Just picked up a 1995 FZJ80 with 93,300 miles.
It has no mods. The last owner had it since 1996 for his wife and brought it to Florida when they retired 20 years ago.
My immediate plans are mostly mechanical. Fluids, hoses, and leaks.
Fluids:
My coolant is new but orange so I will be flushing that and replacing with the correct red. The power steering fluid is not dexron III and will get changed. The transmission, brake fluid, diff, and transfer case needs new fluid. I'd like to run with distilled water and a bottle of toyota coolant flush to really clean things out for a bit of time.
Hoses:
Although the upper radiator hose and a few heater hoses were changed, everything else is hard or looks really rough. I will change these after the flush. I am going to put in an OEM radiator, thermostat, and replace the overflow bottle while it is all full of water.
Leaks:
I have sludge built up under the transmission. Nothing fresh or thin enough to determine it is red. Not sure what is leaking there yet. There is also some fresh oil on some component near the oil filter. Honestly, things are pretty grimy underneath but rust does not seem to be a problem right now. I really hate to change a bunch of hoses and then ruin them with leaking fluids.
Nothing actually leaked on the driveway before/after the test drive and the car was cold when I arrived early that morning. I am going to run some UV dye in the oil and do a coolant pressure test. I guess you can do UV dye in the transmission too but I am not sure.
So, I have got to figure out how to avoid attempting to do everything all at once just because the radiator is getting pulled. I know I want to tear it all apart but it's not necessary and will cause the truck to be down for too long. The plan is to not going beyond 2 weekends of down time.
And the battery has some red stains on it. Not sure what that is since the power steering fluid is not red. The trans dip stick seems secure. Maybe there's battery cleaner that was sprayed on but I've never seen anything that leaves a stain.
That's my story for now.
Bill
Some of these pictures are after a quick wipe down.
It has no mods. The last owner had it since 1996 for his wife and brought it to Florida when they retired 20 years ago.
My immediate plans are mostly mechanical. Fluids, hoses, and leaks.
Fluids:
My coolant is new but orange so I will be flushing that and replacing with the correct red. The power steering fluid is not dexron III and will get changed. The transmission, brake fluid, diff, and transfer case needs new fluid. I'd like to run with distilled water and a bottle of toyota coolant flush to really clean things out for a bit of time.
Hoses:
Although the upper radiator hose and a few heater hoses were changed, everything else is hard or looks really rough. I will change these after the flush. I am going to put in an OEM radiator, thermostat, and replace the overflow bottle while it is all full of water.
Leaks:
I have sludge built up under the transmission. Nothing fresh or thin enough to determine it is red. Not sure what is leaking there yet. There is also some fresh oil on some component near the oil filter. Honestly, things are pretty grimy underneath but rust does not seem to be a problem right now. I really hate to change a bunch of hoses and then ruin them with leaking fluids.
Nothing actually leaked on the driveway before/after the test drive and the car was cold when I arrived early that morning. I am going to run some UV dye in the oil and do a coolant pressure test. I guess you can do UV dye in the transmission too but I am not sure.
So, I have got to figure out how to avoid attempting to do everything all at once just because the radiator is getting pulled. I know I want to tear it all apart but it's not necessary and will cause the truck to be down for too long. The plan is to not going beyond 2 weekends of down time.
And the battery has some red stains on it. Not sure what that is since the power steering fluid is not red. The trans dip stick seems secure. Maybe there's battery cleaner that was sprayed on but I've never seen anything that leaves a stain.
That's my story for now.
Bill
Some of these pictures are after a quick wipe down.
Last edited:
