TDI in a Toyota pickup

[e*clipse]

Hi Everyone!

Not too much here to report. - I guess no news is good news...

I've had a couple minor issues - an intercooler hose blew off while we were hauling some BIODIESEL equipment back from Davis. It was actually pretty funny. We were driving along in my lifted 4X4 diesel with a trailer full of barrels and stuff when we caught up with a little sports car going poopy slow. After a while we couldn't take it any more so we stomped on the go pedal to pass him. Just after passing, there was this big whoooooshing sound. I knew immediately what happened as we pulled off and the sports car pooped on by....

The only other thing is an intermittent starting issue. I'm having a hard time locating the root cause of the problem. Basically in cooler conditions, the truck won't start if it was running recently. You get the usual clicks from the injection pump, just nothing from the starter. If you are brave enough to reach between the engine block and the hot turbo with a screwdriver, you can short the solenoid and it'll start right up. I don't want to make a habit of that - I like my arm.

Regarding fuel economy - it's hard to say because we mostly use it as a utility vehicle to haul stuff. It's not really fair to talk about fuel economy when your pulling a horse trailer full of hay.

We are going to go on a longer road trip with just the mountain bikes in about a month. I'll try to get some good numbers on that trip.

 

[jimbote]

The only other thing is an intermittent starting issue. I'm having a hard time locating the root cause of the problem. Basically in cooler conditions, the truck won't start if it was running recently. You get the usual clicks from the injection pump, just nothing from the starter. If you are brave enough to reach between the engine block and the hot turbo with a screwdriver, you can short the solenoid and it'll start right up. I don't want to make a habit of that - I like my arm.

may not be the cause of your issue since you say nothing from the starter....but the toyota starters will wear out the contact inside the solenoid...it's always the one that the battery cable connects to....again since you can't get any noise from the starter it's prob not your issue

 

[The Shootist]

A bad solenoid on the starter will open up when hot. This can be enhanced by the starters proximity to the turbo.

Try a new solenoid and a heat shield if you don't have one fitted.

 

[e*clipse]

This is just a quick update, since it's been a while.

There's nothing really new; I've generally been working on sorting out plumbing and reliability issues.

The starting issue was fixed with a remote solenoid. It's WAY overkill, but there's a satisfying "clunk" when it engages, and it's never failed.

Most of the other issues were minor coolant and oil leaks. Most of them were traced back too bad "budget" type decisions. I've replaced all the homemade, AG equipment, and hardware store oil fittings with real AN type fittings. They may be more expensive but they just work.

I've replaced the stock radiator with a new aluminum radiator made for hot-rod Chevys. The input and output connection locations are identical to the original Toyota. Like the oil plumbing, I've gone through some revisions and a lot of time looking at strange OE radiator hoses at my friendly auto-parts store. The main difficulty was the lower radiator hose; it's a pretty tight fit between the fan belt and the steering box.

In general, it's a very reliable set-up. I've taken it on a number of longer trips involving hundreds of miles of dirt roads in Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and even Death Valley.

 

[jldmoose]

awesome

 

[candela]

sweet... do you have any updated pics?

 

[Rockwell]

Question about your tach hook up. I am going to be going eTDI on my truck and was wondering what you used for a signal for the tach? I have the Dakota Digital box, does it use the tach output from the ECM or can I use the signal directly from the crank sensor? Tried searching but could not find a direct answer.

 

[e*clipse]

Hi Rockwell! Hope this isn't too late.

My tach sensor is basically the crank angle sensor signal that the ECM uses. The up side, is it was extremely easy to split the signal. The down side is that the tach reads twice the actual engine speed.

Being a "do it yourselfer" I was working on an little electronic device that would cut the signal frequency in half ( It's a variable frequency pulse signal ). However, that project has been dropped for others...

If I remember correctly, Dakota solved that problem, so this should be straight forward for you.

Hope this helps,

E*clipse

 

[Rockwell]

Thanks E*clipse, not too late. Building up the harness now and wanted to wire in the Dakota box now if I'm gonna need it

 

[e*clipse]

sweet... do you have any updated pics?

You know what? You're completely right! Some resolution with this project would be a really good thing. In short, it works great, and I love it.

There's been quite a bit of change in this project, and I'm really letting everyone down by just dropping it like some slacker.

Basically, it looks like the last thing posted was towing that trailer from Oregon. The reality is I can't leave stuff alone, so I've updated a whole bunch of stuff, including:
The air intake system, intercooler, radiator, cooling plumbing, suspension, wheels & tires, etc.

I'll add some picks showing those changes - some will seem pretty old and out of order, but I thing the info will help folks.

- E*clipse

 

[e*clipse]

- Rockwell:

Cool! Hope it helped. I do have some picks showing my tach connected to my signal generator. I can go into a bit more detail if you need it.

 

[e*clipse]

Ok, I dug up some pics of the monster intercooler installation project.
When I pulled the trailer over the pass, I was pretty uncomfortable with the high boost pressure the stock plastic intercooler was enduring. I decided that the intercooler was a critical part and sourced a high-flow all-aluminum intercooler that could handle the job.

Here is the first attempt at seeing if it would fit.

After establishing that yes, it (barely) fits, now comes the challenge of getting the air to it:

I had to heavily modify the grill support to allow the intercooler plumbing. In addition, I added supports for the intercooler. Also note the cold-air inlet for the airbox behind the headlight:

Here it is with the intercooler installed:

The driver's side did not require as much modification. Here is the intercooler support for the driver's side - note how the bumper had to be shaved...

After I got everything to fit and all the plumbing to work, I pressure checked the system:

I plugged the turbo outlet and intake manifold with plastic "corks" that had NPT tapped holes for the pressure guage and my shop's air compressor.

The VDO boost gauge also got pressure checked - note how it's pegged at 30psi!

Here's an overview shot of the intake system. The airbox with an Amsoil conical air filter is in the airbox on the lower left. The 3" line directly connects to the MAF sensor, which is bolted to the airbox. A very short line runs to the VNT-20 turbo. The system uses the absolute minimum plumbing to absorb the engine vibration.

More stuff coming later; this just seems like a reasonable start.

 

[cumminsfromthecold]

Looks really good, e*clipse. That intercooler is twice the size of mine.

You still running the Marlin Crawler 1600# Heavy Duty clutch?

 

[e*clipse]

I'm going to post something no one wants to post...

The engine blew up as my wife was driving the truck to work. "Blow up" may be a bit dramatic - it suddenly lost power and started puking lots of smoke.

I'm going to do a complete tear-down and attempt to find the cause. I'll post whatever I find here.

It happened on a mild climb at about 65mph. The boost was under 18psi and the EGT was below 1100F. (I have an EGT sensor in the exhaust manifold before the turbo) It's an etched in stone rule to NEVER exceed 1200F and limit high temperatures to less than about 10 or 20 seconds.

The dipstick was blown out, and oil was splattered all over. For some reason a LOT of air was being pushed through the crank case vent system.

When I got it home I tested the vacuum system - no major leaks as the source for the crank case vent problem.

Also, the turbo is in ok shape. There's some oil in the intake manifold, but not a worrysome amount ( I think ).

The oil has no water in it, and the coolant is not oily.

The engine will start immediately, but run like crap on two cylinders.

In the next week I'm going to pull the engine and put it on an engine stand. I'll pull the head and inspect the pistons, injectors, etc. If anyone has any questions or suggestions of stuff to look for - I'd be happy to give it a shot!

 

[whitedog]

Is it OK if we start placing bets? My money is on an injector sticking and burning a hole in the piston.

My side bet is a cracked piston.

 

[e*clipse]

Sure.

How 'bout some good beer from your local brewery? I'd really like to figure this one one out - it's worth it to me.

- E*clipse

 

[whitedog]

Ya gotta come and get it.

Oh, which brewery? There are six of them within 1/4 mile of the shop. Plus a few growing operations and at least one edible manufacturer.

 

[Rockwell]

I had the same symptoms and a piston was cracked in two

 

[e*clipse]

Ya gotta come and get it.

Oh, which brewery? There are six of them within 1/4 mile of the shop. Plus a few growing operations and at least one edible manufacturer.

I'd love to! It's been a while since I've been to Bend. Back in the day, it was only Deschutes. They make some awesome beer, and I'd be happy to offer their 15th anniversary stout for the winner.

- E*clipse

 

[e*clipse]

I had the same symptoms and a piston was cracked in two

I'm a bit torn. In some ways, I'm hoping it's a catastrophic failure due to a weak component, like this.

The other possibility resulting from a stuck injector could be the result of using Biodiesel. I've been running ASTM biodiesel in ratios varying from 25% to 75%. I would like to run biodiesel in the new engine, but if it lead to this one's failure, it will be a low % at best.

Either way, I'll show what happened...

 

[greengeeker]

I look forward to hearing what you find.

 

[e*clipse]

I pulled off the hood to make things a bit easier:



Here's the front of the truck, with the intercooler. The inlet is on the lower right, and the outlet on the upper left.

 

[e*clipse]

Next, I drained the fluids, fearing milky oil or something. Here's what I found:

The coolent (Amsoil) was fine:


Also, the oil was just typically black, but with no coolent:

 

[e*clipse]

The connection to the intake manifold from the intercooler was amazingly clean:


However, at the inlet to the intercooler there was a puddle of oil:

This could have collected for a long time; I'm not sure about its importance...

The outlet and inlet of the turbo:

I understand that's a "typical" amount of oil. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

This is a bit more worrisome: the turbo exhaust outlet:


That sure seems like a lot of oil in that place; it could be coming out of the engine, or maybe the turbo blew a seal?

- E*clipse

 

[whitedog]

Blew a seal? Nope. That's just ice cream...

ANYway. Most likely the oil there is from the bad piston pumping it out the exhaust. If you pull the turbo, you will likely find oil coming from the engine side.

 

[cumminsfromthecold]

Really sorry to see this, Rick.

Given your failure moment description, I'm guessing a blown piston or two. Thanks for taking the time and sharing your findings. Watching with interest. I wonder about seeing the damage when it's found.

Not looking forward to that day here, but, se la old TDIs.

(Um, so, a rally to whitedog's sure sounds like it's in order afterward. Maybe 100% on dirt roads from NorCal? Or meet up in Oakridge? It can be done. Just a thought.)

 

[e*clipse]

Blew a seal? Nope. That's just ice cream...

ANYway. Most likely the oil there is from the bad piston pumping it out the exhaust. If you pull the turbo, you will likely find oil coming from the engine side.

Hope that's right - it would be nice to use that turbo on the next build.

Given your failure moment description, I'm guessing a blown piston or two. Thanks for taking the time and sharing your findings. Watching with interest. I wonder about seeing the damage when it's found.

(Um, so, a rally to whitedog's sure sounds like it's in order afterward. Maybe 100% on dirt roads from NorCal? Or meet up in Oakridge? It can be done. Just a thought.)

We'll see - I pulled the motor last night. I hope you guys are right.

That rally sounds really fun.

 

[e*clipse]

I pulled the motor in the last few days. Here are some pics of how certain things went. If anyone would like more detailed pics of things, let me know.









- E*clipse

 

[e*clipse]

Here are some pics of the engine's internal condition.

Sad to say, nothing dramatic like cracked pistons... or melted bowls, etc...

Three of the cylinders had badly scraped surfaces, so the oil could have made it through that way. Otherwise, the pistons were in decent shape - no melted bowls or evidence of injectors melting.











suggestions anyone?

 

[jimbote]

number two looks bad, piston appears to be melted on the sides and number two combustion chamber has aluminum deposition on the valves and on the edges ... yank it and you'll see the damage..... also kinda hard to tell but it looks like number two injector was spraying a really wide pattern on the piston crown possibly hitting the cylinder walls .... if so this injector might be popping off super early or super late.... have you pop tested the injectors yet ?