13BT into a FJ60 (1 Viewer)

[Stickboy]

Been some time now since anything has happened.

Tonight I got under the cruiser and replaced the idler shaft o-ring because of a small leak. After talking with Wayne before doing it he told me you can slide that idle shaft of the t-case out about 1/2 inch and replace the o-ring without cracking the case. O-ring didn't go back in easily but went with some rotating and plenty of grease.

Replaced all the running lights/turn signals/brake lights with LEDs as well. This is to get the load down a little on the alternator. I'll have detailed numbers to come. One problem I ran into was that the contacts for the brake lights are small circles and the contacts on the LEDs are long ovals, well they touch when in place and cause the brakes to be on when only the running gear is supposed to be on. A little filing and that was taken care of. Works good now. Put all the turn signals in and that didn't work. I'm guessing the 86 FJ60 uses a thermal flasher since when I activated them the flasher buzzed lowdly. When I had the front LED and rear Incadescent in it worked fine. I'm guessing this is the problem as the LED folks said it can happen with older cars. Any ideas of if they used a thermal flasher unit. If I need the elec flasher anyone have a part number (NAPA)?

Install the new Aiwa cd/mp3 player tomorrow and start the 3pt rear belt conversion. Going with the dealer part was a better deal than anywhere. $56 and some change per side.

-mike

 

[Stickboy]

Today I went and picked up the Yakima rack bars for a temporary rack until I build a safari rack with roller in the rear.

Installed the ratcheting lap belts. Will install the bolts through the C pillar soon.

After replacing the idler shaft seal it still leaks. what a PITA. I did what I didn't want to do but cleaned the outside really well and put a bead of RTV grey around it to see if that'll hold the oil in until I can split the t-case open someday. Still trying to see if there are any other leaks in the t-case. Several little puddles about the size of a 50cent piece appear withing 2 hours of stopping, three puddles to be exact. They look like they could be from the same spot just running along the ridges in the case.

Found out that electronic flashers at "any auto parts store" won't trip LED lights. They need an amp or so to trip and the LEDs don't due that much. They have a special LED flasher unit ($48). I opted to have LED in the front and regular in the rear. The load on the battery isn't that great since they are intermittent. I also purchased a 9 LED 3rd brake light that sticks to the car; really bright too. I have to drill a 11/32" hole in the rear window to mount it though. That's the biggest pain right there. I think I'll head to a glass shop for that one. At the top of the rear window is the best placement I could find. Just looked on Jcwhitney at their 12 LED stick on 3rd brake light. I think I'll go that route instead...

Trying to figure out the AC amplifier issue now since I'm ready for AC.

Here's the post I have in the 60/62 area:

The option i'm hoping will work is to use the 24V compressor on the 13bt and feed a signal to it to throw the magnetic clutch with the push button stock A/C electronics of my 86 Fj60.

The issue is that the amplifier in the fj60 wants a signal from the igniter telling it the motor is running. I was told that you could turn the RPM's down on the amp and it'd bypass that feature but I don't think it's working. I put my voltmeter on the lead heading to the compressor and am looking for 12v (is that what I'm looking for?). I get between 12-132mV depending where the amp is on the dial. I'm guessing the proper signal isn't getting to the amp from the igniter.

Can someone help me with what I should be expecting to get for a signal at the lead to the clutch.

Here's my idea of the amp won't work. Build a tone generator that'll simulate the signal from the amplifier when the ignition is on and trick it to thinking I'm a gasser.....

that's all for now....
mike

 

[theSherpa]

lotsa diesel tachs take input from the alternator...could you feed an alt signal to the A/C amplifier, perhaps modifying the signal or tweaking the amplifier if necessary? I'm going to be in the same boat before long. I haven't really researched whether all alternators have a tap that sees the stator poles go by...and I KNOW I'm not saying this right, so pardon my ignorance!

Steve Fox
TornadoAlleyCruisers
Columbia, MO

 

[Stickboy]

Here's my dilemna tonight.
went to check the battery balance and I'm getting an unequal situation. 12.2v and 13.5v. Pretty significant. Below is a diagram of the wiring setup I'm using. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I got the preheat system to work great, buttoned all the wires up under the dash.
-mike

 

[Greg_B]

Looks to me that you have not grounded the converter to the low side (12V) negative battery pole. I have been told by Solar Converters that the converter must be grounded to the battery pole (not frame ground or any other area for ground) as it will throw the converter/load balancer system for a loop, and it will not be able to sense correctly. Am I reading your diagram correctly?

I know someone who hooked up a Solar Converter in load balance mode, and went to the frame for ground. They were having issues, till they hooked it up to battery ground.

Also, test the converter by hooking it up simply to provide 12V. If the white wire is 1/2 the total voltage then your converter is not the issue.

Do you have the leads off the converter hooked up with insulated spade connecters? If not, consider doing so: It will make taking the converter in and out of the system much easier.

hth's

gb

 

[Stickboy]

Greg,
I thought the converter would see the common lead as hooked up to the negative terminal on the low side if it was hooked through the shunt. I changed it this morning to being directly hooked to the low side battery terminal. We'll see if that fixes things, the problem is then my ammeter won't register and voltage changes through the shunt and not give a amp draw on the 12v loads.

-mike

 

[Stickboy]

Figured out the converter issue. It was the trim pot on the solar eq was off by about 1v. This threw the batteries out of balance enough for it to be a problem. Seems to be working ok now. Batteries are within .2 v of each other.

Charged the A/C today and jumpered the compressor to get it to turn and move the refrigerant around. I retrofitted with 134a from the 12 that was in it. I used the Interdynamics kit for $40. Enough refrigerant to do the car several times. The funny thing was that the low side adapter if you screw it down all the way it depresses the compressor valve and lets the refrigerant out. You have to back it off about 1 turn to keep it from leaking. Then you have to remove the adapter. Non EPA spec but it'll work. I put the retrofit sticker on it anyway. The refrigerant i used has an ester oil in it that is compatible with the r-12 systems so you don't have to evacuate all the r-12 oil.

My issue now is getting the A/c amplifier to send a signal to the clutch to activate it. I though about a simple toggle but that'd bypass all the safety features and run the compressor all the time. Oh, 12v will activate the magnetic clutch but not as positvely as 24v.

Still dealing with the t-case oil leak. PITA. I think it's coming from between the spacer and the t-case.

-mike

 

[Stickboy]

So i'm starting to get the leftover stuff of the fj60 out of the shop. I couldn't find anyone to take the block/bell housing/etc... away so I made a new pet for my boy... Spent about an hour making it and 2 hours moving it out of the shop.... 600 lbs. of parts....

 

[Jim_Phillips]

I'm also going to have one of those disposable NAPA filters before the Racor until I get all the gunk out of the tank once I start running biodiesel. Pretty elaborate setup of filters but it's what'll work best I think.

Mike

Would it not be possible to remove the gunk from the fuel tank before you start using bio? I'm thinking of removing my tank, pouring in some bio and then giving it a good shake before draining out the bio and any gunk. Maybe the bio doesn't act that fast and the gunk comes free in a more gradual way? Would it be worth me try this though?

Cheers, Jim

 

[Stickboy]

Jim,
If I was pulling my tank I'd flush it with muriatic acid or one of those tank clean kits you see at NAPA. That should the tank pretty good...

Are you replacing the metal fuel lines as well. there might be some gunk in there too.

I'd be fine with the tank wash personally.

-mike

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Mike so sorry I have notbeen around so see about your questions. I have a factory 60 series manual that I would be happy to zerox the pages for you with the AC wiring diagrams. We tried everything with the FJ60 ampifier (the AC circuit board) and it never worked. The 12V BJ60 amplified was what we had to use (much simpler many less do dodads) which we actually ordered from Jay Marks Toyota in Texas. It was about $85 I believe. It kept the important parts like the temp sensor freeze sensor and everything else. Before we used this we used a paper clip with no amplifier and jumped from one line to another to make sure everything was working. But it did work great. Hope it helps, your situation is slightly different. What I would/would have done is kept everything in tact, and just run the 12V wire to your 24V compressor (the sole thing that turns the AC on and off). If it won't make the magnet stick then use a relay to activate a 24V line. Hope it helps, sorry I haven't had the time to read all of your posts about it if something is redundant. Good luck, and awesome lawn ornament!

 

[Stickboy]

Hi Andre,
Thanks for the comments. I still haven't had time to fix my A/C problem and the weather is getting hotter here. I have it charged with 134a now and it does work. Struggling with a leak in the t/case/tranny right now that is driving me CRAZY...

The system does activate with a 12v signal however it is sluggish compared to the 24v so I'm a little nervous that it isn't activating the clutch as well as it maybe should? Any ideas.

I've also tried turning the pot down to the lowest rpm setting but that didn't work as some had suggested. I have a BJ74 amplifier at my disposal and the FJ60 amp. The problem I'm running into is a signal from the distributor telling the amp that it's running. I've thought about a tone generator that'll "trick" the amp. Maybe the BJ60 amp is the solution.

Thanks,
mike

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

It was two years ago and I was trying to figure out exactly why we couldn't get it working but I think it was along the lines of the same problem. Like I said the BJ60 amp (12 volt) was much simpler. RE the clutch, basically it is a big electro magnet. With full charge it should snap the clutch right closed but I would think if 12V works and gets it to stick it should work fine IMO but then again replacing a 24V 13B-T compressor probably wouldn't be cheap. You might maybe do some mixing and matching, see if you can get a 12V clutch to fit on there? Or, as I mentioned just use a relay, 12V activates 24V to the magnet, easy enough... ?

 

[Stickboy]

The A/C works...
I took the BJ74 amp schematic and fj60 schematic and equated as many of the wires as possible. At that point I hooked up the fj60 harness to the BJ74 amp and away we went. Initially I was activating the clutch with 12v but thought that 24v would be more appropriate and less of a potential for damage. With 12v the clutch was a little sluggish to engage. 24v has a very positive engagement.

I hooked a relay up to throw the 24v clutch actuating off the 12v signal coming from the a/c amp.

Pretty simple, more simple than trying to track down a BJ60 a/c amp. That amp was a rarity to begin with and far and few between now a day. It's not available to dealers in the US/Canada (including Ens Industrial). That amp is a direct plugin to the system since it's 12v and for a 60 series.

Either way it works now and I have cold air. I need to add a little refrigerent since I have bubbles in the sight glass at 1500rpm with the a/c engaged.

One thing I noticed was that the amp cycles pretty frequently (every 30 sec to 1 min) while driving on normal terrain. Is this normal? My Jetta cycles alot but I'm not sure if it's normal either. Can someone tell me how often they hear their A/C cycle?

for what it's worth.....
-mike

 

[fjbj40]

i converted my fj62 to a bj with 3b/h55f and the bj had a/c and i used the bj amp and it plugged right in and works perfect . I did notice it cycles about the same amout you mention but it has been working full tilt for 3 weeks and no probs yet .
Daryl

 

[fjbj40]

forgot to mention that I used the fj amp and it also worked the same as the bj amp.
Daryl

 

[Stickboy]

Daryl,
what did you do about the input into the amp from the coil. i tried it initially and turned down the rpm to as low as it went hoping it'd cycle but no go. i thought that without the coil signal the amp would never kick in. Are the FJ62 and FJ60 amps different maybe?
-mike

 

[fjbj40]

they maybe different , not sure , i think i just unpluged the large black wire connector that was seperate from the main amp connector and when i hit the a/c button i had 12 volts at the clutch plug. I never tried it to actually engage the clutch because at the time the a/c was not charged ( I jumped the pressure switch to test for power), none the less i still had a reading of 12 volts .
Daryl

 

[VTCruiser]

Ok i have a question for you guys....

No A/C pump came on my 1HZ so i was going to try and use the A/C pump off of my 2H. There seems to be a spot i could mount it...any thoughts?? is it possible to mis-match these components?? I don't even know of the 1HZ had an A/C pump to begin with...haven't had much time to look at it but I would like to try and get it hooked up before i head south.... thanks, don't mean to hijack! just tbought i'd throw it in the mix..

 

[Stickboy]

No worries about hijacking, 1HZ to my knowledge did not have a/c. Mine trucks with A/C yeah right! Anyway, I'd say go for it. The 13bt has a separate belt off the crank for the compressor with its own tensioner as do all the 3Bs. I'm using the BJ74 compressor and amplifier with all the other components being from the FJ60. While your at it and the system is evacuated upgrade to the 134a since it's easy now with the new ester oil systems. No need to evacuate all the old R12 oil out.

Daryl - starting to wonder if my FJ60 amp did work fine I just didn't let it sit long enough to get a signal from the amp. With the BJ74 amp I thought it didn't work until I sat there for a while and all of a sudden it kicked in (2 min). Hmmmm......
-mike