. Going to take it for another opinion. Mechanic wrote smell codusive of an overheated motor. Ran scan tool while driving with no abnormalies.
 
Smell is an excellent indicator and one data point of many that an experienced mechanic can use. But that is all that it is. One data point and not a conclusive indicator of anything on its own.

The OBD can not tell you everything. You can have major problems that will not cause any indication from the OBD. But again, a good data point.

Probably the best question you can ask really is... Does anyone here know of any experienced Cruiser savvy mechanics in your area. Someone who can have hands, eyes, ears, and tools on the rig will be able to easily tell you more than all of us guessing on the internet.
And never forget...the static to signal ratio on the internet is high. Even in Mud. ;)

Mark...
 
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That sounds like every Land Cruiser. Mine does the same. Don’t worry. Just drive it.

A Land Cruiser will always get you home. I wouldn’t have any issues driving your truck across the country and back.

PS. Your engine is not blown. You have leaky valve stem seals. The head will have to be rebuilt at some point, but it’s safe to drive it as is. You’ll just have unusually high oil consumption. Check your oil level at every fuel up and add oil as needed.

Have a great Christmas back home with your family. Your 80 won’t let you down.

Also... stay away from that mechanic


THIS ^^^^^^

From the sounds of things and work we KNOW has been done....I'd jump in it tomorrow and head out cross country with no worries.

A little bit of 'white' smoke from the exhaust at start up (and for a short time thereafter) is pretty normal for engines with your mileage. A little oil drips down the valve guides and burns off. Also...if an injector gets 'stuck' partially open you will get unburned fuel going to that cylinder...but usually manifests as white smoke while you are driving and never really stops, but yours is not doing that.

I just don't see any cause for alarm at this juncture. Change the oil, get a new OEM radiator cap, make sure all your fluids are topped off, tires in good shape and properly inflated and enjoy your trip.
 
I would get a second opinion, most mechanics are not well versed on the '80, they are not common. In your part of town, take it to Camelback Toyota and talk with Eric Murphy @murf more likely to get the straight poop.

Yup, I once called a Mechanic to take my FZJ80. I said it was a land cruiser he said to me "well, would love to help you but we don't work on thos vehicles our knowledge is limited and it's hard to find parts, we do mostly domestics like ford dodge and chevy, and asian imports like honda and toyota". ver.ba.tim.
 
Hope it all goes well or just LS swap it :)
 
Ooh yuck! I opened the oil cap to replenish some oil, and it smells like fuel.

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You head gasket is fine!

HOWEVER.....you have some PM to do. First your coolant looks murky and should do a full flush, most reasonable dealers can do it for under $200. Then do the list of things like from @Tools R Us have mentioned, all small and inexpensive. Then chen check all your vacuum hoses and air intake hose, don’t forget the brake booster hose. Oh and Change oil with Toyota filter or take it to a descent local dealer, local grease monkeys are charging just about as much as the dealer now and days and with sh!t filter, given its mileage it doesn’t hurt to clean the engine by adding a quart of good transmission oil and drive it for 100 miles and change out the oil.


All simple, inexpensive and yet very effective way to have your 80 running in tip top shape in no time for Christmas.
 

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