Whats a clean LJ78 with cracked head worth in Canada?

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GTSSportCoupe

GTSSportCoupe

2LTE abuser
10 Year
Joined
Mar 23, 2012
Threads
242
Messages
9,533
Location
Victoria, BC, Canada
I'm tempted to buy a second LJ78. There is one near me that experienced the typical head crack. Engine is partially disassembled. Rest of the vehicle is in great shape. Brand new BFG AT skinnies. No locker, no winch, trans is auto.

What is something like this worth in Canada? Seller was asking $4000, but now just wants it gone out of his parent's driveway (parents are pressuring him). He's open to all offers

I may revive the 2lte or do an engine swap. Here are his pics:

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What does it cost to rebuild / replace a 2L-TE? Are there other diesel power plant options that are compatible with that gearbox? Does the interior look as good as the exterior?
 
I bought mine for 4200 and it was runnin fine. did the HG, belt and she was good until i got tired of no power lol. id offer him 2800. Tell him hes on glue if he wants more.
 
1978HJ45 said:
What does it cost to rebuild / replace a 2L-TE? Are there other diesel power plant options that are compatible with that gearbox? Does the interior look as good as the exterior?
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I think I could get this 2lte going with a brand new head, gasket set, timing belt etc. for about $1000-$1500 doing the work myself. This sort of job is not a problem for me.

I suppose with enough work a 3B, 1KZ, 1PZ or 1HZ could be swapped in (may require front clip swap from an HD 70 series). These swaps have all be done as demonstrated on the forum here. I've done swaps in other Toyota's before, and I know how expensive this sort of thing can become.

Gas options that have been demonstrated are 22RE or or 1UZFE. 3RZFE or 5VZFE may work as well. 1UZFE's can be had cheap now, and they make very nice power with good reliability and decent enough economy.

I could just part the truck out too if anyone on here wants anything from it. I would keep a couple things for myself as extras for my LJ78.

Yes, the interior on this thing is immaculate. Way nicer shape than mine. ODO says 130,000kms.
 
yotahed said:
I bought mine for 4200 and it was runnin fine. did the HG, belt and she was good until i got tired of no power lol. id offer him 2800. Tell him hes on glue if he wants more.
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Yeah, I got mine for $3500 needing some TLC & tires but ok otherwise.

I was thinking of offering him closer to $1500-$2000. :grinpimp:
 
GTSSportCoupe said:
I think I could get this 2lte going with a brand new head, gasket set, timing belt etc. for about $1000-$1500 doing the work myself. This sort of job is not a problem for me.
[...]
Yes, the interior on this thing is immaculate. Way nicer shape than mine. ODO says 130,000kms.
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Not a hope of doing this job for that kind of money -

The head costs more than that, then you need a head gasket, a top end gasket kit, and head bolts at a bare minimum. Pus there is machining costs for putting in the cam, then having the valves ground and set etc.

Add timing component kit, water pump, upper and lower rad hoses, accessory belts, having the radiator re-done (or at least rodded out as long as it's not got a rotten core), coolant, oil and oil filter to even start doing the job properly.

The labour is quite substantial, and if you think you're going to be able to sell it afterwards to recover your costs, I'd have to wish you the best of luck as the market is very slow on these things.

I'd guess that with a cracked head the value is around $2,000 - $3,000 as long as it's not a low-end, low auction grade unit.

Just my opinion, and YMMV.

~John
 
everytime i had a head done on a LJ it cost the company $4000 by the time it left the door.
if you can do it properly for $1500 then my hat is off to you.
 
crushers said:
everytime i had a head done on a LJ it cost the company $4000 by the time it left the door.
if you can do it properly for $1500 then my hat is off to you.
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How much more does it cost to just exchange the engine? ( ie 1HZ )
 
roscoFJ73 said:
Complete head here for $850
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-3L-Cylinder-Head-Complete-BMI-/220755742567?
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Air freight from Australia (and for what is probably a non-Toyota production head) - at commercial rates is $25/Kg.

Those heads weigh in at 32.70 Kg when bare... you do the math.

(ie: it's not worth it to fix one of these thing unless you have deep pockets and like a bit of gambling [tough to re-sell, potential future failure[).

The other issue is that when the IP goes, you're going to be into a lot of expense as there are none of the cheap 'fell of the back of a truck' Injection pumps around any more. Locally, there are no shops that are worth their salt that will rebuild these (or, if they do, it's going to cost a pretty penny).

Much more worthwhile saving up and spending (a lot) more money on the HD 70 series than on one of these.

I recognize that the shape and size of the LJ78 is highly desirable, but the cost of repairing one is not in the realm of practical and realistic when that same money could be spent on similar vehicle with a far better drivetrain (HZJ77 for example).

The last 2LTE head jobs that we did were in the $5,000 range with the radiator being overhauled (most of them are very plugged up - which really doesn't help the head to survive). Wayne's numbers are from quite a few years ago and costs have changed.


~John
 
I keep wondering about using one of the kits that are available to mate a VW TDI to the Toyota transmission. Some variants of that engine produce 160HP and 200 ft lbs.

How do you say Fahrvergnügen in Japanese?
 
lowenbrau said:
I keep wondering about using one of the kits that are available to mate a VW TDI to the Toyota transmission. Some variants of that engine produce 160HP and 200 ft lbs.

How do you say Fahrvergnügen in Japanese?
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I was thinking about the Mercedes 5 cylinder turbo engine. There are adapters for the manual trans... 4x4 Labs makes them and I measured quickly that the engine should fit with a bit of oil pan work.


~John
 
I decided to pass on this truck today. The bottom end of the engine is in need of a huge amount of work. Looks like water wrecked the rear cylinder, as there is some serious pitting around the top of the cylinder wall. If it simply needed a head, I'd have probably gone for it.

As a point of interest, this head actually cracked in a way that I've never seen pictures of before. The cracks are not between the intake/exhaust valves as most are, but are instead in the area between the valves and the pre-combustion chamber. They actually extend right to the precombustion chambers. Also, there are two cracks per cylinder (middle two cylinders). The coolant was like rust soup, and the head nearly completely clogged.

Still a good candidate for an engine swap, as the rest of the truck is nice. I simply just don't have the time for a swap though.

RADD, I was going to use an Ebay head, as the sellers have good reviews, and the heads are on the order of $550 shipped with a gasket set. That is how I was going to be able to do the whole job for $1500. Here is a link to the heads I mean: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-2-4-...Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cc2364df2&vxp=mtr
 
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Bruce,
with the 4.88 gearing that little VW engine would be in its torque range, no?
i found the 2LTE working at high rpms to move that weight down the road with those gears ...

yes John, that was back in 07 when i had a half dozen heads go south. that warranty costs sure sucked the profit out of that year. hence my dislikeing ... no, hatred ... of the E series engines and expecially the 2LTE.
 
Radd Cruisers said:
Air freight from Australia (and for what is probably a non-Toyota production head) - at commercial rates is $25/Kg.

Those heads weigh in at 32.70 Kg when bare... you do the math.




~John
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I got a written quote from one engine parts seller here of $256 for 56kg to Canada with DHL,made up of a 1HD T head and engine kit.
They quoted 30kg for a bare head.
Australia Post rates from here are $17.70 a kg for airmail and $10.20 kg for sea mail to Canada
 
roscoFJ73 said:
I got a written quote from one engine parts seller here of $256 for 56kg to Canada with DHL,made up of a 1HD T head and engine kit.
They quoted 30kg for a bare head.
Australia Post rates from here are $17.70 a kg for airmail and $10.20 kg for sea mail to Canada
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We ship all the time from Australia - almost weekly, and have been doing so for quite a few years, and by the time it lands here it's between $20 and $25 / Kg. This includes the brokerage charges etc. We are very careful about tracking costs (exchange, duty, taxes, brokerage etc.) and it's been a pretty steady rate for the last number of years.

Sea Mail takes far too long - 8 weeks is typical.

Pallet freight is 8 - 10 weeks and is down around $1 - $2 a Kg.

The Aussie $$ has been sitting at about 5 - 6% above the Canuck buck lately, but it looks like the gap just closed a bit just in the last few days.

I'll look in to DHL pricing again, but I think they are pretty much par for the course with FedEx.


~John
 
Radd Cruisers said:
W
I'll look in to DHL pricing again, but I think they are pretty much par for the course with FedEx.


~John
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The company that quoted the DHL price said they get a hefty discount and only charge what freight costs them.
 
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