Pull the engine, or no...?

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manofthewoods said:
Your wish is...
My command!
Paying it forward, My LX450 "reset/complete rebuild" notes & lessons learned - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/paying-it-forward-my-lx450-reset-complete-rebuild-notes-lessons-learned.1305084/


:wrench: :banana::santa:
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So, I read your write up and I appreciate it. I've never rebuilt an engine. I've pulled heads, etc, but never full blown rebuilt one. While I completely understand your mindset, I have 2 questions for the quorum....

1) If a compression check and an oil analysis prove that the engine is healthy, is a rebuild "worth it" (read, necessary)?

2) Does anyone make a complete gasket kit, intake to oil pan, using OEM parts?
 
VAcruiser said:
So, I read your write up and I appreciate it. I've never rebuilt an engine. I've pulled heads, etc, but never full blown rebuilt one. While I completely understand your mindset, I have 2 questions for the quorum....

1) If a compression check and an oil analysis prove that the engine is healthy, is a rebuild "worth it" (read, necessary)?

2) Does anyone make a complete gasket kit, intake to oil pan, using OEM parts?
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#2 first. Toyota makes a "overhaul" gasket kit. Definitely the way to go.
As to #1...
Most would say no. But, it depends on your intended use case, your wallet, and, your tolerance for putting your vehicle out of service, etc. Also, rebuilding a engine that isn't already in trouble is easier, cheaper and has a more predictable outcome.
I liked the project so much, I'd like to do it again; but I'd need another excellent specimen, which is becoming more rare as time goes on.

Happy trails
 
manofthewoods said:
#2 first. Toyota makes a "overhaul" gasket kit. Definitely the way to go.
As to #1...
Most would say no. But, it depends on your intended use case, your wallet, and, your tolerance for putting your vehicle out of service, etc. Also, rebuilding a engine that isn't already in trouble is easier, cheaper and has a more predictable outcome.
I liked the project so much, I'd like to do it again; but I'd need another excellent specimen, which is becoming more rare as time goes on.

Happy trails
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That's great to know. I'll have to look that up.

I'd love to rebuild one. I'm a while you're in there type of person so I'm already going to blow the budget out of the water. Besides my lack of experience rebuilding, I don't want to add the expense of all the machine work and engine parts if unnecessary.
 
IMO, if you're already going to have the engine on a stand with the head, oil pans, and front cover off to make sure you address all current and near-future leaks, it's not *that* much more work to take apart the bottom end so you can clean up the pistons, install new rings, and have the machine shop hone the cylinder walls and polish the crank. You'll get to see the condition of your bearings too, which in my case were still in spec. at 205k so I just re-installed them.
 
truthdetector said:
IMO, if you're already going to have the engine on a stand with the head, oil pans, and front cover off to make sure you address all current and near-future leaks, it's not *that* much more work to take apart the bottom end so you can clean up the pistons, install new rings, and have the machine shop hone the cylinder walls and polish the crank. You'll get to see the condition of your bearings too, which in my case were still in spec. at 205k so I just re-installed them.
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I’m following your logic here mostly, but if you’re thought is that it’s not that much more work to replace XY&Z while you have AB&C off, good or not…why would you reinstall bearings with 205k on them?
 
VAcruiser said:
I’m following your logic here mostly, but if you’re thought is that it’s not that much more work to replace XY&Z while you have AB&C off, good or not…why would you reinstall bearings with 205k on them?
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My 2 pennies...
There's a few different ways to get a stone cold reliable engine. The 7 main bearings are SO over engineered that if they are in spec, then they are plenty strong.
I replaced mine mostly because they aren’t expensive, so no biggie.
 
VAcruiser said:
I have a new to me FZJ80 (with 336,741 miles on the clock) that I'm beginning to get familiar with as I begin my baseline. Here's what I know thus far.... I have....all the oil leaks and then some. The oil light is on, good pressure so I'm assuming the sensor or wiring. I got the P0401 code yesterday on a relatively short drive and the head gasket is currently unknown. I was down about 1/3gal of antifreeze however. Oh, and the A/C compressor locked up yesterday. So...........with that said, I'm going to run a compression test to see how healthy the internals are and continue driving it for a while to get familiar with it and figure out what else needs attention before I take it down for a while to fix everything but I'm curious....... with all the current issues, would it be easier/worth it to just go ahead and pull the whole engine and clean, re-seal etc. or no?
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oh hell yeah, pull the whole engine with the ECU harness pulled through the firewall after disconnecting it from the ECU. I'd move the a/c compressor and lay it on the pass fender well. If you can pull the engine/tranny/tcase combo as one, that'd be ideal but not easy to do if you don't have the appropriate engine puller and enough man power. You can also remove the radiator, and lay the a/c condenser down if possible, otherwise, remove it also.

this is a good winter project!
 
If you pull the engine, do not cheap out on an engine hoist or engine stand. You will regret it if you do! I went the HF route for my hoist, went through two of them before finalizing my rebuild. Dumb. :bang:
 
alia176 said:
oh hell yeah, pull the whole engine with the ECU harness pulled through the firewall after disconnecting it from the ECU. I'd move the a/c compressor and lay it on the pass fender well. If you can pull the engine/tranny/tcase combo as one, that'd be ideal but not easy to do if you don't have the appropriate engine puller and enough man power. You can also remove the radiator, and lay the a/c condenser down if possible, otherwise, remove it also.

this is a good winter project!
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Yeah, I'm thinking so too. Either this or my rusty W115....but one or the other will be whole again after the chill wears off next year.
 
Azca said:
If you pull the engine, do not cheap out on an engine hoist or engine stand. You will regret it if you do! I went the HF route for my hoist, went through two of them before finalizing my rebuild. Dumb. :bang:
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Yeah, my current hoist and stand will surely need an upgrade as they're definitely not made for the weight of the 1KZ.
 
VAcruiser said:
Yeah, I'm thinking so too. Either this or my rusty W115....but one or the other will be whole again after the chill wears off next year.
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i need to pull the engine on my W124 to chase the leaks too!
 
alia176 said:
i need to pull the engine on my W124 to chase the leaks too!
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Unfortunately, mine runs great. My issue is mother nature.


Merc Rust 37.webp
Merc Rust 42.webp
Merc Rust 36.webp
 
DOOOOOD 😲
 
Ok...so as the time draws near, I'm working through the planning phase for this and plan to pull the entire drivetrain out as an assembly rather than try to separate the ENG from the TRANS/XFER. With this in mind, other than fluid changes and possibly u-joints, is there anything that I need to be factoring into my plan to look at/repair on the transmission and transfer case as preventative maintenance while I have them out?
 
VAcruiser said:
Ok...so as the time draws near, I'm working through the planning phase for this and plan to pull the entire drivetrain out as an assembly rather than try to separate the ENG from the TRANS/XFER. With this in mind, other than fluid changes and possibly u-joints, is there anything that I need to be factoring into my plan to look at/repair on the transmission and transfer case as preventative maintenance while I have them out?
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If everything is working fine, then when I did this; I cleaned the best I could (not a easy task), and replaced every tube/hose.
 
Azca said:
To answer the engine pulling question: If you are replacing the head gasket, yes. Don't even think about it, just do it. Pull engine and transmission together. I am so glad I did.

Okay, the while you are in there stuff will add up quickly. There are some items, such as mentioned above, that are necessity to pull the engine anyway. One item is the rear heater lines can't be accessed without pulling the engine. If you are contemplating this, just start buying the parts now and have them on hand. I tried to replace almost everything under the hood. Just made sense as you can get to everything without killing yourself.

If I were to rebuild mine again, I would just buy a new short block and heads. If I were to have the engine done, reach out to @Fj80oregon for a rebuild, he has done quite a few. There are quite a few engine rebuild threads you will want to read if you do it yourself. You will want to review those as they give options and note items that are frequently missing from re-build kits or are NLA.
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Many many threads out there where folks find the original cross hatching on the cylinder bores in the block. No need to buy a new short block unless its personal preference. My rebuild was at 285k miles and have 320k miles now. I did a engine refresh and all seals with engine in the truck. I was able to remove both oil pans as well and reseal.
 
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