Builds Cayman Islands FZJ80 DIY build-up (1 Viewer)

[mmajsw]

Next items on the list were new injectors ( I got 4 port units which would hopefully help fuel economy and power) and parts that can be changed as preventative maintenance while the intake is apart. My theory is that all the parts I am playing with are 27 years. They still function as they should but seals, connectors and hoses are getting brittle with potential issues ahead. Changing them now seems a good option. Will keep the old parts as spares, rebuilding what can be rebuilt.
Here the new injectors are on the rail before installation. I used a little bit of silicone spray on all of the O-rings and seals for ease of installation.

And installed. The broken electrical connectors will be replaced with new units. Just the locking clips were broken but I have replacements so I used them. All new wires joints will be soldered and sealed with waterproof heat shrink. A new fuel pressure regulator valve was added as part of the preventative maintenance plan.

Finally, one of the benefits of having no EGR. The intake plenum is pretty clean after almost 80k mileage with only some oil from the PCV circuit coating everything. No more oil will be coming in due to the previously added oil catch can. I have a Wits End unit and will be replacing my make shift one with it.
One can brake cleaner sprayed into the upper portion of the intake plenum cleaned it right up a can be seen in the image two below. When the truck is running again, I will spray a couple cans of Sea Foam to clean the lower part.

Also replaced the throttle position switch and fuel filter while the intake is apart. New gaskets are added when reassembling.

A note on the rear bolt for the upper intake manifold. I was able to access it through the wheel well above the frame with a 3' long extension. Had issues trying to get a socket from the starter on it until I saw the light.

Reassembly continues tomorrow.

 

[mmajsw]

And it runs. Engine idles noticeably smoother which can only be attributed to the new injectors. I might have overdone the cleaning of the throttle body as the throttle now sticks. the cable is fine as it is bowed when the throttle stops. Currently letting some lubrication soak into the springs and shaft and will check it out after it cools down.
Once that is sorted, a road test is in order.

 

[mmajsw]

This morning I played with the throttle and kick down cables and the throttle body shaft itself.
Turns out that the transmission kick down cable is the issue. Will remove it for a thorough check/clean and source a new one.
Next things to do is the steering wheel shaft seal and a Racor 110A filter install.

 

[mmajsw]

Transmission cable fixed and adjusted. All is well now.

After a 3 hr test of my patience, I gave up on replacing the steering shaft seal and ordered a column dust shield from Solve Function (along with an ignition ring and the cabin air filter). I could not get the flexible coupling off the lower shaft no matter what I did. I followed all the tips and tricks I could find on mud but nothing worked. We did contemplate heating the outer portion but decided that there was too great a chance of starting a fire. And not wanting to damage anything, I buttoned it back up and called it a day. Solve Function's solution seems to be much sturdier that the factory replacement seal anyways.

Next project - I have never had front door speakers, and had bought some 5-1/4" Pioneer units a few years ago. Well, time to install them. Made some adapters from 1/2" plywood and the speakers fit with about a 1/4" spacing from the window run support. Cut the door card with a jigsaw and metal blade and it looks good. Got the driver's door done today and will do the passenger side tomorrow. Spent more time running the speaker wire between the door into the body through the factory loom than doing the actual speaker installation - including creating the adapters!

The second project I finished today was a nice DIY air powered oil pump I saw on YouTube. The link is here if anyone is interested
We tried it this afternoon and it really makes fluid changes in the diff and transfer case much easier. Capacity of my unit is 2.5 liters with marks melted into the inside of the PVC tube at 1/2 liter intervals. I can then pre-measure the amount of fluid I need to transfer and have very little overflow from the item being filled.

This is what it looks like. The nipple can be changed to use anything from 1/4" to 1/2" plastic hose as needed. I think 3/8 hose is a good all round compromise.

 

[mmajsw]

And some images from the passenger door.
Test 1/2" spacer. The dimensions have been jotted down for when I get some 1/2" ABS or UHMW to create more durable spacers. Bur for now, plywood will do in the short term.

With speaker

And finished view.

The speaker grill is attached to the door panel and does not need to be removed each time one needs to access behind it.

And the speakers I used.

 

[baldilocks]

Lots of good work here. Why is plywood not a permanent solution?

 

[bhsdriller]

On the islands probably moisture

 

[mmajsw]

Plywood may last but who knows. I only used pieces of scrap I had laying around to test the concept. The first one was 3/4". When I measured the space between the speaker and the window channel, I saw that 1/2" would work and still leave about 1/4" between the magnet and the channel. Could have probable done 1/4 but thought it would have been to close. Come to think of it, I could have soaked the rings in a preservative solution overnight for long term survival. The rings are easy to make and I thought I may as well use plastic so that it will be still functional is another 27 years!
Not sure if I will be.

The moisture level ranges from about 60% in winter to around 90% in summer. But it has never affected the wood products I keep in the garage.

And the sound is much improved over the 4" dash speakers I was previously using as front speakers.

 

[mmajsw]

Ever seen the inside of a Ramsey RE series winch hand controller?
I was replacing my wire cable clamped hook with aluminum swage sleeve fittings now that I have the proper tool. I could get the winch controller to let the cable out (I needed about 50' spooled out so it could reach my vise) and there was no problem using the controller.
But when it came time to spool the cable back on the winch, the hand controller would not work. Thankfully, I had wired a remote switch in the cab and it worked.
Having nothing to lose, and testing the controller with a multi-meter, I found out that the in button was very intermittent. It might have worked one out of every five times, and only by pressing the button very hard. So I took it apart.
The inside is simple and ingenious.

Two copper balls are retained by the red and black silicone housing and are right below the in/out buttons you press. Suspended between them is a copper bar that is between the two pieces. Press out, and the corresponding copper ball touches the bar, completing the circuit. Press in, and a similar action takes place.
Everything is sealed and watertight.

I had some dirt or possible oxide where the ball touches the bar, hence the lack of functionality.
I cut the wires and replaced the contacts with a SPDT momentary contact switch that does the job quite well. And the switch is easy to replace if it goes bad.

 

[mmajsw]

More minor things going on.
I decided to change the hood and rear hatch struts. Just because they are 27 years old and do not seem to have a strong lift capability. The rear hatch was OK but the hood would slowly droop down over the course of a couple hours.
Ordered a front and rear replacement set from Amazon for $43 as the local Toyota dealer wanted an arm, a leg and a kidney for one strut - about 10 times what Amazon quoted.
They were shipped to me and installation began.
Started with the passenger hood side. The old one came out with no issues but could not get part of the new strut that bolts to the fender to fit. After trying for a couple minutes (I kept telling myself, how difficult is it to line up one bolt and one tab!) I compared to old unit to the new. Found out that I had the left strut instead of the right. It was clearly stamped with an "L". My fault.
Took the other one out of its package and it was stamped with an "L". What is going on here!!! 2 lefts?
Went and took the driver's side strut and compared it to the ones I had. It was stamped"L" and matched both new struts.
Went to the advert on Amazon and, the image below shows two left struts! I did order and was delivered what was pictured!

It took a couple minutes to grind out the rivet from one new left unit and the old right unit and place a right hand mount on the new strut.
Thankfully, the new struts have long rivets, hence I was able to re-flare the end and lock the pieces together.
Installation was a 1/2 banana job. Took about 10 minutes.
Decided to do the rear at the same time. Also an easy job.
The result is that the hood stays up at maximum extension and does not droop. Less change noted on the rear hatch.

 

[mmajsw]

Today I decided to replace the questionable AC fan motor with a new unit I got from Amazon. The replacement was just the blower motor and no fan. It was a Four Seasons/Trumark 35356 Blower Motor without Wheel as advised in another thread.
The base fit my LC, but I had to remove the fan wheel from the exiting motor which was not easy. I eventually used a heat gun to warm up the nylon fan and it readily came off. The same additional heat helped it to slide on the new shaft.
The first thing I notice was the length of the motor shaft. The factory unit measured 7/8" while the replacement motor was 1-7/8" long. The second thing was the "D" shape that the fan wheel was supposed fit over was not deep enough. The fan wheel would sit too high on the shaft and not sit properly into the housing. See image below.

Clamping the shaft in the vise, a few minutes work with a file resulted in the "D" shape extending to about 1/4" from the motor - the red arrow. I also placed tape over the front of the motor over the holes to prevent any metal filings from entering the motor - yellow arrow.
I checked the thickness of the "D" during my filing to ensure that I got the correct thickness - 0.250". I did not trim the length of the shaft as the extra bit sits in the center of the housing and did not interfere with anything.
The second thing is to trim the length of the two wires and place spade lugs on the wires. These would fit into the original fan electrical plug without destroying the factory wiring. I put some heat shrink over the electrical connection to protect it from coming apart at a later date.
Sorry for no pictures but this was a fix things as I went along project.

I tried a bit of modification as I had a fan wheel that was 3" deep with same diameter and mounting as compared to the factory 2.5" deep. If it worked, it could move more air. Sadly, the 3" fan was too deep and would bind against the housing.
I also replaced the Torx head mounting screws with 3 #8 stainless steel Philips head screws. Much easier to use.

The end result is a quiet and working AC/heater blower.

 

[mmajsw]

In post 263, I mentioned installing a Racor 110A filter. The idea is to use it as a easily accessible pre-filter before the factory unit.

Locally, I could not source 5/16" high pressure rubber fuel hose nor the proper clamps. I also could not find 5/16" compression fittings to 5/16 hose barb.
Off to Amazon. I got 10' of 300 psi fuel hone and 4 compression/hose barb fittings for about $35.
The fuel line measures 8mm which is 0.315" and 5/16 is 0.313 - close enough.

This is the expected setup on the truck.

The concept is fairly straight forward. ..

1. Use up as much fuel as you can from the tank - done
2. Park the truck on a slope with the fuel tank lower than the engine
3. Cut about a 1' piece of fuel line to the engine. Catch dripping fuel.
4. Insert compression fittings on fuel line and tighten.
5. Trim rubber pressure line to position new filter on the frame.
6. Clamp all lines .
7. Turn truck on and let fuel line pressurize.
8. Check for leaks and resolve if necessary.

Tomorrow we will execute the plan.

 

[mmajsw]

As usual, the best made plans often get changed.
Started out this morning by triple confirming that the correct fuel line was identified and was cleaned of all undercoating, oil and debris for cutting.
The initial plan is illustrated below. The filter was to be placed inside the frame by the transmission. The diagram below shows the proposed installation...

The first issue was that I would need to remove a minimum of 10" of fuel line to accommodate everything. The best location was between two clamps that hold the fuel line to the body. It was doable, but would be very tight. Plus the filter would be in the way of future transmission works. Just not enough room between the clamps to do the work and still use the clamps to secure the fuel line. I would also have to put a slight bend the fuel line right at the clamp. This would result in one less clamp. Could have been done but decided to look at other options.

The second plan was to make one cut in the fuel line, and do the installation. The line was cleaned and a pipe cutter used to break the fuel line. There was very minimal fuel spill - less that one ounce.
Some sand paper was used to carefully remove the green coating as well as the slight ridges formed by the line cutting. This was done by hand, testing the ferrule to ensure it fit over the fuel line. Once it did, the screw portion and the ferrule were placed on the fuel line, the hose barb adapter pushed on and the whole assembly was carefully screwed together. The rubber fuel line was then placed on the barb and clamped.
Repeat for the other end of the cut fuel line.

The hoses were then run between the frame and the body to where the new filter had been positioned. Here, it is still protected by the frame, but a splash shield will need to be fabricated to prevent road debris from hitting the filter. The filter is readily removed or water drained without any obstructions.
Two holes were drilled and tapped in the frame and I used 6mm stainless steel bolts, lock and flat washers for each hole.
In the image below, the input is on the left and the output is on the right.

Vehicle was started and no leaks were observed over 10 minutes of idling.
The only thing left is to secure the fuel inside the frame so that metal clamps and barbs are not rubbing against rubber, and secure everything from vibrations.
It was a lot easier than I initially thought it would be and I never has to fight with the factory fuel filter again. After having that filter for 5 years, it is finally installed. Turned out to be a 1 banana job after all.

 

[mmajsw]

I have had two queries about what is the blue substance where the hose barbs and plugs screw into the filter. It is a teflon plumbing tape made for gas/diesel/propane, etc. called "Mill-Rose 70885 Blue Monster PTFE Pipe Thread Sealant Tape". Not sure what the difference is in the composition between this and regular white teflon tape but the white stuff is not rated for fuels.