The spare wheel was buckled when I bought the car either from an accident or driving on a flat tyre. I will take this wheel off and see how it is, I can get it sand blasted and tig welded at work.
Don't like the adverts? Click here to remove them
FZJ80R from Devon
- Thread starter Richard Turner
- Start date
Don't worry I will check he wears his P.P.E.
Did some more little jobs this evening, I have been roasting in the car as the air con is still broken, and I am convinced the heater always blows slightly warm air even when it is on cold.
Removed the air con evaporator box again and had a look in the heater box, found a flap on the bottom of the heater which closes off the heater matrix and diverts the air, I think the rod has been bent in the past and it was jammed.
Could not find any pictures of how it was meant to be so I have put it back like this, seems to work better.
Also adjusted the heater tap so it fully closes, I had to pull the cable a bit further through the bulkhead to do this.
The truck sometimes doesn't feel quite right on the throttle, and when I was working on the heater tap I noticed the flashlube sight glass was empty.
The vacuum pipe for the flashlube (the one it was supplied with) has completely perished and has splits all the way along it.
It is completely holed in the u bend near the flashlube tank and the flashlube has been dripping down out of the hose instead of going into the engine. I thought it may be because it was too near the exhaust but there are splits all along the pipe including where it runs in between the inlet manifold runners.
I am not overly impressed as it has been on there less than a year and I will have to take the inlet manifold off to replace it, and in the mean time it has been running my engine lean (hot) and without flashlube. All the Toyota 23 year old hoses that the hose runs next to are still in perfect condition. So I will have to get some good quality oil and heat resistant hose that is the perfect size to fit in the flash lube.
Did some more little jobs this evening, I have been roasting in the car as the air con is still broken, and I am convinced the heater always blows slightly warm air even when it is on cold.
Removed the air con evaporator box again and had a look in the heater box, found a flap on the bottom of the heater which closes off the heater matrix and diverts the air, I think the rod has been bent in the past and it was jammed.
Could not find any pictures of how it was meant to be so I have put it back like this, seems to work better.
Also adjusted the heater tap so it fully closes, I had to pull the cable a bit further through the bulkhead to do this.
The truck sometimes doesn't feel quite right on the throttle, and when I was working on the heater tap I noticed the flashlube sight glass was empty.
The vacuum pipe for the flashlube (the one it was supplied with) has completely perished and has splits all the way along it.
It is completely holed in the u bend near the flashlube tank and the flashlube has been dripping down out of the hose instead of going into the engine. I thought it may be because it was too near the exhaust but there are splits all along the pipe including where it runs in between the inlet manifold runners.
I am not overly impressed as it has been on there less than a year and I will have to take the inlet manifold off to replace it, and in the mean time it has been running my engine lean (hot) and without flashlube. All the Toyota 23 year old hoses that the hose runs next to are still in perfect condition. So I will have to get some good quality oil and heat resistant hose that is the perfect size to fit in the flash lube.
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2014
- Messages
- 1,501
I was thinking more of you and your family. Any welding repair will weaken the wheel or at least set up undesigned for stresses. Might be ok for a small rim repair, but a bit risky on a spoke. Failure might be rare, but it can and does happen.
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2016
- Messages
- 1,426
- Country Flag
Richard as said above by Flint be careful about getting that wheel welded up ok in might cost you a beer but despite the skill of the welder doing the work he might not want to test his welding skills with you and your families lives get some new ones cheaper in the long run
Don't like the adverts? Click here to remove them
Higgy
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2018
- Messages
- 3,407
- Country Flag
Agree.. Welding up steel the weld is probably the strongest part of the Job. But Alu. when it fails its normally instant and Catastrophic..Plenty of lads on the Forum will sell you a set of Good secondhand ones.. (Chapel Gate) Or Karl...
New wheels speedily delivered from Chapel Gate...
Some shot blasting and painting later looking a bit better...
Quick partial strip of the inlet manifold to replace the failed flashlube tube, I found 6mm nylon air pipe was perfect, managed to re route some of the other pipes I wasn't quite happy with, also wired in the LPG fuel level sender which I didn't have connected before.
Also, finished the air rear diff locker.
It is made from solid aluminium cut on a 4 jaw chuck lathe, and uses a festo air cylinder.
I need to make an air system and get some air solenoids for it, but I am hoping to use the original 4wd computer to control it.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2016
- Messages
- 1,426
- Country Flag
Good choice on the wheels and looking a good job on cleaning them up another member done something similar but lacquered them for more protection and would RS components have air solenoids for your needs did you do your own machining looks heavy duty and built to last keep up the good work Richard
The wheels have a coat of zinc primer, then zinc galvanising spray, then 2 coats of lacquer so hopefully they will last ok, I didn't do the machining a chap at work cut it on the lathe for me, it was very time consuming though it would be much quicker done on a milling machine but I don't have access to one.
Higgy
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2018
- Messages
- 3,407
- Country Flag
Good choice on getting some replacement wheels Richard. A lot safer option mate..I got a set off Chapel Gate, Sprayed them with 2pk Gun metal Grey Then 2pk Lacquer ... I did do them silver first with Rattle Paint But didn't like them. Prefer the darker Grey... Crack On!
So after the fun and games with the wheel the cruiser has been running ok, had a nice holiday in the Isle of Wight, Jack thinks it makes a great sunshade.
Lately the smell of coolant has been getting worse, and when parked I get coolant dripping from the drivers side mud flap.
The leaking radiator is back too, it leaks from the crimps near the top hose. I re crimped them, but I think the radiator has been replaced with a cheap pattern part, it just won't seal well.
Got myself a shiny aluminium radiator...
Complete with unions for the transmission cooler, however I will continue to run the transmission oil through the front cooler and use the heat exchanger for the powersteering fluid, instead of the cooling loop that rotted away.
The radiator actually seems good quality, however I will pressure test it before I fit it, and flush it through to try and remove any swarf inside.
The leak appearing at the mudflap is unfortunately the rear heater pipes, I have ordered some new ones, but I think I will have to pull the engine forward to be able to replace them, so I have decided to do some other maintenance at the same time.
Investigate why the A/C won't work,
Replace corroded and weeping powersteering pipework,
Replace transmission cooler pipework (it has EPDM workshop air pipe at the moment which I am worried is not correct),
Fit a V band in front of the Catalytic converters to improve access and to let me rotate them so they sit horizontally,
Replace rear transmission mount which is still repaired with cableties,
Replace corroded oil pressure sensor,
Replace corroded front brake pipes,
Replace load sensing valve (air keeps getting into the brakes)
Fit the front set of axle mount bushes.
Hopefully with these jobs done it will be another big leap forward with the reliability and feel of the truck on the road, I need to get this work done by early October as I need to tow the trials car for the Edinburgh trial.
Lately the smell of coolant has been getting worse, and when parked I get coolant dripping from the drivers side mud flap.
The leaking radiator is back too, it leaks from the crimps near the top hose. I re crimped them, but I think the radiator has been replaced with a cheap pattern part, it just won't seal well.
Got myself a shiny aluminium radiator...
Complete with unions for the transmission cooler, however I will continue to run the transmission oil through the front cooler and use the heat exchanger for the powersteering fluid, instead of the cooling loop that rotted away.
The radiator actually seems good quality, however I will pressure test it before I fit it, and flush it through to try and remove any swarf inside.
The leak appearing at the mudflap is unfortunately the rear heater pipes, I have ordered some new ones, but I think I will have to pull the engine forward to be able to replace them, so I have decided to do some other maintenance at the same time.
Investigate why the A/C won't work,
Replace corroded and weeping powersteering pipework,
Replace transmission cooler pipework (it has EPDM workshop air pipe at the moment which I am worried is not correct),
Fit a V band in front of the Catalytic converters to improve access and to let me rotate them so they sit horizontally,
Replace rear transmission mount which is still repaired with cableties,
Replace corroded oil pressure sensor,
Replace corroded front brake pipes,
Replace load sensing valve (air keeps getting into the brakes)
Fit the front set of axle mount bushes.
Hopefully with these jobs done it will be another big leap forward with the reliability and feel of the truck on the road, I need to get this work done by early October as I need to tow the trials car for the Edinburgh trial.
So did a bit of stripping down today, started by removing the lights, bumper, etc, then moved on to diagnosing the A/C issues.
I vaccumed the A/C the other night and the vaccum was half after 1 day then gone by the next. Last night I used the adaptor from the vacuum pump to connect my bottle of Argoshield and pressurised to 55psi. I know you are supposed to use nitrogen but I don't have any. This morning when I checked the pressure was down to 10psi.
Pressurised back up to 55 and used soapy water as leak detector.
Fairly big leak near the union with the evaporator on the bulkhead.
Smaller leaks on the seal with the pump.
Another small leak on the high pressure pipe in front of the battery.
I think this one is due to corrosion on the pipe.
All the leaks I could find were on the high pressure pipe, the pressure sensor was shutting the AC down last time it was charged, I think it had not been vacuumed long enough. The high pressure cut out is at 32bar so might explain some of the leaks.
The condensor, although very corroded with fins missing and a big bow in it, was not actually leaking. However I think I will replace it.
Next I started taking off parts to let me get to the leaking heater pipe. When I took put the radiator plug I noticed that you can hear the siphon valve in the radiator cap opening and drawing air into the radiator. This seems to be a good way to check it is working. I could also hear sucking and bubbling noises coming from where I suspected the pipe leak was.
Double jubilee couldn't help a leaky rad.
You can see the obvious design flaw with this crimped radiator. In the areas of maximum stress where the hoses join the tanks there is no return for the crimps.
This is why I have gone for a fully welded radiator this time.
A rotty part under the condensor will need welding up.
The leaky pipe.
I have cleared most of the O/S of the engine bay, I tried to jiggle the leaky pipe out but there is no way its coming out, also I can't even see the other pipe.
Next job is to try tilting the engine backward and forward to gain access if that doesn't work I will have to crane it forward.
Double jubilee couldn't help a leaky rad.
You can see the obvious design flaw with this crimped radiator. In the areas of maximum stress where the hoses join the tanks there is no return for the crimps.
This is why I have gone for a fully welded radiator this time.
A rotty part under the condensor will need welding up.
The leaky pipe.
I have cleared most of the O/S of the engine bay, I tried to jiggle the leaky pipe out but there is no way its coming out, also I can't even see the other pipe.
Next job is to try tilting the engine backward and forward to gain access if that doesn't work I will have to crane it forward.
Paddler Ed
Well-Known Member
Well, that wiped out my morning earlier today - and gave me a load of places to poke on my FZJ80 when I got going on it.
Have you ever changed the O2 sensor on it? I've just tested mine and it's still within specs (just) but has some great colouring on it from historic over fuelling. Hoping that it's like the one in the 4Runner was, as that got replaced when it got to a similar state, and gave me about a 15% fuel economy improvement.
Thanks for the great read, and keep it up!
Have you ever changed the O2 sensor on it? I've just tested mine and it's still within specs (just) but has some great colouring on it from historic over fuelling. Hoping that it's like the one in the 4Runner was, as that got replaced when it got to a similar state, and gave me about a 15% fuel economy improvement.
Thanks for the great read, and keep it up!
Hi Ed, I have not changed nor tested the O2 sensor in my truck as it has been replaced in 2010, also it always passes vey easily on the emission tester at MOT time, and when the LPG system was mapped it we used it for the mapping.
It is a component that can be easily damaged though, so worth replacing, but only if you are sure the engine is running reasonably well already (good spark plugs and ignition, no intake air leaks, ecu temperature sensor working ok) because otherwise you will damage the new sensor.
When the 1FZ-FE is running correctly it runs completely smoothly and revs extremely well...
It is a component that can be easily damaged though, so worth replacing, but only if you are sure the engine is running reasonably well already (good spark plugs and ignition, no intake air leaks, ecu temperature sensor working ok) because otherwise you will damage the new sensor.
When the 1FZ-FE is running correctly it runs completely smoothly and revs extremely well...
After a lot of tipping the engine back and forward I found you can get the drivers side return pipe out this way but not the passenger side one.
There was a paticularly difficult bracket that holds the gearbox throttle position cable, I found that by removing the shifter console you can access it with a long extension.
Got the exhaust and cats off, luckily no sheared bolts, although the nuts that hold the O2 sensor in have completely rotted away!
The easier to get out pipe, along with the failed transmission mount.
The exhaust and cats when they are out. They are not paticularly well made, the pipework at the flanges is very rough.
Eventually, after removing the engine mounts and sliding the engine forward, and by sliding the transmission as far over as you can to the passenger side, and by removing the front prop, I managed to get the other heater pipe out.
Now I have a big list of things to refurbish, and I have to wait for the new pipes to arrive anyway. I didn't want to replace the pipes with rubber as they run extremely close to the exhaust and EGR (which flows through the back of the head) I don't think rubber ones will last as well as the steel.
If you were getting a garage to do this job the simplest way would just be to remove the gearbox, but I don't have a ramp.
