Builds Wompom's Painfully Slow Rebuild Now Part II! (1 Viewer)

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Rebuild part II page 10.

96 FZJ rebuild parts list for round 2. HERE


So memorial day weekend i made a road trip from Seattle to Big Sky, MT to pick up a locked 96 LC with 85k on it. BUT the motor is "seized" according to the mechanic I got it from. I've been reading on the forums here for a few months and finally found a project.
The story I was given was that the son of the guy who owned it was driving it when it lost oil pressure and he kept driving it all the way to the mechanics (a few miles). The coolant is still full of Toyota red, and the oil looks clean.
My initial thoughts are that maybe the HG blew and its hydro-locked now since it ran all the way until he parked it. I'm planning on starting by pulling the spark plugs to see if the motor will turn. Anyone have any tips on where to start?
I'd like to keep the 1fz-fe in it, but if the thing is toast on the bottom end, might debate a full on swap to a v8, 6bt... who knows.
It appears to also have OME suspension on it. I cant tell if its coils and shocks or just shocks. Anyone know how to tell the spring difference? By a quick visual it doesnt look lifted, at least not much.
Some pics of the rig:
 
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Nice looking rig there. It's too bad the engine may be ruined with so few miles.

The springs appear to be stock but the shocks look to have been replaced before.

Perhaps you can start by getting ahold of a 30mm socket and using a breaker bar to try and spin the crank shaft at the pulley/dampener nut.
 
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i would pull the plugs and start with a bore scope. you can get a cheap one from ebay for about 20 bucks.
 
So today I finally got to start taking things apart.
I got the air filter cleaner off of the car and thought, hell might as well empty the tuna can. Well i found a furry little friend inside, as well as a bunch of seeds. He managed to scratch the hell out of the drain to the tuna can and it looks like even chew on the metal trying to get out.

Per @slow95z recommendation i bought a bore scope on amazon and stuck it in the cylinders. The plugs all looked clean except 3 and a little bit on 6. I was really hoping to find that it was hydrolocked and know it was a HG job, BUT there was nothing in the cylinders. I got on the ground and stuck a 30mm socket on a breaker bar. I tried to turn it clockwise and nothing even budged. it felt like it moved 1/4" but then nothing. Stuck as hell.
I ran to the store and grabbed some Marvel Mystery Oil, poured some in each cylinder and ill let it sit for a bit. Hoping i can bust it free but guessing the best next step is still to pull the head.
Any advice or thoughts are greatly appreciated.
 
Good looking 80 you got there.

Those could be Monroe GasMagnum shocks. If you read the print on one you should be able to figure it out. I'm not sure but think that there is a shared manufacturer for OME and Monroe, though others on mud can say for sure.

You've probably moved past your original guesses but from the looks of it your head gasket wasn't leaking water into any of the cylinders. If water was getting into a cylinder for a while the piston top would typically be noticeably cleaner in that cylinder but yours look similar. Driving without oil pressure seems the relevant event.

Hard to know from my arm chair but given the clues you've offered I'll throw in a guess that the engine will need a full rebuild to sort the damage. Will be interesting to see what you find and to see the photos though. Good luck with it and I hope it's something simple and easy to fix!
 
Good looking 80 you got there.

Those could be Monroe GasMagnum shocks. If you read the print on one you should be able to figure it out. I'm not sure but think that there is a shared manufacturer for OME and Monroe, though others on mud can say for sure.

You've probably moved past your original guesses but from the looks of it your head gasket wasn't leaking water into any of the cylinders. If water was getting into a cylinder for a while the piston top would typically be noticeably cleaner in that cylinder but yours look similar. Driving without oil pressure seems the relevant event.

Hard to know from my arm chair but given the clues you've offered I'll throw in a guess that the engine will need a full rebuild to sort the damage. Will be interesting to see what you find and to see the photos though. Good luck with it and I hope it's something simple and easy to fix!

I gave up on the headgasket theory indeed. Two cylinders seemed significantly more clean, but not steamed clean like a HG would cause. Im still curious why cyl 3 was running so rich/ the spark plug was so dirty. Im guessing im going to need to pull the whole motor, but wondering if i should just pull the head to begin. was hoping not to have to go down that whole road. I think pulling just the head may give me an idea of more so what caused the issue, but im guessing there will be lower end problems from the oil pressure absence.
 
Got yourself a project there. How long did the truck sit after it seized? With that mileage it would seem like at least 12-15 years ago! Good luck. May be easier to find a decent used engine and drop it in. Then you can at least drive it while either rebuilding the original or just roll with it.
 
Got yourself a project there. How long did the truck sit after it seized? With that mileage it would seem like at least 12-15 years ago! Good luck. May be easier to find a decent used engine and drop it in. Then you can at least drive it while either rebuilding the original or just roll with it.

It only sat for ~2 months. It was a vacation car that lived in a resort house for most of its life. Kid drove it with no oil pressure 2 miles to the mechanic supposedly, but never got to talk directly to the owner so im not sure. I got it for a good deal but was hoping to be able to break it free again. If i can find another 1fz up here i may swap it in for the time being.

With the plugs out and it in neutral i should be able to turn the crank with a breaker bar, correct?
 
It only sat for ~2 months. It was a vacation car that lived in a resort house for most of its life. Kid drove it with no oil pressure 2 miles to the mechanic supposedly, but never got to talk directly to the owner so im not sure. I got it for a good deal but was hoping to be able to break it free again. If i can find another 1fz up here i may swap it in for the time being.

With the plugs out and it in neutral i should be able to turn the crank with a breaker bar, correct?
I don't even think it has to be in neutral. When you start your car it's normally in Park so should turn in Park too. Hopefully the damage isn't too bad.
 
I also just realized it has an almost brand new oil filter on it from right before the oil pressure dropped. I remember reading on here an issue with a blocked filter but it was a WIX i think. This has a NAPA on it. Wonder if its worth cracking open and seeing if that was what did it.
 
If you think that's a possibility DO NOT crack open the filter. The guy that was dealing with the WIX filter had trouble proving his case because he had opened up the filter without a company rep there or letting them do it. I would remove it and inspect it to see if there are any clues first.
 
Napa Gold filters are made by Wix, FWIW.

Does anyone know the proper way of going about having them inspect it? Or is it more likely that if they even find something wrong i'd just never hear back anyway. There are no obvious signs of other problems that could cause this and i have a hard time wrapping my mind around a toyota failure with 84k on the clock. I know it can happen though.
 
Just an idea, why don't you pull off the lower oil pan, then remove a few bearing caps to see if there's any damage. Now if the motors been run without oil like the PO said, you'll be able to see the damage to the bearing shells, and crank journals right away.

If you do open it up, and the bearings, and crank are fried from lack of oil, then you've got a few choices to make. Rebuild what you've got, that option can run into BIG money depending on how much damage been done. Next you could do a diesel, or V8 engine swap, going this route is even BIGGER money then doing a complete rebuild on your factory engine. Or for the least amount of money, you could buy a used engine out of a truck being parted out.
 
The fact you purchased the LC with a bad motor WIX is not going to be of any help I'm afraid.
 
is there any oil in it? have you thought about sending if off to blackstone and see what they say? sorry this is turning out to be a hard one to fix but a used engine is typically less than 1500 bucks.
 
The fact you purchased the LC with a bad motor WIX is not going to be of any help I'm afraid.

My intention is not to get them to pay or help in any way but to hopefully make them realize if this WAS the issue that it seems to be a recurring problem with the filters for these motors and that it needs attention.

is there any oil in it? have you thought about sending if off to blackstone and see what they say? sorry this is turning out to be a hard one to fix but a used engine is typically less than 1500 bucks.

Oil is still in the motor, hasnt lost any. I know i could plop a used motor in it, but with only 84k on the truck i dont want to put a 200k motor in it. I was actually thinking of draining the oil and pulling a sample to send to blackstone while i am doing it. They might be able to tell me something i can't see without digging deeper. Looking like a rebuild is my best option unless anyone knows of any low mile 1fzs out there.
 

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