650 miles in a LJ78 - Recommendations? (1 Viewer)

[yotaman]

650 miles in a LJ78 - Recommendations?

I purchased a LJ78 kind on a whim as I always liked the body style. I'm a Yota mini nut but after doing some reading guys got me a little worried about the little engine. I'm not to worried about the engine long term as I can do a swap later on if needed.

Any pre-checks or recommendations to prepare for before the trip.

I'll be doing 80% of the driving at night.

What's a good (safe for the engine) speed / tach range?

This is a Japan import, around 100K miles on it. Seller says it runs great.

Thanks for any and all input guys.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

What kind of terrain are you driving through? ( mountains, hills, flat )

 

[yotaman]

FL to GA. All Interstate.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Check the cooling system if time permits and drive in the right lane.
Good luck

 

[yotaman]

Thanks.

Figured I'd be lone man in the slow lane. LOL.

What's a safe cruising RPM for these little engines?

 

[Gun Runner 5]

P.M. Sent

 

[roscoFJ73]

I would keep it at 2500- 3000rpm. If you hit a steep hill, drop back to 4th or even 3rd and keep the rpms high. You wont be the slowest on the road. Even with the larger 6 cyl models, 65-70 mph is about the max safe speed. They don't like high speed swerves or emergency stops.
They were designed for bad roads and secondary hwys rather the US style freeways.

 

[yotaman]

Forgot to add. She's an auto. So that'll probably cut my speed by 10 mph.

 

[roscoFJ73]

Being auto, I would get a separate cooler for the trans at some point in the future. That radiator has enough work to do.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Forgot to add. She's an auto. So that'll probably cut my speed by 10 mph.

But you'll be able to stretch your left leg which is something those 5 speed guys can do.

 

[OGBeno]

I'm in Covington. If you need anything on the ride up, let me know.

Good luck. It's a fun ride.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

I'm in Covington. If you need anything on the ride up, let me know.

Good luck. It's a fun ride.

Damn Onur, you're not going to make fun of his transmission? You slipping in your old age?

 

[OGBeno]

Damn Onur, you're not going to make fun of his transmission? You slipping in your old age?

Don't need to make fun of it. Everyone knows the A440F sucks. It's ok. He'll learn too eventually.

 

[yotaman]

I'm usually a hardcore 5 speed guy but do have to admit it's nice driving autos around 80% of the time with all the red lights and crappy traffic.

 

[AirheadNut]

Keep a pretty close eye on the temperature gauge, too. They aren't very accurate, but anything over halfway is generally dangerous territory and warrants a downshift and perhaps reduced speed.

Have fun! The first day I owned my LJ78 I drove it about 600 miles over 3 mountain passes. It was a great trip, even though the torque converter didn't want to stay locked up

 

[Gun Runner 5]

FL to GA. All Interstate.

When are you starting this journey?

 

[yotaman]

Today. My plane flies out this afternoon.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Today. My plane flies out this afternoon.

Yeah, I'd say general rule of thumb is don't let the temps get over 1/2 way, or 2/3 max on the factory gauge on a stock engine.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

I'm usually a hardcore 5 speed guy but do have to admit it's nice driving autos around 80% of the time with all the red lights and crappy traffic.

My crappy auto gearbox is 27 years old (+ or -) and still runs cool and shifts smoothly. Hard to ask more of a transmission.

 

[joekatana]

Stop by a Harbor Freight somewhere and get one of those cheap digital thermometers so you can check the actual temperatures once every while and can easily troubleshoot if something bad was to happen.