TD27 Engine Advice

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cv_navara

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Melbourne, Australia
Hi all-

Just bought a second-hand 1992 Navara 4x4 with the NA TD27. The engine is tired with 441,000 kms on the clock but it seems to go pretty well. The guy I bought it from knew nothing about engines but one of his mechanic friends said the engine was in good nick. The owner before him had it since new and mentioned that the engine was rebuilt at some time but the mechanic reckons it wasn't. I can't tell until I break into the thing myself.

Anyways, it blows a little black smoke on acceleration and eats up fuel so I was going to do the following:

1) Change the oil and send a sample off for analysis.
2) Adjust the valves.
3) Change the fuel filter and air filter.
4) Inspect the vacuum hoses and the EGR system.
5) Add some Mystery Oil to the valve cover (can you buy this here in Oz?).
5) Service the injectors.

The last item is the one I could use some advice about. The guy I bought the ute off of doesn't know if or when the injectors were serviced so I am assuming never. But I am also hesistant to chuck $400-600 bucks at it, one, because "if it ain't broke don't fix it" and, two, I have read on this forum that the injector servicing has made the fuel economy worse.

Does anyone have any opinions on this or know of a good diesel service mechanic in the greater Melbourne area to recommend?

Also, any other tune-up recommendations?

Thanks,
Casey
 
Welcome to the forum.

I'm no expert on the TD27, but blocking the EGR does often result in less black smoke and a small improvement in economy/power.

It's not a common rail engine, so cracking the injectors and inspecting them shouldn't be a big problem. Having a look inside the intake manifold for restrictions - EGR + blowby after 400,000km ought to have provided a fair bit of muck!
 
The td27 is a very reliable motor i bought my first car a d21 in 89 as a 17yr old it clocked 500k when i traded it and was still going strong never did i do anything apart from oil and filter every 5k and injector cleaner every tank a bit of smoke is normal if it's going well leave it alone 60kwts and 177nm is no race car but drive it gently i always got 9ltrs per 100 even in the final days.
 
Thanks for the posts. Good to hear it is a reliable engine. I have yet to "seat dyno" it, but it seems to be guzzling fuel and has very little power on hills (even in the power band). Hopefully it isn't the pump. But all-in-all she goes quite well as long as I drive gently.

So any other tune-up advice? Also, what type of injector cleaner is good? I have read mixed things about injector additives over the years...

Cheers,
Casey
 
My Td27 was a slow and gutless, it did not like hills and going fast either. But you just adapt driving styles.

Drop in the turbo gear and she will come to life, much better response and way more torque. I noticed pretty much no fuel consumption changes.

i dont think the NA motor has EGR gear on it....the turbo one does.

I did not pay a close eye but i think it was in the 12l/p100 range...which i accepted as its not a new or small car, so its not going to be great.

at our work workshop, i had a discussion with the manager regarding my QD3.2+turbo motor and he said he has always used ATF for any cleaning. Apparently it is the best cleaner by far. Has been using it for 10+ years, since a Cat diesel mech told him to use it.

I haven't done it yet, but im tempted.
A mate ran some fuel cleaner in his, and 2-3 days later his injector pump seal was leaking....coincidence or not it still makes me think twice about running cleaners.

he said 500ml when you do a full tank will do the trick....so how about you give it a go and if it works wonders ill do it to mine :p

Cheers, Christian
 
Thanks again for the responses. Here is an update:

Drove her out to the country (about 250 kms from Melbourne) to work on it at a mate's farm. During the drive, the engine kept overheating at every hill and had absolutely no power what-so-ever. And these are little hills on the Hume. So I pulled the thermostat out which looked shot and she kept cooler on the way home. I will be putting in a new one this week. I also changed the oil which was extremely dirty and put on a new air filter. Went to change the fuel filter and realized the PO must have fitted an aftermarket one as there is no water sensor only a single spin-on filter with a small water release petcock (Baldwin BF1205).

Anyone know where I can source the original fuel/water sensor so I can use the stock filter? Or else where to source a replacement filter that crosses with the Baldwin BF1205?

Also, should I be looking to just drop in a TD27 turbo engine with less kms instead of trying to toy around with this one?

Any other thoughts?

I appreciate all the advice.

Cheers,
Casey
 
If you can find a low km / decent turbo TD27 and your happy to do the labour than i say go for it.
if you paying someone to do it when it works out expensive, but if you got some tools and have some experience or have a mate with some experience swapping engines then the jobs not overly difficult.

I actually bought a running terrano, with similar Kms to my D21 at the time. Striped all the parts out and sold of everything for roughly what the car cost me - meaning the turbo motor was basically free.

Keep your ear to the ground and your bound to pickup a bargain.

Its basically bolt in job if you have the terrano. the wiring is bolt in, but you will lose your tacho unless you install an aftermarket unit, or move the Td27 tacho sensor over to the td27t motor (td27t reads 4-5 times higher than td27 sensor)

If you pickup a motor, get one with a dump pipe and the pipe off the dump pipe (front pipe) - otherwise you will need to DIY exhaust.

Otherwise if you decide you like you td27 you can just bolt your turbo gear onto it and its easier than an engine transplant.

With regards to overheating
its not uncommon for these things to have bad maintenance history, so its not surprising the thermostat is ****ed, id say shes overdue for a cooling system flush and some new parts. Dont overlook the radiator to, blocked cores will get you into all sorts of overheating drama.
 
Gearbox td23



Hi John,

I have an 88 d21 with a td23 column shift, do you know if a td27 will bolt up to the gearbox?

I believe the engine mounts are the same...

Cheers
Td23 and td27 is practically identical, I’ve got a parts Ute that has a td27t with a td23 column shift box All worked sweet 👍🏻
 

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