ABS Swap from an automatic transmission FZJ80 into maunal FZJ80 (1 Viewer)

[alandaleb]

Hello everyone,,
I think no one has done this before but maybe, you never know lol
let me explain:
I have a 1997 VX-R Limited FZJ80 with the following specs:
- 4.5L gas engine
- 5-Speed Manual Transmission
- Center Diff. Lock
- No FF or RR diff. lockers
- No ABS

The donor car, a 1996 FZJ80 VX-R, specs:
- 4.5L gas engine
- 4-Speed Automatic Transmission
- I don't know if it has a Center Diff. Lock and I don't care
- Has an FF and RR diff. lockers
- ABS


What I have done is I swapped the ABS system and my diffs with a the locked diffs from the donor car
For the diffs, I had to swap the diffs themselves from tire to tire, wiring harness for the lockers and speed sensors, which I didn't have on mine, diffs ECU(Passenger Side kick panel), diff switch.
For the ABS, I swapped the actuator(under the hood), control relay(Next to actuator), and some brake lines. I still need to swap the ABS ECU and Deceleration Sensor to have the complete system swapped into my LC.
My question now is that, will the ABS system work on my LC?
Will the diffs lockers work without the ABS?
What other concerns I should have in order to have diff lockers and ABS both working.

My concern is that the FZJ80 with a manual transmission never came with ABS, or does it?, and this swap may upset the electronics on my LC.

 

[alandaleb]

Anything?

 

[jpoole]

@alandaleb I'm out of my depth stepping into this thread but wanted to at least get the conversation going. Many of us on this forum are USA based in the USA they didn't offer standard/manual transmissions or many of the other 80 series variations that you guys have. That, in part will explain why a folks here haven't chimed in because we don't know what differences there may be in your 80's systems.

With that said there have been different discussions on ih8mud about removing and/or disabling ABS on US spec. 80s with success. Some of these 80s have lockers so you may learn some helpful tidbits from those threads and may even decide to not get ABS working at all. US spec 80s were all pretty much the same, within a given year at least, and have petrol/gas 4.5 liter engines coupled to automatic transmissions. You can read up here to find the specifics in US 80s over the years but it may not be that relevant.

Drop the following into Google to get started on ABS removal discussions:

abs delete 80 series site:ih8mud.com​

My guess is that since you have a full donor 80 that you can get the ABS working but it may or may not be worth it. Obviously the following will have to happen "I still need to swap the ABS ECU and Deceleration Sensor to have the complete system swapped into my LC" and probably other details/changes will need to be attended to as well.

Good luck, and share pictures if you can as they seem to generate more thread attention or at least are enjoyed by those of us that often browse here.

 

[gnarlynick2072]

Any reason for wanting ABS? It seems unnecessary in the KSA. My 96 VX-R is manual w/ lockers and ABS so if you need pictures let me know!

Personally, I would not run ABS in Saudi and just add the lockers.

 

[alandaleb]

Any reason for wanting ABS? It seems unnecessary in the KSA. My 96 VX-R is manual w/ lockers and ABS so if you need pictures let me know!

Personally, I would not run ABS in Saudi and just add the lockers.

You're awesome man. I know but I want the ABS for my family safety. Otherwise, I would leave it without ABS.
Your car was equipped with ABS from the factory?

 

[alandaleb]

@alandaleb I'm out of my depth stepping into this thread but wanted to at least get the conversation going. Many of us on this forum are USA based in the USA they didn't offer standard/manual transmissions or many of the other 80 series variations that you guys have. That, in part will explain why a folks here haven't chimed in because we don't know what differences there may be in your 80's systems.

With that said there have been different discussions on ih8mud about removing and/or disabling ABS on US spec. 80s with success. Some of these 80s have lockers so you may learn some helpful tidbits from those threads and may even decide to not get ABS working at all. US spec 80s were all pretty much the same, within a given year at least, and have petrol/gas 4.5 liter engines coupled to automatic transmissions. You can read up here to find the specifics in US 80s over the years but it may not be that relevant.

Drop the following into Google to get started on ABS removal discussions:

abs delete 80 series site:ih8mud.com​

My guess is that since you have a full donor 80 that you can get the ABS working but it may or may not be worth it. Obviously the following will have to happen "I still need to swap the ABS ECU and Deceleration Sensor to have the complete system swapped into my LC" and probably other details/changes will need to be attended to as well.

Good luck, and share pictures if you can as they seem to generate more thread attention or at least are enjoyed by those of us that often browse here.

Thank you jpoole for the valuable comment

I actually thought though that the US 80's all came with an automatic transmission, but you never know as this car was sold everywhere.
My thinking is that I will try with ABS on and if I don't like it then I can remove it since I will keep prrty much all the old parts.

I read some poeple's complains about the ABS on the FZJ80 and I was actually questioning my decision, yet as I said I will keep all the parts from my car in case I needed to go back. Plus the ABS cost from the donor car is very low so it's worth trying at least.
To be honest, ABS saved my butt many times in the past so Im kinda loyal lol

 

[panamacruiser]

I believe there is an ABS computer...the transfer has to be the Fulltime one...if I were you, I would keep it as is, and remove the LSPV at the back...remember that the shafts will have different sizes...the automatic will work with the manual TC from either one....down here a lot do auto to manual...I rather keep the manual and if able put an A750F in there

 

[alandaleb]

I believe there is an ABS computer...the transfer has to be the Fulltime one...if I were you, I would keep it as is, and remove the LSPV at the back...remember that the shafts will have different sizes...the automatic will work with the manual TC from either one....down here a lot do auto to manual...I rather keep the manual and if able put an A750F in there

I will definitely leave it manual. I just want to swap the ABS system out into my LC.
What do you mean LSPV? Idk what that is

 

[gnarlynick2072]

You're awesome man. I know but I want the ABS for my family safety. Otherwise, I would leave it without ABS.
Your car was equipped with ABS from the factory?

yup! ABS from factory

 

[panamacruiser]

I will definitely leave it manual. I just want to swap the ABS system out into my LC.
What do you mean LSPV? Idk what that is

Load Sensing Proportioning Valve, is at the back and controls the ammount of brake fluid to the rear brakes, I deleted mine, no mayor issues, about 15 mins job...provinding you can get the screws out easy...

 

[alandaleb]

Hello everyone,,
I think no one has done this before but maybe, you never know lol
let me explain:
I have a 1997 VX-R Limited FZJ80 with the following specs:
- 4.5L gas engine
- 5-Speed Manual Transmission
- Center Diff. Lock
- No FF or RR diff. lockers
- No ABS

The donor car, a 1996 FZJ80 VX-R, specs:
- 4.5L gas engine
- 4-Speed Automatic Transmission
- I don't know if it has a Center Diff. Lock and I don't care
- Has an FF and RR diff. lockers
- ABS


What I have done is I swapped the ABS system and my diffs with a the locked diffs from the donor car
For the diffs, I had to swap the diffs themselves from tire to tire, wiring harness for the lockers and speed sensors, which I didn't have on mine, diffs ECU(Passenger Side kick panel), diff switch.
For the ABS, I swapped the actuator(under the hood), control relay(Next to actuator), and some brake lines. I still need to swap the ABS ECU and Deceleration Sensor to have the complete system swapped into my LC.
My question now is that, will the ABS system work on my LC?
Will the diffs lockers work without the ABS?
What other concerns I should have in order to have diff lockers and ABS both working.

My concern is that the FZJ80 with a manual transmission never came with ABS, or does it?, and this swap may upset the electronics on my LC.

Update and some issues I'm facing:
The swap is now completed, and here is what you need to know to make this swap:

After swapping the diffs and lockers ECU, make sure to take the wiring from the donor car.

You need two sets of wiring:
One from the diff to the engine bay that plugs to a pigtail connecter under DL1.

The second wire is a bit more complicated. You need to replace the whole wire that connects from the right side tail light (a hole from the bottom to inside the body were the wire brakes and should be replaced with the one from the donor) all the way to the right side tail light, which also includes the rear diff lock connecter.
If you get the wires, it should be plug and play without cutting or any other thing.

For the ABS, I had to swap the following:
- ABS Actuator (located in the right side of the engine bay, and the connecters are plug and play)

- ABS ECU ( inside the car in the driver's left kick panel, and the connecters are plug and play)

- Speed sensors, which should come with the swapped diffs ( wiring should be swapped from the donor for both the front and rear)

- Deceleration Sensor (inside the cabin, under shifter's cover, and the connecter,found under the carpet between driver seat and center console, is plug and play)

- Swapped some brake lines and reroute as they look in the FMS manual.

This is it for the swap. However, I still have some issues:
1- Rear diff lock is not working. Maybe the actuator is not working because the front is working fine.

2- Center lock won't disengage, which an issue even before doing the swap. I cleaned the switch wire then something weird happened. The 4WD light went off but center diff lock is still lit. Now I don't know what could be the problem.

3- Since center lock is engaged, ABS is not working. I don't have front brake but I don't know if this is due to ABS system is turned off or not. I still haven't figured this out.

please if you know anything can help troubleshooting these issue, please don't hesitate.

I hope this help and please ask for any details I may not have mentioned.
I will aslo try to add pictures of the important and tedious things.

 

[alandaleb]

UP

 

[White Stripe]

The rear locker actuator oring can fail and water will get inside and cause issues inside the actuator. For the center diff lock the engagement switches on the tcase can get stuck.

 

[alandaleb]

The rear locker actuator oring can fail and water will get inside and cause issues inside the actuator. For the center diff lock the engagement switches on the tcase can get stuck.

I took out the switch on the rear locker and found it dirty, cleaned it and put it back. I will share the results when I test.
For the center diff lock, I unplugged the wire but I was not able to remove the switch however, stupid me, I cut one of the wires when I was trying to plug the wire back. Another issue to be solved.

However, I succeeded solving the ABS problem. It is not very clear what fixed it but I think the actuator plugs were dirty. I cleaned them well and plugged them back. Along with that, the center diff lock switch wire was cut, so I think the ECU does not detect it anymore which may caused the ABS to turn back on.
Weired enough that I didn't have brake in front at all when the ABS is off but now I have after the ABS is fixed. This make me wonder about the safety of brake system on this vehicle.

A lot of failures but this is what happens when one doesn't have a place to work, and has to work during the night on a phone's flash light.