SOLD MO: 1992 HDJ81, automatic, locked (1 Viewer)

Year

1992

Vehicle Model

1. 80 Series

Location

Branson, Missouri 65616 United States

Mileage

214000

It pains me to sell the cruiser but it is time to move on. I have no time to dedicate to it, plus I am in the middle of a move where I downsized from 3000 sq ft combined of garage and shop space to just under 400 sq ft.

I purchased this cruiser in May of 2019 and drove it that summer and fall. Feb of 2020, it started to get warm on the way home from an overland trip. Coolant spewed out of the reservoir. After refilling the radiator 2 times in 30 minutes I ended up towing it home. Long story short - the block was cracked in cylinder 6. It took me a while to get it all figured out and accumulate parts but finally got it back on the road a May 2021.
The block had liners installed in all 6 holes, honed for STD pistons. OEM pistons installed. The head was re-conditioned. Head and block was surfaced, New Taiho BEB's, crank bearings, OEM trust bearings, OEM cam bearings. Toyota gaskets and seals.
Less than 500 miles after the rebuild, my cooling system started pressurizing again but not to the same extent before the rebuild.
The cruiser does have a GTurbo BadBoy (red wheel) set at 22-25lbs. The only thing I can think of is maybe the head gasket did not seat adequately (I re-used the head bolts) and maybe I pushed boost a little too hard before fulling breaking it in? I don't have time to dig in on this anymore and need to pass it on.

Things it needs, and other concerns (other than the engine)
- Front knuckle service
- rear diff pinion seal
- brakes are a little weak
- rusty left side rocker panel
- rust in right front wheel well under the battery
- rear window wiper does not work
- front bumper bruised
- rear locker engages but light flashes on dash
- A/c works but is not very cold
- exhaust flex joint at turbo downpipe leaks
- Intercooler water pump works, but should be upgraded

New parts & improvements (other than engine)
- GTurbo Badboy
- Air to water intercooler
- ISSPRO EGT/Boost gauge with Aircraft spruce micro1000 probe pre-turbo
- Newer A/c compressor, dryer, accumulator
- bluetooth head unit

Not included
- Roof rack
- SCS F5's (other wheels with 305’s M/T's included)

Other details
- 345,000 Km's
- lifted 2" to 3" ?? unknown brand springs/shocks
- OME steering stabilizer
- stainless 2.5" turbo back exhaust
- front, rear, and center lockers

Engine details
- Block cleaned inspected, bored out for liners in all 6 cylinders
- Liners bored to STD spec
- New OEM '92 and later pistons
- pistons, pins, and rods weight matched
- New TAIHO BEB's
- New TAIHO crank bearings
- New OEM cam bearings
- New OEM cam and crank thrust bearings
- New Toyota gaskets and seals
- head reconditioned and surfaced
- IP timing set to 1.35mm
- while in my possession, only used OEM filters

The cruiser starts up on first crank. It's driveable. You can drive it continuous on the road or highway for about 60 miles before needing to top off the coolant or parking it for a while. I have been driving it around town running errands. The expansion tank will fill up a little and then when turned off and set to cool, coolant will eventually get sucked back into the radiator. I put a pressure gauge on the cooling system on a cold start and within a minute, pressure is built up to near 15 psi with cold coolant. I haven't performed it's first oil change after rebuild - it is due (about 500 miles since rebuild)

Located in Branson, MO
I'm asking $15,000 but am open to serious offers and trades.
Clean Missouri title

 

[toyotology]

 

[toyotology]

 

[toyotology]

 

[toyotology]

Bump

 

[crx7]

Did you reuse the cracked block by putting liners in it, or is this a new block?
Did you resurface the block?

 

[toyotology]

Original block was re-lined. The block was surfaced. The bottom of the cylinders and liners had matching chamfer - this prevents the liners from falling into the block or rotating assembly. The un-finished liners stick up past the block/head mating surfaces. The liners then have to be machined down and the entire deck surfaced for a smooth surface.

 

[toyotology]

 

[TriaxialBulls]

So what do you think is causing the cooling system to pressurize so quickly? Have you used a combustion gas test on the cooling system, or have you tried pressurizing it while it’s cold and seeing if it slowly drops?

 

[toyotology]

I put a pressure gauge on the cooling system on a cold start and it reaches 15 psi within a couple minutes on cold coolant. If you drive it for about an hour, the overflow reservoir will start to overflow from coolant puking out the radiator.
1) radiator cap is new
2) I reused the TTY bolts but according to the fsm they were still in spec (weren’t over stretched)
3) I goosed the boost a few times.

I emailed Graeme with Gturbo back before I assembled everything and he recommended ARP head studs and a custom head gasket for running 28psi of boost. But I choose to not spend another $1800 on custom parts. If I end up keeping the truck, that’s where I plan to start. I just dont have time and space at the moment.

 

[toyotology]

So what do you think is causing the cooling system to pressurize so quickly? Have you used a combustion gas test on the cooling system, or have you tried pressurizing it while it’s cold and seeing if it slowly drops?

 

[TriaxialBulls]

I put a pressure gauge on the cooling system on a cold start and it reaches 15 psi within a couple minutes on cold coolant. If you drive it for about an hour, the overflow reservoir will start to overflow from coolant puking out the radiator.
1) radiator cap is new
2) I reused the TTY bolts but according to the fsm they were still in spec (weren’t over stretched)
3) I goosed the boost a few times.

I emailed Graeme with Gturbo back before I assembled everything and he recommended ARP head studs and a custom head gasket for running 28psi of boost. But I choose to not spend another $1800 on custom parts. If I end up keeping the truck, that’s where I plan to start. I just dont have time and space at the moment.

So you're sure it didn't start doing this immediately after the rebuild? It could also be that the sleeves weren't machined down properly or it wasn't decked properly and that's what's causing the HG to not seal. 28psi is definitely a bit more than stock but it isn't THAT much more. I guess I'm just a little skeptical that it would cause a new OEM HG to fail in such short order.

 

[toyotology]

So you're sure it didn't start doing this immediately after the rebuild? It could also be that the sleeves weren't machined down properly or it wasn't decked properly and that's what's causing the HG to not seal. 28psi is definitely a bit more than stock but it isn't THAT much more. I guess I'm just a little skeptical that it would cause a new OEM HG to fail in such short order.

my machinist is old school and has been doing this work for 40+ years. He builds high end race motors for people. So I trust his work.
I’m confident it wasn’t pushing coolant or pressurizing the cooling system from the initial startup and first 200 to 250 miles.

 

[TriaxialBulls]

my machinist is old school and has been doing this work for 40+ years. He builds high end race motors for people. So I trust his work.
I’m confident it wasn’t pushing coolant or pressurizing the cooling system from the initial startup and first 200 to 250 miles.

I'm not saying the machinist doesn't know what he's doing. But obviously stuff happens, we all make mistakes, we don't realize our tooling is more worn than expected, etc. I'm just saying the things I mentioned are also possible explanations of the problem. I think it's also important to keep in mind that these engines are damn near nonexistent in North America, so even the most competent machinist probably has zero experience with them.

It's just tough because even if it is only a HG + studs job, that's a lot of work, and it leaves you with a pretty big decision: while the head is off, do you have the block deck checked again or not? If you don't, and you put the head back on and the problems persist, now you've just wasted a whole lot of time and money. Whereas if you do check it again, that adds even more work. And then of course if the block is found to be out of whack that's another huge can of worms.

All I'm trying to say is that there are a whole lot of 'what ifs' here and that makes it pretty tough for anyone to buy. Humans are naturally overly-risk-averse creatures and there's a whole lot of risk involved here.

 

[toyotology]

So you're sure it didn't start doing this immediately after the rebuild? It could also be that the sleeves weren't machined down properly or it wasn't decked properly and that's what's causing the HG to not seal. 28psi is definitely a bit more than stock but it isn't THAT much more. I guess I'm just a little skeptical that it would cause a new OEM HG to fail in such short order.

And I agree, 28psi is more but not significant in the grand scheme of things. Here is my correspondence with Graeme before I figured out I had a cracked block.

 

[toyotology]

I'm not saying the machinist doesn't know what he's doing. But obviously stuff happens, we all make mistakes, we don't realize our tooling is more worn than expected, etc. I'm just saying the things I mentioned are also possible explanations of the problem. I think it's also important to keep in mind that these engines are damn near nonexistent in North America, so even the most competent machinist probably has zero experience with them.

It's just tough because even if it is only a HG + studs job, that's a lot of work, and it leaves you with a pretty big decision: while the head is off, do you have the block deck checked again or not? If you don't, and you put the head back on and the problems persist, now you've just wasted a whole lot of time and money. Whereas if you do check it again, that adds even more work. And then of course if the block is found to be out of whack that's another huge can of worms.

All I'm trying to say is that there are a whole lot of 'what ifs' here and that makes it pretty tough for anyone to buy. Humans are naturally over-risk-averse creatures and there's a whole lot of risk involved here.

You’re absolutely right! You should take on this project! I’ll throw in the roof rack. Make me an offer.

 

[TriaxialBulls]

You’re absolutely right! You should take on this project! I’ll throw in the roof rack. Make me an offer.

It is tempting... although that rust is a whole separate issue on its own

So you used an OEM Toyota head gasket? I thought there were like 5 different ones for the 1HD, although I have no experience here so I'm just going off of what I've read. Did you use any copper spray or other sealing product on them? Did you go back and re-torque the head bolts at all?

 

[toyotology]

It is tempting... although that rust is a whole separate issue on its own

So you used an OEM Toyota head gasket? I thought there were like 5 different ones for the 1HD, although I have no experience here so I'm just going off of what I've read. Did you use any copper spray or other sealing product on them? Did you go back and re-torque the head bolts at all?

Toyota used 5 different thickness gaskets but only 3 are available. I did not use any type of spray or adhesive. I torqued to spec - multiple passes to get to around 52lbs (I think). Then make a pass turning 90*, then a last pass turning 90*. I do have a tentative buyer at the moment, though

 

[SNLC]

Toyota used 5 different thickness gaskets but only 3 are available. I did not use any type of spray or adhesive. I torqued to spec - multiple passes to get to around 52lbs (I think). Then make a pass turning 90*, then a last pass turning 90*. I do have a tentative buyer at the moment, though

Correct but there is also a calculation to figure out which of those three head gaskets to use. There is also a range for the specs on each one. If the head or block or both were surfaced that needs to be taken into account when selecting the head gasket. If to much is or has to be taken off, an OEM HG won’t work and an aftermarket should be used.


The suggestion from Rhys is a solid suggestion.

Cheers

 

[mudandrock]

I’m guessing you tried running the engine without the thermostat already? Might sound stupid, but I’ve seen people pull their hair out trying to fix this same issue and it just turned out to be a bad brand new thermostat.