Hi

[Andrew Prince]

so how does that comepare to a land cruiser? and when he says hub seal what bit is he/you talking about?

A bit different - the LC swivel uses moly grease and the hub seals keep the grease in and water out, while allowing a smear of grease on the swivel balls. The axle/diff contains oil and the inner axle seal keeps the oil in and prevents it leaking into the swivels. Oil leaking into the swivels dilutes the grease, which leaks past the hub seals and your CV runs dry ... and you can guess the rest.

with the difflocks he says there are switches for front and rear when he switches them the lights come on , I am guessing thats right? would it have a viscous centre difflock as there is no switch for it?

The lights flash if the locker is not engaged and go solid when engaged. So the lights just coming on isn't the whole story. The centre diff locks automatically when engaging low range. You can buy a CDL switch to lock the centre diff manually in high range. You can do the pin 7 mod or disconnect one of the switches on the box to disable the automatic locking action in low and control lock-up via the CDL switch. Plenty written here about these if you have a browse

whats the story with your autoboxs on these, do they have a dipstick, are they meachnically goverened? how reliable and whats the deal with service intervals?

Yes, they have a dipstick and a drain plug. You have to fill via the dipstick which is a tad fiddly but not too bad. Dunno about service intervals but keep them cool (i.e. avoid overheating the ATF) and change the ATF when it shows any sign of starting to discolour and the boxes are very reliable.

Cheers,

 

[Fett]

thats great info thanks. so when he says one seal is a bit wet , does that mean the inner seal has failed diluting the grease or the oute one has failed and let the moly weep past?

how expensive for a garage to do and how urgent a job is it?

I can understand its hard to diagnose without ever seeing it lol.

do you know what type of govenor the autobox has? are there problems with it sticking in first from cold when people change the oil and disturb the crud build up?

so so long as the difflock lights go solid I am ok? and the centre diff only locks in low- that will be interesting when laning as I normally lane in high hmm maybe a mod one day or do they not get stuck anyway?

thanks for all this invaluable info getsn, much appreciated

 

[adrianr]

Centre difflock if it does not have a switch you can buy one to have centre locked in hi ratio. Great for laning and in snow.

Then do the mod so you can access low ratio without locking the centre and you have more flexibility and choice.

 

[Andrew Prince]

thats great info thanks. so when he says one seal is a bit wet , does that mean the inner seal has failed diluting the grease or the oute one has failed and let the moly weep past?

Probably means the inner one has gone. The outer one is not a very tight seal - ok for grease but anything runnier will get past eventually.

how expensive for a garage to do and how urgent a job is it?

Probably fairly pricey for a garage to do because it can be quite time-consuming if they've never done it before. And there is a strong chance that a a half-@rsed mechanic will take a shortcut and do some damage. It's an easy enough job to DIY - lots of guides here on how to do it. It is not urgent for day-to-day running around but definitely worth doing before a big trip and an important preventative maintenance item on a "new" truck as you don't know the state of the CVs and bearings or how long it's been losing oil and grease for.

do you know what type of govenor the autobox has? are there problems with it sticking in first from cold when people change the oil and disturb the crud build up?

Dunno about the governer - depends on the box as some are mechanical/hydraulic and others electrical. I'm not aware of any problem when people change the oil - more problems seem to result from people not changing the oil and letting them run too hot!

so so long as the difflock lights go solid I am ok?

Yes

and the centre diff only locks in low- that will be interesting when laning as I normally lane in high hmm maybe a mod one day or do they not get stuck anyway?

As I mentioned before and Adrian reiterated, you can add a switch to control the CDL manually. This allows you to run in high with the CD locked.

Cheers,

 

[Fett]

that sounds like a good idea, how much is the switch and how easy is it to fit? any chance of doing any damage?

so if I top up the diff oil for the journey home it should be ok as its wet but then try and sort it before a big trip? I guess you can measure how much its loosing buy keeping an eye on the diff oil level?

thanks

 

[Andrew Prince]

Yes, making sure the diff is fairly full is a good idea. It doesn't pour out in a rush so it's not like you'll run it empty by the time you've made it home.

The switch can be a little pricey - I think £50 from Toyota or you can cobble together your own one using a hazard switch or similar. It's an easy fit - plug n play! The connector is taped behind the stereo unit in the dash so once you have a suitable switch it's connect up and you have control.

 

[Chas]

The switch can be a little pricey - I think £50 from Toyota.

I found my one on eBay for about £25 IIRC.

 

[Fett]

That sounds good, if anyone can tell me what its usually called I will keep an eye on ebay while I am looking for the car

 

[Gav Peter]

The style of the switch varies on older trucks to newer ones - newer trucks have a flatter dash, older ones more curved

This is the older style switch

 

[Chas]

That sounds good, if anyone can tell me what its usually called I will keep an eye on ebay while I am looking for the car

I found it by searching eBay for Toyota Centre Diff Lock switch

 

[Fett]

thanks , as soon as I have a truck I will get the one that matches my dash!

I am thinking of a 1997 at the mo, I am guessing its the later one then?

 

[Gav Peter]

I would suspect so... There was a thread on this subject for the newer truck switch IIRC.

Sounds like you're getting closer

 

[Fett]

yup its the same one Ive been hot on for a while , there is also a member on here with one much closer which might be better but I am waiting for him to get back to me

 

[Gav Peter]

Jim (Pugwash) will do what he can

 

[Fett]

yes I am sure he will , just hope its soon as I may end up seeing this other one tomorrow and buying it. even some more info on the basingstoke one would help