Good morning, I am new to this community and to owning land cruisers. I have already learned quite a bit from other posts so I thought I would post my own question as I have not seen this exact issue in any other threads. I have recently acquired a 1988 FJ62 and it can be sluggish at times so I was researching how to tune it. With the truck came some documentation from the PO for some previous work that had been done back in 2019 by a reputable mech shop that specializes in Cruisers. The work includes the following:
Ultrasonic cleaning and testing of the fuel injectors.
Valve Lash Adjustment
Clean Throttle Body and set TPS while off.
Replace fuel pump and sock strainer.
Remove Distributor and Reset Timing.
All of that sounds like a major tune up. However, in the write up the tech mentions that the engine was set to run at 32 degrees advance. I know from reading the 3FE manual and multiple other threads on here that it should be set to 7 degrees BTDC with the jumper wires in the diagnostic port and 12 degrees without to confirm. I do hear some valve chatter under the hood when accelerating and thru the exhaust. The cats were stolen while the PO had the truck and the exhaust pipes were welded direct and not replaced so would that may make the exhaust seem louder or the chatter more pronounced? The idle RPM according to the tach in the dash says 1000 RPM at idle and then when you put it in gear it drops to about 700 RPM. My question I guess is, could the write up be a typo or did the tech really set it that wrong? Did the tech set the timing and the idle due to an underlying issue just to make it seem tuned? Should I take it back to the same shop and request another look since the manual clearly states something completely different? I am mechanically inclined enough to handle a tune up, but thought it was weird to be set at 32, especially by a Cruiser shop. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Ultrasonic cleaning and testing of the fuel injectors.
Valve Lash Adjustment
Clean Throttle Body and set TPS while off.
Replace fuel pump and sock strainer.
Remove Distributor and Reset Timing.
All of that sounds like a major tune up. However, in the write up the tech mentions that the engine was set to run at 32 degrees advance. I know from reading the 3FE manual and multiple other threads on here that it should be set to 7 degrees BTDC with the jumper wires in the diagnostic port and 12 degrees without to confirm. I do hear some valve chatter under the hood when accelerating and thru the exhaust. The cats were stolen while the PO had the truck and the exhaust pipes were welded direct and not replaced so would that may make the exhaust seem louder or the chatter more pronounced? The idle RPM according to the tach in the dash says 1000 RPM at idle and then when you put it in gear it drops to about 700 RPM. My question I guess is, could the write up be a typo or did the tech really set it that wrong? Did the tech set the timing and the idle due to an underlying issue just to make it seem tuned? Should I take it back to the same shop and request another look since the manual clearly states something completely different? I am mechanically inclined enough to handle a tune up, but thought it was weird to be set at 32, especially by a Cruiser shop. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.