So what’s with all the aluminum in my oil?

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Bud_Dude

Bud_Dude

10 Year 15 Year 20 Year
Joined
Aug 31, 2005
Threads
84
Messages
594
Location
Escondido, CA
Hey you guys… still chasing my low oil pressure here and just bought some real Toyota oil filters, since some folks swear that other brand filters can cause low oil pressure... Call me skeptical on that; so I was also going to replace the oil cooler pressure relief spring and valve, and the oil pump pressure relief spring and valve.

So I put one of the new filters on today on and drained the out of the old one to see what I could see. It of course drains out from the outside of the filter can not the inside (threaded fitting). After letting it settle a while I slowly tipped the bowl and see lots of fine aluminum in it… hopefully aluminum that was caught by the filter and removed from the circulating oil. I am presuming it’s aluminum since it’s does not respond in the slightest to a strong magnet. So where’s all that aluminum coming from? Certainly not the block… See pic.
I was going to change the oil back to the good synthetic stuff, but might just go with less expensive stuff here first and see if it’s still happening. This is relatively fresh oil with 6 months and 1800 miles on it.

What do y’all think?

D36F4600-7E2E-493B-9BB6-B4FC8A654DDC.webp
 
You're not going to like this, but bearings are normally steel shells with an aluminum alloy lining surface, The fact that you have low oil pressure and aluminum in your oil points to bearing failure somewhere on your main or rod bearings.
 
Well that’s disappointing to hear. So not likely a top end problem (head, cams, valves)? All in all the engine seems to be running fine, smooth, no obvious knocking or anything.

Maybe time to think about an engine swap, maybe an LS conversion…
 
Am seeing main bearings advertised as aluminum for the 1fze. If it's not those it would be from the pistons. Given the low oil pressure....


Frank
 
elripster said:
Am seeing main bearings advertised as aluminum for the 1fze. If it's not those it would be from the pistons. Given the low oil pressure....


Frank
Click to expand...
Hey Frank,
I seem to recall your having sent your truck off to some shop for engine work? Which shop was that?
I've also seen some mildly wonky transmission behavior, usually as low creeping speeds such as a traffic jam where sometimes you give it a slight amount of gas to creep up but nothing happens until higher RPMs than expected; and it's not all the time, but occasionally... It's never been a problem, just an idiosyncrasy I've noticed, but have been curious as to whether it was a tell tale sign of a future failure like needed a new torque converter or some such...

I already know which shop I am not taking it to...

Thanks,
Bud
 
I had my engine rebuilt at Alternative Automotive in Escondido. I'd use them again, they were good.

For the transmission, might try adjusting the pressure cable. It's on the throttle linkage. Tighten means more pressure.

Frank
 
Couple of options:
- Buy a low mileage/known condition 1FZFE with tranny and swap in. Should be a weekend to get it done. Then you can investigate the issue while the original is out.
- Drop the oil pan and check the bearings. Some with the diesel version of the 80 series (1HD-T) would swap bearings with the engine still in the truck. The BEBs were the issue so they could access them easily. Most likely you are seeing wear in the BEBs or the crank bearings, which are all accessible with the pan down. you could pull a bearing or two and see if you see wear. If the bearing is worn, but the crank is still good (that is why they use aluminum, so the bearing will wear before it scores the crank), then you could swap in a new set and see if your pressure is back in spec.
- Drop in a 1HDT! Designed for that truck so not as much work as an LS swap where engine and tranny mounting may need to be modified.

Is this your daily driver? If so, I'd go the first route and then see if you need to rebuild.

K
 
Thanks for the suggestions Kraig!
The truck is not a daily driver, but I usually take it for a spin once a week somewhere for some errand or other. Not a big deal if it's out of commission for a few weeks or months... Mainly I want / need it to be very reliable for off road camping trips and have gotten rid of trucks in the past when they no long inspire confidence in that regard.

From my reading dropping the steel pan on these, while maybe easy-ish, doesn't provide much access and you really need to drop the second aluminum pan which is much more difficult, especially working from underneath. And probably more than my old ass is up for...

I'll start looking around for a low miles engine and tranny that can be swapped in. If you hear of any let me know... I might just drive this motor til it implodes and do a swap and just dispose of the blown up motor...

I like the 1HDT suggestion! That would be something. Any CA Smog implications on the 1HDT? What kind of highway mileage can be expected from a 1HDT in an 80? Especially given the cost of diesel fuel these days! I would hope for considerably better than the 12mpg I get out of my 1FZ-FE... Also what kind of highway cruising speed and hill climbing can you extract from a 1HDT; better than the 1FZ-FE? Can the factory cruise control be made to work with the turbo and all? I do love my cruise control on long drives...
 
Snogging the diesel could be a challenge. If you were bringing the vehicle in from out of state it would be easier. Are you in valley center so no smog?

Frank
 
elripster said:
Snogging the diesel could be a challenge. If you were bringing the vehicle in from out of state it would be easier. Are you in valley center so no smog?

Frank
Click to expand...
Nope, in Escondido and not really willing to fight any smog battles... Comparing the 164 horsepower of the 1HDT makes me wonder how it would fare on long highway trips to the 240 HP of the 1FZ-FE. I also wonder if one of the newer Toyota V8s might fit in an 80? A little more HP would sure make the truck nicer on the highways and perhaps even get better mpg in the process, that said it looks like the LandCruiser V8s didn't gain any appreciable HP over the 1FZ-FE until the 2015 models...
 
@FJRanger may be able to provide some insight on diesel swaps in So Cal. Not sure which engine, but he swapped a Toyota diesel into his 80.
 
Sometimes i forget that I live in CA! Ha! As Frank said, bringing in one from another state is much easier than doing the swap here.

The diesels drive very differently. With the turbo, the drivability is actually better than gas in my mind. But the cost of the swap may be prohibitive, regardless of the smog issues, unless you are specifically looking to be in a diesel.

I think the low mileage option is the best one to get back on the road quickly and not have to do many mods. The V8 would be nice, but you may have smog/visual issues there as well and merging the electircal systems would be not be trivial.
 
Taking on a diesel swap is not for the faint of heart, even though its somewhat of a direct bolt up, it is still a massive project, with every system needing some kind of modification. You'll spend more doing a swap then buying one that's already diesel. If that is what you want to do, sell this one for parts and and apply the funds towards the purchase of one.

Realistically, you are looking at 15-20k all said and done just for parts, assuming you can do the work yourself. I've seen decent HDJ81's in the 20-25k range.

If it was me, I'd get the motor rebuilt and enjoy it as the gasser it was meant to be. Get someone like valley hybrid to do it so its a pay once cry once, and never worry about it again.
 
Agree on using Georg at Valley Hybrids if you want the job done right. And he is probably the number one guy for getting your transmission a once over.

Let her know you were referred by me as we do a lot of work together and he takes good care of people I refer to him.
 
I'll 3rd George. I towed my 80 up to him last summer to have the front axle and gears completely gone over and rear axle too. During that visit he also installed 3:1 tcase gears, changed the trans output seal and trans pressure cable. Top notch work and a great all around guy.

I did a 3FE swap on my last 60. This is another example of a bolt in swap. The $900 engine was well over $5k all in and that was in 2011.

The smog rules are fairly simple. The engine needs to be equal year or newer and have all of its smog stuff on there. But figure with the price of cats these days exhaust alone could be >$2k. The BAR is nothing more than a really affordable smog test. It was $9 when I did mine, cheapest smog ever. That applies to a CA truck getting a new engine it didn't come with that was sold in vehicles available in the USA. If you buy one out of state, well in Phulcrum's case they just stamped it diesel at the DMV satellite office and that was that. No BAR, no smog... ever. The issue you might hit, might not, is if the engine was or was not sold in the US model vehicles somewhere in the country. Alaska counts there.

Have you regeared yet? If not, that's something I think would help on the highway. My truck bombs up hills with 35's and 4.88's. The snorkel doesn't hurt either. Nothing like cold air being crammed into the engine >75MPH speeds to help her keep up.

Frank
 
Nowadays the CA smog rules are so strict, I haven't heard of anyone being successful in registering anything non original, especially diesel swaps. Factor having to register it out of state into your decision of doing any kind of swap. Alika from the club has a story where he paid the fees, got plates at a local DMV for his 70, only to get a letter from Sacramento saying that they can't honor it, and refused to refund him his fees. I was lucky to sneak in before regs changed and get mine CA registered, I still worry they will come and revoke it.
 
This will scratch every itch you have:

forum.ih8mud.com

For Sale - 1995 Turbo Diesel Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ81 powered by 1HD-FT

This 1995 Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ81 is a Japanese-market example that was imported into the US in 2022. The truck is finished in desert tan with black trim over a brown and tan cloth interior. The truck is powered by a 1HD-FT 4.2L 24-valve Turbo Diesel inline-six paired with a 4-speed automatic...
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Actually, the engine change rules are easier. It used to be that you had to bring the new engine's transmission along with the new engine if that engine didn't come with your transmission. That's no longer the case but they did add the engine has to be from the same vehicle class. That means you can no longer pull and engine from say a Class 6 box truck for your light duty SUV. However, even the old engine / trans requirement wasn't well enforced. In my case, the engine came from 1991 80 series which was only sold here with an automatic. I had it mated to an H55F which was never sold in the US in a 60. The BAR ref said "Clean swap!" and gave me my sticker never even asking. The BAR ref at Mesa is a community college prof, very laid back, not out to get you, he just smogs it as the year you tell him it is and if it passes it passes. If not he'll give you some pointers.

Frank
 
Bud_Dude said:
I would hope for considerably better than the 12mpg I get out of my 1FZ-FE...
Click to expand...
I would consider 12mph a gift, I am lucky to get 10mph for long steady hauls, average about 9mpg. You could even look at a long block, Brian was able to get a new factory one last year I think, not sure if they are still shipping or have them, but about 10 were shipped to the US last year. There was speculation if NOS or if Toyota or subsidiary was making new ones.
 
Apologize for the off topic, but Carl have you ever had your cats back pressure tested? Also, do you have an OBDII scan tool? It would be interesting to see the fuel trim levels. I get 13mpg on long trips unless I am loaded to the gills going to Coyote Flats and then I might get down to 11MPG. 9-10MPG is 3FE territory.

Frank
 
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