Toyota 1FZ-FE

Toyota's 4.5 petrol straight-six — in the Land Cruiser J80 and J100 and the Lexus LX.

It is an iron-block straight six built for a vehicle expected to work in places with no dealer, and its reputation follows from that: unstressed, chain-driven, and very hard to kill.

Its known items are age rather than design. The head gasket goes on engines that have been overheated — which on a Land Cruiser usually means a neglected cooling system or a hard tow. The crankshaft pulley (harmonic balancer) separates at high mileage and presents as a wandering timing mark and a belt that will not stay aligned; it is worth inspecting before believing any timing reading on one of these.

It is thirsty and that is not a fault — an owner reporting poor economy on a 4.5 petrol Land Cruiser is describing the vehicle.

The 1FZ-F carburettor version exists in some markets and is a different diagnosis entirely: no engine management to read, and the fault list is fuel delivery and ignition timing.