62- Temp/Fuel gage reading Hot /Full(when not), and water system not working right?

[SVFD]

Hey y'all,
I just drove my 62 form charlotte, NC to Cimarron, New Mexico for the summer and am having some problems. it started around Mississipi. my temp gauge would go all the way past the overheating mark, and my gass guage would go past the full mark. when i pulled over i noticed that the radiator was cold, then i beleive the thermostat kicked in and fluid started moving again and the guages went back down. It only seems to happen when i refuel my car, yet it is performing strangly now and i dont think any fluid is moving through the engine at all. is this simply a thermostat problem? if so, could i replace this myself easily? also my trasmission seems to be leaking fluid but the transmission fluid level is still high (yet i hear some mild grinding down there). i figure its just a seal or something.i need help desperatly bc im out in the middle of nowhere and the closest shop is about 70 miles away. thanks

[Journey]

4 bolts on the top frount of the engine where the top radiator hose attaches it is very easy. if you have to just take out the thermostat and see how far you can go with out overheating. if it is the water pump you will have to order it in and it is a pain in the ass. no harder than any other water pump but still a bitc#. r u sure that it is your trans that is leaking it might be your transfercase check the fill bolt on the back of the case when they get low on oil they get hot and make a grinding sound. just top it off with some 90w. drive it for a wile and see what gets hot.

[Aseif007]

Don't panic. The FJ-62 has a know quark where the fuel and temp gauges all spike for a moment then go back to normal. There is a problem, but it may not be your cooling system. I think it may be the contacts for the gauges that get dirty/corroded and cause the spike. If you search you will find much more info. I too found that the problem would occur when I had a full or near to full tank. I am in no way saying not to figure out of you have a cooling problem, but keep this infomation in mind because it is most likely the culprit.

Originally Posted by SVFD

Hey y'all,
I just drove my 62 form charlotte, NC to Cimarron, New Mexico for the summer and am having some problems. it started around Mississipi. my temp gauge would go all the way past the overheating mark, and my gass guage would go past the full mark. when i pulled over i noticed that the radiator was cold, then i beleive the thermostat kicked in and fluid started moving again and the guages went back down. It only seems to happen when i refuel my car, yet it is performing strangly now and i dont think any fluid is moving through the engine at all. is this simply a thermostat problem? if so, could i replace this myself easily? also my trasmission seems to be leaking fluid but the transmission fluid level is still high (yet i hear some mild grinding down there). i figure its just a seal or something.i need help desperatly bc im out in the middle of nowhere and the closest shop is about 70 miles away. thanks

[REKCUT]

You also sound like you have a grounding issue on your gauge's. No reason for the water problem to effect the fuel guage but it shares a ground with the temp guage. ONe of the best mods you can do is add a mechanical temp and oil guage so you can get a real reading, not just somewhere around the top line.

[RockDoc]

http://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wa...ding-unit.html

[77cruiser]

seriously try the fuel gauge swap out. It worked for me. I didnt believe it but i worked Luckily you are in new mexico and American Toyota(CRUISER DAN) can hook you up. you can also get a hand held thermometer to check the actual temp.

[mkaustin]

SVFD
I had this same thing w/ our '89. Read the link that RockDoc posted. There is also a yahoo group call 3FE. http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/3FE
The files section has a lessons learned folder w/ the gauge problem discussed in the Crazy Gauges.txt file.
I've pasted the info from the file below here. HTH

What are you doing in Cimarron this summer? Working at Philmont??

====

Here is the gague discussion. Highlight the links and paste them into your address bar to see Ken's pictures.

================================================== ====================

-----Original Message-----
From: mikeg_90265
To: 3FE@y...
Sent: 11/10/02 12:57 AM
Subject: [3FE] my gauges are crazed! Acting kookie and need guidence!

So I'm cruising along up the coast to Santa Barbara and being
relatively new to owning the greatest car in the world I take a look
at my gauges quite a bit to get to know them. I'm looking at my fuel
gaueg go from 3/4 up to full and then back down and the same time the
temp gauge climbs a little and then comes down too!.The kicker is
that this was on flat highway! So any geniuses want to tell what
happened? Also I have only heard the electric cooler come on once and
I could have sworn someone said that they should come on all the time
after you turn your car off. malibumike
================================================== ====================

--- In 3FE@y..., Ken Flesher <ken.flesher@u...> wrote:
Yeah, this is a very common affliction on FJ62's, many of them do
this. Very scary, I about freaked out the first time mine did it.
The fix is very easy, costs nothing. I had my dash apart this summer
to fix a wiring issue, so I pulled the gauge apart and took some pics.
First, remove the main dash panel, where the gauges are. Be careful on
the thin section around the radio, 14 year old plastic gets very brittle.
I find this is MUCH easier to get off if you remove the steering wheel first,
mine pops off very easily now, although you might need a puller.

Once you get the big panel out, lay it flat on a bench, remove the
left cluster that has the has the gauges in it. Turn this over, remove the
small screws that hold the clear plastic lens, take this stuff off:

http://www.yankeetoys.org/KLF/Cliffo...lusterOpen.jpg

Flip the cluster back over, remove the four very small nuts that hold
in the fuel gauge (not the temp gauge).

http://www.yankeetoys.org/KLF/Cliffo...augeRemove.jpg

GENTLY pull the fuel gauge out of the cluster. If you look carefully
inside, you'll find a set of contacts, this is actually a voltage regulator,
presumably to keep a constant voltage supplied to the gauges. Well,
after many millions of off-and-on cycles, these contacts get oxidized, and
don't work correctly. They are in the center of this picture:

http://www.yankeetoys.org/KLF/Cliffo.../GaugeOpen.jpg

Take a sliver of fine grit sand paper, I used 400-grit wet/dry paper,
and skip it thru the contacts, clean them off. Don't take a lot off, or
you'll throw off the calibration for the regulator. Once clean, put it all
back together. I used a can of compressed air to blow all the dust out of
the cluster so none got trapped behind the lens. Mine works fine now,
haven't had a recurrance of the spikes since.

Incidently, now that the dash is apart, this is a good time to replace
all the bulbs. It's only a few bucks, but you'll be surprised how much
brighter your gauges are with fresh bulbs behind them. I had to get them from
the dealer, although honestly I didn't look very hard. Just get them ahead
of time so they're on hand when you do the job.

HTH...

-KLF

[tonkota]

Originally Posted by SVFD

my temp gauge would go all the way past the overheating mark, and my gass guage would go past the full mark

This part seems normal. Last year I put a piece of cardboard in front of my radiator and let the temp peak out. As soon as the temp hits peak, the fuel gauge would also peak. My test was intentional, my cooling system works fine.

[SVFD]

Thanks for all the help. I am working at Philmont, and because of this i dont have the proper tools i need to work with. but the leak was comming from the transfer case thanks. ill let ya'll know if i find out more.

[mkaustin]

SVFD,

All that you need to remove the dash is a medium length phillips screw driver. It will be a little bit if a reach to get the speed-O cable to unsnap from the back of the dash. Other than that, I think the rest of the dash will pull out far enough to disconnect the plugs.
There are three screws in the top of the center section above the HVAC controls that hold the bottom of the instrument cluster, then the 7 screws that hold the gauge cluster and clock panel.

I've scanned a section of the FSM to give you an idea where the screws are located. HTH

[radioridge]

sfvd if you dont have this fixed before you go back to sewanee pm me i would be happy to help a fellow cruiser head. i have a shop in jasper tn .