2.8D Engine Life

[GOONA]

Hey lads,

I came across a dual cab Hilux for sale it is a '90 model, with a Schwitzer Turbo Fitted 18 Months Ago, 3" zhaust, 2" BL, bullbar, towbar and a few bits and pieces. But it's got 340,000k's on it! I think it's alot but from searching around many seem to believe that the motor should be still be good...what do you guys reckon?

Also he's asking 9k for it...

Thanks,
GOONA

[BadLux]

relatively good price. I think I speak for everyone here but MOST 2.8D will die between 280-350km's So I personally wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole

[MissDrew]

the 2.8 if not serviced every 5,000kms are very prone to dieing not long after clicking over 10,000kms of un serviced driving.

Have heard of lots dieing at approx 200,000kms. I wouldn't touch one with that many ks on it unless you budget in a rebuild.

[Balange]

2.8 probably the worst motor ever built. Had one that had a bottom rebuild at 100K, serviced regularly every 5K, oil change and filters and it dropped a big end and put the conrod through the side of the block at 18oK. I wouldnt buy another one. Replaced it with a second hand 3.0 litre motor from Japan which goes significantly better.

[ferrit]

ive got a 330,000km old 2.8D, only thing thats gone wrong on it was the head gasket fractured and started to weep coolant and oil out of the side of the block- was still fine around the cylinders!

Every 5000kms oil and filter (FFS, its a $6 filter, dont be so fricken cheap!) change, gets a set of injectors every 80,000kms

when my head was overhauled as part of teh new gasket, they just re-ground the seats slightly, and left it at that, new seals and used the same shims- they hadnt worn at all in 250,00kms

[tweak'e]

interesting comments.

the 2.8 was the main stay for courier drivers for quite some time (hiace). they regularly get 400-500 tho out of them without problems (and you know how couriers drive !)...also hiaces are lower geared, they get revved to hell and back.

however they have one big weak point. if poorly serviced they tend to snap the crank at the rear bearing. standard servicing for these is 5000km. imho they are hard on the oil, so good oil is a must.

buying one at high km's? allow for recoing the motor. especially with a turbo added its probably got quite a large amount of blowby.
if you reco it you could also fit the oil cooler and oil spray bar.

[GOONA]

Cheers fellas,

Apparently it's been serviced every 4k. How much is a rebuild compared to slotting a new motor in? Just trying to weigh my options up at the moment.

[MissDrew]

If you have to pay somebody to rebuild it, it will cost you around 4 thousand.
A second hand motor will set you back about 2 to 3 thousand and then you are just back in the same boat regardes to kms etc. Getting harder and harder to find a low k'd one.

[GOONA]

Mmm...interesting. I should be able to get a couple of mates together and rebuild it ourselves so i guess it'll just cost parts and beers. After those kind of k's what else tends to go wrong with them? Just trying to weigh it all up really. Might be better of trying to find a lower mileage one hey...

Cheers
GOONA

[MissDrew]

Starter motors go about every 100,000kms or there abouts depending if city or highway driving. Alts are about 150 from memory. Centre bearing is almost certainly going to be toasted.

[ferrit]

christ mine must be built from mostly landcruiser then!!!

200,000kms from the first starter, then it fried its solenoid and jammed on.

Still on factory alternator!

And factory centre bearing! With a 2" lift!

[scuba_steve86]

mines just clicked over 200,000 and running like a dream.

[MissDrew]

And factory centre bearing! With a 2" lift!

Bet its shot, go get a new one, install it and then take it for a drive. Do the same with your steering dampner while your at it. Most people don't notice that these 2 things are stuffed untill either they fall apart or they get replaced for some reason.

[MissDrew]

I should add that when I removed the 2.8 from my hilux it had 197,000kms on it and it had never missed a beat. Had had the alt and starter rebuilt once each but nothing else had been touched. Turbo went on around 140,000kms or there abouts.

Phibbsy now has my old turbo
HnM now has my old motor
As far as I know both are still going strong. All though HnM has a tendency to kill things early [/quote]

[cruiser075]

I turboed my mates 2.8 4 runner at 200000 and its just turned over 400000km all origional engine serviced every 5000km still running very sweet, doesnt use no oil and runs like a clock

[Lux_89]

yup, i got a 2.8, just clicked over 300k and runs like a dream. As for the bloke saying 2.8 are the worst ever built dunno where the hell you got that from, and the 3 litre? haha i had one in my last luxy, was aftermarket conversion and it had 200k on the clock with a fregin knock in it. And they dont go that harder just a bit tourqier. Seriously.. you look after something it will look after you. I payeed 10 after working down from twelve for mine and it had 270 on it, but very bvery clean, one of the cleanest ive seen. till i got it anywyas

[GOONA]

This lux is starting to sound more and more tasty What would a reasonable price be do you think for it? Was hoping he might consider 7k as he's asking 9k atm.

Also, is there a website or similar where i can find nore info on lux's had a look through the bible but couldn't really find much apart from mods and the such.

Cheers,
GOONA

[tweak'e]

the only other common thing is the front pully/dampner coming loose, which is not uncommon on most deisels.

mine has 250,000 tho on it and only had had front pully and starters contacts done on it. plenty of others have way more km's and still running fine.
its proberly the best 4cyl deisel toyota has made.

[Sic Lux]

What kind of info are you after this kind of info http://www.redbookasiapacific.com/au/ve ... y=TOYO90DE My 2.8's got just under 230K and just done belt as i was unsure if it'd been done before i bought it at 200 also cam and crank seals as they were starting to leak and it gets a bit of a reving.

[sparehead2]

My 2.8D has 195K on the clock, bought it at 185K 4 Years ago.

I have replaced:
Alt.
Starter. (Sparks from the batt conection right through the grill.) Batt OK.
Rad
Air con comp
Air con condenser
Power stear Pully
Glow Plugs.
Timing belt. (thought I should)
front wheel bearings.
Center bearing, Stuffed again.

I have proberbly replaced the oil 5 times in 10k.
and now run 100% Bio Fuel, Need to replace the Fuel filter soon!.

And I still cannot work out a slight overheating problem.
Over 35 deg on a slight uphill at 100kph it will slowly rise. (tulla freeway Vic) Falls if I go 80kph. Also going up huge hill in second when needing to drop to 1st. over a long distance on a hot day.
Mast gully road near ferny creek - Upper FTG. VIC.

But having all those problems the engine has never let me down, Its the things arround it.

[ferrit]

And factory centre bearing! With a 2" lift!

Bet its shot, go get a new one, install it and then take it for a drive. Do the same with your steering dampner while your at it. Most people don't notice that these 2 things are stuffed untill either they fall apart or they get replaced for some reason.

bearings fine- last time the driveshafts came out (diff rebuild) i dropped the front shaft too, theres no play or notchyness in the centre bearing at all.

Steering dampner is a 10,000km old OME job.

[ferrit]

My 2.8D has 195K on the clock, bought it at 185K 4 Years ago.

I have replaced:
Alt.
Starter. (Sparks from the batt conection right through the grill.) Batt OK.
Rad
Air con comp
Air con condenser
Power stear Pully
Glow Plugs.
Timing belt. (thought I should)
front wheel bearings.
Center bearing, Stuffed again.

I have proberbly replaced the oil 5 times in 10k.
and now run 100% Bio Fuel, Need to replace the Fuel filter soon!.

And I still cannot work out a slight overheating problem.
Over 35 deg on a slight uphill at 100kph it will slowly rise. (tulla freeway Vic) Falls if I go 80kph. Also going up huge hill in second when needing to drop to 1st. over a long distance on a hot day.
Mast gully road near ferny creek - Upper FTG. VIC.

But having all those problems the engine has never let me down, Its the things arround it.

Viscous hub- only cost less than $200 from ripco, and that cured my overheating problems. I also had to replace my radiator from a tiny pin prick leak.

[Saratoga]

I have a 89 ln106, its done 330,000 and in 35,000km i have had to rebuild the fuel pump, replace starter motor twice, new gear box twice, new radiator, and definately a new steering dampener.

I havent looked at the centre bearing, but i now think i should!

[phippsy]

they seem to be a bit of a mixed bag these motors. My motor got rebuilt at 135thou then turboed at about 145thou. Change the oil as close to every 5000 as I can. Now has 280thou on it and I have only replaced the brushes in the alternator & the battery a while ago. It has started to get a bit of a leak from the rear main I noticed the other day when I was under it but thats about all.

[Sic Lux]

I think alot of it comes back to service history and how it's been driven
For overheating the olny time i've been in one and it's got hot was fully loaded up cunninghams gap and we later found out between the radiator and ac radiator there was a build up of mud
Also have you replaced the thermostat as it may only be partialy opening
Alternators and starters don't like mud that much so if mud driven and not cleaned well they'll stuff up
With centre bearings if they keep wearing out it'd be a good idea to get a 1peice shaft made up

[sparehead2]

I think alot of it comes back to service history and how it's been driven
For overheating the olny time i've been in one and it's got hot was fully loaded up cunninghams gap and we later found out between the radiator and ac radiator there was a build up of mud
Also have you replaced the thermostat as it may only be partialy opening
Alternators and starters don't like mud that much so if mud driven and not cleaned well they'll stuff up
With centre bearings if they keep wearing out it'd be a good idea to get a 1peice shaft made up

Yes replace the thermostat with a slightly cooler one. NO change.
I even replaced the condenser as it had bent fins as it sits in fron of the radiator. Also Dyno tuned and on a warm day and they couldn't find a problem and gave me a little more power.

Also put a Thermo fan in front, It switches on when the air con is on. Great for sitting in traffic on a hot day.

99% of the time my temp is fine its just those very very hot days and when I give it a bit.
Like sitting on 100kph, Foot flat to the floor for an extended period.

Or foot flat in second and slowing down going up a hill.

So thats low speed and high speed.
The only thing left is the water pump but isn't it replaced when doing the altinator. 95 Built ln106 DC 3L Which was 4 years ago.

I have also had a mechanic look at the pump and looked fine.

PS. Who wants to buy it.

[GOONA]

Thanks for all the replies,

Sic Lux- had a look a redbook before. Was mostly just looking for something like an FAQ or similar but i've done a fair bit of searching through outers which has helped alot.

Will go have a look at it tommorrow and let you know how it goes.

Thanks again,

GOONA

[tweak'e]

Yes replace the thermostat with a slightly cooler one. NO change.
I even replaced the condenser as it had bent fins as it sits in fron of the radiator. Also Dyno tuned and on a warm day and they couldn't find a problem and gave me a little more power.

Also put a Thermo fan in front, It switches on when the air con is on. Great for sitting in traffic on a hot day.

99% of the time my temp is fine its just those very very hot days and when I give it a bit.
Like sitting on 100kph, Foot flat to the floor for an extended period.

Or foot flat in second and slowing down going up a hill.

So thats low speed and high speed.
The only thing left is the water pump but isn't it replaced when doing the altinator. 95 Built ln106 DC 3L Which was 4 years ago.

I have also had a mechanic look at the pump and looked fine.

PS. Who wants to buy it.

the water pumps had the odd problem, i think they cavitated causeing the block to erode. the later ones had a different impellar.

the other thing is air flow. check for any restriction in the air intakes. this also includes valve clearances and cam wear.

otherwise take your foot off the throttle and quit thrashing the living crap out of it. nothing likes full noise for an extended time. espesially if its overfueling a little bit. high EGT's will overheat it and kill it.
if you need to run at high power for a long time, simply drop back to 90% throttle. you will go a bit slower but use a whole lot less fuel and it won't heat up so much.

[sparehead2]

otherwise take your foot off the throttle and quit thrashing the living crap out of it. .

I would if I could keep it at the 100k speed limit up a slight uphill.

Thanks for you other advise.

Dyno Data:
Injection timing WAS .56 NOW .92
WAS 36HP NOW 48HP
WAS 280lb NOW 320lb

[Sic Lux]

I think i remember a golf buggy spitting out numbers like that on the dyno at powercruise last year don't know what mines got but it's draged off a 99 3lt non turbo lux.
Have you checked if exhaust is bloked or majorly restricted, also heve you had it compresion tested
some figures at bottom of page on hp output std and turbo'd
http://www.axtturbo.com.au/Hi2L.html