Cooling Issues on 1989 FJ62

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UPDATE:
After the blown head gasket diagnosis from JMAC I decided to take it to another shop, State Auto here in Salt Lake City. The shop comes highly recommended by local cruiser guys.
They ran the same test as JMAC and concluded that they didn't think the head gasket was an issue, but the radiator was in a sad state.

Their recommendation was to fix cooling issues and then re-evaluate the head gasket. So new radiator and flush and they were convinced the cooling issue was resolved. Wish I would have know that is was only radiator I would have replaced it myself.
Anyway, while the rig was in there I had them fix the AC that has never worked since I have owned the FJ62. After replacing most of the AC system as it was full of metal and black goo (old compressor was seized) it works great.

So after I got the LC back I decided to take it on a shake down run and test the cooling and AC.
Weather here has been hot (100+) and the route I took had lots of climbing as well. The temp would creep up almost to top line on occasion (never hitting the red) while climbing and AC running, but then come back down to normal temps.

I will keep monitoring the temps, but it looks like I might have dodged a bullet on the head gasket.
Also, judging by the work State Auto did, I would also recommend them for Land Cruiser work.
 
Glad your getting the answers. I live in Houston and the topping out of your temp is a little high for me. It gets hot here, no hills, but I have never seen my 60 or 62 that hot. Only time I did was when I tried an aftermarket temp sensor, put in OEM and solved that. Air pockets can be a bit of a pain on these, make sure it's burped good.

Glad your enjoying the rig.
 
fabiodaddy said:
UPDATE:
After the blown head gasket diagnosis from JMAC I decided to take it to another shop, State Auto here in Salt Lake City. The shop comes highly recommended by local cruiser guys.
They ran the same test as JMAC and concluded that they didn't think the head gasket was an issue, but the radiator was in a sad state.

Their recommendation was to fix cooling issues and then re-evaluate the head gasket. So new radiator and flush and they were convinced the cooling issue was resolved. Wish I would have know that is was only radiator I would have replaced it myself.
Anyway, while the rig was in there I had them fix the AC that has never worked since I have owned the FJ62. After replacing most of the AC system as it was full of metal and black goo (old compressor was seized) it works great.

So after I got the LC back I decided to take it on a shake down run and test the cooling and AC.
Weather here has been hot (100+) and the route I took had lots of climbing as well. The temp would creep up almost to top line on occasion (never hitting the red) while climbing and AC running, but then come back down to normal temps.

I will keep monitoring the temps, but it looks like I might have dodged a bullet on the head gasket.
Also, judging by the work State Auto did, I would also recommend them for Land Cruiser work.
Click to expand...


Hi,
I just moved to SLC and my '89 land cruiser is having huge overheating issues. What is the location of this shop you took your land cruiser to? I see that there are two different "State" Auto shops and would prefer to take it to the one who did your work.

Thanks!
 
Yeah if your temp is approaching the red at all, you still have an issue. Could be tha gauge, but I barely ever just get to the halfway mark revving 3400 at 70 with AC on in 109*. You might want to verify that gauge...
 
FYI, removing the thermostat can be problematic because the coolant actually flows through the radiator too quickly and can lead to an even bigger overheating issue. You could drill out the thermostat and leave the ring in place so that there is some restriction.
 
I'm sure they did - but when the radiator was replaced did they properly burp the system? I hear that is especially important. I also remember reading a thread here about how a little air bubble can get caught under the temp sensor on the head which can give you a false high temp reading. I think the procedure to check for this was to remove the temp sensor when the truck is cold and see if it is wet. If not, then you still have air trapped in there...
 
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