Common causes and treatment questions (1 Viewer)

[Maliabletick]

Been driving my cruiser for a week and I've noticed a few things

Does the KZJ78 have a differential lock or only a hub lock and if so where can I find it?
While it is easy to turn on the 4WD button right next to the hublock, how do I utilize the 4WD stick handle by the transmission?

Some of the things I noticed have been:
ECT and Normal/Sport mode button do not function
Shift Lock button doesn't function
Car shakes while idle and past 40km
Speedometer needles shake especially the battery and speed needles (Fuel needle takes forever to move to full)
Steering wheel likes to lean to the left
Previous owner removed the stock cold air intake and now there's a hole and an aftermarket, should I be worried?
There's a boost gauge but have been unable to figure out what it is or how to use it
This thing above the steering
How do I go about fixing things?

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[Sundowner]

Does the KZJ78 have a differential lock or only a hub lock and if so where can I find it?

Depends on what it's equipped with, methinks. You should see a diff lock button if you have a factory one.

While it is easy to turn on the 4WD button right next to the hublock, how do I utilize the 4WD stick handle by the transmission?

Most basic answer is this: you move the lever via the shift pattern indicated on it. That should give you neutral and low range in their respective positions (assuming that yours works like mine does).

Car shakes while idle and past 40km

That sounds like a motor mount and something in your suspension, steering or tire balance, respectively. Start with a dry steering test (Google that for a video) and see what you get, and then check ALL of your front end suspension bits. Those are free checks; if you don't see anything there, spend a few monies and get your tires balanced. Test, eliminate, retest until you find it.

Speedometer needles shake especially the battery and speed needles (Fuel needle takes forever to move to full)

Fuel needle does that on mine as well; seems pretty common. Might be just an old sending unit or poor connectivity.

Steering wheel likes to lean to the left

Alignment issue; check everything, set the toe and then adjust the steering wheel position.

Previous owner removed the stock cold air intake and now there's a hole and an aftermarket, should I be worried?

Eh, I wouldn't want to keep that, myself...but I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

How do I go about fixing things?

Think bite-sized. Pick one project, learn what you can learn, and then just take it one step at a time; it's overwhelming if you treat it like you have to fix the entire vehicle all at once. Or, just do what I do: utterly fail at Googling things and then get on the forum and ask people that know what they're doing.

 

[AirheadNut]

In addition to the excellent advice from @Sundowner I will add the following:

Does the KZJ78 have a differential lock or only a hub lock and if so where can I find it?
While it is easy to turn on the 4WD button right next to the hublock, how do I utilize the 4WD stick handle by the transmission?

Rear diff lock was optional on the KZJ78, if you have one there will be a knob for it mounted to the lower left of the steering column.

To engage 4WD, lock hubs first, then turn on the 4WD button for 4WD high range. To engage low range shift the transfer lever from H through neutral to L.

ECT and Normal/Sport mode button do not function
Shift Lock button doesn't function
Car shakes while idle and past 40km
Speedometer needles shake especially the battery and speed needles (Fuel needle takes forever to move to full)
Steering wheel likes to lean to the left
Previous owner removed the stock cold air intake and now there's a hole and an aftermarket, should I be worried?
There's a boost gauge but have been unable to figure out what it is or how to use it
This thing above the steering

The ECT button changes the shift pattern of the transmission, it allows the engine to rev higher between shifts for better acceleration or when towing. It may be working, I never noticed much difference with it on or off. Sport mode changes the valving in the factory shocks to be stiffer. If you don't have the original shocks it won't be connected anymore, and even with the original shocks I wouldn't be surprised if they no longer operate as they should. Apparently they were not very reliable even when new.

The speedometer needle shaking is probably due to a worn speedometer cable. The part is readily available and not terribly difficult to replace.

If you can find an original air cleaner setup I would highly recommend going back to that.

The boost gauge (assuming it is hooked up) shows the intake manifold pressure from the turbo. On a stock engine it won't tell you much you need to know, but can come in handy when troubleshooting issues with the turbo.

The device on top of the steering column is a turbo timer, when turned on it will keep the engine running for a set amount of time (usually adjustable from ~30 seconds to several minutes) when you remove the key. This gives the turbo time to cool off after running hard and can help keep the oil in the turbo bearings from coking up. Mostly an issue on older diesels with no intercooler like this. Modern synthetic oil helps too.