REVIEW: Everything Wrong With A 4.2 Toyota 1HD-FTE Diesel Engine

What could possibly be wrong with a 4.2 Toyota 24-valve SOHC engine?

#EWWengines

0:00 Toyota J70 Land Cruiser
4:26 1HD-FTE history
6:58 Will it run?
9:35 Common problems
17:18 Why are we pulling the engine?

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[cheekyrick]

Once the aussies tune in to the episode, they gonna tell you everything you need to do to that engine. The no start issue is most probably a poor earth to the spill control valve, very common.

[Beng]

1HD-FTE owner here - love these motors - always makes me smile driving my 70 series with one.
The injection pumps on these are very reliable typically. Unless it has over 600, 000kms on it, it should only really get a bit of rev hang. I could not hear the spill valve clicking in the video (which is loud) so that means likely there is some signal loss etc in the electronics. Very common that the spill controller gets a bad earth - that being a conversion it could have been anything.

Other common (but not so common) failures are 1. The rev hang due to injector pump wear. this can range from a simple recalibration or injector pump replacement. Still driveable, but annoying. could last another 200, 000+kms when it develops this. Seems to be more of an ECU programming problem rather than the pump itself.
2. the idler bolt on the timing belt will break if not looked after when replacing the timing belt properly. Some people either forget the small washer that goes behind the bolt or forget to replace it when worn. People have had good luck just replacing the alloy bridges to get the engine running again.

also - i'm not sure where you are getting your pricing from but you guys are getting ripped off!! genuine parts for these motors are cheaper in my experience compared to non-genuine. Keep in mind that following the service manual you are not supposed to replace entire assemblies but rather rebuild them. I rebuilt all 6 injectors with genuine parts with a diesel shop and it cost me less than $1200 AUD, fitted myself. and i'm no mechanic!

[Hillbillyhasashotgun]

Greetings from down under Rich.

On the 1HD-Ts, the pistons are actually quite good and aren't usually the point of failure in those engines. There's lots of folks here in Australia playing around with 80 Series Cruisers (which had the HD-T as an option) and the most common problems are lifting the head, cracking the head, or more often cracking the block between cylinders 5 and 6. Frequently the crack in the block occurs below the piston crown and above the rings at bottom dead centre, where you'll never see the crack unless you pull the pistons out altogether. The 1HD-T was problematic from the start, with Toyota issuing a recall for the big end bearings, which were failing with low kilometers, and the bearings Toyota fitted under the recall weren't great either.

On the FTE, they're pretty well understood over here, and there's not all that much that goes wrong with them. The 100 series (full size wagon) and the 70 series (utes and troop carriers) had different variations of the FTE, with the 100 series version being fitted with the intercooler and an immobiliser. They both had different throttle pedals and different Engine Control Units, but I'm fairly sure the Engine Drive Unit (often called the spill driver or spill control driver) are the same.

The biggest problems FTEs have over here are caused by the EDU/spill driver playing up, which results in the exact problems you were having, cranking but absolutely no fuel. It can be anything from a bad earth, corroded plug to the circuit board in the EDU being fried. I've had hells own trouble with an EDU that didn't have a good enough ground connection from the aluminium backing plate of the EDU.

The other major problem FTEs have is they bend rods at 1000 newton meters of torque. The rest of the motor and injector pump are capable of far more, but the rods aren't good enough.

Lastly, on the subject of their "woeful" power and torque figures, that was entirely intentional on Toyota's end. Even the 1VD-FTV, the 4.5 litre V8 that Toyota brought to the Australian market in 07 to replace the FTE makes a similar level of power stock. Toyota did this so they wouldn't have to put in major work upgrading the clutch, gearbox, transfer case and diffs of the 70 series.

A handful of folks over here chasing big torque from an FTE usually end up putting slightly modified rods from a Nissan ZD30CRD (used in the Patrol, Navara and some light trucks and busses) as well as oversized injectors. That's it, that's all they need.

They're a fantastic engine, and considering we didn't get the Cummins 6BT family of engines over here in huge numbers of road going vehicles, they're among the best diesel engines we have over here. And that's coming from a Nissan guy.

[boostbogan]

Australians about to mob the comment section 😂 The FTE is Gods motor, as close to perfection as you will ever get

[bubbleobill]

Aussie here….G Turbo in Perth needs the credit for the mad Patrol at the start. My 100 series Sahara has a 1hdfte in it. Best motor ever, period.

[TheInspiringKhan]

We own a small hybrid vehicle repair shop in scarborough and two of my guys have worked over a decade on 1HZ and 1HD. All version of it. We are happy to help.

[peterstraub]

I am another Long time Land Cruiser enthusiast... To be pedantic.... you missed the predecessor engines in the 'H' series... the 2H and 12H-T. Both from the 80's. Gear driven pushrods, so no OHC. All mechanical injection, 12V. the 2H is NA and ID, the 12H-T is DI and Turbo'd. I got a 12H-T in an HJ61 wagon imported form Japan. THIS engine is the true analog to the 12V Cummins. It sounds exactly like a little baby cummins. Just did a 8, 000km road trip from Calgary to Texas this year. So satisfying to drive. Excellent video, thanks!

[acdm]

Hey mate, just on the stuff you were saying about the 1HD-T
Everything you mentioned about the piston crowns cracking once turbod is all related to the early model 1HZ, being they didn't have oil squirters and were indirect injection.

The 1HD-T is the direct injection factory turbo engine which has piston oil squirters to keep them cooled, haven't seen many 1HD-Ts with cracked pistons.

The engine block is the same between all 4 of the engines compared, slightly upgraded on the late 1HZ apparently, keeping Inline with the FT and Fte. The 1HZ ran from the beginning in Australia, 1990 all the way to the last FTE in 2007

Although there is no comparison to the 1HD-FTE or the 1HD-FT, the 1HD-T is able to hold it's own

The main downside of the 1HZ and 1HD-T reliability is the position of the fuel bowl on the top of the piston, in a 1HZ and 1HD-T the fuel is injected offset to the side of the piston, which is fine, but commonly causes increased wear in the rod bearings (you'll commonly see people replacing the rod bearings on a 1HD-T every

The biggest improvement to the 1HD-FT and FTE was the injection of fuel was in the middle of the piston crown, and the fuel bowl being in the middle, meaning the motor is getting combustion on top the piston dead center. The motor runs perfectly smooth, no kicking or messing around, you'll see people putting a 50cent Australian coin on its side and showing it doesn't move while running.

As for the 1HD-FT to FTE improvement, unfortunately you lose the reliable mechanical injection, replaced with electronic injection, although still a mechanical fuel pump, not a sucky common rail.
The biggest upgrade though on the FTE is the rounded shape at the bottom of the fuel bowl in the piston crown, this greatly improved the dispersion of the fuel in the bowl, meaning less centred heat on the piston.


If you ever need any help with these cruiser motors, I've owned over 40 of these, worked and lived in one for years travelling and have many contacts in the industry here in Australia so feel free to hit me up :)

[causticsdoorremovalservice]

Aussie here, I have a 96 troopy with the 1HZ, greatest Toyota motor ever, slow as hell, but they are deadset reliable.
It’s why they’re still being made.
Great show.

[tw]

Although the 1hd-fte didn't run, as a diehard landcruiser nut who moved to Canada from Australia, this is my favorite episode!

[tim.sorensen]

We have elec landcrusiers like that in Australia in the mining industry a company called Murray’s engineering does them

[edwardpeters]

Being a middle east truck, the 79 you got a hold of probably came with a 1GR-FE V6 gas engine. None of the 4-door 79's ever came factory with an 1HD-FTE (though a lot of Africa spec units would have had the 1HZ). Someone must have converted it. You won't have any difficulty selling the 1HD-FTE. So long as it's in decent condition, there'll be a line-up of Land Cruiser nerds interested.

[jordandude]

Land Cruisers and patrols for aussies are the American and Canadian powerstoke/cummins

[juiceofsapho]

Just one note about the egr valve. Exhaust gases are not re-burned, they function as inert gases to reduce ratio of oxygen in intake air. Lower oxygen ratio means lower peak combustion temperatures which results in lower NOx gases production during combustion phase (when peak power is not required).

[GTL]

I’m just a shade tree mechanic i got nothing to offer but i love watching the videos so i can try and learn something new!! Looking forward to this build !!

[rubiconned]

Your bonnet scoop / sticker is from the V8 version we used to get is AUS. Since discontinued much to the dismay of enthusiasts

[ColtSalyer]

the, 4.2 12v 1HZ is very easy to work on (saying from experience) they are awesome!!!

[MickBurns-evnn]

Had that problem with one of them. Turned out to be the spill valve driver. (Little black box). Changed that and now I’m at about 500, 000klms and still running like a new one.

[danwerkman]

Makes total sense what your doing. Look forward to the updates

[Lsimmarine]

Mate of mine has a FTE in a 100 series cruiser. With a "uni chip" and tune through a auto make around 300hp on 35's. Anyway his timing belt broke and it broke every single rocker arm and bent the main rocker shaft. We replaced the broken bits, lashed the valves and it started with no sign of a dead hole. He went on to finish his holiday and 10, 000km later it's still going! kissed on the waahoo is a understatement. I was 100% convinced it would have needed a rebuild