Overheated ‘96 80 with 195k (1 Viewer)

[Presidio]

Last spring I replaced my fan clutch (blue) thermostat, belts and radiator fluid (red) in anticipation of a few road trips over the summer through the desert. I did do three trips to the eastern sierras in 100 degree desert temps without an issue. In fact two weeks ago I did another run up there and put 1100 miles on my rig and it ran great. My rig runs on 33” tires with a 2” dobinsons lift, but everything else is stock.

Yesterday I was coming home from visiting friends 50 miles away and as I got close to home I noticed my thermostat was pegged at the top. Honestly I dont know how long I was running hot as I wasn’t paying attention and the temps were less than 80 outside. I will say I was in a hurry to get home so I was doing closer to 75-78 mph instead of cruising at 68-70 like I typically do. That’s the speed on my GPS not the speed on my speedo.

So I get off the freeway and I see steam start to blow out the right side of the hood. I find a parking spot 2 blocks down and pull over and shut her down and pop the hood. My mechanically inclined son gets to me about 10 minutes later and he checks the fluid and it looked good and full with no oil in it. By this time 15-20 minutes have passed since I shut her down and he tells me start it. I did and the temp was mid range where it always sits, but it started to climb and was approaching the top when he accelerated the engine a few times. After he did this the temp started coming down and it went back to normal. I drove her home for the last 1.5 miles and the temp stayed normal, but the rig ran rough at the low end till I got up to about 15-20 MPH. Nothing came out of the tail pipe as far as white smoke was concerned.

I plan to take it in to the shop in the next day or two to have it looked at. Hoping I didn’t blow the head gasket.

LC80

 

[Broski]

Did the AC cut out ? The AC cuts out at 127*
Are you using anything other then the stock gauge?
The stock gauge is more of a dummy light it really doesn't do anything till it's too late.

 

[Presidio]

Did the AC cut out ? The AC cuts out at 127*
Are you using anything other then the stock gauge?
The stock gauge is more of a dummy light it really doesn't do anything till it's too late.

The AC was good. Just the stock gauge. Have been considering a Scan Gauge, just haven’t gotten around to it.

 

[Malleus]

Sounds like a stuck thermostat, assuming everything else you listed still works. Did you use a Toyota thermostat? I assume you replaced it and just forgot the comma in the list; there is no fan clutch thermostat that you can replace. At least not with a Toyota replacement part; unless you rob one from another clutch.

Your cooling system failed somewhere. It's not your fan clutch; that just gets out of the way at highway speeds, it doesn't cool the radiator.

You say "it smoked out of the right side"; where exactly? Near the end of the hood, or over the fender? If it's from the front of the hood, that's radiator overpressure. If it was from the side, that's your head gasket.

 

[Gascan]

@Presidio could you please check if the vacuum hose coming into the bottom of the EGR valve modulator is disconnected or if the modulator itself is melted/damaged?

Sounds like a stuck thermostat, assuming everything else you listed still works. Did you use a Toyota thermostat? I assume you replaced it and just forgot the comma in the list; there is no fan clutch thermostat that you can replace. At least not with a Toyota replacement part; unless you rob one from another clutch.

Your cooling system failed somewhere. It's not your fan clutch; that just gets out of the way at highway speeds, it doesn't cool the radiator.

You say "it smoked out of the right side"; where exactly? Near the end of the hood, or over the fender? If it's from the front of the hood, that's radiator overpressure. If it was from the side, that's your head gasket.

It's the boiling coolant steaming from his overflow tank, his original post has a tiny link with a video of it happening.

 

[Presidio]

Sounds like a stuck thermostat, assuming everything else you listed still works. Did you use a Toyota thermostat? I assume you replaced it and just forgot the comma in the list; there is no fan clutch thermostat that you can replace. At least not with a Toyota replacement part; unless you rob one from another clutch.

Your cooling system failed somewhere. It's not your fan clutch; that just gets out of the way at highway speeds, it doesn't cool the radiator.

You say "it smoked out of the right side"; where exactly? Near the end of the hood, or over the fender? If it's from the front of the hood, that's radiator overpressure. If it was from the side, that's your head gasket.

Yes, sorry if the link wasn’t clear enough. Yes I replaced the thermostat. Everything was Toyota parts.

I dropped it off at my local shop this morning. They reported back late this afternoon that they would know more tomorrow when their Toyota engine guy is back in, but what they found was coolant in cylinder one and they suspect the head is cracked. I guess I will know for sure tomorrow.

So if it is a cracked head what’s the repair look like to do it right and what is that going to cost me in Southern California $$$$’s???

 

[Presidio]

So turns out I had coolant in two cylinders. For some reason there was no coolant in the radiator. I probably had 5000 miles on it since I changed out the fan clutch, thermostat, radiator cap and coolant. 3000 miles of that was drives to Bridgeport CA from SoCal and one of those drives was across the desert when it was 105 with no issues. The shop says I could get away with just an upper rebuild, but they recommend a full engine rebuild. I have the weekend to decide what I want to do.

I get the impression from reading around the forum that if I do a full rebuild then I am probably good for another 200k miles. Is that case or once I do a full rebuild will I continue to chase issues down with the motor?

 

[Malleus]

200k? More like 500k. Minimum.

Take it somewhere that works on Land Cruisers. Unless you have verified compression numbers before you lost the headgasket that indicated you have ring wear, they can't know you need a new bottom end. This sounds like the recommendation from a shop that works on 350 small blocks.

You won't likely need a bottom end.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

I would reach out to @Fj80oregon about a rebuilt engine and not leave it up to the shop to get the engine rebuilt.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

If it was me I would pull the head and have it checked and check the cylinder walls if head checks out have it machined and put oem headgasket on and keep trucking.

 

[Fj80oregon]

Man sorry to hear, couple questions
-does this shop have any experience with a 1fzfe
-how did they determine the head is cracked? Not a common issue on the 1fzfe
-does the machine shop they use have experience with a 1fzfe rebuild?
-did they give you a rough estimate? I would imagine likely north of $20k for a full rebuild.
In my experience the bottom end is probably just fine if the vehicle has been maintained. Bearings and cylinder walls can show some wear and still go for along time. The biggest issue is at 195k the block will be hard to clean up in the truck and doing a head gasket may seal up good and last, or the gasket will last ???? Miles. The block really needs resurfaced to get a proper seal along with the head. The Land Cruiser shops in Oregon won’t warranty an engine unless they machine booth. If this shop is not competent with the 1fzfe I would look for a Land Cruiser specific shop, you really don’t want a shop just winging it and ending up doing this again down the road. Your question about a rebuild going 200k, I agree with others you should easily get that plus many more miles out of rebuild keep the cooling system updated and clean along with regular maintenance and you will be good for the life of the truck in your hands.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Man sorry to hear, couple questions
-does this shop have any experience with a 1fzfe
-how did they determine the head is cracked? Not a common issue on the 1fzfe
-does the machine shop they use have experience with a 1fzfe rebuild?
-did they give you a rough estimate? I would imagine likely north of $20k for a full rebuild.
In my experience the bottom end is probably just fine if the vehicle has been maintained. Bearings and cylinder walls can show some wear and still go for along time. The biggest issue is at 195k the block will be hard to clean up in the truck and doing a head gasket may seal up good and last, or the gasket will last ???? Miles. The block really needs resurfaced to get a proper seal along with the head. The Land Cruiser shops in Oregon won’t warranty an engine unless they machine booth. If this shop is not competent with the 1fzfe I would look for a Land Cruiser specific shop, you really don’t want a shop just winging it and ending up doing this again down the road. Your question about a rebuild going 200k, I agree with others you should easily get that plus many more miles out of rebuild keep the cooling system updated and clean along with regular maintenance and you will be good for the life of the truck in your hands.

Yup all this.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Numerous cases here on Mud where block has original hone marks in trucks that were north of 250k miles. I did a top end refresh at 250k and now at 302k, no issues. Big difference between top end refresh vs entire engine. Lots more work and $$$$. Does not sound like you cooked the hell out of it. IMHO I would do a top end only, new OEM stuff for headgasket, stem seals, deck the head a tad, run it.

 

[Broski]

Numerous cases here on Mud where block has original hone marks in trucks that were north of 250k miles. I did a top end refresh at 250k and now at 302k, no issues. Big difference between top end refresh vs entire engine. Lots more work and $$$$. Does not sound like you cooked the hell out of it. IMHO I would do a top end only, new OEM stuff for headgasket, stem seals, deck the head a tad, run it.

^^^^ This

 

[Broski]

Get it to Nelson"s Garage !
@Shoppy know these 80 worth the drive

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