Hello all! First post but I have been lurking for a while. I'm a proud owner of a 1994 FJ80 w/230K miles. Purchased approx 9 mos ago - it's been an adventure to say the least.
I managed to do the head gasket/valve job (white smoke in the exhaust but not overheating - cylinder #6 was the culprit) in Oct. '07 w/the help of the FSM and the many tutorials posted by members here - thanks for that! Everything has run perfectly since then until now.
Last week I hopped in for a drive (it is my wifes daily driver) and noticed that the oil pressure gauge was not responsive - prior to that it had been functioning normally. Engine sounded great - no noisy valves or lifters, and ran great but I promptly parked it. Hoping it was a faulty sender. Local mechanic stuck a mechanical gauge on it and it turns out it was operating at minimal oil pressure: "approx 10psi upon startup and dropped of to almost nothing soon after" in his words. I had him drop the oil pan and check the pickup screen - looks good - v. little debris. I had him check the crankshaft bolt - seems tight according to him - I have no idea whether he has a 300lb torque wrench.
Anything else I should look into before we assume that it is the oil pump? - from what I understand these almost never fail. My local independent mentioned that the book quotes it at a 12 hour job. Is replacing the oil pump something I should consider tackling given my new found confidence after a succesful DIY head gasket?
Any help/advice would be great! Being in Canada there are not many mechanics that have wrenched on these units. I will post some pics later when I get a chance. Cheers, Chay
I managed to do the head gasket/valve job (white smoke in the exhaust but not overheating - cylinder #6 was the culprit) in Oct. '07 w/the help of the FSM and the many tutorials posted by members here - thanks for that! Everything has run perfectly since then until now.
Last week I hopped in for a drive (it is my wifes daily driver) and noticed that the oil pressure gauge was not responsive - prior to that it had been functioning normally. Engine sounded great - no noisy valves or lifters, and ran great but I promptly parked it. Hoping it was a faulty sender. Local mechanic stuck a mechanical gauge on it and it turns out it was operating at minimal oil pressure: "approx 10psi upon startup and dropped of to almost nothing soon after" in his words. I had him drop the oil pan and check the pickup screen - looks good - v. little debris. I had him check the crankshaft bolt - seems tight according to him - I have no idea whether he has a 300lb torque wrench.
Anything else I should look into before we assume that it is the oil pump? - from what I understand these almost never fail. My local independent mentioned that the book quotes it at a 12 hour job. Is replacing the oil pump something I should consider tackling given my new found confidence after a succesful DIY head gasket?
Any help/advice would be great! Being in Canada there are not many mechanics that have wrenched on these units. I will post some pics later when I get a chance. Cheers, Chay