"Rusty Rockers" BJ74 Daily.

[GTSSportCoupe]

I was going to get him to do mine, we played email tag for months, till I finally gave up. Those ones he'd forgotten about were probably the ones he said he was going to order for me

I've had a set of 6 denso nozzles on ebay in my watchlist for ages. Someone in the UK sells them pretty reasonably, one of these days I may just grab them and do it, once the weather improves and I have another vehicle going.

I bought a set from that same seller (I think...) They were definitely legitimate Denso.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Injectors got a rebuild and service!

New nozzles. Was really fortunate he had a new set he’d forgotten about in his tool box!

Serviced and pressures set correctly.

I can feel a sight power increase. I’m hoping for better fuel economy if nothing else.

Nice! They look good. What sort of fuel economy have you been seeing with that truck? And what type of driving was it? I think the auto transmissions in these reduce economy quite a bit until they're locked up at highway speeds.

 

[PeeZed]

GTSS...don’t have actual fuel economy numbers. Get around 400km per tank which seems lame. Lots of highway driving too.

Locking up the tranny is on the wish list for sure. I’ll admit that I’ve gotten quite smitten with the automatic though...just so easy and if I’m out in the bush with my kids and get hurt then my 14yr old could easily drive us to safety.

I do have a LOT of gear in my rear cargo area. Liquids, chains, tools, recovery gear, parts, and the big spare tire and fuel tank on the rear swing outs. So I imagine it would be a little rocket if I emptied it out back there!

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

GTSS...don’t have actual fuel economy numbers. Get around 400km per tank which seems lame. Lots of highway driving too.

Locking up the tranny is on the wish list for sure. I’ll admit that I’ve gotten quite smitten with the automatic though...just so easy and if I’m out in the bush with my kids and get hurt then my 14yr old could easily drive us to safety.

I do have a LOT of gear in my rear cargo area. Liquids, chains, tools, recovery gear, parts, and the big spare tire and fuel tank on the rear swing outs. So I imagine it would be a little rocket if I emptied it out back there!

Hey PeeZed, there is definitely something funny up with your fuel economy. Even with auto you should be doing much better. My LJ78 is a model known to not give good fuel economy, and 100% city driving stuck in stop/go heavy traffic at rush hour I get about 480km to a tank. I fill about 75litres. Works out to 18mpg imp or 15.5l/100km. I like this calculator as it gives both: Fuel economy calculator litres per kilometre miles per gallon kilometer Highway I get 10-12l/100km. I would expect a BJ74 to do better.

To be completely honest, I like my auto too. Was always a manual transmisson vehicle owner until the last few years. I love my auto for wheeling, and pretty much everything except towing under 70km/h (out of lock-up).

Your auto should still lock-up in 4th? If not, it might need some adjustment at the kick-down cable.

What tire pressures are you running? Does your engine come up to temp ok? Any idea what boost you're running? I'm wondering if it's down a bit from where it could be? I forget, do you have a pyro?

The 13BT and 12HT have similar technology. The 12HT from what I've seen is one of the most efficient Toyota diesels out there. So I would have thought the 13BT would be the same.

 

[PeeZed]

Hey PeeZed, there is definitely something funny up with your fuel economy. Even with auto you should be doing much better. My LJ78 is a model known to not give good fuel economy, and 100% city driving stuck in stop/go heavy traffic at rush hour I get about 480km to a tank. I fill about 75litres. Works out to 18mpg imp or 15.5l/100km. I like this calculator as it gives both: Fuel economy calculator litres per kilometre miles per gallon kilometer Highway I get 10-12l/100km. I would expect a BJ74 to do better.

AS WOULD I!

To be completely honest, I like my auto too. Was always a manual transmisson vehicle owner until the last few years. I love my auto for wheeling, and pretty much everything except towing under 70km/h (out of lock-up).

Your auto should still lock-up in 4th? If not, it might need some adjustment at the kick-down cable.

HOW DO I TELL IF ITS IN LOCK UP? JOHN B SAID IT LOCKS UP IN 4th SO IVE JUST ASSUMED IT DID.

What tire pressures are you running?

45-50psi

Does your engine come up to temp ok?

BELOW HALF ON THE GAUGE. NEW EVERYTHING TO DO WITH HEATING DONE TWO YEARS AGO.

Any idea what boost you're running?

NO IDEA. GREEN LIGHT ON DASH...NEVER GOES ORANGE.

I'm wondering if it's down a bit from where it could be? I forget, do you have a pyro?

NO PYRO...OR BOOST GAUGE...YET.

The 13BT and 12HT have similar technology. The 12HT from what I've seen is one of the most efficient Toyota diesels out there. So I would have thought the 13BT would be the same.

Responses within quotes in CAPS.

I’M RUNNING BIGGER HEAVIER TIRES (255/85/16 Toy MT’s) which changed the gearing around 10% I believe. So that means my speedo is out about the same too. I also have all my recovery gear, tools, liquids, etc in my rearcargo area.

John suggested I run it out of fuel one day (I have 20L of spare on the back bumper) just to see how far below “E” I can get it to go.

Lots to figure out...but if you have some simple ideas then maybe I should come over one night and you can point at things and make grunting sounds.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Lots to figure out...but if you have some simple ideas then maybe I should come over one night and you can point at things and make grunting sounds.

I did that, just got grunting sounds back..
Good to see you yesterday. It is really just a situation of a heavily loaded truck. There is everything needed, carefully
and logically stored. Sure looks good, sits right on the suspension.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

@PeeZed

255/85R16 are about a 33" tire. They are considered narrow and a fairly efficient size to run. At the pressure you're running, I don't think they are the root of your problem.

Have you weighted your truck with all the gear in it on the scale? There is a scale in Duncan on Hwy 1 near the Hwy 18 intersection. You probably pass it regularly. Again, I doubt this is your problem. Cruising on fairly flat roads, weight doesn't make a heck of a lot of difference. If you're climbing big mountain passes, or doing a lot of stop/go, then yes, I could see it making more of a difference.

Lock-up in 4th basically feels like another 'shift' to a higher gear. When you take off from a stop on the highway your trans should shift through the gears to 4th, then once your speed is up over ~80km/h you should feel the lockup like it's shifting to a fifth gear.

Running it out of fuel is not the approach I'd take, as it could involve bleeding your injection system to get air out afterwards. Why don't you just get a little more technical when you fill up diesel? Basically, write down the kms indicated on your trip meter (and reset it), completely fill the tank and record how many litres (get a receipt). Use the calculator I posted a link to above. Make sure to correct your tire size first. I'm not sure what the stock size is, but I think it's around 235/75R15 (29"). A 255/85R16 is 14.5% larger. So take your recorded kms, and multiply them by 1.145 to get actual kms traveled. Punch it into the calculator. Do this for a few tanks. Make notes of what type of driving you did for each tank.

I'm happy to chat about it next time I see you. With your highway driving I think you should be seeing 10-12l/100km. If you're mixing some city and offroad into that, you should be seeing 12-14l/100km. This with your big tires and a lot of extra weight. I'm assuming you cruise around 100km/h? If you're pushing faster than that, you'll see an increase in consumption.

 

[seapotato]

Yeah, the filling and writing is the simplest way to check mileage, and it removes dodgy fuel gauges from the equation.

x km's on a fill is pretty vague...I don't think you need to run it dry to test the gauge. Seems a bit drastic, you should be able to find out the size, ( 85L ? ) and see how close to that you get when you fill it from E, which would tell you how close your gauge is.

I found that "fuelly" website/app useful. Maybe less so with a 74, but with other vehicles there's often a bunch of others on there and you can see pretty quickly if your mileage is in the right ballpark.

Bearing in mind, that there's a decent percentage of those people that are clearly morons whose mileage calculations are, shall we say, wrong?...

 

[Rigpig]

Responses within quotes in CAPS.

John suggested I run it out of fuel one day (I have 20L of spare on the back bumper) just to see how far below “E” I can get it to go.

Lots to figure out...but if you have some simple ideas then maybe I should come over one night and you can point at things and make grunting sounds.

Having spent a small fortune on injectors, not to mention everything else you did to that awesome little truck, you might want to consider just pulling the plug from the fuel tank rather than run it dry. It's the absolute perfect way to destroy injectors, potential pump issues etc... All the s***/water find its way to the bottom.
Whatever is left in fuel tanks in equipment at work we drain into cubes before we pre-lube, spin new filters on and fire up.
Just sayin'

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

I did a search for BJ74 fuel mileage numbers and this thread came up: Post up your diesel fuel mileage/NO CHAT PLEASE!!

Have a read through to see what the other BJ74's out there are getting. Will give you a real world idea of what you should be seeing.

 

[PeeZed]

@GTSSportCoupe.

Scale shows 2760KG's at Duncan scale...All gear, fuel tank full, and my fat @ss

Also, yes, lockup is occurring exactly as you described it, but depends on terrain and skinny peddle as to when it does the shift.

I think I actually speed all the time because (1) my speedo reads slow, and (2) I've never driven a Cruiser that I can speed in so I'm still not used to making an attempt at getting the speedo as close to the speed limit as I can (which may read 14.5% slower!).

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

@GTSSportCoupe.

Scale shows 2760KG's at Duncan scale...All gear, fuel tank full, and my fat @ss

Also, yes, lockup is occurring exactly as you described it, but depends on terrain and skinny peddle as to when it does the shift.

I think I actually speed all the time because (1) my speedo reads slow, and (2) I've never driven a Cruiser that I can speed in so I'm still not used to making an attempt at getting the speedo as close to the speed limit as I can (which may read 14.5% slower!).

Hey PeeZed,

That weight is not too bad; about what I would have expected for a loaded cruiser. Mine is about the same when I'm loaded with my family and stuff.

Glad lock-up is working.

Speed WILL cost more fuel. Use a GPS to know for sure how much your speedo is out. I doubt it's 14.5% like the tires. Reason being is Toyota speedos of this vintage seem to read about 5% fast in my experience. I've found the ODO is accurate, but not so much the speedometer. For example, I'm running 32" tires, and my speedo is dead on accurate to my GPS. So your speedo will be reading slower, but probably closer to 8-10% out.

If you want to use less fuel, try driving 90-100km/h or so (actual speed, not indicated). Each 10km/h over 90 will cost you another l/100km from what I've seen. This might be your problem....that heavy right foot.

 

[PeeZed]

@GTSSportCoupe...tbh, my speedo rarely reads 105kmh because at 105 a beeper starts going off. I kidnof like it because it likely means I’m actually going like 115kmh which I shouldn’t be able to do (in my mind anyways). But I do feel I’m consistently going close to 100kmh on my speedo (probably 110kmh actual), so I’m sure that has a negative impact too.
Oh, and Hill60 coming home From Duncan is a long climb in 3rd gear with skinny pedal nearly to the floor the entire 3min up the hill.

Wish list stuff consists of Advance Adaptor gear reduction of around 10% for high and a 4:1 in low. This one upgrade would really make the automatic much happier both on and off-road. Just gotta win the lottery is all.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

@GTSSportCoupe...tbh, my speedo rarely reads 105kmh because at 105 a beeper starts going off. I kidnof like it because it likely means I’m actually going like 115kmh which I shouldn’t be able to do (in my mind anyways). But I do feel I’m consistently going close to 100kmh on my speedo (probably 110kmh actual), so I’m sure that has a negative impact too.
Oh, and Hill60 coming home From Duncan is a long climb in 3rd gear with skinny pedal nearly to the floor the entire 3min up the hill.

Wish list stuff consists of Advance Adaptor gear reduction of around 10% for high and a 4:1 in low. This one upgrade would really make the automatic much happier both on and off-road. Just gotta win the lottery is all.

Yeah, you're right, there are a couple climbs on the way from Duncan to Cowichan lake aren't there? I really notice them when I'm towing my camper (9000lb cruiser/trailer!).

One thing that has made for better fuel economy on my engine is running leaner. I've increased the boost to 19psi (intercooled), with a relatively low increase in fuel. Having more air gives a more complete burn. Also, it made for a lot more power, so all those hills become easy (not towing) and the truck can stay in lock-up. So with some tuning, your engine could make more power and be more efficient.

Gearing will definitely help you too.

Really though, I think you need to get some solid mpg numbers to figure out if things really are out of wack or not.

 

[seapotato]

Ahh yes, hill60...that one is hard on a diesel cruiser.

Used to go up that every hot summer weekend on the way to nitinat...hauling ass to hopefully get a site on the beach side so I didn't have to pack the windsurf gear a mile.

3rd gear in a 42 loaded up like the last train to new delhi, towing a trailer...turning the heater on high to suck out a few more degrees, getting the finger from the inbred youbou hillbillies...

 

[Diesel Cruiserman]

Yeah, you're right, there are a couple climbs on the way from Duncan to Cowichan lake aren't there? I really notice them when I'm towing my camper (9000lb cruiser/trailer!).

One thing that has made for better fuel economy on my engine is running leaner. I've increased the boost to 19psi (intercooled), with a relatively low increase in fuel. Having more air gives a more complete burn. Also, it made for a lot more power, so all those hills become easy (not towing) and the truck can stay in lock-up. So with some tuning, your engine could make more power and be more efficient.

Gearing will definitely help you too.

Really though, I think you need to get some solid mpg numbers to figure out if things really are out of wack or not.

I agree with bumping your boost up...there is a great write up a cruiser head did with a HJ61 and netted him MUCH beter performance and increased fuel economy by boosting up his turbo and adding a bit of fuel..

 

[PeeZed]

Bumpers needed some paint attention. Front one is redone. Rear may take awhile.

 

[seapotato]

Jeez. Actually removing to paint and not just holding a piece of cardboard behind to block over spray...my brain is having trouble with this concept.

Looks good.

 

[bikersmurf]

Bumpers can be removed to paint.... HUH... who new.

 

[PeeZed]

Half of why I want to remove the bumpers for painting is because the fabricator installed them and outside of making sure there were bolts holding it to my frame I didn’t need really know how they were hanging there. I was confident he’d done due diligence and I was right.

In others news...got out in my backyard today for a little rip and found some lakes...one of which may be my first overnighted destination once the trailer is completed.