What to check before buying a used diesel engine? (2LTE) (1 Viewer)

[Jemjem787]

I might be buying a 2LTE (1991 Hilux, 2.4l turbo diesel) in a couple days, and because of the location of the seller it will be hard to bring it to a shop before purchasing it. Does anyone have some tips on how to make sure the engine isnt a dud? According to the seller, he has just replaced the water pump, head and head gasket, and the timing belt. It has about 191km (118k miles). I am not too familiar with diesels at all so im hoping there are some easy ways to make sure its all working.

 

[roscoFJ73]

You really need to see a cold start and by cold I mean an engine that hasn't been started for at least 12 hours or more. Be warned, owners will often start and run them for 30 seconds or so. Then let them sit waiting for the potential buyer to come along in the next 30 minutes.. Feel the exhaust manifold for any signs of warmth before you start it.
A diesel started cold should start within a few seconds and any smoke should clear almost immediately. If it doesn't, it often means low compression on one or more cylinders. Other things like bad glow plugs can give the same effect.
You should also do research on the 2LTE, as you can see it has already had the head replaced. I would be asking a lot of questions about that.
Most diesels can be diagnosed by the smoke they make
White can be a timing issue.
Black can be a fuel injector issue.
Grey can be low compression. (it usually puffs in time with the bad cylinder)
Blue indicates oil burning.
They can often have more than one colour

Tread carefully . If you don't feel its right, walk away.

 

[Jemjem787]

Thanks for the advice. We are meeting in a public place so the engine would have already been running for a bit. I wouldn't be paying until a day later, so if I decide to pick it up I'll make sure I do a cold start before I buy it.

 

[RufusTheDufus]

Would the seller allow you to do a compression test? It doesn't take very long and it's fairly easy. Maybe 30 mins at the most.

 

[Jroc561]

Im also curious about quick backroad tests you can do from the old school mechanics, someone mentioned something about opening the oil cap and seeing something visually. These things are high enough that you can go underneath easily.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

I would:

- Ask for receipts for all the work that's been done. Make sure a genuine Toyota cylinder head was used along with genuine head gasket. Make sure the head was prepped by an automotive machine shop and installed by a certified mechanic.

- A cold start will tell you a huge amount. Allow the glow system 7 seconds and then start the truck. It that motor is in good shape with decent compression, it'll start perfectly smooth with no smoke instantly. If there is any smoke it could be any number of issues including bad compression, glow system issues, fuel system issues.

- Make sure oil pressure comes up quickly.

- Once it's running check the coolant overflow bottle to make sure there are no bubbles. Feel the rad hoses to make sure they system is not being super pressureized.

- Pull the oil cap while the motor is running to check for blow-by. Put the cap back on the oil filler hole and watch it. It will bounce a little bit at idle, but if it bounces a ton and pops right out of the hole, then blow-by is probably a bit much. Watch for tons of smoke/vapour coming out of the oil filler hole too.

- When driving look for all the standard things like funny noises, brakes dragging or not working, shifting issues etc. The motor if completely stock will be fairly gutless, but it should still have ok torque. You should also feel when the turbo spools as the power increases significantly at about 2500 rpm.

- Look for smoke from the tail pipe as you're driving. You should not see much if the engine is in good shape and has not been messed with.

- Drive it up a good long hard hill on the highway and make sure the coolant temps stay around 1/3 on the gauge.

- Also, look at the injection pump and make sure it's not leaking diesel (this does happen at around this vintage and is expensive to fix). Check the auto trans fluid, make sure it's red and not brown/black.

 

[brownbear]

2LTE engines are known to have weak heads. So many threads on here about them. Having a new head is a good start.

 

[Jemjem787]

2LTE engines are known to have weak heads. So many threads on here about them. Having a new head is a good start.

It apparently had the 3.0 head put on it, no receipts though and i am unsure how to check.

 

[roscoFJ73]

Ask him for a written declaration and who did the work.
I dont think you can really check without pulling it apart. Its probably true, many of them had head problems and the 3L head was often used.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

It apparently had the 3.0 head put on it, no receipts though and i am unsure how to check.

Also, the head you're talking about is from the 3L engine (same family as the 2L-xx). It is not 3.0 litres displacement though, it is 2.8 litres displacement. The 3.0 displacement engine is the 1KZTE, and that head cannot be used on the 2LTE.

Yeah, it is hard to tell if it's been done or not from the outside. However I don't think there are ANY of the original 2LTE's that made it to 191,000km without getting a new cylinder head. So chances are basically 100% that it has been done.

 

[Jemjem787]

Also, the head you're talking about is from the 3L engine (same family as the 2L-xx). It is not 3.0 litres displacement though, it is 2.8 litres displacement. The 3.0 displacement engine is the 1KZTE, and that head cannot be used on the 2LTE.

Yeah, it is hard to tell if it's been done or not from the outside. However I don't think there are ANY of the original 2LTE's that made it to 191,000km without getting a new cylinder head. So chances are basically 100% that it has been done.

Thanks for the correction there, I was unsure what it was actually called. I was pretty much told with certainty that anything over 100k has a new head haha. So since there is no way to check I'm hoping it's a good one