1995 FJ

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ASO544

ASO544

Joined
Oct 21, 2020
Threads
60
Messages
400
Location
USA
Ok…. This is a long story with a lot of bad luck but definitely more stupidity on my part!!!!!

I have a 1995 FZJ73 with a 1FZ 4.5. She was originally carbureted but I have been running a Holley Sniper System with ejected fuel pump for sometime with great results. I’m posting here in the 80s section cause most of the 70s are diesels and very few have the IFZ and I know alot of 80 series have them.

So went into town today and when I got back I noticed I had a ton of oil come out the bottom. I popped my hood and found oil everywhere and noticed my oil cap was gone.

I went online and ordered a new oil cap but when I went into town( in my other truck) I stopped by auto zone and found one that fit. I figured with the temperature issue I would go ahead and change the oil after it briefly got that hot. I got home… she cranked right up and I pulled her into the garage.

I changed the oil and filter but when I tried to crank her she refused to start. After quite a while of trying to start her she fired up but I could tell the idle was not smooth. She was idling at 825 but didn’t sound normal.

I took her for a quick drive and she drove kinda rough and had stumble or miss to her. I got her back home and did notice the exhaust had a different smell… kinda weird!! I just felt water had got into the electrical some how. I removed the distributor cover and found moisture inside the cover…. Almost like a condensation. I wiped it out and blew out the inside of the dizzy and the cover. Re-installed it and now I can’t get her to fire up at all.

I know I put it back on the same way it came off and all the wires and the coil wires are connected and tight. All she does is turn over and over but won’t fire. I’m really lost at this point. I feel the engine is ok( I hope) and am pretty sure my issue is somewhere in my electrical system or maybe a fuse issue?

How do I check for a spark on this electrical system. On my other vehicles I could pull a plug wire and see it arch but can do it on this engine cause the plugs are so deep in the head.

Any other ideas will be greatly appreciated.
 
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Ok…. So I tested my coil with a timing light and I’m getting zero flash while turning it over. I tried it on my other truck and it flashes while turning over.

I feel maybe I’ve narrowed it down to the coil wire or the coil itself. Any way to test the coil ?
 
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Water in the coil wire connector maybe? Or the coil connectors?

Test the coil by pulling one plug and leaving it attached to the spark plug wire, then grounding the plug and cranking the engine. Plug should spark. You're gonna want to wear gloves when you do this!
 
ASO544 said:
Ok…. This is a long story with a lot of bad luck but definitely more stupidity on my part!!!!!

I have a 1995 FZJ73 with a 1FZ 4.5. She was originally carbureted but I have been running a Holley Sniper System with ejected fuel pump for sometime with great results. I’m posting here in the 80s section cause most of the 70s are diesels and very few have the IFZ and I know alot of 80 series have them.

So went into town today and when I got back I noticed I had a ton of oil come out the bottom. I popped my hood and found oil everywhere and noticed my oil cap was gone. I sure the blame is on me but that’s not really part of the saga. So I pull it over to the grass and leave it running a get the water house and careful clean around the engine trying to avoid the electrical areas as best I can. I also covered the open oil cap area to keeping water out of there. This is a common thing I do on occasions to clean the engine area after off-roading ….. never had an issue.

So during this process I look inside my truck and for some crazy reason she running hot. The gauge is at 245….. I shut her down grab a towel and get the radiator cap loose and let the pressure off the remove it and put the water house in the opening then start the truck back up and get the temperature down into the 180s. Everything seems ok and back to normal. After a few minutes the truck shuts off…… it took me quite a few times to get her restarted but eventually did. She seemed to idle fine and the temp was fine and stayed fine.

I went online and ordered a new oil cap but when I went into town( in my other truck) I stopped by auto zone and found one that fit. I figured with the temperature issue I would go ahead and change the oil after it briefly got that hot. I got home… she cranked right up and I pulled her into the garage.

I changed the oil and filter but when I tried to crank her she refused to start. After quite a while of trying to start her she fired up but I could tell the idle was not smooth. She was idling at 825 but didn’t sound normal.

I took her for a quick drive and she drove kinda rough and had stumble or miss to her. I got her back home and did notice the exhaust had a different smell… kinda weird!! I just felt water had got into the electrical some how. I removed the distributor cover and found moisture inside the cover…. Almost like a condensation. I wiped it out and blew out the inside of the dizzy and the cover. Re-installed it and now I can’t get her to fire up at all.

I know I put it back on the same way it came off and all the wires and the coil wires are connected and tight. All she does is turn over and over but won’t fire. I’m really lost at this point. I feel the engine is ok( I hope) and am pretty sure my issue is somewhere in my electrical system or maybe a fuse issue?

How do I check for a spark on this electrical system. On my other vehicles I could pull a plug wire and see it arch but can do it on this engine cause the plugs are so deep in the head.

Any other ideas will be greatly appreciated.
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So many wrong things to do.....

NEVER pull the cap on an overheating engine.
NEVER stick a hose into the cooling system while overheating and running cold water into it. .the sudden change in temperature can crack heads, blocks, blow head gaskets, all kinds of bad stuff.

When it wouldn't start, was it at least turning over?

Washing off a hot engine with an open oil fill port. Wow.

Yes, check your coil for spark.
Check the distributor plug on top of the distributor for wetness and broken wires.
 
Yeah… probably could have thought the water thing out better. I used a huge moving blanket to loosen the cap and let the pressure out. I wasn’t concerned about get burnt. Guess I panicked on the temp and wanted to get it down. Luckily the water wasn’t ice cold but I’ll take note on that being an issue.

The oil port was completely sealed where water couldn’t enter as I had a rubber stopper wedged in there and covered.

Yes it was turning over easy…. Just no fire. It went from being hard to start , to starting right up, to being hard to start and running like crap to not starting at all. It did go to not starting after taking the cover off the dizzy… I know it went back in the exact way it came off. Of course I’d think regardless of that, I should still be getting some fire for the coil but using a test light show zero flashes when turning over. It flashes when I did the same test on my other truck.

I’m definitely getting no spark so I’ll order an new coil and main coil wire and hope that’s the issue.
 
Best way to cool it quickly without damaging the engine from shock cooling is pour water over the rad or spray into the radiator cooling fins.

I was taught this by a wise mechanic many years ago and it works great.

A scalding by glycol can lead to serious infection. Worse yet get it in your eyes and your blind.
 
Well hopefully I didn’t hurt anything internally … guess if I get her started up I’ll know. At least I didnt hear any knocking. The oil I changed looked fine but probably not enough time for it to get contaminated by the antifreeze. Also no white smoke when I drove it or when it was idling
 
Spraying water over a running engine seems like a really bad idea, even if you are trying to avoid any electrical components. It seems like the risk of damaging "energized" electrical components would be much higher than if the engine was off and those components did not have electrical voltage to them.

I guess people with snorkels routinely dunk running engines, but it still seems like a pointless risk.
 
sjpitts said:
Spraying water over a running engine seems like a really bad idea, even if you are trying to avoid any electrical components. It seems like the risk of damaging "energized" electrical components would be much higher than if the engine was off and those components did not have electrical voltage to them.

I guess people with snorkels routinely dunk running engines, but it still seems like a pointless risk.
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All electrical connectors in the engine compartment of the 80 are waterproof type, not an issue.
 
This thread reminds me of someone asking for a bandaid and being told how many ways they could have avoided being cut in the first place.
☹️
 
White Stripe said:
Sounds like an issue with the ignition system right now And you're not getting spark. See if you can get it to get spark. Once you confirm you're getting spark go from there.
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I agree… got a new coil and coil wire coming… they are both pretty old. I’ll start there but I feel pretty certain that is were the issue is.
 
ASO544 said:
Ok…. So I tested my coil with a timing light and I’m getting zero flash while turning it over. I tried it on my other truck and it flashes while turning over.

I feel maybe I’ve narrowed it down to the coil wire or the coil itself. Any way to test the coil ?
Click to expand...
Did you check the coil with a meter for resistance?
 
Gun Runner 5 said:
This thread reminds me of someone asking for a bandaid and being told how many ways they could have avoided being cut in the first place.
☹️
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This is a valid point.

But it is better to learn from the mistakes of others than by your own experience.
 
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fjbj40 said:
All electrical connectors in the engine compartment of the 80 are waterproof type, not an issue.
Click to expand...

Is this really true? I guess it makes sense.

What about the alternator? That seems to be open to the air. But that is not OP problems obviously.

I am in Arizona, and my opportunities to get my engine wet are thus limited, so I don't really know :)
 
sjpitts said:
Is this really true? I guess it makes sense.

What about the alternator? That seems to be open to the air. But that is not OP problems obviously.

I am in Arizona, and my opportunities to get my engine wet are thus limited, so I don't really know :)
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I once had an aircraft de-icing line explode in my face while de-icing an aircraft. It was only 100f hot.

Rushed to hospital by co-workers. They said if it was hotter like an automobile I would be blind. As it was I was in emergency for 4 hours while they ran flushing solution through my eyes through a contact type tool with hoses attached. They said I was very lucky I didn’t loose my eyesight or it being severely damaged😳

Yes, my alt has been quite wet after engine cleaning and still functioned perfectly well.

Have been in water 1/4 way up the doors and no problems.

Have seen others go deeper with no I’ll effects also🍻
 
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White Stripe said:
The connectors were possibly waterproof 20 years ago, but probably not anymore. I went through my entire harness and waterproofed every connector.
Click to expand...
I did the same thing and I also used ACF50 to treat the connectors and seals on the connectors.
 
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