Wheeling a 4cylinder Diesel
By Tony Konovaloff
I always liked the mystique of running a diesel Landcruiser. At least here in the states there is somewhat of a mystique as Toyota never saw the wisdom of bringing these rigs to the states. Fortunately I am close to our northern border and my state (Washington) allows registering a diesel brought across the border. And the Feds were nice enough to let it across the border without restrictions because it was more than 25 years old. As for registering one in your state you will have to check with your licensing department. Little did I know just how much I would like driving my 5 seat tractor and especially wheeling it.
I recently went through Rubicon with a BJ 60 that weighed about 6500 lbs loaded, all the while pushed along by a 3.4 liter in line 4 cylinder diesel or better known as the 3B to all the Toyota diesel fans. Not only did I drive this rig through Rubicon but I also drove it the 900 miles to the trailhead and back again after the trail finished with us. The entire time on the trail I never felt like I didn’t have the power to get over a single obstacle. And lest you think I had gobs of torque to compensate (being a diesel and all), my 3B left Toyota with all of 98 horsepower and 166 ft lbs of torque. This is far less of both than even my 3FE has in a 1990 FJ 62. In addition my motor is a long way from new, there are more than 300,ooo miles on this engine. And there is a lot of life left to her yet. I did rebuild the head and had to do some work to the cam and cam bearings so while it was apart I spec’ed out the main and rod bearings and much to my surprise they were within tolerances for a new engine.
Driving a 3B powered wagon takes a different mindset. Realize from the start you are not going anywhere in a hurry, something that suits me just fine. I have to admit that she leaves much to be desired on the highway. The 3B doesn’t exactly accelerate rather, as my good Canadian friend Rob says “it gathers speed”. Jumping out into busy traffic is not an option and don’t plan on going up mountain passes in anything other than 3rd gear. While I could get better top end if I re-geared the diffs, I like the way it drives off road and in town. Currently the top cruising
speed is a touch under 60mph and this is with an H55 and 4.88 gears turning 33 9.50’s. Many people would find this hard to take. Especially while being passed by smart cars…. I used to have a 4 speed in it but all it took was one highway run and my wife said I could buy a 5 speed.
Highway noise is a bit higher than a gas powered Landcruiser but not anywhere near as loud as the noise from a Cummins powered pickup. At idle the noise level is similar to a small block chevy and only slightly louder than a 2F or 3FE. Not anything I haven’t quickly adjusted to. Another thing to adjust to is that a diesel doesn’t like to make quick trips to the store when it’s cold. If it’s warm already no big deal but if she is cold it’s best to take one of my gas rigs.
Fuel mileage was one of my main considerations with owning a diesel. I was driving my FJ62 to and from work and fuel prices were killing me. And the increase in mileage of the 3B leads to a massive increase in range, which equates to less fuel stops and a bigger cushion when it is a long way to the fuel station. My 3B gets about 23mpg on the highway (about 20 mpg when pulling my camp trailer) and the number that really astounds me is the off road mileage. On the last trip in Oregon it got more than 10mpg in low range for most of the day. And this has been the case of every wheeling trip I have ever made with it. Even during the 17 or so miles of Rubicon it didn’t use 2 gallons of fuel. Pretty amazing really. For comparison my fuel injected FJ 62 gets all of 3mpg in low range! Some of the V8 forties I wheel with don’t even get 3mpg. Considering the high cost of fuel today and just how well my rig handles off road I can not see a reason for having a fuel eating motor in a rig. And this is especially true for a trailered rig.
One thing I especially like about my 3B is the simplicity. There is only one belt that goes around the crank, water pump and the combination alternator/vacuum pump (not as complicated as it sounds, the vacuum pump just piggybacks off the back of the alternator). And yes, I drove a wagon through Rubicon with manual steering and I still have no desire to change that. No computer or fancy electronics to worry about. I ran it all day at work once with a dead alternator. Must have started the rig about 15 times that day running back and forth, try that with a gas rig… Batteries (2 Blue Top Optima’s) were a bit tired but nowhere near dead. I only noticed it on the way home when I saw the amp gauge reading below 12V. But that was an easy fix with new brushes soldered into the alternator.
Another advantage of my 3B is that small motors are less likely to break things. The power in smaller motors builds slowly, before you get to max horsepower you are already over the obstacle and off the skinny pedal. And a diesel has the advantage of building it’s power generally at a lower RPM than a gas motor. On the other hand a small block can put out lots of power quickly snapping unlucky parts that get in the way. Not that you can’t beef things up to compensate but using a smaller powerplant eliminates the need to strengthen certain parts just to make sure they do not break.
For myself, the positives of this little motor far outweigh the negatives . With the improvement in mileage and range, simplicity, durability and the mystique of the 3B there is no way I would give it up or go back to gas. So the next time you are on the trail and are lucky enough to follow a “small block” Toyota diesel realize he is burning only about 1/4 of the fuel you are and is going the exact same place… Ah the smell of money left in my wallet.
