tmleadr03 builds up "The Tank" FZJ80

[tmleadr03]

It followed me home yesterday. So far I like it, but what a change in driving this from a BMW. It is a totally different feel. That is of course a "duh" statement but I now think of it as "The Tank".

It has a few things that need addressing. On the drive home I could feel the alignment was slightly out. When I got it up in the air I found a tie rod end that had some play in it. As does a wheel bearing. Nothing major so far.

There are a few oil leaks. Front pinion, valve cover, speed sensor and front crank seal.

Also hiccups/miss-fires a little at idle once warm, I think the plugs and a timing adjust will take care of that. Gonna smoke test to make sure there is no vacuum leak as well.

Today I am going to do an oil change, front pinion and plugs. Valve cover, speed sensor, front seal, wheel bearing and tie rod end are in the coming weeks.

Also on the list for the day are diag rear locker (wont engage) and cruise control (also wont engage).


My goal with this vehicle is to explore CO and eventually around North America. This is going to be my camping trail running vehicle. Short term, I want to hit ever single unpaved mountain pass in CO. 22 of those from my research so far.

As of right now the mods it has are what I am going to keep. I need to get out on the trail and see if there are other things I need/want before I start throwing parts at it.


Current:
Factory lockers (working now tested last weekend)
2.5 inch lift
OME 850 front springs
OME 860 rear
ARB Bumper

Upcoming:
Rear bumper with tire carrier
Aux fuel tank where the tire went
Winch
LED light bar for the front
LED interior lighting
Second Battery (probably the same weekend as the winch when I get around to that)

 

[Driver-Navigator]

Nice. Welcome to 80-series ownerdom. And yeah don't expect it to handle like an M3. ;^)

 

[tmleadr03]

I didnt get the rear locker or cruise control figured out today. Too many other cars came in and distracted me with work, instead of play.

Today I got the plugs done, found one vacuum leak without using the smoke tester, adjusted timing, flushed the diffs, replaced the front pinion seal and changed the oil.

Front diff was NASTY!!!

Pulled the fill plug and it was overfull, smelt burnt and had metal flakes in it. Looks like it got water contamination.

I will be doing the front diff again in a week. And possibly in another week after that. Yuck.

Timing was off at idle. That is back to where it should be.

The vacuum leak was at the valve cover vent hose.

I couldn't get the part today, so put this one back on for the drive home and back.

 

[tmleadr03]

Nice. Welcome to 80-series ownerdom. And yeah don't expect it to handle like an M3. ;^)

Thank you! I am really looking forward to getting some mud on the tires!

 

[LifeOverland]

Nice 80! I had the cruise control issue on my first 80. Before you go hunting, check your rear tail lights. The previous owner had the wrong bulb installed in the brake light.


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[The_Dude]

How are the knuckle seals? These trucks are awesome!

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[Flagster]

That diff fluid looks like mine before I did the axle seals

 

[tmleadr03]

Nice 80! I had the cruise control issue on my first 80. Before you go hunting, check your rear tail lights. The previous owner had the wrong bulb installed in the brake light.


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So I had a few minutes to mess with it at work today and went to diag it. And it worked. Seriously. So I parked it again and got back on a different vehicle. Went to drive home and it wasn't working again. Bah.

I will check the tail lights.

 

[tmleadr03]

How are the knuckle seals? These trucks are awesome!

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They looked good. But I haven't torn into the front end too much yet. Just did a pinion seal. I will more when I do the RF wheel bearing and the tie rod end.

Today I got the vent hose in.

 

[Upland80]

Nice 80...same color as mine! I must say that the residue on pic #3 looks a lot like birf soup to me.

 

[kletzenklueffer]

Nice 80...same color as mine! I must say that the residue on pic #3 looks a lot like birf soup to me.

Yup- my thoughts too. Might as well do the inner seals when you do the wheel bearing(s), and inspect/repack the birfs too.

cruiseroutfitters has a OEM front end kit for around $100.

 

[Bushmaster6]

It followed me home yesterday. So far I like it, but what a change in driving this from a BMW. It is a totally different feel. That is of course a "duh" statement but I now think of it as "The Tank".

It has a few things that need addressing.

you didn't even wait for the snow to melt to post a pic

thanks for the good transaction (for the group, TmLeader picked up the truck from my wife at the hotel she was departing, kids in tow, on a flight that eventually lands all of us in Germany)...

I'm glad it's in the hands of a capable enthusiast, there are certainly a few items on the punch list. Cruise control issue is new to me, it used to (rarely) go out on me and give the 3-flashes, which you can reset by simply turning the truck off and then back on, but again.. that was very rare, and hadn't happened in years. Front differential soup surprises me, as I did those axle seals not long ago. I may have done a few water crossings in the mean time, but, who knows.. maybe I didn't seat the axle seals correctly?

I wish you many good miles in it.. I used it for the same purpose and it was a great platform for it... it'll be nice to see you take it to the next level. Sniff

 

[tmleadr03]

you didn't even wait for the snow to melt to post a pic

thanks for the good transaction (for the group, TmLeader picked up the truck from my wife at the hotel she was departing, kids in tow, on a flight that eventually lands all of us in Germany)...

I'm glad it's in the hands of a capable enthusiast, there are certainly a few items on the punch list. Cruise control issue is new to me, it used to (rarely) go out on me and give the 3-flashes, which you can reset by simply turning the truck off and then back on, but again.. that was very rare, and hadn't happened in years. Front differential soup surprises me, as I did those axle seals not long ago. I may have done a few water crossings in the mean time, but, who knows.. maybe I didn't seat the axle seals correctly?

I wish you many good miles in it.. I used it for the same purpose and it was a great platform for it... it'll be nice to see you take it to the next level. Sniff

Get this, cruise hasn't stopped working for 4 drives now. Who knows? The thing works if you look at it too closely so I will just keep saying if it doesn't work on the way into work I will diag it. That should keep it working.

 

[kletzenklueffer]

tmleadr will know if it's the soup when he pull the hub to tighten the bearings. Could just be slush from water, or just residue from a previous leak that was in the diff mixed into the new dope.

I'm with you TL on just looking at the truck closely. I've begun to think mine is self healing. I had an issue with mine that if I pushed on the gas at all, it automatically downshifted a gear. It was fine sometimes, but when it shifts from 3rd to 1st at 20 mph, it was screaming. I was gonna adjust the kickdown cable, and just put it through it's motion, and decided to wait til later to repair it. The next day the shifting was normal and I actually have a useful gas pedal now.

Now if the pwr antenna would fix itself, and the TC bearings would tighten up, and the parking brake would ....

 

[concretejungle]

Just FYI, i had a few issues with my CC on my 80 series. It would blink showing me an error. First time, the cruise control cable had become so loose that when the cruise was activated it took the actuator too long to pull the slack out of the cable and that would throw a code. Second time it happened, i had crushed one of my trailer plug wires and so there was a short. Once i fixed that it has worked like a champ.

I was surprised that the brake system was tied in so closely to the CC system.