Landcruiser 80 Series Turbo Diesel

[leezor]

Am looking at purchasing one of these second hand and after a little advice.
Have found a few early 90 models within my budget of around $20k, but have noticed that several of them have had major overhauls at around the 260,000km mark.
I also spoke to several dealers who warned me off saying that these are notorious for require overhauling under 300,000kms.

Is there any truth to this?? And what should I look out for when buying one?

Cheers,

Lee

[banshee]

Early model 80 series TD's were renowned for droping big ends at or around 100k-200k km's,there are volumes writen about this problem on most 4X4 chatboards,to check if the one your looking at got the factory rebuild as oposed to the owner funded one check inside the drivers side door jamb adjacent the excelorator for a silver sticker.I think the problem was sorted by '95 (could have been '96),another problem the 80 series wagons had was cracking pillars between the doors and what was affectionately known as "Toyota roll over" a rumbling dry noise eminating from the gearbox at varying speeds.I had my hart set on one of these (80 series TD) but ended up going with a GQ for about two thirds of the price and couldn't be happier.

[leezor]

Thanks banshee, thats the sort of info I wanted
My main concern is that for 20k, the only TD Cruisers available are early 90's models, and they are starting to get a bit long in the tooth.
I did find a 2000 model 4.2lt TD Patrol wit just over 300k on the clock for $24k, maybe should seriuosly consider this. This one has full service history and all k's where done by a couple touring Austraila towing a van.

[Kendall249]

Lee my 93 toyota has 420K on the clock, had a larger aftermarket turbo fitted at 30K. Mainly done highway ks, but regularly serviced (oil every 5000). the mechanic who works on her, can't stop raving about the 80 series toyos. I'm second owner of mine, got it at 290K. That 2000 model sounds like the goods.

Hey banchee, what do those stickers look like?.

[shadrack]

Hi Lee,
I have had two early turbo diesel Series 80, the first one written off in a smash. Problems with early (1990 to !993) were.
1. Fuel pump low speed governor needed replacing. This was done a Toyotas cost although a lot still around without the mod. My second cruiser has just been done (cost $1700). They are a bad design (rotary). Beware.
2.Faulty batch of big end bearings will break up usually below 100,000K causing piston to hit exhaust valve. Repiar cost around $3-4000. Beware
3. For heavy towing it was necessary to fit a heavier brake power booster

The solution to the above is to buy a after 1994. THe advantages are:
1. The motor was 24 valve.
2. New better fuel pumps (non rotary)
3. Fitted with 16" tyres as against 15" (although suprisingly these are $100 each dearer.

Check prices again you should buy a 1994 model well under your budget
Would I buy another one ? YES.

All the best
Tony

[Needmorerum]

Info on the Big End Bearings is correct. I doubt that you would find one now that hasn't been changed over.
There isn't that much that goes wrong with them. It all depends on what you want to do with it. GQ Patrols are cheaper to buy, and the drive train is tougher (if you want to compete with it), but the 80's are more refined.
Take each for a drive and you'll see for yourself.
There were three models of 80's. The early ones went from '90 thorugh to mid '92. Series 2's went from mid '92 through to '95 when the series 3 come out.
The series 2 was the first with the upgraded brakes, hence the 16" wheels. You can fit 15" wheel onto them, but some grinding of the brake caliper is required.
The series 3 got a different diseasel engine, and a upgrade in the dash layout.
If you are using it for everyday driving, and as a family car, I wouldn't go past them. Another thought it to get a later model diseasel and put an aftermarket turbo on it. There are many out there that have done heaps of K's and haven't seen any differing problems than any other make of car, it all depends on how it has been treated by it's previous owner.
I own two of them, a '93 diseasel manual, and a '98 40th Anniversary petrol auto. I wouldn't own anything else, except for the 60 series cruiser that I've got, oh yeah and the two 40 shorties I've got also, along with my Barina for the missus, but that's her car.
I use my '93 model for pure playing, it gets flogged to an inch of it's life in comps and hasn't let me down too badly yet. We're hoping to get down south more often next year for more comps.
All I can suggest, take a few different cars for a drive and make up your own mind. You can drive two of the same model and they will both be different. Just make sure your happy.

Cheers
Corry

[Chimo]

Hi Leezor

Re the GQ 4.2 TD if you go this way

If it has not got a turbo, and most didn't you will find as I did with the same vehicle, that fitting one is the making of the unit. With the old GQ you have the best ride with the coil suspension and your back and kidneys will also thank you too.

With the turbo the power went up from 85kw to about 130kw and the torque also increased by about 40%. It now flies up long grinding hills in 5th where without the turbo you were back to 4 or even 3 on the long steeper ones. With the cruise control and the really good Nissan seats that haven't been mentioned I used to do 2000k trips and get out feeling like I'd just been to the shops.

I fitted a Turbo Dynamics (Dubbo NSW) unit with a schwietzer turbo (much larger than the Nissan unit) that is oil cooled. Also I put an oil cooler and timer on. Mine has done about 140,000 since I fitted the turbo. Also make sure that who ever fits the turbo sets up the injector pump to suit and for durability I would suggest no more than 7lbs booste. You can get heaps more power with more booste but you won't have reliability. As you may have seen on other threads I recently fitted new OME shockers and Poly airs to cope with 200kg draw bar load and 2.5 t of boat and the old GQ is like a newie all over again.

GQs also had a habit of pulling to the left and a kit from Narellan Truck Service? in NSW fixes that really easily. There is a an old thread on this on the site too.

Good luck which ever you decide to go

Cheers
Chimo

[banshee]

The stickers resemble a metal plate glued in place near the lower hinge measuring about two inches square with various info stamped onto them,only on TD models pre '95.For more info Google "Toyota 80 series Turbo Diesel",probably very old news by now but should still be there in the back pages somewhere.My mates '93 TD droped it's second set of big ends at 295K kms 11 months ago,set him back six and a half grand.

[Kendall249]

cheers banchee I had a look and found a sticker with a date and a couple of codes engraved on it.

[rtranter]

Hi all,
wanted an 80 series no matter what, looked around for about 4 months, all had over 300k on clock and all cost the earth, settled for a 93 Patrol non turbo, $13,500 260k on speedo. Goes really well, only fault so far besides non turbo is slight growl in box 1st, 2nd and reverse from 500 to 900rpm,so I don't drive that slow, in those gears. Did ask a Turbo mob about fitting one and if bottom end wouild need renewing at same time, his response, not in nissans, they're a good strong motor, all 90% of rebuilds for him are Toyota's, now that pleased me and surprised me as I have always been a toyota fan.
Chimo
how many k's on her when you fitted turbo
regards
Rob

[Chimo]

Morning Rob

Your right about Toyotas needing rebuilds in the motor and gearboxs. That why together with the coil suspension I went GQ. If I remember correctly the GQ had done about 30,000 to 40,000 kms on it when the turbo was fitted. I think I put up with the 85 KW and lack of torque for about 12 months during which time I did a lot of research about options and different turbos. Ended up getting a diesel injector specialist's advice and he ended up getting the unit and charging me for fitting it. That was an interesting excercise too cause after I'd done most of the work fitting oil cooler tubo timer and pulling off the old exhaust and manifold and moving the air cleaner and fitting the turbo and new exhaust system thru to the rear of the truck I asked why was I paying him to do the job. He said it was so if anything ever went wrong I'd know what was happening and what to do about it!! What he did do was make sure i did't stuff things up and set up the injector pump and the booste. We also started the engine with just the turbo on and no exhaust piping or resonator and it was really quiet As Allan explained at the time this is why all you really need is a big pipe and an open resonator to the back cause all your doing is looking good and getting rid of the back pressure that the standard Nissan exhaust system creates. Change the oil every 5000km and the thing hasn't missed a beat for over 15 yrs so I can't complain. Mind you the timer never lets it turn off unti either 1 3 or 5 minutes cool down has happened after the key is turned off.

Sorry its a bit of a long answer to your question but I guess your thinking turbo and I thought some of this info may be of interest.

Cheers

Chimo

[_Dan_]

Am looking at purchasing one of these second hand and after a little advice.
Have found a few early 90 models within my budget of around $20k, but have noticed that several of them have had major overhauls at around the 260,000km mark.
I also spoke to several dealers who warned me off saying that these are notorious for require overhauling under 300,000kms.

Is there any truth to this?? And what should I look out for when buying one?

Cheers,

Lee

I know of Nissan Patrol, 2.8 turbo deisel 1999 model with 90,000km on it for sale at the moment if your budget can stretch to 23k , the problem being is its in Bundaberg. It flawless condition as i have seen photos. Here is the link for it...


http://www.carsales.com.au/pls/carsales/!cs_content.dealer_vehicle?vehicle_id=3462808&curr ent_rec=3&total_rec=57&sort_type=1&make_id=5&model _id=7&state_id=4&region_id=105&search_distance=25

[shadrack]

Hi Lee,

There are a few suggestions here about fitting turbos to normally aspirated vehicles. The landcruiser and probably all other makes and models were never designed to take turbos except for factory produced turbo models of course. The factory produced models have beefed up bottom ends and are designed to take the extra loads, all others run a real risk of damaging the motor. Naturally the turbo people wont tell you this.

Regards
Tony

[Chimo]

This info may be of interest re turbos and GQs

Chimo

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Nissan GQ Patrol (1988-98) (May 2004)

Nissan Patrol GQ (1988-98)
The Nissan Patrol GQ has been one of the success stories of the past 20 years. There are still plenty around on the second-hand market and they're excellent value.

It's only because of sound engineering that the GQ Patrol (1988–1998) stayed competitive with new releases from Toyota, Isuzu-GM, Land Rover and Mitsubishi, because the powertrain, basic suspension and bodywork didn’t change much throughout that 10-year life.

Even more aged are the floor pan, firewall, bonnet, doors, glass and roof panels, which are the same as those produced for the MQ Patrol released back in 1980.

The petrol-fuelled TB42 six and the Nissan Diesel TD42 six had identical bore and stroke dimensions for the same displacement of 4169cc, but quite different outputs. The petrol engine was good for 125kW at 4200rpm, with a torque maximum of 325Nm at 2800rpm, while the naturally aspirated diesel put out 85kW at 4000rpm and 264Nm at 2000rpm.

Both petrol and diesel 4.2-litre models were fitted with a five-speed manual as standard, with a four-speed automatic option on 4.2-litre petrol models.

The GQ engine changes since 1988 were the introduction of the RB30, 3.0-litre petrol six option in March 1990, electronic fuel injection on Ti Patrols from early 1992 and, in February 1995, the Patrol range was revamped and the RX specification was introduced. A turbocharged 2.8-litre diesel was introduced and quickly became the most popular Patrol model.

The three-litre RB30 was almost identical to that used in the then-current Commodore, but without injection. Carburettored, it produced 100kW at 4800rpm, with maximum torque of 224Nm at 3000rpm.

The three-litre Patrol came with a different transmission, sharing the close-ratio box with the 300ZX sportscar, but with the standard Patrol's transfer case. This transmission is not an ideal towing powertrain.

Fuel injection on Ti models didn't do much for the 4.2-litre petrol engine's outputs -- going up marginally to 129kW at a lower 4000rpm and 330Nm at a higher 3200rpm -- but fuel consumption was greatly improved. Testing the Patrol Ti against Toyota's 80-Series 24-valve 4.5-litre six showed very little performance and fuel consumption difference.

Along with transmission changes, the April 1992 revamp saw upgrades across the range, including four-wheel discs on all wagon models. There were also a Coil Cab ute and cab/chassis released, featuring coil springs for the first time on a Japanese ute.

This unit was based on the Patrol wagon chassis, so retained coil springs front and rear, in contrast to the Patrol cab/chassis and utes, which retained MQ bodywork and leaf-spring suspension.

The Coil Cab was designed around the GQ cab, with a wall behind the front seats. Rated payload was 1100kg, with a trailer-towing capacity of 2.5 tonnes. Originally launched only in ST trim level, the Coil Cab range was extended one year later by a DX version with a bench seat.

What breaks?
GQ Patrols have few major problems, with the most common fault being leaking rear-axle oil seals. The cooling system is marginal, so after-market turbodiesel models may be stressed. Having said that, the TD42 bottom-end was actually built to take a turbocharger (as in the TD42T, which didn’t get here in GQ form) so it's strong as an ox.

You really don't have to be too scared that an aftermarket turbo is going hurt the motor -- just be cautious of signs of overheating. Patrols that do plenty of tough offroading are likely to suffer from bent front-axle housings, Panhard rods and rear trailing arms.

There was a recall on early GQ front Panhard rods. Hard-worked Patrols also wear out their engine mounts and crack fuel tanks around the drain plug holes. Seats suffer, breaking recliner mechanisms and floor runners.

Some petrol engines have had camshaft-hardening problems and all have corrosion-prone coil leads -- often bad enough to crack the distributor cap around the coil-lead tower.

The RB30 engine suffers from sticky carburettor linkages and three-litre models that have done heavy towing or bush work are likely to have gearbox-bearing trouble.

Be cautious of signs of too much beach work as older Patrols will have rust. Check under the floor mats, around the door hinges, shock mounts and firewall. Patrols that have had a lot of bush work will rattle a lot but it's generally only annoying. The big wheel on the back can stress the door and cause it to sag.

We have generally found the GQ Patrol to be one of the most reliable and trustworthy of the older 4x4s. The engines might be agricultural by today's standards but they are strong.

The gearboxes and transfer cases are similarly tough as is the suspension with the exception of the dampers, which should have already been replaced. A well-cared-for GQ should last for in excess of 250,000km with ease.


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Article written by: CarPoint
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[leezor]

Thanks for your replies everyone, am still considering my options - will let you know which way i decide to go.