I recently acquired a 2004 LN166 Hilux with a 2.8d 3L engine, 5 speed manual from the US Army who was using it down in Nicaragua. I think they told an NCO to order one and they told him no budget. It has an ARB front bumper, ARB back bumper, ARB side rails, a huge roll over Nerf bar, long range 30 gal tank, and an Old Man Emu 2.5” lift. Unfortunately, it’s not currently running. So far, I’ve replaced the radiator and one of its hoses. I’m missing the Integration Relay and that’s proving to be a challenge to get. I think I found one, but I’m waiting for response from a vender in Dubai. The motor occasional fires while trying to start it, but I determined that Ii wasn’t getting fuel to the engine. I finally dropped the tank. I found about 1” of what I suspect is asphaltene sludge (it will only dissolve in gasoline or other light solvents, like carb cleaner). I scooped out all that I could reach, but the baffles mean you can‘t reach 1/2 the tank. I put the tank in the back of my other truck, added 10 gal of gas, taped all the openings shut, and plan to drive around with it to try and slosh the gas around enough to either dissolve the sludge, or get it soft enough it’ll drain out. They also gave me the original tank if don’t mind loosing a bit of range. I needed to use a little heat to get the sludge soft enough to be able to blow the fuel line open. I had one new fuel filter on hand, but on finding the sludge, ordered 2 more. Any comments or suggestions are welcome.
Resuscitating a Hilux
- Thread starter dsaw
- Start date
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see if you can get it titled and registered before you put a bunch of money into it.
- Thread starter
- #3
The government is supposed to be working on getting me the paperwork to license it; but they’re slow. Worst case scenario, it becomes an overgrown Ranger for my 200 acres.
ATL Cruiser
GOLD Star
If the gas doesn't clear the gunk up, try vinegar. I filled my tank with 20gal of vinegar and let it sit for 2 days. It was spotless inside when I was done. Cheap too.
Also, in addition to your fuel filter, I would order a new pickup tube for the tank. They often have a mesh screen built onto the end. Not sure on your Hilux though.
Also, in addition to your fuel filter, I would order a new pickup tube for the tank. They often have a mesh screen built onto the end. Not sure on your Hilux though.
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- #5
The gas didn't get it spotless, but it was pretty good. I had to clean out the lines, so in the process I cleaned out the pickup tube. Mine didn't have a screen, but thanks for the advice. If I have to drop it again, I'll try vinegar. At present, it's now kind of running. It's very rough, and I suspect I'm only running on 3 cylinders. It'll run for 5 sec to 5 minutes, but no power. I probably need to clean the injectors.
ATL Cruiser
GOLD Star
That's awesome. There's nothing more satisfying that getting an old, gunked up engine running.
Keep us posted what you end up doing to get it smoothed out.
Any used vehicle imported into the US has to be 25 years old, so unless somebody in the military can wave a magic wand for an exemption you will not be able to get that truck legally titled until 2029.
It sounds like it has been exposed to some brutal driving conditions and abuse. I trust that you factored in all these parameters when you negotiated the sale price. You are more than likely going to have to take a peek inside that engine to find out what condition it's in.
How bad is the body ? Can you post some pics ?
Parts are going to be expensive.
Rocky Mtn Hilux
It sounds like it has been exposed to some brutal driving conditions and abuse. I trust that you factored in all these parameters when you negotiated the sale price. You are more than likely going to have to take a peek inside that engine to find out what condition it's in.
How bad is the body ? Can you post some pics ?
Parts are going to be expensive.
Rocky Mtn Hilux
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- #8
I restarted it a few times hoping enough cleaner would eventually get through the system. I think on the 3rd round of restarts, it finally took off and just ran like it should. I left it running for 45 minutes to warm it up. I couldn't take it for a spin because I pulled the bent driveshaft yesterday and dropped it off at a shop to be rebuilt. Also, it has 2 tires that barely hold air. Getting it kind-of running gave me enough confidence to fix the driveshaft. Really running; now I'm shopping for either tires, or rims and tires if I can find a good used deal (old steel rims are a little rusty and 2 tires won't hold air for more then a few hours). I'm not sure the 3L engine can handle much larger tires then the 265/70R16's on it now.
Rocky- I got it really cheap. Even with imported parts to date, I still don't have $1000 in it yet. With the program I got it through, the government keeps the title for 18 months and I can only use it for work (running around a gas field, which is amongst a bunch of farm fields). So even if they fail to come through with the paperwork for me to license it, I can either use it at work or as a vehicle to run around some other remote property I own.
You are correct that it had a rough life, the drive shaft was bent to hell. Wish I had taken pictures.. Grill was loose in a passenger seat (I zip-tied it back on). However, no major body damage, just a lot of deep scratches.
Rocky- I got it really cheap. Even with imported parts to date, I still don't have $1000 in it yet. With the program I got it through, the government keeps the title for 18 months and I can only use it for work (running around a gas field, which is amongst a bunch of farm fields). So even if they fail to come through with the paperwork for me to license it, I can either use it at work or as a vehicle to run around some other remote property I own.
You are correct that it had a rough life, the drive shaft was bent to hell. Wish I had taken pictures.. Grill was loose in a passenger seat (I zip-tied it back on). However, no major body damage, just a lot of deep scratches.
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- #9
So it took the government forever to do their paperwork, but it's finally titled and registered after 6 months. It probably helped that the State of Indiana got the title for the program I got the vehicle through before getting it to me. I've been driving it around my fields for the last 6 month, so I've probably put about 7-800 km's on it while waiting for it to be legal. I know these are supposed to be slow, but I could never get it over 45 mph. Once I got it registered, I decided I needed to replace the fuel sender if I was going to be driving it more often. I'd been sitting on the part for a bit, but installed it yesterday. After reinstalling it, I've lost even more power. So I dropped the tank again to clean it, since it still had a little bit of gunk stuck to the walls, but none visibly free. The tank is soaking with about 15 gal of gas in it, so I'm back on the truck while that soaks. I also blew the lines to make sure they were free. One mistake I'll admit to, while blowing the lines, I accidentally blew the line to the injection pump while it was connected; not sure if that was harmless or may have caused my problem. I changed the fuel filter yesterday (probably change #3 or 4 since getting it running). Today I hooked up a small can of fuel direct to the filter and ran a clear line from the filter to the injection pump and from the return line to the small can. Started it up, bled all the injectors (fuel was spurting out of each of them), and let it run. It would run fine on startup, but slowly loose power. I also tried this procedure probably twice with a 50/50 injector cleaner diesel mix, with no noticeable change in performance. If I pumped the priming pump while running, I'd get air coming out of the return line and a return of power. I'm thinking it probably has an air leak in the pump? Or something partially clogged from gunk I knocked loose dropping the tank? I'm relatively new to working on diesels; I've owned a few, but they never needed work. Thanks for any ideas.
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- #10
I think I solved my own issue, I don't think I was getting the system bled down all the way. This morning I bled it down again, pumped it a few times while it was running, and it finally ran perfectly. I actually got the original tank with the truck, and it's a lot cleaner then the ARB Long Range tank; so I swapped back to the original tank. I'll fill the dirty tank with gas and let it sit for awhile. With the original tank installed, I got it back running; but it's probably going to take several more bleeding sessions to get it back to 100%. I really like having the clear fuel lines.; really makes it easy to see air bubbles. I've got some cheap thin ones on now because that's what I had on hand, I need to find some thicker fuel rated ones.
