My First Land Cruiser! (FZJ80)

[DPH1LLY]

Hey All!

Finally, after wanting an 80 series for years I was able to get one close to me that isn't totally destroyed. Living in the rust-belt of Ohio this is much easier said than done. Coming from being a Jeep guy (Still have my XJ) this is going to be a super fun learning curve for me. Excited to say the least!

Here is my new to me 1996 FZJ80 w/ Factory Lockers!

Nothing exciting, more or less just a video for me so I have something to remember how it was the day I picked it up!

Really excited to dig into making it mine and to suit my needs for what I'm going to do with it. She's got great bones, however, I do have a couple of questions that a FJ80 veteran may be able to help me out with!

1. An idle issue when cold starting/ starting for the first time that day. I have to give gas when starting it up or else it will idle-out and die. Once it get's up to operating temp (or a little less) it will finally idle by itself without dying. However, even after fully warming up the idle is still quite low (In my opinion). Just looking for some general tips/ common problem areas to look over.

• I have to do the valve cover gasket anyways, so the throttle body and all related goods will get a deep cleaning. I'm hoping this, along with checking all my vacuum, will help the idle cause out. Not expecting it to be quite that easy though, haha ?. Any tips would be much appreciated.

2. Where is everyone's favorite sites to order parts in general? As of now I'm mostly in need of maintenance/ refresh parts. Just curious of what would be some reputable sites to check out!

Anyways, if you read this thanks for taking the time to do so! If you are able to lend some knowledge to a newbie, an ever bigger thank-you! ?

 

[Klierslc]

Welcome, and congrats!

It looks like a pretty clean rig, and is an excellent platform. For your first issue, I'd take a look at the corrugated section on your intake tube. They tend to crack there, making the MAF unhappy. While you are looking at that, it might be worthwhile to clean the MAF as well.

As far as parts go, you can pretty much get them from any toyota dealer, and rock auto for stuff you don't feel like paying toyota prices for. Camelback toyota in phoenix know their way around these rigs better than most.

In that vein, I have had three of these, and a lot of folks lose their minds and lighten their wallets excessively with "preventative maintenance" and "baselining." There is certainly nothing wrong with doing all of that, but often times it is not necessary. The below list is what I would do now.

1. Torque steering knuckle studs
2. Check all fluids, change any that are scuzzy and then choose one thing to change out along with every oil change. (i.e. first oil change, do front diff, second change, do rear diff or power steering or ???)
3. Check brakes, change pads if necessary
4. Check the pesky heater hose (PHH) under the intake manifold. If it looks sketchy, change it. This is a bit of a pain, hence the name of the hose.
5. If it drives funny at all, get an alignment.
6. Enjoy it.


Cheers!

Dan

 

[Klierslc]

80 Series Newbie Guide - Slee Off Road

As soon as the excitement of the purchase starts to fade, the questions start popping up. What modifications can I make? What are those 4 bolts on the back

www.sleeoffroad.com

This is a good read, and slee is a great land cruiser vendor.

80-Series Tech

1991-1997 : Lexus LX450 and FJ80/FZJ80 Toyota Land Cruiser (J80)

forum.ih8mud.com

I generally hate to link to another forum, but I am not willing to try and recreate the 80 series FAQ on ExPo.

 

[DPH1LLY]

Welcome, and congrats!

It looks like a pretty clean rig, and is an excellent platform. For your first issue, I'd take a look at the corrugated section on your intake tube. They tend to crack there, making the MAF unhappy. While you are looking at that, it might be worthwhile to clean the MAF as well.

As far as parts go, you can pretty much get them from any toyota dealer, and rock auto for stuff you don't feel like paying toyota prices for. Camelback toyota in phoenix know their way around these rigs better than most.

In that vein, I have had three of these, and a lot of folks lose their minds and lighten their wallets excessively with "preventative maintenance" and "baselining." There is certainly nothing wrong with doing all of that, but often times it is not necessary. The below list is what I would do now.

1. Torque steering knuckle studs
2. Check all fluids, change any that are scuzzy and then choose one thing to change out along with every oil change. (i.e. first oil change, do front diff, second change, do rear diff or power steering or ???)
3. Check brakes, change pads if necessary
4. Check the pesky heater hose (PHH) under the intake manifold. If it looks sketchy, change it. This is a bit of a pain, hence the name of the hose.
5. If it drives funny at all, get an alignment.
6. Enjoy it.


Cheers!

Dan

Thanks so much for the reply man! Cleaning the MAF was definitely something that was in the back of my mind. Will absolutely have to do that, along with checking out that intake tube. You're thinking that could be a contributor to some idle issues?

That's actually a great way to look at it with changing out fluids though.. I think that just may be how I have to go about it. I totally can see me going too crazy with wanting to "refresh" everything. That's usually how it goes. After I get this idle issue/ valve cover gasket done an alignment will be first on the list.

Super excited to start digging in and doing step #6.

 

[toastyjosh]

Nice find! the 80 series are great you will love em, lots of info on the internet about them. I8mud is a great resource lots of reading over there.

Quick things to check, air intake tube are almost always bad if there original due to age. Replacements are cheap, I got one for 35 of amazon. Fixed a low idle issue for me.
check your wiring harness behind the EGR, make sure nothing is melted, you want to wrap the loom is some heat tape to prevent this.
Check the coolant in the radiator if its brown, change it!
Good luck

 

[kdeleon]

Nice find! the 80 series are great you will love em, lots of info on the internet about them. I8mud is a great resource lots of reading over there.

i8mud is total opposite of ih8mud , but yeah you'll spend all time there!

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Sounds like your intake tube could be your idle issue as others have pointed out. The intake needs to be removed and closely inspected as cracks are not easy to see.

What are your long term goals?

 

[MOAK]

Nice truck: how many miles on it? I ask as I have 315,000 on mine and would not hesitate to drive it just about anywhere. I too used to have a Jeep. And, dare I say, will never own another. It’s very much like the double oak barreled Woodford Bourbon, once you’ve tasted it, you really can’t go back to mediocrity.. good luck and happy learning..

 

[DPH1LLY]

Nice find! the 80 series are great you will love em, lots of info on the internet about them. I8mud is a great resource lots of reading over there.

Quick things to check, air intake tube are almost always bad if there original due to age. Replacements are cheap, I got one for 35 of amazon. Fixed a low idle issue for me.
check your wiring harness behind the EGR, make sure nothing is melted, you want to wrap the loom is some heat tape to prevent this.
Check the coolant in the radiator if its brown, change it!
Good luck

Thanks man! From what I've been reading the air intake tube does seem like it could be a culprit. Seems like something that would be nice to replace just to have peace of mind in general.

Radiator is without a doubt brown... Will have to add that one to the list. ?

 

[DPH1LLY]

Sounds like your intake tube could be your idle issue as others have pointed out. The intake needs to be removed and closely inspected as cracks are not easy to see.

What are your long term goals?

Yep. That's going to be the first thing I check out!

Long-term I'd like to have something reliable that I could take on a trip without having to think twice about it! Having some sort of sleeping arrangement in the back that could be easily folded up/ stored to retain the use of the back seats easily would be good too.

Last year about this time I took my Jeep XJ on a cross country road trip from Ohio out to California. Would love to do the same in the 80 and have some fun exploring with it!

 

[DPH1LLY]

Nice truck: how many miles on it? I ask as I have 315,000 on mine and would not hesitate to drive it just about anywhere. I too used to have a Jeep. And, dare I say, will never own another. It’s very much like the double oak barreled Woodford Bourbon, once you’ve tasted it, you really can’t go back to mediocrity.. good luck and happy learning..

Thank you! She's got 187,xxx on here at the moment. The PO said the exact same thing though, wouldn't be affraid to drive it anywhere!

Haha.. I've heard that before. I'm already slowly falling in love with it. If I didn't have such sentimental attachment to my XJ I could see this thing making its way to my favorite 4x4 I've owned.

 

[toastyjosh]

 

[toastyjosh]

Copied this from mud, its the method I used.
The way I do it:
-Turn key to ON, and slide the heater temperature control to HOT. Remove key
-Remove the radiator petcock and drain the rad with the rad cap on (minimizes mess)
-Remove the block drain plug and drain the block
-If you want to get fancy, remove the thermostat. Also a good time to remove any of the parts you are replacing (radiator, water pump etc)
-Remove the metal U-shaped pipe on the firewall
-Flush the system with a garden hose, through the radiator cap opening and the two hoses on the firewall, until the water runs clear. Don't forget to remove the overflow tank and wash it out.
-If you got fancy, replace the thermostat as well as any other parts you took off
-Replace the block drain plug and the radiator petcock.
-Start refilling the system with straight coolant. Two full jugs (3.7L or 1gal each) in the system will give you a 55% coolant mixture if you have a rear heater (3.7x2=7.4L of coolant. 7.4/13.4=55%), or 60% if you have bypassed it at the firewall (7.4/12.5=60%). Mix a bit of the coolant 50/50 with distilled water and fill the overflow to the COLD line.
-Top off the radiator with distilled water and put the cap on
-Finish filling the last little bit of the system through the two hoses at the firewall, and replace the metal pipe.

At this point the cooling system should be completely back together and full, so run the engine for a few minutes to mix the coolant and water and to cycle the thermostat. Putting a piece of cardboard/plywood/garbage bag in front of the grill should speed up the process a bit (less airflow through the rad).


replace the PHH while your at it,
used this

1FZ-FE PHH Work Around Kit – Kit 2

1FZ-FE PHH Work Around Kit – Kit 2 (BRZ-2)

absolute-wits-end.com