Aftermarket Turbo for Altitude Driving?

[Seeka]

Hi all, long time lurker - thank you for the wealth of information provided so far!

I have a diesel Landcruiser Troopcarrier HZJ78 which is a non-turbo model. It is extremely capable.. if not terribly powerful.

Like so many before us, my BF and I are planning on driving around the world over several years, and will be shipping her to Canada mid-late next year to begin the journey south to Argentina. My big question of the moment is whether it is recommended to add an aftermarket turbo for the higher altitude sections of the trip?

Australia's highest mountain is 7,310 ft so I wouldn't have a clue about driving at altitude, but I've picked up that without turbo we might be having a rough time.

In general I find her slow-doggedness rather endearing and we would like to keep the mechanics as standard as possible. Bearing that in mind, would you recommend a turbo for our purposes, or can we get through without by just taking it slow? Are there other measures we could take to mitigate altitude issues?

 

[Black Dog]

In general I find her slow-doggedness rather endearing and we would like to keep the mechanics as standard as possible. Bearing that in mind, would you recommend a turbo for our purposes, or can we get through without by just taking it slow? Are there other measures we could take to mitigate altitude issues?

I know literally nothing about the HZJ78, but a turbo will help with its sluggishness for sure. If your motor is naturally aspirated you'll want to familiarize yourself with how to tune the carb for changing altitudes, but if its got EFI you shouldn't need to worry much about it.

 

[lugueto]

Diesel my friend. no carb here..

I've never seen a 1HZ up close, so my knowledge is very limited. I have seen a bunch of threads and information on turbocharging this engine, though, a google search will show a buch of results.

I guess the only help I can provide here is: yes, it has been done, thoroughly documented and it works!

best of luck with this!

 

[Haf-E]

I wouldn't do it. Keep it stock. You can do the trip with it as is and might enjoy it more going slow.

I've driven to the Arctic Circle in a car that had 28hp and over the highest passes in the US (12,000+ feet) so it can be done. Just keep it loaded reasonably and resist putting big tires on it. Have a good trip sitting back and watching the world go by slowly.

 

[Black Dog]

Diesel my friend. no carb here..

I know nothing about diesel motors either except they have glow plugs instead of spark plugs.

I've driven to the Arctic Circle in a car that had 28hp and over the highest passes in the US (12,000+ feet) so it can be done. Just keep it loaded reasonably and resist putting big tires on it. Have a good trip sitting back and watching the world go by slowly.

I've seen Model T's go up Pikes Peak with no troubles at all too.

 

[Expedition.Report]

I wouldn't do it. Keep it stock. You can do the trip with it as is and might enjoy it more going slow.

I have learnt this lesson the hard way too many times....stock is where it's at!

 

[orangeex]

We drove a Diesel 200 Tdi Land Rover over the Himalayas. Spent a month at 16000' and apart from a bit of unburnt Diesel (ie White Smoke) we had no issues. We kept it stock and didnt mess.Did just fine. I'd leave well alone if thats your only reason for adding the Turbo.

 

[eggman918]

I've learned quit a bit about diesels and turbos in the last five years doing a Cummins 4BT swap in my '68 F-250,so this is general info but will give you things to consider.When going from naturally aspirated to turbo applications of the same factory engine family the turbo ones have "oil nozzles" that squirt onto the bottom sides of the pistons to help keep them cool with the increased air and fuel that you will be adding with the turbo without them the amount of boost you can safely run is very limited and the overall longevity of the engine will not be satisfactory so that would be the first thing to look into if there is a factory turbo variant of that engine that "should" be an easy fix. The second thing to consider is the injection pump on most turbo engines has a component on them that increases the fueling rate as boost increases regardless of the throttle position,again depending on what Injection pump your engine uses that also could be a fairly easy but not cheap fix.Adding a turbo can be a winner IF it is done correctly and you don,t go overboard and try to make too much boost/power generally a diesel with a correctly sized turbo will get better fuel economy run cleaner and be more enjoyable to drive and at altitude definitely.But it's not as simple as bolting on a turbo and running it so I would defiantly recommend doing LOT'S of research before jumping in to this undertaking,no project worth the time and money to do is easy and all the time you spend in research will be repaid ten fold in said time and money as well as your satisfaction in the results of your project.I hope this helps in your decision on the viability of this project,happy researching and good luck!

 

[Seeka]

Thanks!

I wouldn't do it. Keep it stock. You can do the trip with it as is and might enjoy it more going slow.

I've driven to the Arctic Circle in a car that had 28hp and over the highest passes in the US (12,000+ feet) so it can be done. Just keep it loaded reasonably and resist putting big tires on it. Have a good trip sitting back and watching the world go by slowly.

I have learnt this lesson the hard way too many times....stock is where it's at!

We drove a Diesel 200 Tdi Land Rover over the Himalayas. Spent a month at 16000' and apart from a bit of unburnt Diesel (ie White Smoke) we had no issues. We kept it stock and didnt mess.Did just fine. I'd leave well alone if thats your only reason for adding the Turbo.

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'm glad the general consensus is that we can skip it, or I would have a lot of research to do!

We definitely don't mind taking it slow (Americas portion is looking at ~3 years), so turbo is now officially off the extensive list of things to do before next year.

 

[Seeka]

Thanks for the input eggman. This combined with the other responses further confirms my instincts to keep stock. It CAN be done correctly, but if anything goes wrong we could be very reliant on 3rd world mechanics who don't know enough... I've read some horror stories!

 

[redthies]

We drove a Diesel 200 Tdi Land Rover over the Himalayas. Spent a month at 16000' and apart from a bit of unburnt Diesel (ie White Smoke) we had no issues. We kept it stock and didnt mess.Did just fine. I'd leave well alone if thats your only reason for adding the Turbo.

TDi IS turbocharged, and white smoke is not un-burnt fuel... that would be black smoke!


Seeka: I've driven HJ74s in Oz, and a BJ60 (3.4 non turbo 4cyl) to over 12,000'. The trip to 12,000 was slow, and smokey (black) but otherwise no drama. Leave it stock! I am in the Vancouver BC area, and have driven my TLCs down to Central America a few times. Let me know if you need a hand with shipping or other logistics...

 

[eggman918]

Thanks for the input eggman. This combined with the other responses further confirms my instincts to keep stock. It CAN be done correctly, but if anything goes wrong we could be very reliant on 3rd world mechanics who don't know enough... I've read some horror stories!

That is a good call on your part,done right it would be nice and reliable......but the cost and time vs gain from N/A hard to justify.I have built my rig from the ground up doing all the work myself so I guess I'm the factory and the dealer and with the tool box I carry behind the back seat I can do everything short of an "in frame overhaul" and with a ring compressor and torque wrench in a pinch I could do that world wide support was one of the factors that weighed heavy in favor of the Cummins when I was choosing a motor for my conversion add that to a Ford drive train I'm in good shape anywhere in the Americas.On a side note I'm envious of your planned trip if only I was 15 years younger................:drool: