Build Anyone recognize this 80

[thatcabledude]

Hopefully just the dash light switch on the T-case is stuck. I could have swore I saw a post that you bought new switches though.

A small, little known perk of being part-time… very simple to diagnose if the CDL is working or not.

 

[Godwin]

Hopefully just the dash light switch on the T-case is stuck. I could have swore I saw a post that you bought new switches though.

A small but little known of being part-time… very simple to diagnose if the CDL is working or not.

Yeah, new switches. I did a comparison against our other 80 that is fully functional and with the CDL locked, tight turn, slight hill you can see how the front-rear tires are under tension. That's not happening with this high end Lexus. It's the motor.

 

[Godwin]

More tow rig duties. I didn't buy this 80 to be a tow rig but seems like that a lot of what it's been doing these past few months. My oldest son is with the New Orleans sheriff's department and he was recognized at a first responder of the year ceremony yesterday where he received an award for one of his actions. I and two of my other sons attended. Gavin and I retrieved a Civic that we had left with Gareth a couple of years ago, thus the tow rig duties. 80 pulled the Civic on the dolly without issue, except for being hit the mpg tariff.

On another note: the catalog of odors in this Buccees hit hard and not in a good way. How do people eat the food from this place?

 

[BTLSHP]

Congrats to your son!

 

[Old Nick]

Congrats to your son!

x2!

 

[Godwin]

When I picked up the 80 locked axles the long side knuckles hemorrhaged a gear oil and grease mix, a really nasty mess and odor. Upon pulling apart the axle the reason was clear, axle shaft where the seal rode was worn. I decided to install a speedi-sleeve on both axle shafts instead replacing axles. For <$30 per side this was the cheaper approach. If it works, great, if it doesn't I'll replace the axle shafts. Using a press made quick work of the installation of the sleeve, and the flange was removed prior to birf mating.

 

[Godwin]

Birfs on this axle were pretty sloppy and my first thought was to swap birfs over from the axle currently under the 80. Decided not to do that because I didn't want to pull apart an axle with a recent low milege knuckle job. Plus, dealing with the greasy mess that would entail. Instead I purchased a pair of non-ABS birfs from Cruiseroutfitter. Using the zip tie method fitting the birfs on the axle shafts was a breeze, and yeah, I cut off the zip tie before I stuffed the birf and axle into the housing.

 

[Godwin]

Back to sorting out the issue with the CDL actuator today. It is possible to pull the actuator after lowering the t-case. To get it low enough I had to disconnect the ground that attaches at the back of the case. Locating the most inward bolt almost led me to give up, but I pushed forward with it. Once the actuator was out I pulled the cover and the innards look good. Original grease, no corrosion.

I tested the CDL switch in the dash and wiring connecting to the CDL and 12v is being delivered. I also test the motor, once freed from the t-case, with 12v and the motor did nothing.

When I went to remove the 3 small screws holding the motor cover on they all began to strip. I stopped there for the day. I suspect the magnets have become unglued from the motor cover, won't know until I can get it off.

 

[Godwin]

Congrats to your son!

x2!

Gavin, @cruiserinsanity has bought and sold more cars and trucks than I'll ever own. Currently, what I can remember, he has the'85 FJ60, a running diesel MB, non-running diesel MD, the pictured black Civic, a 4WD Civic wagon, a diesel Rabbit, 3 dead Rabbits, one a truck, a non-running '82 4WD pickup, a couple or thrre 4Runners, '84 FJ60 and more.

 

[Old Nick]

Gavin, @cruiserinsanity has bought and sold more cars and trucks than I'll ever own. Currently, what I can remember, he has the'85 FJ60, a running diesel MB, non-running diesel MD, the pictured black Civic, a 4WD Civic wagon, a diesel Rabbit, 3 dead Rabbits, one a truck, a non-running '82 4WD pickup, a couple or thrre 4Runners, '84 FJ60 and more.

And, he’s a very kind young man. You’ve raised some good kids

 

[Godwin]

I sticking this thread link here in case I need to find it again.

Thread 'How to bench test front locker'

Nov 22, 2025

I've searched and haven't found anything that gives clear instruction on which wiring pins for 12v and ground to test the locking function of a front locker. The plug I want to use is on the locker wiring harness of the front axle. If it's like the rear locker, IIRC, only two pins are used and depending on which gets 12v and which is grounded determines the locker action. Correct?

• Godwin
• Replies: 2
• Forum: 80-Series Tech

 

[Godwin]

Back to the CDL locker. The small screws holding the motor cover on stripped and I bought a quality Milwaukee type pair of vice grips to unscrew them. Worked great, I was concerned that I would need to drill out these screws.

I pulled the motor cover expecting to find dislodged magnets but everything inside looked great. I cleaned the copper portion of the motor shaft where the bushings ride as it had some built up stuff on it. Reinstalled the motor cover with newish screws and an o-ring that I scavenged from a rear locker actuator, plus I used the bolts to replace the screws that hold the gear cover on. With the gear cover off I tested the motor with 12v and it works fine in both directions.

Question: what orientation should the gear be for installing the gear cover for an unlocked t-case?

 

[Godwin]

Spent the afternoon helping @cruiserinsanity drag home a junker VW GTI, last registered in 2000.

Used the 8274 (that I bought off a '70s something Bronco sitting on the roadside for $75. $800 later it was a great winch) to pivot the rear of the GTI so that we could drag it to the nearby church parking lot for loading on the trailer. Easy loading on the trailer with the winch even though all 4 tires were beyond flat.

 

[mudgudgeon]

Question: what orientation should the gear be for installing the gear cover for an unlocked t-case?

From the FSM

If you've worked out which pins drive it to the "locked" position, use the motor to position the gear to "locked" position.
The motor will stop when the terminals reach the end of the sweep/strip on the gear for both locked and unlocked

 

[Godwin]

From the FSM

View attachment 4039365

If you've worked out which pins drive it to the "locked" position, use the motor to position the gear to "locked" position.
The motor will stop when the terminals reach the end of the sweep/strip on the gear for both locked and unlocked

The way that I reassembled the actuator was making my best guess as to the unlocked condition. This was based on approximately the drive gear position was upon disassembly regarding the outer dead spot and outer contact. One thing I learned is the the driven gear will not spin 360 degrees; I thought it did until I hand spun it with the worm gear. There are stops underneath the gear. Back to reassembly. I marked a point on the cover where the outer contact is. I then marked a point on the actuator case where the tip of the outer contact would first hit the dead spot. With the cover off I applied voltage to turn the gear to the position I wanted and stopped, then installed the cover.

I missed the part in the FSM about installing the actuator in the locked position, nor do I understand why. If the t-case is unlocked then why install the actuator in the locked position? If Toyota says this is the way to do it then that's what I will try to do.

I can pull the actuator again and set it up to run so that the stops are being read and ensure that it will operated between locked and unlocked positions, but this still leaves the question, where is locked and unlocked? Guess the answer to this is in the wiring manual.

This is the state of the gear when the cover was first removed and I've been going by this general position for reassembly to what I think is the unlocked condition.

Paint mark for aligning the dead spot on the gear with the outer contact on the cover.

 

[Godwin]

The CDL struggles are over. I lost track of how many times I pulled the actuator to test it, set for locked or unlocked, reinstalled, etc. etc. etc. I finally found the issue, one wire, that's all that was preventing the motor from working. Some background. First, I was unsure of where the gear with the dead spots should be when unlocked. I thought I knew based on when I first opened the motor and I reset the gear position there and marked it with paint. Note the paint mark on the outside of the motor housing and that it aligns with an edge of dead spot. I also marked the cover and a location on the drive gear. This proved to be the unlocked state.

The FSM says to install the motor in the locked position, well that's only if the t-case is locked. While my t-case was unlocked I decided to try installing with motor in the locked position. Yes, a bit of desperation here. Didn't matter. What is needed is to install the actuator motor for whatever locked/unlocked state the t-case is.

Photos of the locked orientation of the driver gear and the bottom of the motor housing. Note the paint mark on the edge of the housing.

Today I re-pulled the motor and plugged in into a known functioning locker wiring connection. I have a rear 80 series e-locker under my FJ60 and I used that wiring harness. I cycled the motor a couple of times then left it in the unlocked position.

After that I reinstalled the locker motor. Plugged it up and nothing. My next step was to review my pin-7 mod that I did many months ago. Dug into the driver side kick panel and found the wiring harness. What I found, and what I missed previously (getting old, eyes not as functional, dark spot in footwell) was that I had performed a pin-2 or pin-3 mod interrupting 12v to the locker motor. The wire with the heat shrink on it. The pin-7 mod had been done previously and I missed it. The wire was wrapped with black electrical tape and tucked back under some insulation. I stripped off the heat shrink from pin 2 or 3 and plugged it back into the terminal and heat shrunk pin 7.

Stuff works now.

 

[Broski]

The CDL struggles are over. I lost track of how many times I pulled the actuator to test it, set for locked or unlocked, reinstalled, etc. etc. etc. I finally found the issue, one wire, that's all that was preventing the motor from working. Some background. First, I was unsure of where the gear with the dead spots should be when unlocked. I thought I knew based on when I first opened the motor and I reset the gear position there and marked it with paint. Note the paint mark on the outside of the motor housing and that it aligns with an edge of dead spot. I also marked the cover and a location on the drive gear. This proved to be the unlocked state.

View attachment 4053528

View attachment 4053529

The FSM says to install the motor in the locked position, well that's only if the t-case is locked. While my t-case was unlocked I decided to try installing with motor in the locked position. Yes, a bit of desperation here. Didn't matter. What is needed is to install the actuator motor for whatever locked/unlocked state the t-case is.

Photos of the locked orientation of the driver gear and the bottom of the motor housing. Note the paint mark on the edge of the housing.

View attachment 4053531
View attachment 4053532


Today I re-pulled the motor and plugged in into a known functioning locker wiring connection. I have a rear 80 series e-locker under my FJ60 and I used that wiring harness. I cycled the motor a couple of times then left it in the unlocked position.

View attachment 4053537View attachment 4053538View attachment 4053539

After that I reinstalled the locker motor. Plugged it up and nothing. My next step was to review my pin-7 mod that I did many months ago. Dug into the driver side kick panel and found the wiring harness. What I found, and what I missed previously (getting old, eyes not as functional, dark spot in footwell) was that I had performed a pin-2 or pin-3 mod interrupting 12v to the locker motor. The wire with the heat shrink on it. The pin-7 mod had been done previously and I missed it. The wire was wrapped with black electrical tape and tucked back under some insulation. I stripped off the heat shrink from pin 2 or 3 and plugged it back into the terminal and heat shrunk pin 7.

Stuff works now.

View attachment 4053540

View attachment 4053530

Glad you got it worked out!

 

[Godwin]

Glad you got it worked out!

It's almost always something simple.

 

[Godwin]

Today I began the process of swapping out the open axles for a set of e-locker axles. The front axle is almost ready to be removed. I do need to decide what to do with the ABS wiring. I've done an ABS delete with removal of the pump and computer (no more ABS light on the dash). I do not see any accessible plugs for a clean wiring removal nor have I found any threads with good directions on removal. I may just cut the wires at the frame and leave the ABS wiring carcass on the axle.

The hubs were recently rebuilt with new rotors and calipers and I swapped those over to the locked axle. Old hubs and rotors went onto the axle under the Cruiser. @LandCruiserPhil sent me a couple of plugs for the ABS sensor holes and I whacked those into the cavities. Bolt got a bit of sealant.

With the axles out I'll also be replacing all of the bushings.

 

[thatcabledude]

With the axles out I'll also be replacing all of the bu$hings.

FIFY