New guy trying to learn

[FugTheMug]

Hey everyone,

I am from Victoria, BC and I am hoping to meet/chat with some people who have experience with the older Toyota diesel engines. I am planning on going to test drive a 1990 70s series prado next week with the 2LTE. I believe that makes it a BJ78? I am aware of the cooling system issues and have learned quite a lot from GTSSportCoupe's posts and digging through the rest of the ih8mud forums. The Landcruiser prado is one of my all-time dream vehicles, but I want a vehicle that is going to last me a long time and provide at least SOME reliability as it would be my daily driver. Obviously, I am committed to the proper maintenance, I just fear not being able to afford the upkeep, specially in the event of cracked cylinder heads. Are these vehicles too expensive to own as a daily driver?

I am also looking for someone in town who would be interested allowing me to PM them with further questions and potentially provide some guidance in the purchasing process and/or even better, show me their rig!

Thanks everyone,
Dani

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Welcome to Mud!

These are not BJ78, they are LJ78. L is the engine. J is for Landcruiser. 7 is a 70 series.

I would never recommend one of these as an economical daily driver. Quite likely whatever you buy will have many neglected maintenance items and cost a fortune to make truly reliable. These are project vehicles. Now if you love project vehicles and have tools and years of experience wrenching on old Toyotas, then go for it! But if you have to pay someone to repair everything (if you can even find that someone), good luck! I could see the vehicle easily costing more in repairs than the initial purchase price.

I'd say look at GX470/GX460, 100 series, 200 series etc. cruisers instead. Or one of the imported Prado's in the 120 series (gasser probably least hassle there, but the 1KDFTV diesel can be a good motor if it's been maintained properly).

Regarding the many thing I wrote over the years. I should update a lot of that to 'as built'. While writing those posts it was more 'theory and discovery'.

 

[FugTheMug]

Welcome to Mud!

These are not BJ78, they are LJ78. L is the engine. J is for Landcruiser. 7 is a 70 series.

I would never recommend one of these as an economical daily driver. Quite likely whatever you buy will have many neglected maintenance items and cost a fortune to make truly reliable. These are project vehicles. Now if you love project vehicles and have tools and years of experience wrenching on old Toyotas, then go for it! But if you have to pay someone to repair everything (if you can even find that someone), good luck! I could see the vehicle easily costing more in repairs than the initial purchase price.

I'd say look at GX470/GX460, 100 series, 200 series etc. cruisers instead. Or one of the imported Prado's in the 120 series (gasser probably least hassle there, but the 1KDFTV diesel can be a good motor if it's been maintained properly).

Regarding the many thing I wrote over the years. I should update a lot of that to 'as built'. While writing those posts it was more 'theory and discovery'.

Thanks for the welcome and advice,

For the record the vehicle I am looking at appears to be in remarkable shape and is listed for $13500 CAD on marketplace in our area... As far as I can tell that seems to be a very good price IF it is in good running shape. I also intend to do all of the maintenance/work myself. I will definitely take your words into account, I am still very much undecided.

How long did you drive your LJ78 for? Was it your daily driver?

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Thanks for the welcome and advice,

For the record the vehicle I am looking at appears to be in remarkable shape and is listed for $13500 CAD on marketplace in our area... As far as I can tell that seems to be a very good price IF it is in good running shape. I also intend to do all of the maintenance/work myself. I will definitely take your words into account, I am still very much undecided.

How long did you drive your LJ78 for? Was it your daily driver?

Appearances can be deceiving. I've had mine since 2012. It's a labor of love. Love the vehicle, but old turbo IDIs diesels are sh1t (not just 2LTE; but all the L series and KZ/PZ/HZ too if they're turboed). Not quite motivated to swap anything better into the truck, as would cost more than a better vehicle would (plus I don't have time). Personally I'm looking at moving to a 200 series at some point. Seems best bang for the buck for my needs.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

@FugTheMug The LJ78 you're drooling over seems to have an aftermarket radiator and is missing the fanshroud. Usually that makes the fan next to useless. When I re-cored my factory radiator it was about $1000. It will be hard to find new shroud parts. Turbo is missing heat shields. But it looks like truck has manual hubs which is nice. Interior/body looks good as you say. If you're seriously interested I'd recommend offer $8k maximum. It's been for sale a long time, and I think with the economy and cost of fuel, prices of vehicles are only going to be dropping.

 

[FugTheMug]

@FugTheMug The LJ78 you're drooling over seems to have an aftermarket radiator and is missing the fanshroud. Usually that makes the fan next to useless. When I re-cored my factory radiator it was about $1000. It will be hard to find new shroud parts. Turbo is missing heat shields. But it looks like truck has manual hubs which is nice. Interior/body looks good as you say. If you're seriously interested I'd recommend offer $8k maximum. It's been for sale a long time, and I think with the economy and cost of fuel, prices of vehicles are only going to be dropping.

 

[FugTheMug]

This is exactly the kind of input I am looking for. How do you know it has been for sale for a while? I'll make sure to ask about the radiator and fan shroud as well.

Thanks again.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

This is exactly the kind of input I am looking for. How do you know it has been for sale for a while? I'll make sure to ask about the radiator and fan shroud as well.

Thanks again.

I browse Marketplace for Toyota stuff and come across these things.

Make sure they do a cold start for you. Any smoke and misfire means work is needed. Hopefully they're truthful about oil consumption. Remove oil cap while it's running and feel blow-by... Drive the malaht and make sure temp sits 1/3 the whole way. Look at reservoir before and after to see if it fills. Ask for all the maintenance records. Etc.

 

[eknomf]

I''ve watched others go through it, and I would probably avoid anything with the 2LTE and save up to get a rig with a better engine or go for a domestic truck. My interest in the diesel land cruisers has always been in large part due to the reliability and durability and for me that is what makes ownership worth the extra work compared to something more routine.


If you want that gen of Prado save/hold out for one with the 1kz. It looks like there are some options out there for other cruisers, and it must be a hard time to sell so you can probably get a sale price down. Have you seen these:

A LHD V6 Prado from China. This might be perfect if you are after a Prado specifically.

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A few diesel rigs with better engines:

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Also, it might be worth looking at an import of a rig of between 15 and 25 years old, where the prices are not influenced by the american market. The bonus is once you are ready to move on, you can sell into the US market if you have something unique. I have gone with this approach on my last few and it helps with the currently higher cost of entry.

 

[cruiserpilot]

^^^^^^THAT. 1989 BJ74 13BT 5 speed. Unless you absolutely need 4 doors.

 

[cruiserpilot]

This is exactly the kind of input I am looking for. How do you know it has been for sale for a while? I'll make sure to ask about the radiator and fan shroud as well.

Thanks again.

So, curious since I'm sitting on my ass in a hotel waiting for tomorrow. What did you buy? Did you find anything?