3L power problems

[toybeater]

Hey all, I purchased an 89 Hilux 2.8 D 2 years ago and have been struggling ever since to get it running properly. I live in Canada and we have to import our trucks here so they are very rare and difficult to find info on here. There is basically no one out there who knows anything about them!

As soon as I bought it i discovered that the head was cracked (irritatingly so as i thought the 3L was the better choice!) so I replaced the head, had all the work done by a reputable shop. Once replaced I found the truck ran a lot better and had a bit more power. (only 140K on it)

I then noticed the injector pump leaking, so I had that totally rebuilt. noticed no real change in power after that. I then replaced the injectors, no real change in power there either. I am not sure what is going on but it feels like i am driving with a boat anchor dragging on the road behind me!

Now I know these things are supposed to be gutless so I wasn't alarmed at first. Then my friend bought at 91 Hilux 2.8 D same truck LN106 and his had 120K on the clock and looked totally untamperd with under the hood. I could not keep up to him if I tried. His truck was still a slug and all but it would climb a hill on the highway at twice the speed I could and he gets at least 5-6 mpg better millage then I do. we run the same size tires and the same diesel and all that.

WHAT THE HECK!?!

I don't know what else to do... I have been told that I could advance my injector pump timing a bit??? not sure if thats a good idea. I played with the fuel screw a bit, I can gain a little power, not much, but my millage gets worse then it already is...

ideas????

[Mud Dog]

Hi Rob and welcome to this forum

I'm more than a little lost when it comes to diesel motors, but we have a number of knowlegeable diesel-head members that should be able to give you a few pointers.

It's late evening here at the moment so they've probably succumbed to their diesel fumes for the night. Give them a little time to recover (in the morning), and get back to you. Just in case your post gets buried by the earlier risers (the petrol-heads) , and the bleary eyed diesel dogs don't see it , just 'bump' your post back to the top of the 'active topics' list with a reply to your post from yourself, simply saying "Bump".

Good luck, and here's hoping you have more reason to enjoy your Hilux in future.

[toybeater]

thanx! will do.

[Hoppy]

It can be one of the following;
1. Advance the pump timing.
2. Open the mixture screw at the back about 90 degrees to give it more fuel, it must give a puff of smoke if you rev it up and on full load, if it doesn't, it's too lean.
3. Remove the timing cover and make sure the pump and cam timing is spot on, it is easy to get this wrong as the gears do not stay in position when the tensioner is released.
4. Do a compression test
5. You have done the injectors, but remove one, get the part no. on the tip and make sure they were not ment for a turbo motor.

[toybeater]

ok I will play with the pump timing and mixture screw, I believe the belt is on properly, but like you say it could be wrong you never know. I would like to do a compression test but I am not sure what a good reading would be. How many psi would I be looking for on the 3L ?? I have checked the # on the injectors and checked it with a few sources and they seem to be all saying they are the right ones. thanks for the advice!!

[Mud Dog]

Just a thought .... are the injectors on your friend's vehicle the same part number too?

[toybeater]

hummm, I will check that out too!

[Mud Dog]

Hope you get it sorted. After all, there has to be a physical reason why yours is more sluggish than his .... just have to find out what that is.

[toybeater]

Well i went for a day long trip up some old mining roads from the 30s with a group of guys and the truck decided to really start acting up, sudden power lose on steep hill climbs, miss firing on acceleration, LOTs of blue gray smoke (intermittently) in all was pretty upsetting. However there happened to be a Diesel mechanic out there who told me that my brand new Denso injectors are obviously garbage. He believes that they were rebiulds, and bad ones at that. So I suppose now i will try and have the old injectors re-built and see if that makes any difference :?

[toybeater]

ever heard of these diesels acting up because of altitude? It seems mine runs fine in town, then I head up the mountain and it runs ruff, smokes a lot until I get half way down the other side and it clears up. Does it every time??

[Mud Dog]

Higher altitudes affect all motors, diesel and petrol alike. The air is thinner, therefore less oxygen, therefore less efficient combustion. A motor that is jetted and tuned for altitude will deliver a lot less power in that environ than one which is set up for and running at sea-level. Injectors that are playing up will of course compound the problem. Have you tried swapping your friend's injectors into your vehicle and taking it for a run to see if it's indeed the injectors and not the ECU, pump etc.?

[Asterix]

Hey Rob,

This is a very interesting topic. Please keep in touch and let us know about your progress.

Cheers!

[zepplin]

Whatever you do, do NOT be tempted to fit a turbo! The 3L does not take kindly to it. You'll go through more cylinder heads than your current rate of injectors.

[Mr_B]

If you want to go turbo... pull out that 3L donkey(one of Toyota's least liked engines)... and fit a KZTE...

Or even better fit the 3L KD-FTZ... better known as the D4D!


mr b

[Hoppy]

You should check your tank's venting system, next time do the trip without the fuel cap, make sure that someone didn't fit an extra filter or water trap in the fuel suply line, the banjo bolt on the injector pump sometimes has a internal strainer, you can remove that.
Exesive smoke and power loss can be a fuel suply issue.

[toybeater]

Its been a long time since I chatted about this problem. Things just kept getting worse and worse with the truck. I finally decided to tear the engine down. turns out I had two cracked pistons. large chunks were broken between the compression rings. So that explained a lot! At this point I would have loved to have dropped in a 1KZ but they are next to impossible to get here. So despite the mixed reviews I decided to do a Turbo conversion. Since I had to buy new pistons anyway I bought some custom ones that lowered the compression ratio slightly in an effort to save the head. Did a full tear down and rebuild and installed the Turbo. I have been driving it for a few weeks now and all I can say is DAMN!!!! The truck is so much better! I don't know what the long term life of the engine will be now. I am only running 10 lbs. boost. Just enough to get some power out of it with out creating to much heat. I also have an inter-cooler waiting to go in, just haven't decided where to put it yet. In all I am VERY happy with the truck at this point. thanks all for the advice!

[Kaspaas]

Hi Rob!

I used to have a 3L, wich I loved!!
Not the fastest, but could climb nearly any vertical wall!!
Not many engines would still bring you home safely with two broken piston's!

Here is a youtube vid, with a 3L turbo'd Hilux.




PS, just mind Slipknot in the background!