Good luck man, hope the trip home goes well without any further hiccups. Kinda reminds me of when I drove out to Denver from Kansas to buy my first 60 series. God speed!!!
Advice on whether I should buy a Land Cruiser
- Thread starter Beehanger
- Start date
-
- Tags
- buying fj62 help land cruiser
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
So what happened?
- Thread starter
- #124
Engine: Engine bay fj60 video idle - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zrf7p0sdr73b4es/AAD4rFpIO6NlqWCgoeCv-8UTa?dl=0Update: (see bottom for idle engine bay dropbox link and what previous owners shop did for me)
Day 6, Meeting the mechanic in the morning, I'm going to be a silent learner and maybe help on a few things, he works out of an auto yard but I can tell he knows what he is doing and said hes worked on an 80 and a lot of other toyotas before. He has like 6 cars in his lot he was playing with for fun lol. He diagnosed today, I'm going to list everything we're working on tomorrow (speak up if you disagree or think if I should do some other repair in stead). First of all, he doesn't think theres pinging its just the exhaust leak issue when i accelerate. He thinks its in good enough shape to get me home but I told him I want the tricky and critical stuff like the gauges and broken hoses done etc (see list below) And the engine is knocking some too when he heard it in idle (see new dropbox video of idle engine bay)--. cant rememeber if we are fixing that or not tho or what the fix would be. The engine he said is burning oilbut that I'm told it doesn't matter that much for the next couple years as long as im taking off smog and catalytic converter and im in idaho. We obvisouly cant get to it unless we were rebuilding the whole engine and pull the whole thing out which is not happening. Im wondering how long I can wait to rebuild the engine if its running well and compression was in the 135-145 range (were testing again tomorrow) so any input appreciated. He recommended we might adjust the valve cover gasket and clean in there though which would require to open things up (is this unnecessary to do right now?). Should I wait to do this until I rebuild or replace engine altogether in a few years since itll require a lot of labor? Anyway here's the list, my writing not his, not sure what he means on all of them but seemed to understand what the issues were:
- $750 to fix exhuast issue and exhuast manifold. (He wants to do this first cause it sucks the most) I smell exhaust in the cabin and not all of it is making it to muffler etc. sounds like an issue #1
- Fix gauges by buying new cluster (i would cover cost of this) (most gauges are malfunctioning or not moving except battery and kinda fuel gauge)--> could I get away with not buying new cluster tho? I'm driving home so dont know if I have a choice, or if I should have him check each individual thing instead
- Replace upper and lower radiator hoses (seem old and have carbon, could explode) upper hose gets really hot-is this normal?
- Do the EGR valve or replace it (definitely acting up)
- Taking the guageu to the valuves-valve cover gasket/ Rings or valve seals in the head of the engine (necessary right now?)
- changing idle screw to 700
- replacing vacuum lines as needed
- New enginge thermostat potentially
- New header ??
- New engine belt
- Check the spark plugs (what do we do if oil is on them?)
- Repalce rings in bottom of engine to fix knocking? thought i heard this not sure if we're doing it
He didn't think carb had any issues but old cars just run rich sometimes.
He thinks he can get it done tomorrow and maybe half day Tuesday. ***** The kicker is he wants $1200 and to be paid by the job not by the hour and he will cover all parts except new gauge cluster (he said not that many parts needed at all tho.......were runing by Manafre/toyota dealership and maybe autozone (god forbid) so im just wondering if that seems like a fair price, maybe 60 an hour?*** Maybe I pay for parts and tell him an hourly rate? I kinda already agreed to it thinking parts would be expensive, am i correct? He said he hates people getting ripped off by mechanics and are fair people and have a different way of doing things. So a little confused why its so expensive, do these parts cost a lot? I think this guy defintely knows what he is doing but hasn't worked on a 60 before but all he does is work on cars, his only hobby and said he could definetly handle it and if something came up that he couldn't he wouldnt touch it. He answered all the right questions etc and I doubt I could get in anywhere else as most people are backed up I'm sure. Interested to see what you guys say, he seems like a reasonable guy so can probably negotiate price, note that he also did all the 2 hours of diagnosing today for free.
So overall what price/ hourly rate would be fair for a knowledable yet not in shop mechanic im paying in cash with no warranty? This appears to be tweaking not massive projects that require a 30 year fj60 expert but thats maybe just me, this is all i can probably get while im in town for a day and a half. Anything else not on that list I should defintely get done? I JUST WANT THE THING TO START UP IN THE WINTER
Thanks for all the input, putting all info even though its long winded,
Daniel
- Thread starter
- #125
Past owner invoice from his shop. 30% discount and all the work they did. I Cut off title Header. $2300
- Thread starter
- #128
It really seemed like he knew what he was talking about and maybe I just butchered writing it down. He said that noise when i accelerate is the exahust issue which he was going to fix, which will help me not smelling gas so much in cabin. Another mudder talked about that noise maybe being the exhaust leak as well. I really didn't get a bad vibe from this guy and his diagnosing, Maybe things got lost in translation since Im new and cant explain things properly lol
I agree. Pay to have it shipped. Then you won’t be crunched for time and hoping this gets repaired correctly. I would want to learn as i go and repair things as needed when I’m local and not at risk of being stranded hours from home.
You’ll have it running, but you need to put in some time learning first. Otherwise open your wallet and hope the mechanic really knows fj60s.
Fly home!
You’ll have it running, but you need to put in some time learning first. Otherwise open your wallet and hope the mechanic really knows fj60s.
Fly home!
What’s the nearest vetted shop? I’d almost say get it into one of them, fly home and come back. Every time I’ve settle and just got something worked on by a random shop it’s been a waste of time and money.
If you got a shop or someone back home who’s gonna work on the truck for you you could just come back and trailer it home your next free weekend. That’s probably your cheapest solution, but it’ll cost you a few days and a motel.
If you got a shop or someone back home who’s gonna work on the truck for you you could just come back and trailer it home your next free weekend. That’s probably your cheapest solution, but it’ll cost you a few days and a motel.
Update: (see bottom for idle engine bay dropbox link and what previous owners shop did for me)
Day 6, Meeting the mechanic in the morning, I'm going to be a silent learner and maybe help on a few things, he works out of an auto yard but I can tell he knows what he is doing and said hes worked on an 80 and a lot of other toyotas before. He has like 6 cars in his lot he was playing with for fun lol. He diagnosed today, I'm going to list everything we're working on tomorrow (speak up if you disagree or think if I should do some other repair in stead). First of all, he doesn't think theres pinging its just the exhaust leak issue when i accelerate. He thinks its in good enough shape to get me home but I told him I want the tricky and critical stuff like the gauges and broken hoses done etc (see list below) And the engine is knocking some too when he heard it in idle (see new dropbox video of idle engine bay)--. cant rememeber if we are fixing that or not tho or what the fix would be. The engine he said is burning oil
- $750 to fix exhuast issue and exhuast manifold. (He wants to do this first cause it sucks the most) I smell exhaust in the cabin and not all of it is making it to muffler etc. sounds like an issue #1
******$750 might cover parts alone if done properly and machine shop work is required. I’m guessing he’s thinking of just doing a new gasket which is a lot of work and a real opportunity for problems in the process unlikely to get done in one day for someone who hasn’t worked these before.
******Could be gages. Could be a broken wire. Could be a bad sensor. Could be all of the above. Not sure and afraid that blindly throwing parts at it will result in less
Replace upper and lower radiator hoses (seem old and have carbon, could explode) upper hose gets really hot-is this normal?
didn’t the guy to bought it from do an engine overhaul? Hoses are cheap you can swap em but you are going to have to get all the air out again.
***** don’t replace it. I’d not even mess with it right now. You talked about removing the cat so I’m guessing you don’t have emissions testing at home. When you get home you can do a desmog and remove the egr
***** you could adjust the valve clearance and replace the valve cover gasket but don’t worry about valve seals or rings etc
******* once valves are adjust do the “lean drop method”. However with manifold leaks you will likely finish this and then have to set idle back to 1000 to keep it from stalling.
replacing vacuum lines as needed
Yes. Good to do
******If you can get one and the top gasket....I bet this and getting air out of your cooling system will fix your gage.
******no. Not now.
*****m
No way you are going to tear the engine down to put rings in in 2 days for $1200. And also that won’t fix a knock
sure when they have problems
He thinks he can get it done tomorrow and maybe half day Tuesday. ***** The kicker is he wants $1200 and to be paid by the job not by the hour and he will cover all parts except new gauge cluster (he said not that many parts needed at all tho.......were runing by Manafre/toyota dealership and maybe autozone (god forbid) so im just wondering if that seems like a fair price, maybe 60 an hour?*** Maybe I pay for parts and tell him an hourly rate? I kinda already agreed to it thinking parts would be expensive, am i correct? He said he hates people getting ripped off by mechanics and are fair people and have a different way of doing things. So a little confused why its so expensive, do these parts cost a lot? I think this guy defintely knows what he is doing but hasn't worked on a 60 before but all he does is work on cars, his only hobby and said he could definetly handle it and if something came up that he couldn't he wouldnt touch it. He answered all the right questions etc and I doubt I could get in anywhere else as most people are backed up I'm sure. Interested to see what you guys say, he seems like a reasonable guy so can probably negotiate price, note that he also did all the 2 hours of diagnosing today for free.
So overall what price/ hourly rate would be fair for a knowledable yet not in shop mechanic im paying in cash with no warranty? This appears to be tweaking not massive projects that require a 30 year fj60 expert but thats maybe just me, this is all i can probably get while im in town for a day and a half. Anything else not on that list I should defintely get done? I JUST WANT THE THING TO START UP IN THE WINTER
Thanks for all the input, putting all info even though its long winded,
Daniel
Yup. I'd spend that money getting it home where you can diagnose and fix one thing at a time. With the help of this forum you can tackle most of this successfully. Adjusting your idle, replacing your hoses and thermostat, and getting your gauges working properly are the first things I think you should do. Getting your gauges working may involve new sensors, but you won't know without the proper testing. Otherwise you're just throwing expensive parts at it. The rest of this can be diagnosed properly once you get it running.
If you fix the 3 or 4 things I mentioned it will drive fine. Most of the 60's out there suffer from some compression loss, leaky exhaust, worn rings. They drive just fine, just not perfect. They will leave you stranded with a bad thermostat, blown hoses, and gauges that don't work (if you don't know your rig).
But, ONLY fixing those things in Vegas then driving hundreds of miles is a gamble. They will get you to the point you can start identifying other problems that might exist. You still don't know everything wrong with this truck.
If you fix the 3 or 4 things I mentioned it will drive fine. Most of the 60's out there suffer from some compression loss, leaky exhaust, worn rings. They drive just fine, just not perfect. They will leave you stranded with a bad thermostat, blown hoses, and gauges that don't work (if you don't know your rig).
But, ONLY fixing those things in Vegas then driving hundreds of miles is a gamble. They will get you to the point you can start identifying other problems that might exist. You still don't know everything wrong with this truck.
- Thread starter
- #133
Thanks for the advice all, Getting my rig tonight not having him work on it. I’m gunna head back, got off the phone with the previous owner, he thinks I’ll definetly be fine and do more checking then I realized. I’m just gunna go slow, it has good power and isn’t pinging I don’t think, just an exhaust issue etc. I don’t know everything wrong with it but the shop I had it at did good work I know that and trust it. I trust the rig, I’ve done the drive before, doing it in 2 days, i dont know a ton and am excited. it will get me there. Will update tomorrow.
beehanger
Ok, at least get something to tell you the coolant temp. You can't recover from an overheated engine without replacing the engine. A cap with a gauge in the top, an ir temp sensor, something!
And for heaven's sake, get enough gear to keep you alive for 2 days in a snowstorm. If you're going to take risks, be prepared to survive them.
You can replace a thermostat in the autozone parking lot with borrowed tools. Will you at least replace your rotted hoses, the t-stat, and purge the air from the system? You're stressing me out here.
- Thread starter
- #137
Yes I’m with ya, take the risk but do it smartly Have winter gear, getting water and food just in case, and I’ll get those things done the best I can From YouTube and mud. Taking it to BTB in the morning to see if they could do a thing or two. I picked up the rig, in the parking lot
-
@cruiseroutfit Hey Kurt do you guys work on cruisers too? Might be an option for present situation.
- Thread starter
- #140
So far so good. Getting high off fumes tho, definitely an exhaust leak somewhere, that’s partly what those acceleration noises are I think. Rolling window down seemed to make it worse, stopping at gas stations to get breatherS. Doing drive in two days, stopping tonight. Would Blasting AC or heat on recirculating or fresh help? I was fine for the first hour and a half. Would a gas mask help?
