Builds An HJ61 followed me home to Texas (1 Viewer)

[bottombracket]

That was the solution. It screwed into the block easily once I had the lock nut threaded partially on. I put a little Hond- I mean semi drying liquid sealant on the plug and buttoned everything up, finally. That sucked.

 

[bottombracket]

Back together, oil and coolant filled up, batteries deader than a door nail. Will charge and fire her up tonight or tomorrow.

 

[bottombracket]

Went for a test drive and promptly overheated. Temp gauge pegged all the way up to H, but the radiator cap never blew. Hopefully things are all OK underneath. I let the radiator cap off slooooowly and added another gallon of coolant. Oil clear and golden on dipstick, no leaks below on the block.

I’m betting I had a great big air bubble somewhere; even though I let it idle for 10 minutes after thermostat opened, it wasn’t enough. Will get a jump start from @shanko here in a minute and limp home, I’m less than 3 miles from my place.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Run your heater on hot while you burp. Placing on hill with engine facing uphill or front wheel on ramps helps with air bubbles getting to radiator

 

[bottombracket]

I can’t believe how much coolant it actually took. I finally got it burped, full, and went for a test drive. Everything stayed nice and cool.

Hot tip: Toyota red coolant is readily available by the 6 gallon case from the dealership. My local parts counter does not stock it, but you can place an Internet order, get 30% off, and get it for about $18 a gallon. That’s almost the same as Zerex Asian, so for me, there is no reason to ever not use OEM Toyota red now. It sells on Amazon for 28 bucks a gallon!

00272-1LLAC for the win.

 

[bottombracket]

@aljollano stopped by the ranch today on his way home from work and adjusted my clutch pedal for me, because he’s an awesome friend. I definitely did not have the clevis adjusted correctly when I took the old one out. The pedal had always been incorrectly adjusted, it turns out. It is 1000% better now.

One of the battery grounds was terrible so I found a spare terminal, polished it up on the wire wheel, and threw on new hardware. Much better.

 

[bottombracket]

Big shout out to @ToyotaMatt , who reproduced the 12HT oil pressure sender harness for me. Mine had broken and I stole one from @shanko to temporarily use.

I gotta say, if you think new hardware is good, try new wiring harness connectors and brand new, supple, flexible wire. So much better than a crispy, crunchy 30 year old brittle harness. Thanks again, Matt. Another long-lost part repopulated into the Toyota world.

 

[bottombracket]

Test drive completed with A/C blowing ice cubes. Think I’m back in business.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Test drive completed with A/C blowing ice cubes. Think I’m back in business.

View attachment 2782067

Hey Galen, nice work getting this truck worked out. Curious about your amp gauge reading. Looks much higher than I typically see on mine. I know none of them are 100% accurate.

 

[bottombracket]

Jimmy, I charged the hell out of those Odyssey batteries and desulfated them. The multimeter said 13V at rest for both of them. Maybe that had something to do with it?

 

[bottombracket]

 

[Paco]

Jimmy, I charged the hell out of those Odyssey batteries and desulfated them. The multimeter said 13V at rest for both of them. Maybe that had something to do with it?

The volt gauge seems high to me as well. Mine usually runs at 28 or slightly under. Both my batteries are 12.7 at rest.

 

[ToyotaMatt]

I can’t believe how much coolant it actually took. I finally got it burped, full, and went for a test drive. Everything stayed nice and cool.

View attachment 2782039

Hot tip: Toyota red coolant is readily available by the 6 gallon case from the dealership. My local parts counter does not stock it, but you can place an Internet order, get 30% off, and get it for about $18 a gallon. That’s almost the same as Zerex Asian, so for me, there is no reason to ever not use OEM Toyota red now. It sells on Amazon for 28 bucks a gallon!

00272-1LLAC for the win.

View attachment 2782040View attachment 2782041

are those just stand alone LED update bulbs installed ?

or

Did you preform a LIGHT SHADES Modification too ...........



in addition to LED or perhaps maybe only GREEN Rubber caps OEM Incandescent bulbs



Low Lumens Night Time Photography is VERY VERY tricky especially LED shots i work on ...


the image above of Cluster meter Gauges and partial TACH are extremely Unique in nature , you captured you LH turn Indicator arrow MID-BLINK if you will , and was

able to FREEZE-Frame it sharp too ..........


Most Excellent !

 

[bottombracket]

I wish it was something cool but it’s just stock 24V OEM bulbs and my iPhone, got lucky I guess.

 

[Paco]

I am running both green LED instrument lights and JW Speaker LED headlights. Two of the best upgrades I have done so far!

 

[bottombracket]

So last week I stuck a voltmeter on the truck. Batteries were at 12.8 and 12.7 V at rest, but the volt meter read 28, 29, then 32.6 V at high idle! So I parked the truck and started looking for a replacement alternator and voltage regulator…

It’s surprisingly hard to find a 24 V externally regulated 12HT alternator. @CenTXFJ60 had one that I could borrow of course, and @meatloaf even hand freaking delivered it from Jimmy’s place to mine as he was down there picking stuff up from the magic barn. Many thanks to both of you.

Looks like at some point in the truck’s history a New Era voltage regulator was swapped in. It’s definitely not new.

I have an alternator on order from Radd Cruisers, and amazingly, the voltage regulator is available in the US. I picked it up from my local dealer today.

 

[bottombracket]

New voltage regulator hooked up; I fired it up for a few seconds and it appears to be sitting right at 28 V. Of course, all my multimeters are out at the barn, not in town with me. And Horrible Freight is long closed. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow. I want to check voltages before I drive any distance. Perhaps the alternator is not shot.

 

[Paco]

New voltage regulator hooked up; I fired it up for a few seconds and it appears to be sitting right at 28 V. Of course, all my multimeters are out at the barn, not in town with me. And Horrible Freight is long closed. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow. I want to check voltages before I drive any distance. Perhaps the alternator is not shot.

View attachment 2792790

That looks more like what I usually see, slightly below the line.

 

[bcsteel]

They are adjustable as per fsm…had same issue with mine.

 

[bottombracket]

So I finally got a voltmeter on the truck Sunday night. I have just been parking it because I was having an irrational fear of melting the wiring harness and completely destroying the truck. The multi meter was 25.8 with truck off, and at initial high idle went as high as 29.7V, and settled down to to 28.9-28.8V. It was definitely a case of paralysis by analysis as noted by @Unoman.

I went for a short test drive, and with everything on, headlights, AC, it was 27.8 V.

The new alternator got here yesterday, but I didn’t have time to put it on. I drove the truck 20 miles out to the ranch this afternoon and parked it in the shop. I should have time to address the alternator and also start working on the brakes this week.