105 Landcruiser owners talk to me

I would suggest you also go to the lcool site and ask there as well. There are no joining fees and a wealth of information and friendly advice from people who really know the ins and outs of this issue.
Cheers
Andrew

Hi, I had a 100 series with a 1HZ, I had it Turboed and it made a big difference, only ran 9 psi boost, it transformed the car. I then bought a 2.8 ton van, I spoke with the guys at Turbo Glide and they recommended I fit an intercooler to help with egt. I was so surprised with the difference the intercooler made, there was a noticeable improvement in torque. Ithen towed the van for about 35,000 ks with not a problem. I alwayschanged the oil at 5000 klms. I think if you drive a car like this with a little respect dont flog it to death it will last a long time. I would not hesitate to do it again. Make sure whoever does the fit up knows what they are doing, if sets up right you should be very pleased with the result.
Regards Ken

in my honest opinion the 1hz was built to take a turbo i've recently worked for a extreme diesel mechanic and seen many turbo upgrades on patrols landcruiser hilux and mazdas and more

my main recommendation go to a diesel fitter not a petrol guy as the way you tune the engine is a lot different (the petrol guy wants to put fuel in to get power)

get the engine checked before you start in most cases the only add on to do the upgrade was big end bearings a good mechanic could do this for around $500.00 while doing the turbo (also note that its only the bottom cap that normally wears)

a popular turbo kit is the DTS kit and exhaust will cost around $5000.00 fitted and dyno tuned

with a modest tune for towing you could expect a 30- 50% upgrade. the dts kit is standard at about 7 psi and can safely be tuned to about 10 psi and have seen them tuned to 15 psi matching the fuel and timing is very important to

the standard clutch handles the power no problems

i would recommend an egt gauge but if tuned correct and using common sense the egt's will be fine

if you still want to spend more money put an intercooler on too. this will give you a cooler egt and again better fuel economy (just to add the turbo upgrade will also give better fuel economy) from memory an intercooler is about $2500 fitted

check out the dts web this may also help with your dilemma

top car hope this info helps

thanks
Adam

I reckon you should go here too and do some more research:http://www.lcool.org/forum/index.php
Great site! Cheers Toni

Before doing anything get the basic engine condition checked out by a mechanical repair shop that knows these engines. This includes making sure all the cooling system components are in tip top shape. You haven't said how many k's the car has done.
Within reason boost pressure will not kill the engine 10 psi is reasonable.
Over fueling in the search for extra performance will cause higher exhaust temps than the engine was designed to handle and cause failures.
An intercooler is a good idea.
Fit boost and exhaust temp gauges and drive to these readings.
Be aware that driving in high ambients and using the extra power available will most likely have the cooling system temps climbing much higher.
Having had personal experience with a turboed 1HZ 105 Cruiser I wouldn't do it but many will say they have had no problems.

Cheers
Pop

I put an after-market turbo on my manual 1HZ engined 80 Series (AXT Garrett Turbo). I ran about 8PSI boost. The engine had done an easy 150K before the turbo was fitted. Overall I was disappointed with the impact the turbo had when I was towing my 2 ton caravan. All of the above does not apply if you don't tow a caravan or heavy trailer. The turbo was fabulous for the extra power it provided in all round performance. I would still have the 80 series if I wasn't using it to tow.

There was certainly an improvement in towing power but not as much as I anticipated or hoped for. I upgraded my exhaust system to help improve matters and I also fitted an EGT gauge. That helped a little bit. I also seriously considered an after-market inter cooler but was told (by the people that fitted the turbo) that it would not do anything to help the performance . I'm not sure if that was good advice.

I seriously considered fitting a factory turbo engine from a 100 series into my 80 series as I was not happy with the performance of my vehicle when towing. That would have been a very expensive exercise but I did love that 80 Series.

Don't get me wrong, with the turbo, there was an improvement, but not as much as I had hoped for. With an EGT gauge fitted I was really surprised how quickly the EGT rose when the motor was under load. I had to change my driving technique.
- I learnt to drive according the EGT which meant towing in a lower gear at higher revs rather than the other way around.
- I also learnt to slow down driving into head winds or going up hills so my towing speed range was between 70-90 kph depending on conditions.
- I also learnt that there was still often a long line of traffic behind me at times.

- I learnt that my after market turbo's 80 series was no comparison to the factory fitted turbo models. Chalk and cheese and always a compromise.

- I realised that I would never again buy a naturally aspirated diesel with the idea of getting a beast for towing by fitting a turbo with a conservative boost level to ensure longevity.

In summary:
I would not do what I did again. When I sold the 80 Series it was still going strong but when towing, the difference between it and my current 3.0 litre CRD V6 diesel is huge. I could not believe the difference between the two vehicles both in towing power and torque, not to mention the fuel economy. By the way don't believe anyone who says you get better economy out of an after market turbo'd engine. My fuel economy went from around 11.5 to 13 litres/100km with the turbo fitted.

For what its worth those were my experiences with my vehicle. Others may have a difference experience.

WBS

I own a 105 and tow a 2000kg caravan. I replaced the exhaust system with a 'Beaudesert Exhaust' stainless steel mandrel bent system including 'Pacemaker' extractors. The change was noticeable and enough for me to be happy. The biggest issue with the standard exhaust is it is flattened to go over the rear axle and is very restrictive.

Been there done that, you will never look back, I had MTQ turbo specialist fit my DTS turbo kit and it made such a difference, I towed a 26 ft van and basically never need to down shift from fourth on any hill unless it was massive. MTQ check your engine first before they fit turbo, mine had 12psi boost and went well. I wouldn't recommend their mandrel bent exhaust go red back or taipan. I had the rear muffler removed. Just sold the car with 300,000 on the clock no issues at all full service every 5000 but recommend fitting a inter cooler at same time! Don't listen to ppl who say motors blow up. DTS kit is the most popular but turbo has no whistle or anything you wouldn't know it was turboed unless you drove it

I own a 2005 landcruiser with a 1HZ and always resisted the temptation to put a turbo on it because of the storys about overheating and also more importantly the weak gearbox which no body has mentioned.
The gearbox in a standard 1HZ cruiser is sort of an old Hilux gearbox and is operating at the top end of its design limits especially 5th gear , there are PLENTY of treads about towing in 5th gear in any vehicle, I do it on level ground with no wind and upto about 90kph towing my 1.4 ton camper van, as soon as there is a hill or even undulating country, back to 4th straight away, some say even doing this is flirting with gearbox failure,

My cruiser felt like it wasn't performing and once I started towing the camper van around, well, it was just painful, most decent hills was second gear job grinding away at about 45, so I bit the bullet, booked it in ant 2 days later went and picked it up, the injector nozzles where replaced ($600 for the six)

My experience; I used a man that other EO members use at Capalaba (Brisbane) and paid a premium for the install, he doesn't just whack on the turbo and give the pump a screw and send you on your way, he goes thru ALL tuning aspects including pump settings, injector nozzle condition, valve gear clearence, low water alarm is fitted as standard( I already had one anyway)all filters and then dyno tuned, also explained that the difference between 2.5 inch and 3 inch exhaust was the ability for the turbo to spool up quicker but top end wasn't much different, I paid the the extra and went 3 inch.
It now has a much deeper note in the exhaust with out being loud, turbo whistle is barely heard, you can hear it but you have to have a keen ear.
If driven normally, fuel economy stayed about the same, i have been running a fuel book since buying the vehicle I have done 673 k's on the main tank thus far on this last fill, I won't make 700 before the light comes on (about 78liters)The last two tanks got me 1015 ks on 122 liters, that is a bit better than usaul but generally can get 1000 doing the work/home shuffle which for me is about 3 weeks, BUT once the camper goes on, different story, tapping into that extra power will cost, the more you use it the more it cost, the single biggest factor with fuel is speed, dropping back to 90 saves 10-15% easy, I went from Canberra to Wyong at 80-85, All freeway so no holding up traffic and returned 14.4l/100k, doing 100/110 will see it go out to 18-20l/100k.

Turbo begins to spool at 900prm and is full boost which is 10 PSI at about 1700rpm, peak torque is 1800-2000prm, he told me he has tuned it for running between 1800-3100, any lower and it begins to bog down, higher it tends to tapper off but still is way better than before.
I got my install at about 155000k, have done 60000 since then and I haven't looked back, I haven't been back to the installer either, why? because he done it right the first time, how often do you see that now days!!
The down side; The cooling system HAS to be top notch, especially towing, I have never seen the gauge move with out the van, but it gets a bit testing when towing up a big hill at full throttle, I have no idea where your from but I'm in Brisbane, and if going west have 2 main choices for climbing the great dividing range, one is Cunninghams gap, the other is Toowoomba range, pre turbo was a struggle for 3 gear up Toowoomba, if got slowed down, well back to second all the way up, now it can do 3rd with camper and wife and 3 kids and golden retriever, full water tanks loaded to the hilt (~4.75 ton) but the temp has to be kept an eye on, the gauge normally sits level it stays there for a while once it moves up it climbs fairly quick, backing off controlls this, once over the top the gauge goes back to normal with in seconds.
It is not anywhere near as powerful or fuel efficient as the 3 liter 4 cylinder brigade of today's 4WD, but now does keep the flow off traffic much better and much much more drivable on open road.
Here is a quick demo, just in third gear from 1000rpm's usaul stuff in the back,80 liter fridge recovery gear so on, weight still does have an affect.

1 hz T

Had a 1HZ with turbo, turbo was installed at 150 k i bought the vehicle at 220 k installed a intercooler and had the injectors replaced, no inj pump work done, cracked number four piston crown at 300k. Had a EGT gauge on it was pulling 420c post turbo on the gauge up a hill not towing when it went. If i was to do it from scratch would have did a bottom end rebuild, Inj pump rebuild, and put in turbo suitable pistons. All readily available. Or gone down the path of engine replacement, which i did after the crack up. Personally although difficult to prove i think it was the Injector pump over fuelling which killed it. Still have the vehicle and am unlikely to ever want to get rid of it.

Wow, awesome amount of replies and I will be reading them over and over and weighing up the good and the not so good. To answer a couple of questions which I had seen. I am in Adelaide and the engine has 147,000kms in a 2006 cruiser.
Thanks for the many "realistic" replies.

I have had a 105 Cruiser for 10 years, been down the road of non turbo 1HZzz, turbo, intercooler, and now has the 1HDFTE engine and H150 gearbox.

The last one is the ultimate, the other efforts were a waste of money for gain.

I've owned and towed a camper trailer, poptop caravan, Tvan and now a Bushtracker.

There's a million experiences and arguments about turbo-ing a 1HZ. The biggest problem is the breathing and heat soak when you apply above atmospheric air induction and extra fuel..

Its an indirect injection/pre combustion chamber head, 2 valves per cylinder. It does not breathe nor transfer combustion heat into the cooling system like the 24 valve direct injection 1HDFTE.

The bang for buck/fuel efficiency, available power of the FTE and reliability over any modded 1HZ ...leaves them for dead.

The best power/reliability option is to buy a hdj78/9 wreck and swap the motor and box. Wiring loom to marry to the 105 is 600 on ebay, sell the 1hz before you pull it out.....and your only in the hole 2 or 3 k
The easiest way to get a 1hz going better is a descent brand turbo system with an egt gauge pre turbo. set up for 600 deg max temp (420 post turbo is to high, equal roughly to 620-650 preturbo ) tow in 4th, back off once the egt gets to 600, and your going to have 500000 trouble free kms.