Hilux 3000D (5L Engine) transplant

[Hill Billy]

Hi,

This is my first post, so please forgive me if I do something wrong.

I have a Hilux with the 3000D engine (250 000km). I'm contemplating changing the engine. I know this engine (5l) should never be turbo charged.

My main goal is overlanding (reason I bought it in Oct 08) but overtaking with this van is a difficult..., but I'm willing to live with it if I must.

Any advice whould be welcome. I was thinking of going the KZT route. I don't have millions in the bank... so please lets try and keep the costs down - I have a lot of mods that still needs to be done. Currently the bakkie is pretty standard.

Reliability and fuel consumption is my main goals. I don't want a M3 killer.

Thanx

[Mr_B]

Hi HillBilly

Welcome to the forum! Sure you will get the right answers from the diesel chaps! Coff coff... puff puff...

B

[Hill Billy]

Are there any diesel fans out there?

Some options as I see it:
1. Should I go to SAC and do a cylinderhead conversion or some other mod to the current engine? (+- R 10 500)
2. Change the engine to another diesel:
- KZT
- D4D (if not to expensive)
- 2.5 Turbo Mazda / Ford (costs anyone?)
- maybe some other engine - any advice?
3. Change the engine to petrol:
- 2.7 or another Toyota engine
- 7MGE conversion (costs anyone?)
- 3l V6 Ford (or some other Ford motor)

[Hill Billy]

Another option I was thinking about is to swap my 5L out for a 4.2 Lancruiser Diesel (1HZ I think).
But the question I have is: Will it FIT and will it be horrobly expensive - maybe a Jap imported engine?

Cheers

[ThysdJ]

Another option I was thinking about is to swap my 5L out for a 4.2 Lancruiser Diesel (1HZ I think).
But the question I have is: Will it FIT and will it be horrobly expensive - maybe a Jap imported engine?

It will fit if you are prepared to sit on the back seat of you Hilux. You have to seriously cut and modify the firewall to fit it, as the LC diesel is a very long motor. Also it is quite heavy and expensive to do. Just not worth the effort.

Is the 5L motor in you Hilux still in good nick?

[dalkill]

for my money, I would sell it and buy 2.7 or KZTE - alot of pain and hassle would be saved - but that's just me.
if I'm correct fuel consumption is the about the same, and diesel is currently cheaper then petrol. However, Bennie once mentioned he did the numbers and in the long run diesel vehicles are more expensive to maintain. And if a diesel engine dies, well you going to cry, moreso if you needed to repair petrol counterpart.

I was pondering the 2.5 mazda at some point in my life. But my dad looked at me funny and that was the end of that. Now my buddy has one. damn it's a good engine. Eats up hills effortlessly. But then he has blown the head gasket twice. First time they replaced the engine with recon one, and now this one gone as well. When I wanted to buy a 2.5 mazda 2001 model for about R70K, but it had 270K on the clock, the mazda mechanic I phoned for his opinion said stay away. Milage too high. Thus from my side, the 2.5 mazda engine is strong, but not very reliable.

Hopefully my ranting had added some value

[JohanM]

Heinrich, welcome here on the forum!!!

I would be honest and say that I have worked for SAC and the conversion that you have mentioned (imho) is expensive for the gain that you might be getting. We did have a few failures on the engines, however I will advise you to rather have a decent exhaust fitted to the vehicle, wouldn't really advise a branch on the vehicle and then have the injectors and pump serviced and calibrated to optimum performance and economy.

I did once a 3000D Hilux conversion with close to 300000 km's on the clock, the motor was still in very good nick inside and afterwards it did perform slightly better, however even after the conversion overtaking was a still slower that what i expected.

The client was satisifed with the performance gain on the vehicle. If you are looking at adding accesories then even with a conversion on your engine it will still be slower than anticipated, thus dont expect 33% more power and torque that is going to make your HIlux 33% faster.

In fact it makes it easier to drive, lighter on fuel if driven in the same manner and conditions, but performance would be up by anything of 5 -10% maximum after the conversion.

I would say either keep it STD and tuned to max performance and economy, or if you can fit a KZTE engine however the 5L and KZTE did have different gear ratios thus you would be looking at diong a conversion on the diff and or gearbox as well to get it to go like a KZTE, otherwise it might be a case of over revving the engine.

The KZTE runs at approx 3000 rpm in 5th gear +/- 140 km/h. The 5 L runs 140 km/h in5th gear at approx 3800- 4000 rpm IIRC.

Hope it helps you decide what to do.

[Jaws]

I second what Shaakir Johan and Johan said, keep the current one standard, rather sell a buy what you need. Although an engine conversions sounds like a good idea in the beginning they can quickly turn ugly.

[Hill Billy]

Thanx for all the feedback guys!

The engine still looks good (I think...). I'm not a mechanic, I need to work for a living and can't play with my Toys allday!!!

I'm leaning towards rather keeping the engine as it is and drive over stuff next to the road and pass other cars like the taxis do.

May just do a stage 1 @ SAC and keep the rest of the money for other stuff, or extra diesel for our trip to Beira!!!

I changed my oil myself for the first time... any tips for removing back oil from everything! I hope all the oil will now stay in the engine.

My engine blows black smoke when the revs start to pick up and the accelartor pass a certain point --> anyone have an idea how to solve this, I'm thinking new injectors?

[JohanM]

Hillbilly,

I would advise you to take your Hilux to SAC midrand or to SAC boksburg for the stage one. Also let them test your injectors as the smoke that you are seeing is coming from the injectors losing pressure at high engine speeds causing the engine to slightly overfuel, ie smoke black.

The money spent VS improvement would be the most effective one as you should be able to get roughly about a 10% improvement in performance and better fuel consumption.

[Hill Billy]

Is it possable to take the 5L to 140km/h? I havent pushed it past 120 cause the black smoke's been bothering me.
I'm not heavy on the right foot in general. Jhb trafic seldom allows you past 80km/h, but when I have a open road I try and keep to 100-110Km/h.

Went to N1 4x4 today, lets say the sales person I talked to wasn't very helpfull. He said R35 000 for the 2.7 petrol conversion and for the KZTE also R35 000, but for the KZTE it's ONLY the engine...! Thus i can only conclude that should you choose a new heart for you're baby --> rather get a petrol.

What I found interresting was that the sales person didn't "seem" to think that to swop from diesel to petrol whould be a problem, otherwise he whould have said something about it.

The whole conversation took less than two minutes, no "can we offer you some coffee" or "maybe there is something else we can help you with", nothing. And I drove all the way Fourways.... for that!

I'd much rather as the guys on hilux4x4.com !!!! :)

[Dadz Toy BFI]

3. Change the engine to petrol:
- 2.7i (3RZ-FE) Toyota engine

If you can afford this conversion then this is your best option by far

[Hill Billy]

I wish I had the money, the more I find out the less likely it seems.

It looks like the transplant is going to cost way to much. Maybe I should just wait till she dies but being a TOYOTA it seems I'll have to wait a few years.

My brother saw new 5L engines for 15K, why is the KZTE 35K? It seems to much for the KZTE.

If I stick to the original fuel pump (from the 5L) then I’ll change the KZTE to KZT (no more electronic fuel injection), what else can I use from the original and what would I need new? If I use the original pump I might get more reliability (less electronics to go BOOM).

Just for interest sake: If we just take the engine and not the turbo, what would the results be? Would such a conversion work, can a KZT motor run without a turbo?