defroster sucks!!!

[CRZRJames]

It will never defrost like a newer vehicle will. Most newer vehicles invoke the air conditioning compressor with the defrost which aids in drying up moisture on the inside of the windshield.

My '74 FJ40 does a fair job of defrosting the windshield, but I have to do periodic maintenance on the hoses, seals and valves.

With a little maintenance, you can get it to work as well as Toyota intended.

Good Luck,
James

 

[froggy]

.
When it's this cold, my windshield won't defrost at all!!!! At what temp. your engine is running?

16 below Farenheit last Wed here (guess that's -27C). Drove my 71 FJ40 in. No, it wasn't hot, but then it wasn't bad really

 

[IDave]

I have the 190 F degree thermostat in there. I switch to the 180 for summer.

 

[secretagent]

If you plan on keeping your 40 a bit, take the heater and hoses off and clean/replace any seals. If the seals are bad, you lose a lot of air pressure. Really not that big of job when you get into it.

Hey Juke where can I get these seals?

 

[froggy]

I have a oem 190 thermostat with the top gasket in the housing, but my mechanical temp gauge reads 150-160. I don't have a clutch fan. Would it make a big difference?

 

[IDave]

I don't have a clutch fan, but I don't think that's the issue, if that is what you are asking.

You may need to boil out your heater core, for one thing, and you may have a big radiator, although that shouldn't make a difference if the thermostat is working correctly. 160 degrees farenheit is pretty hot. Ever get into a hot springs that was 110? I just wonder if you are getting good heat exchange.

 

[FLYINGLOW]

160 degrees farenheit is pretty hot. Ever get into a hot springs that was 110? I just wonder if you are getting good heat exchange.

160 is hot? NO WAY, maybe for your skin, but not your engine! That is running too cool if anything. It should be 180 to 190 F, 220 is boiling for water, that would be where I would start to worry. Mark W probably has better figures for ideal operating temps. I would check the thermostat if you are operating at 160. My engine operates at 180, up to 190 sometimes.

 

[IDave]

I agree that it isn't warmed up completely. But that might be hard to achieve when you are driving 60 mph in -15 degree F temps. It might never warm up completely under those conditions. I meant to say it is hot enough for the heater to work. But you are right to wonder if the thermostat is malfunctioning, especially if it only achieves that temp in warmer weather.

 

[redrustbucket]

Your defroster sucks? I thought they were supposed to blow!

 

[FLYINGLOW]

Sorry IDave, I missunderstood what you were refering to as being pretty hot. Now I see what ya mean.

 

[Landpimp]

the heater on the fj60 and 62 blows out(measured with a Raytech) the dash vents at 190degs when off idle, 165 at idle

my 64 fj45LV runs cool.....guage hardly moves.......and there is NO heater

 

[IDave]

Sorry IDave, I missunderstood what you were refering to as being pretty hot. Now I see what ya mean.

No worries. I may have misunderstood froggy, too. I assumed he was talking about how it worked when it was really cold

 

[IDave]

the heater on the fj60 and 62 blows out(measured with a Raytech) the dash vents at 190degs when off idle, 165 at idle

That's interesting, John. Guess these cast iron boat anchors have to be working to even come up to normal operating temp! Either that or the water pump doesn't move the coolant around much at idle speed.

 

[OswaldtheBold]

i thought it would defrost better with the warmer cabin air?

The term "defrost" is used somewhat loosely. In most climates, people use "defrost" to remove fog from the inside of the windshield (the term should be "defog"). Outside fresh air works better to remove internal fog. (This is also why most new vehicles automatically turn on the AC when you use the "defroster", to remove humidity from the air.)
Winter driving up here in the mountains also involves keeping snow and ice from freezing to the outside of the windshield. Warm inside air heats the windshield glass better (hence the term "deice"). It makes little sense to have the AC cool down air you're trying to use to heat the windshield glass, so I usually try to find a way to bypass the automatic feature on my vehicles.
I've also had issues with the inside fog freezing to the inside of the windshield (a real "defrost"), which I generally keep under control with a single edge razor blade.
I am interested in suggestions to increase the blower speed. I've gone through the hoses and ducts, and run a 190 thermostat, but there's only so much you can do with the stock setup.

 

[AlaskanWheeler]

With my 25 plus years of living in the interior of Alaska I've had some experience with dealing with frost; it seems that the quantity of air is more important then the temp. of the air when trying to eliminate frost. 655-1747 is a NAPA BALKAMP part number for a blower motor that I installed in my '68 FJ-40. With some flange modifications I was able to mount this to my stock cage and mount. The reason I used this motor was for the proper daimeter and length of the shaft for the stock cage to fit on. Sure made a lot of difference when the weather went south.

 

[froggy]

You may need to boil out your heater core, for one thing, and you may have a big radiator, although that shouldn't make a difference if the thermostat is working correctly.

I boil out the core a few years ago, changed the thermostat 2 times (with top gasket) .Did not change a thing. I do have a Huge radiator, but it looks like oem.

I agree that it isn't warmed up completely. But that might be hard to achieve when you are driving 60 mph in -15 degree F temps.

Even in summer, it never gets over 175 degs....

I never saw another old cruiser like mine so I tought it was ''normal'' and left it like this. I bought another truck for winter and don't use my cruiser much.

 

[IDave]

Even in summer, it never gets over 175 degs....

That must mean that your 190 thermostat never opens, or, more likely, it is always open or bypassed. Whatever, something isn't right!

 

[Jukelemon]

Hey Juke where can I get these seals?

Secret:

Have to make the seals ( :

 

[IDave]

Froggy, how about this: your 190 thermostat is actually a 170 (perhaps it was mismarked)?

 

[Landpimp]

like I mentioned my 135 F doesn't get hot, new 190 t-stat, all gaskets ect. I think Mark told me his 135 runs cool also, don't think mine gets up to 160deg.

Froggy, how about this: your 190 thermostat is actually a 170 (perhaps it was mismarked)?