2.8 Hilux overheating

Q. I have a 2.8D HiLux that I want to turn the wick up on. It’s a reliable old bus but man it’s slow – I’m talking ‘getting passed by L-platers on the flats’ type slow. Can’t see any other way to do it than a turbo (except an engine swap, which I’m not too interested in), but I’m a bit worried about the consequences of the turbo install. It’s for a vehicle that spends a lot of time in low-range at fairly low speeds – and the last thing I want is to have the engine overheating constantly. In your experience do these engines take well to turbos, and what can be done to prevent overheating?

A. The designated 3L engine you have is a great tractor and loves low rpm but as you know, get it on the highway and you struggle. There are 4 injectors and a fuel pump supplying fuel so no issues there. The big problem, as with any Diesel, is getting air to the engine. As RPM increases the inlet manifold hole just stays the same so you end up with starving for air and generally a rich and smokey Diesel always as the RPM increases. So yes a turbo will be fine. I prefer water-cooled for some added engine shutdown safety for the turbo and make sure its installed and set up towards a cooler-lean-clean burn and not fuel rich- for the safety of the engine. Boost should be around 9-10 PSI.