Turbo89GQ’s write up of his Garrett turbo project on this forum really inspired me to go ahead with my own turbo project for my LWB TD42 Mav.
The idea of this post is to show that you can install a new turbo system in your Patrol with virtually no fabrication.
For a start, here are the criteria for what I wanted to achieve with installing a turbo:
- It had to be a bolt in job. Major fabrication like dump pipe or exhaust was out of the question as I am a driveway mechanic with no means of fabricating major bits and pieces. I also thought, I could save a bit of money if I didn’t have to get my truck trailered to an exhaust shop and get them to do a custom job.
- I was looking for a turbo setup, which favours reliability over performance.
- I wanted a turbo with virtually no lag and low down boost.
- I also wanted better fuel economy as my Vic Alp trips averaged to 25l off road.
- I wanted a low mount configuration as I have a dual battery system installed.
It took me quite a while to research all the bits and pieces. After reading the mentioned build thread here and talking to s couple of people, I decided to go with the Garrett GT2860rs with a DTS manifold (I didn’t like the performance characteristics of most kits as I wanted something that kicked in at 1200 – 1400 rpm).
One funny thing, I noticed when I rang around to price all the bits and pieces was that the price would jump up by approx. $1k when the word ‘kit’ was mentioned. This was another reason why I choose putting my own kit together.
I started getting a compression and leakage test done by my workshop. The results were very promising: Compression test: 460 470 460 460 470 460 -- Leakage test: 10% 7% 8.5% 6 9% 7.5%
Not too bad for an engine with 350k on it J.
Speaking to a lot of people including the guys at Trac4 in Sydney, I realised that I would also need a 2.5” or 3” exhaust system to make the turbo work efficiently (apparently, you get away with the stock exhaust system on Toyotas).
So, the first item, I bought was a 3” exhaust system off eBay from Scotts Rods for $549. My punt was that if it fits to the factory turbo, I just have to find a dump pipe that lines up.
And guess what, my biggest issue with finding all parts was sourcing a dump pipe for the GT28. I stumbled across ASE’s website who do a GT2860 upgrade kit for the GU TD42T and asked them if they would sell the dump pipe separately. ASE were prepared to match the quotes, I got for the turbo and manifold elsewhere and we agreed on a package deal with all oil and water lines as well as the air pipes and all gaskets. All added up to $2700 delivered to my door. I had bought a ZD30 air box earlier for $200.
Fitting the ZD30 air box was a pain in the @rse. I had to relocate my ARB 2nd battery tray 5cm back to work out that the overflow bottle wouldn’t fit anymore due to its shape. So, I had to massage the inner guard. I also had to enlarge the hole in the inner guard for the silicone adaptor hose between air box and Safari snorkel. All up a day’s work.
Low mounts are a tight fit in a GQ. After pre assembling manifold, turbo and oil and water lines, I realised that I could not slide the assembly into position. Some of the manifold bolts, I could only tighten 10deg at a time.
The whole install took me two days. It could be done in a day if it’s not your first time and you have a helping hand. The exhaust hit a cross member and had to be massaged into shape by using a hydraulic jack.
I bought EGT and boost gauges from Auber instruments. I fitted the EGT probe in the manifold, as I wanted accurate EGT readings.
I only upped the fuel by ¼ and decided to see how it drives without tuning it on a dyno. I have since driven the truck 5000km and have not had any problem whatsoever. My average EGT is well below 500 deg. pre turbo and max boost is at 14PSI if the gauge is correct. There is absolutely no turbo lag. My average fuel consumption is at around 13l
There are no overheating issues whatsoever. The truck pulls nicely from 1200 rpm with full boost at around 2000rpm through to 3000rpm according to my gauges
Pulls off nicely, can sit at 110 on the freeway up and down the hills. It is a different car. My memories of driving a gutless n/a TD42 are fading and driving the truck puts a smile on my face every time.
Cheers
Joachim
The idea of this post is to show that you can install a new turbo system in your Patrol with virtually no fabrication.
For a start, here are the criteria for what I wanted to achieve with installing a turbo:
- It had to be a bolt in job. Major fabrication like dump pipe or exhaust was out of the question as I am a driveway mechanic with no means of fabricating major bits and pieces. I also thought, I could save a bit of money if I didn’t have to get my truck trailered to an exhaust shop and get them to do a custom job.
- I was looking for a turbo setup, which favours reliability over performance.
- I wanted a turbo with virtually no lag and low down boost.
- I also wanted better fuel economy as my Vic Alp trips averaged to 25l off road.
- I wanted a low mount configuration as I have a dual battery system installed.
It took me quite a while to research all the bits and pieces. After reading the mentioned build thread here and talking to s couple of people, I decided to go with the Garrett GT2860rs with a DTS manifold (I didn’t like the performance characteristics of most kits as I wanted something that kicked in at 1200 – 1400 rpm).
One funny thing, I noticed when I rang around to price all the bits and pieces was that the price would jump up by approx. $1k when the word ‘kit’ was mentioned. This was another reason why I choose putting my own kit together.
I started getting a compression and leakage test done by my workshop. The results were very promising: Compression test: 460 470 460 460 470 460 -- Leakage test: 10% 7% 8.5% 6 9% 7.5%
Not too bad for an engine with 350k on it J.
Speaking to a lot of people including the guys at Trac4 in Sydney, I realised that I would also need a 2.5” or 3” exhaust system to make the turbo work efficiently (apparently, you get away with the stock exhaust system on Toyotas).
So, the first item, I bought was a 3” exhaust system off eBay from Scotts Rods for $549. My punt was that if it fits to the factory turbo, I just have to find a dump pipe that lines up.
And guess what, my biggest issue with finding all parts was sourcing a dump pipe for the GT28. I stumbled across ASE’s website who do a GT2860 upgrade kit for the GU TD42T and asked them if they would sell the dump pipe separately. ASE were prepared to match the quotes, I got for the turbo and manifold elsewhere and we agreed on a package deal with all oil and water lines as well as the air pipes and all gaskets. All added up to $2700 delivered to my door. I had bought a ZD30 air box earlier for $200.
Fitting the ZD30 air box was a pain in the @rse. I had to relocate my ARB 2nd battery tray 5cm back to work out that the overflow bottle wouldn’t fit anymore due to its shape. So, I had to massage the inner guard. I also had to enlarge the hole in the inner guard for the silicone adaptor hose between air box and Safari snorkel. All up a day’s work.
Low mounts are a tight fit in a GQ. After pre assembling manifold, turbo and oil and water lines, I realised that I could not slide the assembly into position. Some of the manifold bolts, I could only tighten 10deg at a time.
The whole install took me two days. It could be done in a day if it’s not your first time and you have a helping hand. The exhaust hit a cross member and had to be massaged into shape by using a hydraulic jack.
I bought EGT and boost gauges from Auber instruments. I fitted the EGT probe in the manifold, as I wanted accurate EGT readings.
I only upped the fuel by ¼ and decided to see how it drives without tuning it on a dyno. I have since driven the truck 5000km and have not had any problem whatsoever. My average EGT is well below 500 deg. pre turbo and max boost is at 14PSI if the gauge is correct. There is absolutely no turbo lag. My average fuel consumption is at around 13l
There are no overheating issues whatsoever. The truck pulls nicely from 1200 rpm with full boost at around 2000rpm through to 3000rpm according to my gauges
Pulls off nicely, can sit at 110 on the freeway up and down the hills. It is a different car. My memories of driving a gutless n/a TD42 are fading and driving the truck puts a smile on my face every time.
Cheers
Joachim
