1989 FJ62 3FE auto-Looong Winter Project (2 Viewers)

[belouder]

Finally starting my “winter” project ‘89 FJ62. Truck has 368k on original motor/trans. It’s been a fun truck for out in the mountains here in Central Idaho. Needs some things done to motor and I’m hoping to do some interior and electrical projects but we will see. So I have NEEDs and WANTs-we will see.

First a disclaimer-this is my first FJ and although I’ve actually touched tools before, I’m going to have LOTS of questions. Previous endeavours were air-cooled VWs, 2 stroke dirt bikes and Old Ford PUs.

My goal with this truck is to make it dependable, fun to drive and use it to explore this amazing place we live in. I have no desire to “restore” it, keep it stock or a drive Concourse Looker and if aftermarket or alternate year/model/make parts will help me achieve the above I’m good with that.

Below is what I NEED
-Timing cover leak-ugh. Constant leak on drivers side above oil pan break. Read all the threads I can find and not looking forward to this.
-Due to how much of the front of the truck and motor it appears I have to remove, I’ve decided to de-smog the rig (no emissions here-and I don’t plan on moving or selling).
-Remove all A/C components. It did function when I purchased the truck three years ago but all refrigerant has leaked out and I never have a need-this truck spends %100 of its time going 25mph or less around town or on single track in the mt. So I’ve decided to yank it.
-Gas smell and “whooshing” when gas cap is removed indicates (from what I’ve read here) the charcoal canister and related lines need attention.
-Track down any fluid leaks and sort out-right now the truck is so wet from the timing cover, I need to deal with that first.

This is what I WANT:

-Headlight wiring upgrade-all electrical is extremely anaemic-I’m assuming low voltage/current due to age, corrosion, etc. Not sure if I want add special harness’ since power windows, locks and wipers all could use it or re-wire the truck. I’d be curious to know if any folks have gone this route. Yes/it’s a stupid huge project-I’ve done some frame-off resto of old VWs requiring complete wiring but not sure how ambitious it would be with this. Lots more systems. Seems like a lot of folks add new wiring/relays here and there-thoughts?

-Car spent most of its time in the South East so no rust but the dash is destroyed and much of the plastics is brittle. I have a OEM dash pad and would like take much of the dash apart, clean and repair broken bits and fogged guages, upgrade bulbs to LED, fix or replace heater fan (pretty noisy) and sort out heat vent system-heat is very important here!

-Find and install rear seatbelts-are they made out gold or something?!?! Same with front mudflaps.

Anyway-started tonight and this is how far I’ve got and the bin is all the stuff not going back on the motor.

Thanks
Bri

 

[toy_tek]

Mine is down for awhile for some large projects as well, including full 3FE rebuild. I did the front timing cover seal awhile back, it was messy but the job wasn't too bad. I didn't do the plate seal, all mine was from the top cover & probably the crank seal. Hopefully yours will be the same.

Have a couple of items that might be helpful for you...

LED lights. Easy to install, one of my favorite updates on my truck: Torfab FJ62 LED Headlight Kit

Just found this desmog kit tonight: 3FE desmog kit - https://tlcperformance.com/products/3fe-desmog-kit

Best of luck with your project!

 

[belouder]

Toy-tek

Thx much for the comments-I actually have the de-smog kit from TLC along with the recommended replacement belt. Started on that tonight-trying to see if u can get the air injectors out and Allen plugs in without removing intake bits and pieces-so far have most injectors lessened-the ones towards the back are a pain.

Bri

 

[belouder]

Holidays are over-back to work.

Tonight I finished with all the de-smog stuff with the exception of removing the Cats. For that I’m going to remove the entire exhaust from the end of the manifold to the tailpipe. A PO had an aftermarket muffler welded in and it’s short by about two inches so the last three exhaust hangers don’t line up and it’s just hanging by baling wire! A local welding shop can splice in new pipe where the Cats are and extend the pipe so the hangers line up and I can use the factory rubber iso mounts.

It’s amazing how much room there is in the engine bay now with all that and the A/C compressor gone. I used the TLC kit which has a brass threaded plug and a freeze plug for the two ports along with threaded inserts for the four air injector ports.

Removing everything was pretty straight forward with the exception of the air injectors and the pipe rails. Various threads and instruction suggested either removing the valve cover and/or removing the intake manifold-neither of these sounded attractive to me as I’m new to this truck and motor and didn’t want to open various cans of worms. Getting the injectors out wasn’t too bad but each of the plugs took about 30 minutes each as I had to use various extensions, swivels, and a lot of expletives to get each plug started and then tightened.

Attached are some pics.

So de-smog is (almost) done.

Now to the timing cover leak. The crank bolt came off somewhat easily with my newly purchased electric impact gun. The first pulley took some time as the end of the crank it slides over had some edges that needed to be ground down. Harmonic balancer came off but there is a pretty serious groove in it. I’ll be asking a question about it at the end of this post.

Timing cover came off easily (almost too easily as several of the bolts were barely hand tight). It’s pretty clean inside and based on the sludge build up, the leak doesn’t appear to be the cover itself but rather under the plate below timing gears, drivers side right where the plate, oil pan and block meet.

It was suggested that I might be able to remove the cam gear from the cam and there are three threaded holes in the cam gear-not sure if these are OEM or a PO drilled these to do what I’m planning using a puller. There’s a question below about this.

That’s it for tonight-dinner is ready!

Questions:

In spending time looking around I found there are two nipples in the distro cap-one has a hose that goes to the dash and I’m told this is for fresh air into the distro. The other nipple had nothing in it but I also found a nipple (one of three) on the air cleaner housing with no hose on it. See pics. Should there be a hose from air cleaner to distro to provide vacum so fresh air can be drown into distro and ozone pulled out?

I noticed the spark coil only has one bolt holding it and there’s some sort of relay or something just floating around right there that I think is attached with that missing bolt. See pic. Thoughts?

In between the two bracket arms that hold the air cleaner housing to the fender wall, there is a little bracket hanging by a few threads. What’s this for? See pic.

Also-harmonic balancer had serious groove in it where it goes through the timing cover seal. Other threads talk about something that covers this to make it smooth again. Thoughts? Or do I need a whole new one?

And the timing cover hole where the seal goes appears to have some damage-I don’t think this is what cause the groove but it’s sure not right. Thoughts?

Next thing is removing the timing gears and getting to the plate underneath. I’ll have questions about that oiler thingy as the FSM glosses over it pretty quickly.

Thanks!!

 

[belouder]

More pics

 

[Cruiser Cult]

Nice project! Getting a 3FE running nicely is really rewarding.
If you need any literature we have a bunch of free downloads here:

Land Cruiser Factory Service Manuals (FSMs)

Factory service manuals (FSMs) for your Toyota Land Cruiser ! From the 1950s to the present!

www.cruisercult.com

And in case you need any part numbers for sensors/connectors:

3FE Sensor Tech / part numbers

Hello all. As a long time fellow 3FE owner, I have spent a TON of time going over this engine to make it run its best. There are not many sensors to make it happy, but refreshing the system still takes a while, especially when you have to hunt down not only the sensors, but also the connectors...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[belouder]

One more question-this is the A/C compressor bracket. PWS pump is right above. Can I get rid of this without interfering or not supporting anything else? There’s no idler wheel attached to it.

 

[belouder]

Nice project! Getting a 3FE running nicely is really rewarding.
If you need any literature we have a bunch of free downloads here:

Land Cruiser Factory Service Manuals (FSMs)

Factory service manuals (FSMs) for your Toyota Land Cruiser ! From the 1950s to the present!

www.cruisercult.com

And in case you need any part numbers for sensors/connectors:

3FE Sensor Tech / part numbers

Hello all. As a long time fellow 3FE owner, I have spent a TON of time going over this engine to make it run its best. There are not many sensors to make it happy, but refreshing the system still takes a while, especially when you have to hunt down not only the sensors, but also the connectors...

forum.ih8mud.com

Thanks so much for this! Question about the manuals-getting them to download via Box.com was difficult even after setting up a free account. Any suggestions?

I’m going to need a new cold start injector sensor thingy (not sure the name). It’s on the thermostat housing and I believe is the reason it doesn’t fire when first turning over cold. Any place to get one?

 

[Cruiser Cult]

Thanks so much for this! Question about the manuals-getting them to download via Box.com was difficult even after setting up a free account. Any suggestions?

I’m going to need a new cold start injector sensor thingy (not sure the name). It’s on the thermostat housing and I believe is the reason it doesn’t fire when first turning over cold. Any place to get one?

Oh, thanks for alerting me to that. Let me check it out. I'll move it to google. . EDIT: moved the 3FE manual to google, should be easier to download now.
Looks like CityRacer sells the sensor. OEM Cold Start Injector Timer Switch for Land Cruiser FJ62 FJ80 Pick-up 4Runner - https://www.cityracerllc.com/products/oem-cold-start-injector-timer-switch-for-land-cruiser-fj62-fj80-pick-up-4runner?variant=44744059748603

But you can also get them from your local dealer with the part number in the thread.

 

[belouder]

I found this on Amazon-$24. Any reason not to use it?
Amazon product ASIN B0C9BZJJWW

 

[Cruiser Cult]

I found this on Amazon-$24. Any reason not to use it?
Amazon product ASIN B0C9BZJJWW

Definitely try and shoot for OEM/made in Japan if you can swing it.
Potential issues with other aftermarket switches could be shorter life or incorrect readings. I have no experience with that brand.

 

[toy_tek]

In spending time looking around I found there are two nipples in the distro cap-one has a hose that goes to the dash and I’m told this is for fresh air into the distro. The other nipple had nothing in it but I also found a nipple (one of three) on the air cleaner housing with no hose on it. See pics. Should there be a hose from air cleaner to distro to provide vacum so fresh air can be drown into distro and ozone pulled out?

Yes there is supposed to be a larger diameter vacuum hose from the distributor to that empty port on the air cleaner housing.

I noticed the spark coil only has one bolt holding it and there’s some sort of relay or something just floating around right there that I think is attached with that missing bolt. See pic. Thoughts?

In between the two bracket arms that hold the air cleaner housing to the fender wall, there is a little bracket hanging by a few threads. What’s this for? See pic.

That grey relay is mounted on the inner fender exactly where you have that bracket hanging. I don't have anything that resembles that bracket on mine so not sure what that's for.

Also-harmonic balancer had serious groove in it where it goes through the timing cover seal. Other threads talk about something that covers this to make it smooth again. Thoughts? Or do I need a whole new one?

Wow that's pretty serious. I'd either replace or see if a machine shop can weld it and re-machine it.

 

[belouder]

Toy_Tek-thanks for the response. I did find a quick sleeve to go on the HB but there’s also a machine shop in town that can fill the groove and turn it down. Are the sleeves a poor option?

 

[toy_tek]

Toy_Tek-thanks for the response. I did find a quick sleeve to go on the HB but there’s also a machine shop in town that can fill the groove and turn it down. Are the sleeves a poor option?

I’ve never used one. In my mind that’s a temporary repair… others may disagree.

 

[SteveH]

Supposedly, you should fill the wear grooves with JB Weld before installing the speedy sleeve so that the sleeve does deform into the grooves. YMMV. A professional repair at a machine shop (if they do it right) might be superior in this case, since yours is so badly roached.

 

[belouder]

Update: lots of things got in the way but I’ve made a bit more progress. I have timing cover off, cam gear and crack gear pulled and now want to remove the timing cover backing plate.

My leak appears to be behind this backing plate right above where the oil pan joins the block on the drivers side. Hopefully what I’ll find when I remove backing plate is a gap in the gasket.

My question to all of those in the know-based on the pic below do I remove all the fasteners that I can see? The FSM doesn’t show a lot of bolts on this and there are three recessed fasterners with torx inserts-do I remove these along with the bolts holding the cam thrust plate along with the remaining two hex head bolts? Or do the torx head bolts remain?