Ownership Verified: 1989 Toyota Blizzard SX-5: who ever said Toyotas are reliable?

Part arrived, after weeks of ordering from random OEM part sites and having my orders cancelled due to part no longer being available (so why is it still listed online with a price then :mad:). Finally found it at Cruiserparts.net which turned out to be 1 days shipping away in New Hampshire. They had it listed as a part for the 1HZ engine but part number is identical and my research says it was used in many models.
 
Well after the mechanic stopped answering my calls I drove over there and talked to him, he found that fuel lines were crossed so it was running on 2 cylinders (bullshit detector flashing) but on the glow plug system he is out of ideas. Basically admitted he was done working on it. So I'll take my free glow plugs and get the fuck out of there.

We were planning for me to pick it up Monday because he'd have it in the garage to warm it up but I happened to be driving by with my dad today, so we stopped by. The truck was sitting with the keys in the ignition, unlocked. It somehow started despite the 25 degree weather, so I stole it. Left a message for the guy and will probably call him tomorrow since he doesn't appear to check his messages.

Sit-rep: it still smokes and smells, it runs better until 2300 rpm when the turbo cuts out and it just kinda stops accelerating. According to a repair manual there is an engine max speed adjustment which I hope is out of whack, that would be the simplest explanation. Either way its going to a new guy on Monday.
 
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Sucks that your having mechanic issues (one of my worst fears). May the 2nd guy be the charm.
 
This is probably the first time in the history of ever that someone has had this many problems with a 2L(-T).
 
I can't help but think that the problems would be far less troublesome if he was in an area where they were more common and mechanics actually had a clue what they were doing with them. I don't think anyone could get this fucked over with a 2L-T here if they tried. Every single mechanic has probably worked on one at some stage.
 
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This is probably the first time in the history of ever that someone has had this many problems with a 2L(-T).

I KNOW RIGHT :mad:

The best explanation I have, is that the vehicle somehow got water in the fuel system and sat for a ling time (it's 26 years old and has barely over 64k km). This caused the only major failure which was the internally rusty injection pump. Then the guy who rebuilt the pump had no idea how to tune the engine properly and has left it in a pretty bad state... the gasket leaks are normal for a vehicle of its age that has probably received little maintenance. Also the glow plug system probably failed a long time ago but it was a summer car for the previous owner.

Let's hope new place knows what they're doing, the guy I talked to seemed confident and when my dad drove by the other day, 4 guys were working on it.

As a final complication, the English manuals are all for Euro spec 2L-Ts which does have minor differences from JDM...
 
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As someone who set a record for having the most problems with a Mazda Miata, for the first time in history ever, you have all of my sympathies :comfort:
 
So the radiator hose exploded while at the mechanic's - there were rusty bits inside. He claims it's the head gasket. Now I always thought that would cause coolant small and white smoke, and the current behavior is diesel smell and black smoke. But what do I know :(
 
Head gasket symptoms can vary dramatically depending on the exact nature of the failure.
 
Can you order a new engine from Australia and chuck it over the Pacific? Or will that cost eleventy billion trillion gazillion dollars?
 
It's not cost effective, assuming the repairs actually ever end on this one.... maybe it would have been the place to start.
 
Rusty bits inside is more likely water pump or things like that. Head gasket problems can be confirmed or excluded by pressure testing the cooling system.

I would still suspect the problem is fueling.
 
Trucks are not meant to be fueled by gasoline. It is a violation of the fundamental laws of nature.

Diesel trucks are only good at breaking down.
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1989 Toyota Blizzard SX-5: who ever said Toyotas are reliable?

Only if you have a GM 6.2/6.5, Durasuck 6.6 or Ford/Intl 6.0/6.4.
 
Pictured above: Duramax 6.6L towing a Ford 6.0L.

Did the tow truck also break down? :)

Meanwhile, in Cummins land.....
 
Possibly - headgaskets are a problem on the 6.6.

Either way, don't look at me for evidence of diesel truck fail, I bought a 7.3L for a reason.
 
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