Hi all,
I'm now the owner of a new (old) 80 series here in Australia, bought second hand because I was getting sick of exploring in a sedan (a mitsubishi 380 will get you surprisingly far off road with enough willpower).
I'll start with this: I am not a car guy in the least, but I want to be. I spent my teenage years disinterested in cars and now I feel like I have to catch up on an entire childhood I've missed out on in my late 20's when I'm suddenly interested in offroading. The more I learn, the more I want to know. So I'm going to ask a LOT of stupid questions. In my google-PHD research, IH8MUD has come up enough times that I decided to join up and tap into (and hopefully contribute to) the wealth of knowledge here.
With that out of the way, here is the old girl:
1995 FZJ80 with 360,000kms on the clock
It came with a bunch of nice stuff like the TJM bullbar, snorkel, awning, spotties, 2 inch lift and 33 inch tires, but thats about as far as my untrained eye gets me.
The car has been professionally resprayed (body and underside) and it looks very nice, I'm definitely proud to drive it around. The next question in my mind is 'why' it was resprayed, and it appears to have some surface level rust in spots where they didn't move parts while spraying, such as the towball, but as far as I can tell this car has never had any serious rust... not unless someone spent a stupid amount of time power-sanding every single inch of the under and top side before painting.
In short, the previous owner has looked after this 27 year old machine and I intend on doing the same.
I have some questions I'm hoping someone here could help me with, first up:
I'm a bit confused as to exactly which model 80 series I have. Everywhere I look, they put airbags in as standard from 1995 onwards but my car has nothing of the sort. It still has the horizontal 'handlebar' thats famous on older landcruiers in front of the passenger.
Second: What on earth is this thing? It doesn't appear to be mentioned in the workshop manual and not being a car guy I can't really fathom its purpose. It's some sort of aftermarket repair. Maybe a fuel filter? I'm not 100% sure, but I believe I can see the original fuel filter at the bottom of the inlet manifold still...
Third: I could have sworn the engine oil was 'full' when I brought it home, yet one morning (after sitting all night) the low oil light popped up. I cross checked with the dipstick, which indeed read Low. The manual states that going from L to F on the dipstick only needs 1L of oil, so I did just that. The next day, the dipstick shows the oil level way over full, like a good inch over the full mark. What could be going on here? Sludge/blockage? This car shows signs it sat still in a garage for a long time (if the dust and spiders have anything to say!).
Lastly: Any tips for a newbie like me on what to immediately go check/replace, given I suspect this thing has sat unused for quite some time? All the obvious candidates like fluids and belts are done, I'm more referring to anything more complicated.
Look forward to sponging up the knowledge!
Cheers,
Chang
I'm now the owner of a new (old) 80 series here in Australia, bought second hand because I was getting sick of exploring in a sedan (a mitsubishi 380 will get you surprisingly far off road with enough willpower).
I'll start with this: I am not a car guy in the least, but I want to be. I spent my teenage years disinterested in cars and now I feel like I have to catch up on an entire childhood I've missed out on in my late 20's when I'm suddenly interested in offroading. The more I learn, the more I want to know. So I'm going to ask a LOT of stupid questions. In my google-PHD research, IH8MUD has come up enough times that I decided to join up and tap into (and hopefully contribute to) the wealth of knowledge here.
With that out of the way, here is the old girl:
1995 FZJ80 with 360,000kms on the clock
It came with a bunch of nice stuff like the TJM bullbar, snorkel, awning, spotties, 2 inch lift and 33 inch tires, but thats about as far as my untrained eye gets me.
The car has been professionally resprayed (body and underside) and it looks very nice, I'm definitely proud to drive it around. The next question in my mind is 'why' it was resprayed, and it appears to have some surface level rust in spots where they didn't move parts while spraying, such as the towball, but as far as I can tell this car has never had any serious rust... not unless someone spent a stupid amount of time power-sanding every single inch of the under and top side before painting.
In short, the previous owner has looked after this 27 year old machine and I intend on doing the same.
I have some questions I'm hoping someone here could help me with, first up:
I'm a bit confused as to exactly which model 80 series I have. Everywhere I look, they put airbags in as standard from 1995 onwards but my car has nothing of the sort. It still has the horizontal 'handlebar' thats famous on older landcruiers in front of the passenger.
Second: What on earth is this thing? It doesn't appear to be mentioned in the workshop manual and not being a car guy I can't really fathom its purpose. It's some sort of aftermarket repair. Maybe a fuel filter? I'm not 100% sure, but I believe I can see the original fuel filter at the bottom of the inlet manifold still...
Third: I could have sworn the engine oil was 'full' when I brought it home, yet one morning (after sitting all night) the low oil light popped up. I cross checked with the dipstick, which indeed read Low. The manual states that going from L to F on the dipstick only needs 1L of oil, so I did just that. The next day, the dipstick shows the oil level way over full, like a good inch over the full mark. What could be going on here? Sludge/blockage? This car shows signs it sat still in a garage for a long time (if the dust and spiders have anything to say!).
Lastly: Any tips for a newbie like me on what to immediately go check/replace, given I suspect this thing has sat unused for quite some time? All the obvious candidates like fluids and belts are done, I'm more referring to anything more complicated.
Look forward to sponging up the knowledge!
Cheers,
Chang