1996 LX450 (1 Viewer)

[drews2566]

Many of you guys chimed in when I was contemplating a 40th Anniversary series outside of Portland. In the hunt though I found a 1996 LX 450 in Bend and flew out there this morning and picked it up. The pics made it look like it was in amazing condition, it wasn't quite "amazing" and unfortunately the current owner wasn't super forthright with that information. I'm hoping there isn't anything else that was "hidden".

Either way, I bought it for 8.5k and I'm fairly happy at that price. There are some glaring issues though right off the bat.

The biggest is that there is a giant patch on the exhaust on the down pipe. It's leaking, the patch is pretty terrible.

Anyone have thoughts on exhaust options? The rest of the exhaust seems ok. Not good. Not great. I figure if it had enough holes in it for this crappy patch, I should probably replace it. The Otramm exhaust puts a real hamper on the budget for some of the other work I wanna do to this beauty.

I have some other questions. I'm 90% certain the oil pump seal is leaking. I'm trying to take some pics but it's a bit tough. I think the valve cover gasket was replaced at one point. It doesn't seem to be coming from up top. But there is quite a bit of oil running down.

The last thing I have going is about the knuckles. They look pretty dry, but this is my first solid axle. (See photos below).

I know I need to do the brakes and do some baselining, the PHH, etc. I think most of the heater hoses need replacing.

I know the diff gear oil was replaced in January. I'll check it again, but I don't expect there are any issues.

What else would you all replace as a baseline?

The suspension is totally blown. At least the rear passenger shock is gone and I'm pretty sure one of the fronts is bad. The drive home was prettyyyy bouncy.

Overall, the drive went great. Got 16 mpg ish. About 315 doing 70 to 80 all the way home. No issues at all.

Questions:

I can't pull on the windshield wiper selector for the windshield cleaner. Is this something wrong with the selector thing? Is that not how to do the windshield cleaners on this car?
Is the Dobinsons kit worth the extra couple hundred bucks over an OME kit?
Is the rear heater delete worth it?



Things that must be done asap:

1. Brakes
2. Oil pump seal
3. Exhaust
4. Suspension (OME? Or Dobinsons? is it worth looking at Bilsteins??)
5. Shakey mirrors
6. Tires (probably 255/85/r16's KO2's, might do Falken AT3W's)

Maybe knuckle rebuild?

Probably do coolant, it was also flushed in January.

Things I'd like to do:

1. Coastal Offroad Rear Bumper
2. Roof rack (either prinsu or a bowfin), there is no factory roof rack.
3. ARB front bumper (maybe Coastal Offroad front bumper too but I don't love it).

 

[drews2566]

Knuckle photos

Can't quite see this one. But, I'll get better photos in the morning.

 

[jbee]

Cool truck.
Local exhaust shop will fix that fir $100 or less. Don’t overthink it. Cheap fix and move on to $$$ things.

 

[mingles]

Congratulations. Looks like a nice truck.

if an exhaust patch is your biggest issue, you are doing great. Exhausts are consumables.

A few thoughts...
1. Add all fluids to your base lining list. That way YOU know what is in there.
2. Note condition of front diff fluid. That and clicking birfs will let you know if you need to do a knuckle rebuild sooner rather than later. If the front bearings are tight, birfs don’t click, diff fluid is clear, just fill the knuckles with moly grease and run them.
3. Do all three front seals at once. Distributor O ring, oil pump, and front crank seal. It’s easier since you will have it all apart anyway.
4. Monitor PS pump for leaks (you didn’t mention mileage, but that is a common leak)
5. I’ve had/have both OME and Dobinsons stock height suspensions. Dobinsons is FAR more comfortable/stable at on road highway driving.
6. Washer is activated by pushing the end of the stalk “in”. The end is a button.
7. I have a Bowfin and love it. Most trouble free aftermarket accessory I have bought for the truck. It just stays put and does it’s job.

After your initial baseline (make it stop first, then make it go) just keep driving it and it will tell you what needs to be fixed next.

16 mpg is pretty good. I just did a 600 mile hwy trip in mine yesterday and averaged 14/15 with 33’s, roof rack, 300lbs of gear, and cruise set at 70.

 

[Rusty Marlin]

Mingles covered it well. The knuckles looks like there is a film of grease on them, so for now I'd take the inspection plug put, use a zip tie for a dip stick, and see how much grease is in there, then add as appropriate.

As far the base lining, if its rubber, replace it. All the coolant lines, vacuum lines and break lines PS, tranny cooler.....
If its liquid, replace it. In the case of the transmission do a 2 quart exchange every oil change. I've heard way too many horror stories of people shocking their transmissions with a full flush and 4K later the tranny dies. I do the exchange. It introduces fresh fluid gently over time.
This gets you to a known condition.

 

[CCRider]

Congrats on your new LX! Baselining is a great idea, these trucks will treat you right if you do the same. My LX has never let me down and always gets me home. Enjoy the ride!

 

[samiam09]

Be sure to check the belts, That was the first thing that blew on mine. My fault I just picked up a new set and decide to go get lunch. That cost me a radiator and introduced me to the fun of pulling the front off to get to it . All in all not bad , but a costly mistake right out the gate. Now i keep extra belts and check them and all the hoses .

 

[drews2566]

> 6. Washer is activated by pushing the end of the stalk “in”. The end is a button.

I am not a smart man. Seriously, the way the steering wheel sits I couldn't see it. Not like they work anyways!

I have new ones ordered from Wits end. As long as pretty much all their soft hose kits. I also got a new silicon PHH from phhkits and vapor canister and power steering hoses.

I have the not very well used but priced right Eibach lift kit on order. We'll see I guess.

Power seats don't work, I pulled em out on Saturday the PO had "new worm gears" but that's not the issue, both seats are missing the end caps. New ones will be here soon I hope.

Pics of the day I brought it home.

I waxed her after it rained for about an hour this afternoon and that paint looks gooooddddd.

> 3. Do all three front seals at once. Distributor O ring, oil pump, and front crank seal. It’s easier since you will have it all apart anyway.

Wits end kit ordered as well.

> 4. Monitor PS pump for leaks (you didn’t mention mileage, but that is a common leak)

The hoses are definitely leaking, we'll see if she is still leaking after I replace the hoses.

I always forget to do before pics of vehicles I've owned. Not on this beautiful lady.

I did lift her up and check for wheel-bearing play yesterday. They seem pretty tight so I'm not certain I'm ready to pull them all apart yet.

New Napa brakes should be here on Monday.

 

[drews2566]

So, I washed and waxed her as I was researching and purchasing different seals and baselining equipment.

Look at that shiny hood.

After waiting a week without hearing anything from Wits End I had given up on this weekend, but on Thursday afternoon the orders were shipped! Somehow all the bits and pieces I ordered arrived on Saturday morning and I decided to go to town.

I replaced the oil pump seal which I took out in about 41 different dried and cracking pieces. There is no way that was preventing any sort of leaking.The blog was dirty, very dirty, and the damn crank shaft pulley bolt was rough. I tried the starter motor "bump" method, but the bolt held solid and I couldn't get the engine to spin. I ended up finding a 3 foot cheater bar on top of my 2 foot 1/2" breaker bar and finally got it to budge with a long 14mm socket on the tranny flex plate bolt via the view port. What a pain in the butt.

Damn dirty block. Look at all the sludge down there.

It is a Toyota Engine!

I had the wits end kit so it came with fancy new screws for the oil pump cover and a nice 2" pvc pipe cover that made installing that front engine seal a breeze. Also, the OTRAMM tip of using a #3 Phillips with a couple of taps and an impact worked like a charm. So easy.

On the install I cleaned everything up and threw in new power steering return (all the low pressure) hoses. Nothing crazy difficult but pretty tight in the bottom.

Also, all the radiator hoses and a couple of little hoses were replaced. I think on the list of things to get is a new radiator. The coolant was pretty sludgy after the PO said he got the coolant system "flushed" at an oil change place (I think they probably emptied the radiator and filled it back up with green coolant). The 1500 mile old coolant was _dirty_. It also makes me think that maybe I'm having early signs of a head gasket? So, I ordered an oil testing kit it should be here sometime next week. Either way, the coolant was nasty and the radiator has a bunch of messed up fins and it is dirty and the plastic at the top looked brittle and was starting to crack.

I noticed that my breaker bar was a little bent after pulling the crankshaft pulley (thanks Harbor Freight) and I decided to go with the "pull on the breaker bar until I cant method to reinstall the crankshaft pulley. I gave it a couple good pulls with my broken breaker and a 3' cheater bar and of course the breaker bar shears leaving me sprawling backwards. I think that bolt is tight enough. Also time for an upgraded breaker bar.

Out with the old. In with the new.

New belts went in and I tightened everything down reinstalled all the lights and filled er with coolant and she purrs like a kitten.

Next step is the PHH. I'm gonna pull the intake and do a fuel injector service and hopefully do the PHH while it's easily accessible. I have big hands and can't even imagine trying to get up and in there to remove the PHH. I think it'll be faster this way. Time will tell.

Also, I wanna get that oil tested and make sure my headgasket isn't leaking. I'm tempted to do the HG as preventative maintenance as I'm the kind of person that will constantly worry about it until it's either blown and I can replace or I just do it.

 

[drews2566]

Any reason to replace the hoses that feed into the transmission cooler? They were pretty covered in junk, but I imagine that most of it was from the masses of oil caked onto everything around that oil pump. They still seem supple and soft but I couldn't tell if they were leaking, I imagine I'd be having bigger issues if they were.

 

[60 toy ota]

I'd recommend it. Only time my 450 left me stranded was after replacing the radiator in preparation for a trip to moab. Didn't bother replacing the tranny cooler lines, and it turned out those lines couldn't endure the stress off being pulled and installed onto the new radiator. Blew out a few hours in on hwy 6 and ruined the paint from the hood to the tailgate. Don't take their texture as a sign of health, They're soft because the oil covering them breaks them down.

 

[toddsmith1]

FWIW, I just installed the full Dobinsons 3"Flexi lift and absolutely love it. Ride is great.
I also installed the HD Whiteline rear stabilizer to offset anybody roll from the Flexi coils.

 

[drews2566]

I did it. I removed the clamshell and got the whole intake manifold off to get to the fuel filter and the PHH and all the other hoses down there. What a mess.

I even pulled all the wiring from underneath. It wasn't fun.

I'm stoked I got it though cause all the seals are awful and are all falling apart.

Look at that valve cover gasket. It seriously came out in like 40 pieces.

I also found some really nasty plugs.

Every plug was this dirty. Running lean? Must because all 6 of them are this nasty. There were some clean/new vacuum lines so I'm guessing whatever issue caused this was "fixed" with vacuum lines but I'm gonna replace em all and put new plugs in and see what happens.

 

[Devils Paw 80]

I just bought a '97 LX same color. Will have to post up some picks soon. First thing with shaky mirrors is to try the easy thing by tightening the screw from underneath. My passenger side seems all better now after doing that. Driver's side not a problem. We'll see, haven't driven since.

 

[drews2566]

Yeah for sure. I just bought the shakey mirror kit from some guy on Etsy: Bracket to fix shakey mirror on FJ80 FZJ80 LX450 with bottom | Etsy - https://www.etsy.com/listing/718123962/bracket-to-fix-shakey-mirror-on-fj80 cheap and it looks like it'll do the job.


The more I dive into this bad boy the more I am happy that I am doing a lot of this maintenance. So many cracked and dried up seals/hoses/etc. It's really bad. Hopefully she's running super nicely after I get her all back together. At least none of the bolts are too rusty and I don't think I've stripped a single bolt or had any issues removing anything. Just frustrated by some of the harder to reach areas (like the back two bolts on the lower intake manifold.

I noticed she starts pretty slowly especially after she is warmed up. It takes one or two more times to turn over before she catches and that bothers me. I'm hoping all this maintenance cleans that up.

 

[Cass007]

May as well do the distributor o-ring, rotor and cap gasket while you are there. Also, I highly recommend doing the VSV and replace all the vac hoses that mount under the upper plenum. EGR can get some love now as well.

Actually, you may as well just do the head gasket, you already did the bottom end seals and the wiring harness, that is some of the hardest work. Then you can install the new downpipe for the exhaust when doing the head work.

FWIW, I love my Dobinsons 3" lift, but opinions will vary about who likes what.

 

[bencallaway]

You're in there this deep, you should really consider doing a head gasket. Watch OTRAMMS video on youtube. You're halfway finished already.

 

[bencallaway]

May as well do the distributor o-ring, rotor and cap gasket while you are there. Also, I highly recommend doing the VSV and replace all the vac hoses that mount under the upper plenum. EGR can get some love now as well.

Actually, you may as well just do the head gasket, you already did the bottom end seals and the wiring harness, that is some of the hardest work. Then you can install the new downpipe for the exhaust when doing the head work.

FWIW, I love my Dobinsons 3" lift, but opinions will vary about who likes what.

JINX

 

[drews2566]

May as well do the distributor o-ring, rotor and cap gasket while you are there. Also, I highly recommend doing the VSV and replace all the vac hoses that mount under the upper plenum. EGR can get some love now as well.

Actually, you may as well just do the head gasket, you already did the bottom end seals and the wiring harness, that is some of the hardest work. Then you can install the new downpipe for the exhaust when doing the head work.

FWIW, I love my Dobinsons 3" lift, but opinions will vary about who likes what.

I’ve been seriously considering “just” doing the head gasket at this point. With these comments. I think I'll do it. But my lift comes in tomorrow and I want to be able to put that in this weekend! Oh well. Thanks for the feedback everyone! Looks like I'm doing a damn head gasket this weekend.

@Cass007 What kind of "love" would you give the EGR? Should I replace the VSV?

I actually got the downpipe for the exhaust welded at a little shop. It was expensive but they did a good job and it looks pretty clean. I'm gonna spray it with some high temp enamel and call it good until there are more holes in it, and I have more dollar bills in my wallet.

 

[Cass007]

Yes new VSV or at least do the mod where you extend the hoses so you can zip tie it out from underneath the plenum so it can be changed more easily if needed.

When doing the head gasket you can remove the EGR and disassemble it to clean it out as much as possible on the inside. New hoses for the EGR and if so inclined a new vacuum modulator valve (25870-66011 ... $76.33 from McGeorge).

I also found that doing the head with the ARP Supra studs was much easier and less stressful than using the factory head bolts.

Oh, doing the head gasket before the lift will be much easier unless you have a good platform to stand on to do the work on the lifted truck.