Quick question - engine damage (1 Viewer)

[mattw]

So a BJ40 has popped up semi-local to me. The seller reports the following:

It was running fine then a big ‘pop’. The mechanic reports that it needs a new radiator, head gasket and rod repair.

I'm going to give the mechanic a call on Monday but am kinda spitballing in my mind what may be wrong before I take the 2+ hr drive to see it. It looks/sounds like the rest of it is in decent condition, he's asking $9k. Mechanic quoted him $5k to repair.

Based on what he said, I'm guessing the radiator ran out of fluid, it overheated, and then everything went real bad including breaking the connecting rod in a piston (I am a sketchy shadetree mechanic at best though). My assumption walking in is that it probably needs a new engine (not sure how obtainable that is).

Best case scenario the engine is actually repairable.

So two questions: what would be a fair value on this (assume the body isn't a total rust bucket) and how hard is it to find diesel replacement parts (up to and including a new engine)?

 

[roscoFJ73]

How long is a piece of string? So many variables its impossible to put a price on it. What country is it in??

 

[Feistl]

Just a bit of advice (from someone who currently owns 6 landcruisers), work out what the maximum amount of money you want to spend IN TOTAL, then allocate ~80% towards the vehicle purchase price.

Hypothetically if you buy this for say $8k you could easily spend $6k+ rebuilding the engine (or a lot more) plus a bunch of other work that it may need and end up spending $20k. How does that compared to what you can buy for say $15-16k and put $4k worth of mods into.

The only advantage to buying something cheap is you can rebuild everything and know the condition but thats only really advised if you're planning on keeping the vehicle forever.

As for what the problem is, very hard to say from that description but id check to see whether it turns over by hand as a starting point. Replacement 2H engines (assuming its a H or 2H) are really cheap here in Australia but not sure what its like in the US. Depending what your long term aim is id look at a 12HT from Japan (they are currently priced around $5-6k aud).

Oh and finally, what is you're search area? It always surprises me when people only search within a few hundred miles. I look Australia wide (Of my 6 landcruisers only 2 came from within 1000km) as the effort to get one is a bit but id rather spend a few days driving cross country than weeks of back breaking labour trying to fix rust...

 

[roscoFJ73]

It looks/sounds like the rest of it is in decent condition, he's asking $9k. Mechanic quoted him $5k to repair.

Tell him to fix it and you'll give him $14K