Toyota Hilux 2LT

[Terry Syd Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Terry Syd]

I have sold my Hiace van with the 2L engine in it that was a testing vehicle for all the odd ball concoctions of fuel I made up. The 2L engine is an indirect injection engine with a mechanical pump. It was reliable as a claw hammer and drank all the stuff I poured in the tank with gusto.

I have now purchased a 1990 Hilux dual cab with a mechanical turbo (not the EFI). I no longer need a van as I have sold my dirt bike. The light truck has a much smaller frontal area and is not carrying the extra weight and mechanical losses as a 4-wheel drive. I expect a considerable driving range with the 73 litre tank it has.

I wanted to stay with the tried and true 2.4 engine and injector system. The mechanical boost compensator for the injector pump can be tuned to increase the performance considerably. The turbo's waste gate has been shimmed to increase the boost from 7 psi to 9 psi. Here is a thread I started on another forum on how to tune the boost compensator -

http://www.toyotasurf.asn.au/forum/v...b724f04f1e8f57

I often go bush in the Western Region, so I need a vehicle that can get in and out of difficult areas. I took the limited slip differential off the Hiace and put it on the truck. I also put the 7" rims I had made up for the Hiace and put them on the truck. The rims were designed with more offset so that the tyres do not stick out of the wheel wells. The stock tyre is a 185, by going to a 225/65 the outside diameter is the same as stock, so the speedo and spare tyre still work. The extra 40mm of tread width helps considerably in sand and mud.

The Hilux has a good reputation in Australia for reliability. Parts for it are readily available in both the wrecking yards and in small country towns. If you are on a budget, you may want to look at one of these light trucks.

The performance difference with the properly tuned turbo is considerable. Compared to the normally aspirated 2.4 the turboed version makes power that I describe as 'obscene' - it just doesn't seem right that such a small diesel engine can crank out that much torque. And yes, it does like biodiesel.

[RASTEVE Donating Member Find all posts View Profile Close RASTEVE]

Re: Toyota Hilux 2LT

it was a testing vehicle for all the odd ball concoctions of fuel I made up.

Did the buyer know??

[Terry Syd Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Terry Syd]

Re: Toyota Hilux 2LT

It was a rust bucket that would never get through the next rego. I stripped it and junked it. That's where the LSD and wheels came from. The engine ran fine, but after 400,000 klms it leaked and used a fair bit of oil. If my driveway could talk I'm sure it would thank me. Got $50 for the metal in it.

[RASTEVE Donating Member Find all posts View Profile Close RASTEVE]

Re: Toyota Hilux 2LT

Got $50 for the metal in it.

It may have been good value as a backyard camper, you know, for when your wife's parents come over....

[Terry Syd Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Terry Syd]

Re: Toyota Hilux 2LT

When it rained, the carpet near the back door would get wet. This wetness then irrigated a crop of mushrooms that would grow out of the carpet. I tried to interest a mate with a farm that he could produce mushrooms in it, but he declined the offer.

I also got $26 back from my greenslip insurance. If you turn in your plates at the RTA they will give you a letter to send to the insurer and you will get a refund.

[dillyman Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dillyman]

Re: Toyota Hilux 2LT

Hi Terry,

Thanks for the advice, everything sweet as a nut.
I have the Hi ace Commuter with the 2.8 Lt engine. Is there any type o problems you encountered with the unit. Also did you need to alter the timing at all. Mine is a 1996 model and not a turbo. She is a smooth runner and with the 5 forward speed is very flexible. Have been running at B17.5 for past few days, when I get this darn fuel filter off (pretty tight and little room in there) I will be filling the tank up ,which will be B80. Interested in any info on the toyo engine that could help.

Cheers

Rgds
Dillyman

[Terry Syd Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Terry Syd]

Re: Toyota Hilux 2LT

I had a 2.4 litre Hiace before this Hilux. It was normally aspirated such as yours. I needed to retard the timing about 4 degrees from my spot on petrol diesel setting when I was using B100. By cutting the distance in half I could use all sorts of combinations of fuel from B100 to straight petrol diesel and still be in the 'ball park'. I intend to set the Hilux up the same way.

Never fiddled with the timing on a 2.8, but it should be about the same as the 2.4.

Try coating the outside of the fuel filter with contact cement. Let it dry and then try the wrench. The dried contact cement will give some traction to the filter wrench.

The Toyota injection pump is a robust pump that can take all sorts of fuel, think of it as a cheap Mercedes pump. The indirect injection system is not fussy about what you put through it. The main reason I stuck with the Toyotas was the trouble free running of the injector system no matter what I put in the tank. That is going to be an important consideration in the future of post Peak Oil.

[joe Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close joe]

Re: Toyota Hilux 2LT

Hi Terry (or is it SYd),

I meant to get back to to you about my car (85 Pajero Turbo)......You'll never believe it. I was fiddling around with the turbo, cleaning a oil leak and I noticed a pipe coming from the wastegate (or actuator) not sure what its called. I've followed it down towards the exhaust and its not connected to anything. So I go "thats odd". So I take a closer look and there is another little peg that connected to something in the exhaust that swings about 90 Degrees like a little gate. They seem to be for each other yet they are not connected. I've fiddled with the actuator to make the pipe a little longer just to see what would happen.

So I've started it, its starts OK. I've taken it for a spin and I notice IMMEDIATELY that it feels a little zippier even before I get out of the driveway and I've gone up the road and I cant wipe the smile off my face.

THE ACTUATOR WASN'T EVEN CONNECTED AND THE EXHAUST WASN'T PROVIDING ANY BACK PRESSURE.

Well its like a different car. I'm not kidding when I say there is something like 30 - 50% more horse power. Just when I normally go to change gears the turbo comes "on boost" and gives the car more than a little shove.

So I've gone to my least favourite hill. The one I have to drive up every day to get to work...The one where I eventually get bogged down and have to settle for 2nd gear and chug up at 40 kph...Yes the one where every waves as they pass me when I pull over onto the shoulder for them. So I've hit the hill at 80 and I barely slowed down the whole way. I did have to drop back to 3rd and even back off a bit for a corner that I've never had to before. But its like a new bloody car. So you can image the smile on my face. It was something like this.

I'd be curious to know what it will do to my fuel consumption. I was hoping it might improve it. Although the newly found leadfootedness will probably counteract that.

[Terry Syd Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Terry Syd]

Re: Toyota Hilux 2LT

Joe, congratulations - even though neither of us knows what you've done - can't argue with success!

It sounds like the hose may be related to the wastegate on the turbo. The wastegate can be set at different pressures so that when the intake manifold pressure gets to a certain level of boost, the remaining exhaust gases are 'wasted' into the exhaust system. That is, the gases bypass the turbine.

Perhaps your wastegate was open all the time and now it is closed until it hits the level of boost. If it was open all the time, then you would never get boost pressure. You mentioned a 30-50% increase in power, from the dyno charts I've seen there is about a 40% increase in power when a normally aspirated diesel is boosted to .5 bar (or 7 psi).

I would strongly suggest that you get a boost guage from a shop (about $60) and install it. You don't have to permanently install it, just hook it up and run the hose up past the bonnet insulation and tape the guage on your dash. This will allow you to see what the boost is doing. Find out what the maximum boost is for your model and then go for a ride and watch the guage.

Make sure that you are not 'overboosting' your engine. Heck, you may even find that the boost is on the low side and you can tweak it up a bit!

The feeling that the power 'hits' may be related to the boost compensator on your injection system. That was the problem with my Hilux. The boost guage will tell you if the 'hit' is related to the boost coming in, or if it is related to something else. The above link to the thread I started on the Toyota Surf forum may have some hints on how to tune the compensator to bring in the power sooner and more smoothly.

[joe Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close joe]

Re: Toyota Hilux 2LT

Joe, congratulations - even though neither of us knows what you've done - can't argue with success!

Neither of us?!!? How many of you are there in there.

The pipe I describes is actually a bar. Its solid. It had a hole through the end that the waste gate peg slots into and then a split pin goes through a hole in the peg to hold the two together.

The waste gate might be variable but I'm not gonna muck around with it. Well not yet anyway. I'm happy with the fact its got boost now.

I've attached a photo.

[Terry Syd Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Terry Syd]

Re: Toyota Hilux 2LT

Ahh! now I see what you are talking about. A picture is worth a thousand words!

[Tony From West Oz Vice Chairperson of WARFA Find all posts View Profile Close Tony From West Oz]

Re: Toyota Hilux 2LT

Neither of us?!!? How many of you are there in there.

The pipe I describes is actually a bar. Its solid. It had a hole through the end that the waste gate peg slots into and then a split pin goes through a hole in the peg to hold the two together.

The waste gate might be variable but I'm not gonna muck around with it. Well not yet anyway. I'm happy with the fact its got boost now.

I've attached a photo.

Joe,
While boosting at the design spec provides additional power safely, overboosting poses significant hazards for your engine.
Please at least check the boost pressure, I had an engine stretch the head bolts by boosting to 15 PSI consistently, when 7 PSI was the spec. I didn't know at the time and after a couple of months, the oil gallery thru the head started leaking at the head gasket.
The waste gate was not working properly!
Tony

[joe Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close joe]

Re: Toyota Hilux 2LT

Oh OK Tony. Yeah sorry I missed the empahsis on that in the previous post. I wonder if it was taken off in that case for a specific reason. There actually does seem to be a bit more oil around the tapper cover gasket at the top.

[Tony From West Oz Vice Chairperson of WARFA Find all posts View Profile Close Tony From West Oz]

Re: Toyota Hilux 2LT

Joe,
I doubt that anyone would strangle an engine like that deliberately. The boost control (wastegate) could have failed in the other condition which could have resulted in engine damage.
I feel that the cotter pin may have worn thru with engine vibration and fallen out.

[Cameron Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Cameron]

Re: Toyota Hilux 2LT

Hi Joe,
Not to disrespect any of the good advice you are getting from this forum on this issue but I think it would be worth looking and asking a little further afield as well.

My recommendation would be to go to some specialist mitsubishi/pajero forums and ask quessies there about your vehicle engine fittings and settings.

The more sources of info you can access the better I think.

If you don't know of any yourself I know of a couple and would be happy to send you some links if you like? You are highly likely to bump into some mitsubishi specialist engineers and mechanics and people who know everything there is to know about your vehicle and your engine.

Cheers,
Cameron