One of the few flaws in a modern Toyota HD-T motor is that Mr. T used inferior bearings on the bottom end- where connecting rod grasps the crank.

There have been documented cases of abrupt and total failure of the bearings, which then does all manner of ugly damage to the motor.

Among HD-T owners, it is commonly recommended to swap out the Toyota bearings with replacement bearings made by ACL.  The job is not particularly difficult, but it is messy as you are under the motor with the oil pan off, and oil will drip out onto you throughout the process of removing the old bearings and installing the new ones.  To add to that, getting the bearing caps on and off takes some torque, and there are numerous car parts that interfere with swinging a long wrench handle, so it is a challenge.  Again, not difficult, but certainly complicated.

My bearings were in decent shape, some scoring, some wear, but nothing alarming.  Still, I feel better having ticked that job off of the list.

Labels: land cruiser, repair