For those of you suffering from the same... I'll get right to the point and then give details for posterity. It was the distributor and timing! Seems simple, right? 
Not exactly! I had no idea the timing could cause so many issues!
Apparently for the 3.5 years I've owned my '89 FJ62 the distributor has been going bad and the timing has been off. I've read and been told, these things just don't have the torque of modern vehicles so "don't be surprised if it struggles to pass cars and take on hills." Therefore, I just thought this was par for the course. Then it started having trouble starting. It would take several turns to actually engage and I would have to let it warm up or it was sluggish as hades. There were times when I didn't think I was going to make it to the other side of a hill. Seriously, the fastest it would go was around 35 or 40 and that was with me killing the pedal.
No bueno! Then if I drove for a longer distance than normal it wouldn't start at all for a while. I'd have to sit and wait and talk to her nicely then finally she would decide she wanted to go home. Then the nail in the coffin...it would start but only roll a few feet forward and backwards and that was it. It was throwing code 12, which is the distributor. I bought a new one from rock auto for pretty cheap. I'll probably regret not getting an expensive one later but for now I'll just enjoy what I've got. So after my husband installed it for me, with the help of a random "mechanic" I met at the autoparts store who came over to help (that's another story for another time), it would go, but still bogg down so much it wasn't safe to drive. So I did what I always do and consulted Mudd and started throwing parts at it. Just for fun I'll share what all we did:
New fuel pressure regulator even though I just replaced it about a year ago so doubtful that had anything to do with it
Air and fuel filters
Charcoal canister
Air hoses 1 and 2 (those were seriously cracked so necessary)
New spark plugs
New fuel pump and strainer
So after the fuel pump and strainer it was much better but still not right. I could drive it but it was sluggish to start out and then would take off like a jet. Then I noticed it was overheating. The gauge was reading just a little under the line before the red after a fairly short drive. It also starting throwing code "43" which deals with the ignition switch. So you can imagine at this point my husband "hates my orange child!" So I took it to my local Toyota dealership which, fortunately, has mechanics that cut their teeth on land cruisers 30+ years ago and on a hunch asked them to check the timing. So for $253 dollars I got the Toyota experts to set it. Apparently, we were only one tooth off! Seriously, that fixed EVERYTHING!!!! The overheating stopped and the code "43" was gone. Even better than that my truck will GOOOOO and when I say go I mean like never before. I actually passsed someone on a hill yesterday and giggled like a little girl! It is no longer sluggish at all, starts right up and takes on hills like a champ! I can get up to 55 mph in no time and actually have to be careful not to speed...that's right I said speed.
Fun fact: There is a rubber gasket at the bottom of the distributor that is supposed to be ovalish (for lack of a better adjective) when we pulled mine out it was flat. The ovalish gasket on the new distributor made it a beast to get in even though it was lined up correctly. (Dropping it right in is a myth! We literally had to beat it in because of that gasket. The only way it would drop right in was if we took the gasket off, which is why I went to the auto parts store in search of a flat gasket only to find out it's not supposed to be flat. It gets flat from being old and worn.
Take home message if you are having any of these issues get your timing checked by Toyota they know what they are doing and seriously my truck has never run better! It drives smoothly and has much more get up and go than I ever thought it would. My husband drove it and couldn't believe the difference, either. Best news is he no longer hates my orange child! Hope this helps.
Not exactly! I had no idea the timing could cause so many issues!Apparently for the 3.5 years I've owned my '89 FJ62 the distributor has been going bad and the timing has been off. I've read and been told, these things just don't have the torque of modern vehicles so "don't be surprised if it struggles to pass cars and take on hills." Therefore, I just thought this was par for the course. Then it started having trouble starting. It would take several turns to actually engage and I would have to let it warm up or it was sluggish as hades. There were times when I didn't think I was going to make it to the other side of a hill. Seriously, the fastest it would go was around 35 or 40 and that was with me killing the pedal.
No bueno! Then if I drove for a longer distance than normal it wouldn't start at all for a while. I'd have to sit and wait and talk to her nicely then finally she would decide she wanted to go home. Then the nail in the coffin...it would start but only roll a few feet forward and backwards and that was it. It was throwing code 12, which is the distributor. I bought a new one from rock auto for pretty cheap. I'll probably regret not getting an expensive one later but for now I'll just enjoy what I've got. So after my husband installed it for me, with the help of a random "mechanic" I met at the autoparts store who came over to help (that's another story for another time), it would go, but still bogg down so much it wasn't safe to drive. So I did what I always do and consulted Mudd and started throwing parts at it. Just for fun I'll share what all we did:New fuel pressure regulator even though I just replaced it about a year ago so doubtful that had anything to do with it
Air and fuel filters
Charcoal canister
Air hoses 1 and 2 (those were seriously cracked so necessary)
New spark plugs
New fuel pump and strainer
So after the fuel pump and strainer it was much better but still not right. I could drive it but it was sluggish to start out and then would take off like a jet. Then I noticed it was overheating. The gauge was reading just a little under the line before the red after a fairly short drive. It also starting throwing code "43" which deals with the ignition switch. So you can imagine at this point my husband "hates my orange child!" So I took it to my local Toyota dealership which, fortunately, has mechanics that cut their teeth on land cruisers 30+ years ago and on a hunch asked them to check the timing. So for $253 dollars I got the Toyota experts to set it. Apparently, we were only one tooth off! Seriously, that fixed EVERYTHING!!!! The overheating stopped and the code "43" was gone. Even better than that my truck will GOOOOO and when I say go I mean like never before. I actually passsed someone on a hill yesterday and giggled like a little girl! It is no longer sluggish at all, starts right up and takes on hills like a champ! I can get up to 55 mph in no time and actually have to be careful not to speed...that's right I said speed.
Fun fact: There is a rubber gasket at the bottom of the distributor that is supposed to be ovalish (for lack of a better adjective) when we pulled mine out it was flat. The ovalish gasket on the new distributor made it a beast to get in even though it was lined up correctly. (Dropping it right in is a myth! We literally had to beat it in because of that gasket. The only way it would drop right in was if we took the gasket off, which is why I went to the auto parts store in search of a flat gasket only to find out it's not supposed to be flat. It gets flat from being old and worn.
Take home message if you are having any of these issues get your timing checked by Toyota they know what they are doing and seriously my truck has never run better! It drives smoothly and has much more get up and go than I ever thought it would. My husband drove it and couldn't believe the difference, either. Best news is he no longer hates my orange child! Hope this helps.
