Sell, or Rebuild,,,,again (1 Viewer)

[capt bligh]

Had Proffitt's swap a 1HD-FT into my 80 series back in 2012. In hind sight this was a mistake to have them do the work as the company was undergoing major changes at the time.
Less than 15K miles later the timing belt tensioning pulley bolt came loose resulting in more costly repairs and down time. This repair resulted in fuel leaking into the crankcase, then had a runaway situation. Truck still ran fine but smoked very bad after warming up, now I believe it needs a total rebuild. I don't know if I have the heart, time, patience or funds to go through it all again. I am considering just parting it out or selling it whole and cutting my losses. I guess I am either looking for suggestions or encouragement

 

[Loober]

Man that's a tough break. Think of it this way, the FT motor is arguably the best diesel engine Toyota made, when appropriately setup it is reliable, powerful, and pleasure to drive. If you were to go a different direction, I cannot think of a better setup from a diesel perspective. Rebuilding on of these engines is a tall task, but I would encourage you to stick with it.

 

[Rock40]

I swapped an FT into my wife's 80 and she drives it daily. With the correct tuning, it REALLY is a pleasure to drive, it makes great power and is quiet. I can imagine your level of frustration with it but I think it's worth sticking with it. If you pull the motor for a rebuild, consider doing a H151F 5 speed swap also. From what I've heard, rebuilds run from $5k-$7k depending on the amount of parts you replace or upgrade. Most source parts from Engines Australia it seems.

 

[Indestructible 47]

I swapped an FT into my wife's 80 and she drives it daily. With the correct tuning, it REALLY is a pleasure to drive, it makes great power and is quiet. I can imagine your level of frustration with it but I think it's worth sticking with it. If you pull the motor for a rebuild, consider doing a H151F 5 speed swap also. From what I've heard, rebuilds run from $5k-$7k depending on the amount of parts you replace or upgrade. Most source parts from Engines Australia it seems.

Also to add to this, the gearbox with the taller 5th gear is available from Toyota brand new at a very very good price. I would recomend staying with it and finding a good diesel mechanic who can properly ascertain whether a full rebuild is necessary.

 

[elkaholic]

I agree with what everyone else has said. In addition, you are not terribly far from one of the best diesel guys on the east cost when it comes to Toyota diesels ... Rob Smith of Odd Iron Off Road

 

[capt bligh]

Thanks for the pep talk everyone. I really love driving this truck,, just reaching a level of frustration and needed this encouragement. I purchased a new truck so at least this won't be my daily driver and I can take the time to get things done correctly. I'll look into the new transmission with the taller 5th gear. I was considering a gear change but the way things have been going the trans may fail next.

 

[mudgudgeon]

I feel your pain.
I had a similar situation with my HDJ81. I had a turbo explode, bits went right through the engine. I did a complete tear down and rebuild.
1000km later I had the engine runaway due to a suspected injector pump issue. Trying to stall out a 4.2 litre diesel that's running at 6500rpm plus (tacho needle went off the clock), is friggin scary.
I couldn't swallow the idea of another teardown and rebuild, plus the cost of a pump rebuild. The cost was out of reach, plus I didn't have time or energy for it.

I parted mine out. Selling it piece by piece was not fun, and was kind of heart breaking.
I've regretted passing it that truck many times.

I've recently got back into a FZJ80, it's certainly not the same beast as the diesel cruisers, but I'm loving it

 

[Loober]

@mudgudgeon Curious if this was to ever happen with mine, how did you end up getting it to shutdown?

 

[capt bligh]

@mudgudgeon Curious if this was to ever happen with mine, how did you end up getting it to shutdown?

When mine ran away the first time I was at a stop sign so just held the brake and let the clutch out to stall it. The next time I was going 65 down I95 and was quite an adventure. I used the brake to keep revs down until I could get to shoulder, then stalled with clutch and brake. Fortunately South Florida drivers are known world over for their courtesy so I was able to change several lanes quickly.... The train horn, bullbar and repeated gestures with my longest fingers also helped.

 

[gerg]

Just an FYI. It's not me, I just saw this on Craigslist.
Toyota 1HDT diesel engine

 

[mudgudgeon]

@Loober I was able to pull off the road. It took both feet on the brake to stall it out in 5th gear. It was still driving forward with me standing on the brake. The clutch was slipping too.
I'm sure I only just managed to stall it out. At night, on a country road, with a 7yr old in the car with me. Not fun.

 

[dan1554]

@mudgudgeon I guess thats a positive of having stick.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Had Proffitt's swap a 1HD-FT into my 80 series back in 2012. In hind sight this was a mistake to have them do the work as the company was undergoing major changes at the time.
Less than 15K miles later the timing belt tensioning pulley bolt came loose resulting in more costly repairs and down time. This repair resulted in fuel leaking into the crankcase, then had a runaway situation. Truck still ran fine but smoked very bad after warming up, now I believe it needs a total rebuild. I don't know if I have the heart, time, patience or funds to go through it all again. I am considering just parting it out or selling it whole and cutting my losses. I guess I am either looking for suggestions or encouragement

Have you had the current symptoms carefully diagnosed? Is the smoke out of the exhaust or crank case ventilation? If exhaust, is it a diesel fuel smell, burning oil smell or coolant smell? Have you had the compression checked? Short of running the motor with no oil pressure, or a broken timing belt, these motors can put up with an incredible amount of abuse. Things might not be as bad as you think.

Try the tea kettle lid test to start. This is a great indicator of blow by. And/or pull the crank case ventilation hose off the valve cover and look at how much smoke is coming out.

Next, get a compression test.

Could be your issues are just fuel related.... Don't jump to worst case conclusions without the proper diagnosis first.

This is what I mean by tea kettle lid test. Do the same and post a video of it.

 

[bj70_guy]

^^
"over-fuelled to buggery"

 

[capt bligh]

Have you had the current symptoms carefully diagnosed? Is the smoke out of the exhaust or crank case ventilation? If exhaust, is it a diesel fuel smell, burning oil smell or coolant smell? Have you had the compression checked? Short of running the motor with no oil pressure, or a broken timing belt, these motors can put up with an incredible amount of abuse. Things might not be as bad as you think.

Try the tea kettle lid test to start. This is a great indicator of blow by. And/or pull the crank case ventilation hose off the valve cover and look at how much smoke is coming out.

Next, get a compression test.

Could be your issues are just fuel related.... Don't jump to worst case conclusions without the proper diagnosis first.

This is what I mean by tea kettle lid test. Do the same and post a video of it.

At this point the motor will not even turn over, I may have found the maximum point of abuse these will take.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

At this point the motor will not even turn over, I may have found the maximum point of abuse these will take.

So you think it's seized? Can't even turn it with a ratchet on the crank pulley bolt? Have you pulled the timing belt cover off to make sure the timing belt is ok?