New to me 3B

[Monty231]

So, I have a 3B out of an 85 BJ70 that I am going to put in my 1976 FJ40. My plans are to put a turbo on it, wheel and drive it as much as possible.

As of right now I have the engine pulled and sitting on a stand in my garage. What should I do to this engine before I put it in the 40 for good? Are there any areas that are known problems?

A little history on this 3B. It has been sitting for probably 8 years, and it is mostly a mystery, however it did fire up for a test run about a month ago. It has approximately 370,000 kms on it and seems to be well taken care of. Doesn't appear to leak much oil, the vacuum pump is leaking on to the side of the block and is probably the only leak. I have sent an oil sample off to be tested and will post the results when I get them.

Compression numbers were taken cold and are as follows.

1 - 400
2 - 365 (395 with a shot of oil)
3 - 410
4 - 430

 

[roscoFJ73]

It depends on how much you want to spend. A lot of these get head cracks and although they dont affect performance, eventually the crack gets bigger and does become a problem. You could remove the head and have it checked. You could also have the injectors rebuilt and have the pump checked.
I would probably install it and drive it as it is. I would leave the turbo off for a while and fit it when you are sure the engine will not let you down.
I would do a warm compression test asap.

 

[roma042987]

I went down this exact rabbit hole several years ago. If you’ve got some time to read check my 78 build thread. First page has a link to the conversion thread. Mine had 190k kilometers when I pulled it from the 85 bj70. I added a turbo a couple years later and then a head gasket a couple after that. It started leaking immediately after the turbo. My head was cracked like rosco mentioned but it passed a pressure check. Precups were ready to fall apart when I pulled the head. I’ve put around 40k miles on it so far.

 

[Monty231]

Thanks for the comments. I finally got the oil sample test back. Lemme know what you think. I believe the fuel is probably from trying to start it and the compression test, so I'm not to worried about the injectors.

What do y’all think the copper could be?

 

[ukaviator]

Copper and Your Diesel Engine Oils

Interesting article regarding copper in oil

 

[Monty231]

So, I ordered a rear main and some other small parts. I'm going to clean the rust and grease up and give her a fresh coat of paint for now.

Anyone got a link for a 3B manual? This is all new to me and I'm nervous I'm going to screw something up. If it was a 2f I'd be more in my comfort zone.

And here's a before shot because we all like pics.

 

[duncanrm]

Link to 3B Manual: engine_manual_3B_13BT.pdf

And your lift pump is missing off the side of your injector pump.. have you got it stashed away somewhere?

 

[Monty231]

Thanks @duncanrm I had seen links a few years ago for it, but couldn't find any here lately.

Yeah, I had just taken the pump off a few minutes before that pic, it's pretty rusty so I was going to clean it up. I didn't want to keep bothering my buddy @ukaviator every five minutes asking if a Swiss watch was going to explode when I was pulling things off the motor, especially the injector pump.

Also, I pulled the exhaust manifold off and found two broken studs on the number 4 exhaust port. Any thoughts on removing them?

 

[gerg]

Last time I broke a bolt in the exact spot I had to drill it out but with the motor in the truck. That wasn't fun. If you don't know the history on the engine I just asume the precups are 30 yrs old and change them and the head gasket with an MLS one. Good to get a valve job then too. Pressure checking the head won't tell you if it will leak when it's running unfortunately as combustion pressure is in the thousands of psi and a pressure check is like 150 or something? If it fails a compression check then it's bad indeed. It's very normal to have cracks in the head. Normal, but not good. I've only ever come across 2 heads in all my years that weren't cracked to some degree. Is your lift pump siezed? They often do but can be worked free pretty easy. Simple to disassemble. No little ball bearings fly out when you take it apart.

 

[Monty231]

Is the factory HG MLS? If not what brand and where would you recommend getting it from as well as the other engine gaskets if I'm going to go this deep into it.

 

[ukaviator]

Is the factory HG MLS? If not what brand and where would you recommend getting it from as well as the other engine gaskets if I'm going to go this deep into it.

Shoot John over at @Radd Cruisers an email. He always steered me in the right direction

 

[Monty231]

@gerg to answer your other question, no the lift pump isn't seized, just exterior rust.

Honestly, from what I can tell this engine came out of a fairly well maintained truck, the body has just rusted off of it and then someone used it to convert their RH drive to LH drive. But besides the rust I see no major issues with it.

This leads me to my next question what is going on with the fuel lever? Can I just pop the governor diaphragm housing off and fix this or should I leave it alone?

Also, the HAC seems to be seized, not a big deal, I live near sea level and don't see to much altitude change, but I'd like it to work.

BTW the black on the pump is under coating, not grease.

 

[duncanrm]

Oops.. it does look like your fuel control lever is about to come off the shaft, this can only be resolved by open up the governor housing as you've suggested. I would familiarise yourself with the parts diagram so you understand its operation when you do it. You may as well replace the leather diaphragm whilst you have it open.

 

[Monty231]

Thanks, that's what I figured.

 

[jzilla]

To put your mind at ease the last 3 heads I pulled had no cracks, of course the precups were cracked as usual...

 

[gerg]

So it is physically possible to get it back on the shaft without opening it but it's majorly tricky. I'd agree probably best to open it and do the diaphragm anyhow while your at it. You can get a different arm and remove the hac if you choose to. I personally don't have much use for a hac but it is handy if your at altitude without a turbo and don't run an egt gauge. If you have good judgement and an egt gauge then a hac is only a handicap.
I get my head gaskets from Toyota but there are lots of places that sell quality MLS a gaskets.

Here's where I get my precups

Toyota 3B 3 4Ltr Diesel Set Of 4 Pre Combustion chambers for sale | eBay

Find great deals on eBay for Toyota 3B 3 4Ltr Diesel Set Of 4 Pre Combustion chambers. Shop with confidence.

www.ebay.ca

 

[Radd Cruisers]

Gerg beat me to it.... do the diaphragm when you're in the back of the pump sorting the shaft out. There's a gasket on the back (governror) housing for the pump too, replace that while you're at it.

The original head gaskets were all composite, but in the early 90s (or perhaps very late 80s) MLS started to become a thing with Toyota diesels and all of the ones past 1990 had MLS gaskets. They are superior if your head and block surfaces are machined correctly for them (ask your machinist - they have to be almost mirror smooth).

The broken studs are always a pain to remove, but there are always the few that come out easily. Hopefully you won't have much trouble with it.

~John

 

[gerg]

I've had great success with permatex copper spray to help fill machining imperfections allowing the oil and water to seal up with MLS gaskets. So I've sprayed both the gasket on both sides for a few heads but last time apparently I had a bit of a moment and felt the need to spray the head and block surfaces.
Here's how I did the head. Cardboard to block the combustion chamber surfaces.

 

[gerg]

Here's how I did the block. Next time I'll mask off the overspray edges as it's pretty much impossible to remove the copper.

 

[gerg]

I definately recomend spraying the gasket itself. It was one of those late nights in the shop at like 3am when you transition from crazy cool idea to just plain crazy idea.