To Fish or Cut Bait? 1989 Fj 62 3FE blown engine.

[RockTiger]

Hi guys.

Im new to the forum and have a decision to make. I just picked up a 1989 Fj62 with a blown 3FE engine. Something has come loose on the inside and it knocks. It was silver but the Paint job is shot, no rust(located SC), one dent. Tie rod ends are done, front end needs adjustment and needs shocks. Brakes are good. Ball joints are fine. 369,000 k miles.

Im trying to figure how much money I'm into to get this thing back to road worthy or if i just need to sell it and wait for my wife to get tired of her 2001 Land Cruiser. The bottom end rebuild frightens me because I'm not familiar with this engine. When I bought it i was hoping to repair it for less than $2000. Ill post pics if i can figure out how.

Im sure you guys have covered this over and over and I'm sorry for that. I did check the FAQ and i didn't quite see what i was looking for.

 

[Toyoland66]

Toss in a 2F block, research 2-FE

 

[gregnash]

Into the repair to roadworthy for less than $2k? Hate to say it but I dont know that that will happen.
How mechanically adept are you? Front end stuff may not be all that hard if you are just replacing parts but OE parts are not cheap.

You can get a new to you engine for probably $1000 with less mileage if you do some looking, or you can do like ToyoLand66 said and do some research on the 2F-E.

- TRE kit from Kurt (if that is all that needs to be replaced) looks to run you a little over $100 per side
- Shocks can be had for pretty cheap depending on what you are going for. If plain stock you can probably do all four for less than $250.
- Engine, well that is a hole different can of worms.

First thing I would do is go through all of it and start listing the issues, prioritize and then work from there and make an assumption based on what you have.

 

[ToyotaCruiser]

Where are you located? Just in case you're thinking of selling...

 

[RockTiger]

Where are you located? Just in case you're thinking of selling...

Columbia, South Carolina

 

[3_puppies]

369,000 miles?

unless there has been some trans work in the past, not sure how much longer it will hold up.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

My opinion is that you'll be way more into it than $2000. What you have now is a $500 parts truck, if that.

Just the rebuilds on the motor, transmission and front end are $7500 or so.

You might find a used pull out 3FE that's ready to go in for $1000. THen the parts for a front end rebuild could be had for $300 or so. So if you did everything yourself, you might end up with a used running truck for your budget but it's unlikely.

Looks to be a decent Land Cruiser but you have a lot of entropy to overcome there.

 

[shancerlelby]

Find a decent used motor, do the tie rod ends with whatever cheap house brand your local autoparts store has. Live with bouncy blown shocks for awhile. If you simplify to what you need then it doesnt sound as bad. We would all like a fully resto'd cruiser but life doesnt work like an episode of overhauling. My body is shot and falling off but overthe years its got everything else slowly upgraded and fixed. Takes awhile but thats why we drive these beautiful old rigs. Well....unless its a 62 series....those headlights! Ick! But seriously looks like you have a good starting point.

 

[uglyoinker]

I'm on the wrong side of the country but I have a running 3fe for sale 290k but 120 pounds compression across the board.

 

[60Works]

Find a decent used motor,

Good advice. There're out there. You just have to look. The 2FE mod is popular and becoming well documented.

do the tie rod ends with whatever cheap house brand your local autoparts store has.

Bad advice. Do not compromise on parts in your steering or braking systems. Ever. Use Japanese made parts. Joint Fuji rod ends are only a little more expensive and are much better. cruiserparts.net supplies them direct. There are lots of great suppliers in the Vendors section, many of whom offer discounts on OEM parts.

Your steering box is probably also loose. Overhauled units are around $600 last I checked. The u-joints in the steering wheel shaft may be loose too. If the heat shield is missing where it passes the exhaust, the seals and lube will have been cooked out.

I don't think you can do it for $2,000 (maybe $3,000 for the minimums for a safe DD) but your Cruiser is still viable if you can do the work yourself. If you have to pay a shop to do the work you're better off selling now.

If you decide to sell, I think interest in buying your truck would be strong if you list it in the Classified section. Anything rust free will sell no matter the miles.

 

[RockTiger]

I have decided to rebuild the engine. Ill have the heads and block checked when i get it out. I have a hoist and an engine stand so it is going to be a learning experience. I have pulled engines and replaced head gaskets on chevys; however, the rebuild is a new thing for me. If it is shot, then i can sell the body or buy a used engine. Its not like what im doing will drive down the value. I am concerned about the transmission having so many miles. However i thought these things were in destructible? Isnt that why you love them so much?

But seriously, Given that I am going to puil the engine do you guys have any advice on what to do about that?

I really appreciate the advice and the open dialog.

 

[RockTiger]

I should clarify. Im asking about if you have advice for what to do about the transmission once i have the engine out. Put it back in and cross fingers or rebuild that thing too.

Fyi, i drive about 10k miles a year. I was sorta thinking that a rebuild would get me ten years or so even with the transmission as is.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

I should clarify. Im asking about if you have advice for what to do about the transmission once i have the engine out. Put it back in and cross fingers or rebuild that thing too.

Fyi, i drive about 10k miles a year. I was sorta thinking that a rebuild would get me ten years or so even with the transmission as is.

That is a lot of miles on that transmission, and unlikely to go another 100K miles. Also the transmission output shaft wears severely on these trucks leading to failure.

Cheaper than a rebuild of the power sucking and inefficient A440, consider swapping to an H55f 5 speed, which is an almost direct bolt up and will cost less, wake up the 3FE motor and get significantly better fuel economy. Do a search on the H55f here. There is lots of info.

Once you spend the $4000 on an engine rebuild, you're going to want a decent truck out of this. It can become a money pit if you are not careful. For me, no way I'd trust a super high miles transmission behind a new motor. It's a false economy to not at least rebuild transmission and transfer case at the same time.

 

[madsdad]

I blew an engine at about 325k... Got a used engine for $300. Shipping was about $300, and the gasket set for swapping everything around was about $300.

I'm at 357k and so far, so good. Tranny is starting to get a little squirrelly, though.

 

[RockDoc]

https://forum.ih8mud.com/sale-parts/703848-3f-block-cranck-can-pistons.html

Off course I would go 2FE....

 

[Michael Hanson]

These trucks are getting harder to find. I'd pop a used engine in it. Mike

 

[SteamerF18]

Another option and relatively close to you.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/sale-parts/686083-va-2fe-daily-driver-kit.html

 

[RockTiger]

That is a lot of miles on that transmission, and unlikely to go another 100K miles. Also the transmission output shaft wears severely on these trucks leading to failure.

Cheaper than a rebuild of the power sucking and inefficient A440, consider swapping to an H55f 5 speed, which is an almost direct bolt up and will cost less, wake up the 3FE motor and get significantly better fuel economy. Do a search on the H55f here. There is lots of info.

Once you spend the $4000 on an engine rebuild, you're going to want a decent truck out of this. It can become a money pit if you are not careful. For me, no way I'd trust a super high miles transmission behind a new motor. It's a false economy to not at least rebuild transmission and transfer case at the same time.

This website has been great advice. After looking, I can get this thing running for about $2500 with used engine and transmission replacement. It probably won't take me more than about a month to swap them out. This cruiser isn't super nice, but the body in good shape and I think they are really cool vehicles. I really like the ideas of switching out to the H55f. My only hesitation is that while I have a decent garage with enough tools to do an engine swap, I don't have any fabrication tools. Fabricating brackets and welding stuff up isn't something I can do.

One last check before I make my final decision. What is a fair price for a rust free body and blown engine? What is a fair price for one of these running with the engine and transmission sitting at 150,000 miles?

You think one of these things is worth $4000 running / no rust? I'm not looking to make any money, but I don't want to make decision that leaves me too far inside out.

Thanks again for being accepting of my rehashed questions.

 

[gregnash]

Price wise, for a blown engine the body and parts would but just a parts truck so less than 1k especially with the amount of miles on the body and everything. I think that may be pretty generous even with the body being rust free.

How much is the person looking for?

 

[60Works]

Rock, you're asking a VERY subjective question. Value depends greatly on the condition of vehicle, mod status, mileage, and location.

Where I'm at in New England rust free trucks are excedingly rare. In California and Arizona, trucks like yours go to the crusher because no one wants to put money into a 300+K mile drivetrain. There seems to be a steady supply of reasonably straight, stock, running 60/62's on Autotrader with around 180-220k miles from $4-8k on the west coast. With gas forecast to reach $5/gal this summer, supply will probably go up.

At 360k miles, every mechanical part on your truck that hasn't been changed recently is worn out; every bearing, every spline, every seal, brush, lining, and valve. With a few more pictures to confirm its condition, I'd give you $1,000 for your 62 BUT it'd cost me another $1,000 to get it shipped north so it's not really that much of a bargain.

If you keep it and rebuild the engine, upgrade for free to a 2FE.