My Official OM617 Toyota Pickup Repower Thread

[t walgamuth]

Originally Posted by OM617YOTA

Thank you sir!

I don't haul often, but when I do, it tends to be a lot, and the Yota is frequently undersized for that role. As a result I've been looking at full size trucks, and at this point, blasphemy though it is on these pages, it'll almost certainly wind up being a gasser.

Even used, it just doesn't pencil out to pay the premium for the diesel. I'll never make the $$$ back on fuel savings.

Choosing a diesel is not just about economy. I bought my 2003 Cummins new and paid 5000 extra for the diesel. I traded it with nearly 200K on it and got an extra 7000 in value over a gasser.

[Simpler=Better]

Originally Posted by OM617YOTA

That's a good looking truck.

My thoughts on leaning towards a gasser are based on:

1. The MPG figures from Fuelly comparing trucks in my price range with either their respective diesel engine, or the largest gas engine available
2. $3.15/gal for both regular unleaded and diesel, which is my current pricing
3. $7k price tag difference between the diesel engine and the big gas engine(v10 Ford or Dodge or big V8 for Chevy)
4. 5k miles/yr driven, which is what I do in the Yota now. Being able to make fewer trips, this will probably actually be less.

The Dodge gas vs diesel was the closest with 8.5 years to pay for the cost difference, Ford was the longest at over 20 years to pay for the cost difference - might as well be never - and Chevy was right in between those two.

At only 5k/yr an 80's gas hog big block truck only used for towing would be just fine.

[OM617YOTA]

Thanks folks, appreciate the input.

There are good arguments either way.

The extra value of a diesel engine upon resale is definitely to be considered.

I've never once regretted buying a higher quality tool, but have regretted settling for the lower cost one many times.

Life changes, plans change. In the ~7 years since initially planning the Yota build, my needs have changed significantly. A diesel in a full size truck is more likely to handle any unforeseen needs than a gas engine will, either mpg or hauling.

Buying used, instead of buying new and getting to pick the options I want, I'll have to pounce on whatever checks most of the boxes when it comes available. If it's diesel and the truck checks the rest of the boxes, that'll be that.

[OM617YOTA]

Truck still doing what it was built for. Once this is all split and stacked, I won't need to do anything with firewood for the next several years except burn it.

[Dan Stokes]

Go 'Yota!

Dan

[t walgamuth]

Originally Posted by OM617YOTA

Truck still doing what it was built for. Once this is all split and stacked, I won't need to do anything with firewood for the next several years except burn it.

please post a picture of the front of your truck. What I can see looks interesting but makes me curious about what I cannot see.

[OM617YOTA]

Sure, next time I head out to the shop I'll get a photo. It's posted on here in other places, just looks like a transformer version of an elephant seal snout on the front. Anything in particular you're wanting to see? Page 50 in this thread has a couple decent views.

[OM617YOTA]

Here we go. Yeah the shop's a mess.

[t walgamuth]

Originally Posted by OM617YOTA

Here we go. Yeah the shop's a mess.

I like that. It has a finished look to it.

[OM617YOTA]

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

I like that. It has a finished look to it.

You're very kind. I think of it more as Mad Max.

Among those who even notice, it generally gets a Marmite type of reaction. "WOW WHAT A BEAST!" or "WTF is wrong with you?" type of thing, without much in between.

[Dan Stokes]

Originally Posted by OM617YOTA

Here we go. Yeah the shop's a mess.

"Shop's a mess" is a relative thing. Mine's messier than yours!! (Sounds like schoolyard taunt......) I need to do a purge - again.



Dan

[OM617YOTA]

Went to start the truck on Saturday and it wouldn't even click. Battery at 10.9v. Put it on the charger and at a 10a charge rate it charged enough for the charger to auto shut off in 20 minutes? That's a ~50ah battery that was stone dead, should have been 6+ hours at a 10A charge rate. Pull the charger off, check the voltage, 12.53 and falling as I watch. Toast!

Battery was ancient, I knew I was on borrowed time and had planned to replace it before winter. Been starting slow the last couple months and that was my warning, I should have done it then, but didn't listen to what the truck was trying to tell me.

New Duracell/East Penn battery is sitting out in the shop now, exactly the same as what I used before. 7.5 years out of a battery, I've no complaints, it doesn't owe me a thing. I'll get it installed in the next couple days.

[Dan Stokes]

For years I ran the battery out of the 300 SD that I got the engine from. It finally pooped out so I went looking for a replacement. I had made the battery retaining hardware to fit the big M-B sized battery so I wanted to go with that size. I forget the group number but it's a big sucker. As much as I hate WalMart they had by far the best deal and so far it's been fine - I have a couple of years on it now.


Dan

[OM617YOTA]

Project Farm did a test recently, and the Walmart battery did the best out of all the competitors, coming the closest to meeting advertised spec and exceeding it in a couple places.

Almost pulled the trigger on an Interstate from Costco, but decided to go back with what I knew worked.

Got the new battery in, glowed a few seconds, turned the key, and the engine didn't even make a full rotation before starting. Checked charge voltage with accessories on and such, all good now.

Going to start cleaning up the engine bay, tidying up wiring and hoses, and redoing a few of the conversion bits. That conversion was done in my parent's gravel driveway and carport, very low budget, and while dealing with some pretty terrible family conditions. The very end of it was just hacked together as quickly as possible. Now the family BS is gone, I'm in my own shop with a downright luxurious concrete floor, all the time and space I want, much more resources to call upon, much better mindset myself, etc.

Time to do the job right.

[OM617YOTA]

Got the turbo rebuilt and in. Much better low and mid-throttle power, spools easier. Top end is the same, but the journey to the top end is much shorter.

Engine is still blowing a lot of blue smoke on cold start, and absolutely billowing the first time I get out on the main road and start getting into the turbo boost. It clears up shortly and is fine until the next cold start. Idling for an extended period seems to make this much worse. I was hoping the turbo rebuild would help this, but I think it's time for valve stem seals instead. Not looking forward to that one.

Also, I'm getting significant nailing on cold start, and sometimes even when cruising at low power and RPM. This engine has done variations of this the entire time I've owned it, even with a different injection pump, rebuilt injectors, all timing verified, no change. The only thing that's made any significant difference is delivery valve seals. A huge dose of cetane boost helps, but nobody else driving a diesel in this area has to bother with any of that. Thinking about taking this to a Mercedes diesel specialist for diagnostic and delivery valve seals.

I'm also reconsidering the truck entirely. My needs and resources have changed significantly since the truck's inception.