FJ60 diesel conversion (1 Viewer)

[jakerudy]

The PT Cruiser replacement seats are finally going in today. The front seats look to only need some strip steel and a little welding to make them fit. Not sure about the back seat yet.

 

[jakerudy]

Finally got the PT Cruiser seats installed. We removed the lowest rail on the PT seats and a combination of factory bolts and small welds has them mounted well. Think I'm going to be very happy with these. My original seats were pretty much shot and had almost no cushion left.

 

[jakerudy]

Time for an update after over 30k miles.

The rig has only failed me twice and both could be argued to be my fault. At about 20k the fuel filter plugged which I knew I should have changed for awhile but just didn't get to it. So all my fault. It happened about 1.5 miles from home so I was able to walk back and get my truck. I now carry a spare.

A couple of months back the battery wore out after just over 2 years and it would not start, fortunately it happened in my mom's driveway and my daughter was nearby so I was able to get a ride and go back to charge the battery and fire it up.

Now the speedometer cable is broken which I want to fix but hardly affects drivability and with the 12V I pretty much drive by sound and check the tach if I need to.

The BFG MT's have held up better than any MT I've ever had and can probably go another 10k or so but they have gotten louder over time and are harder to keep in balance than AT's I've had in the past. l can't say I have any real complaints with the MT's but will probably go with AT tires next as I've got several road trips in my near future since my daughter is leaving for college and is going to run track.

The PT Cruiser seats are a dramatic improvement over the original worn out seats. Worth every penny if you are going to drive a 60 series any amount. They sit a little higher but you get used to it quickly.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It's not the rig for everyone as it sits high and is fairly loud but I'm not afraid to drive it anywhere. I don't do hardcore off roading but where I live daily driving is often rougher than most 4x4's ever see.

 

[Hojack]

Cooper ST Maxx are a nice tire. They drive great on my 60. For the Speedo get yourself some Speedhut Gauges.

 

[jakerudy]

Cooper ST Maxx are a nice tire. They drive great on my 60. For the Speedo get yourself some Speedhut Gauges.

I had a set of Cooper AT on my 3/4 Dodge. They drove nice but didn't hold up well on rocks. Admittedly a lot of the time I'm pulling a gooseneck trailer over poor roads and paths. My local tire guy is recommending the Falken AT but I've never had any.

The speedo still works - it is just the cable that broke.

 

[Hojack]

I had a set of Cooper AT on my 3/4 Dodge. They drove nice but didn't hold up well on rocks. Admittedly a lot of the time I'm pulling a gooseneck trailer over poor roads and paths. My local tire guy is recommending the Falken AT but I've never had any.

The speedo still works - it is just the cable that broke.

I like the Speedhut as it’s GPS so tire size doesn’t matter anymore.

 

[Hojack]

How soon after your swap did you have to replace the fuel filter?

 

[jakerudy]

I like the Speedhut as it’s GPS so tire size doesn’t matter anymore.

I didn't notice that. Quite a feature but they aren't cheap.

Probably should change the fuel filter every other oil change which I do at 5k. It plugged at about 20k which is most likely earlier than it normally would due to the swap and the amount of debris the diesel picks up from the system. Just after the swap it plugged within about 1k miles so I should have known to change it sooner.

 

[jakerudy]

Cooper ST Maxx are a nice tire. They drive great on my 60. For the Speedo get yourself some Speedhut Gauges.

Thanks for the tip. I installed the new speedo this morning with a little finagling and it seems to work well. The weird part is after driving my Cruiser for 20+ years with oversized tires the speedo is accurate for the first time. I've calculated actual speed for all that time and now have to get used to believing it.

 

[Hojack]

Now you can know your exact mpg

 

[jakerudy]

Now you can know your exact mpg

Not sure I can handle the truth.

If the Speedhut is accurate, which I'm assuming it is, I've been speeding more than I thought. After I run a tank or two through it I'll post actual mpg. Always before I just calculated that my speedo and odo were 15% under.

 

[jakerudy]

First fuel fill with the GPS speedo shows 20.1 mpg. Mixed driving with running time probably split 50/50 between highway and back roads.

Now the head scratcher. Drove at night and turned the dash brightness knob clockwise to increase gauge lighting and the speedo light gets dimmer while the stock gauges get brighter. Counter clockwise the speedo light gets brighter and the stock gauges dim. It is repeatable and in the middle I can read all gauges so not a big deal. Checked my wiring and haven't figured out why this happens.

Wondering if the stock lighting voltage is regulated through the ground?

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Stock rheostat regulates ground through resistance, yes. Super annoying.

I keep my factory rehostat turned all the way up all the time, then change the gauge backlighting with the speedhut dimmer kit.

 

[Hojack]

I went with all Speedhut and just used the Speedhut dimmer. Are you running 2 dimmer switches?

 

[GLTHFJ60]

If you wire the speedhut dimmer to any of the factory dash gauge light circuits, then you're tying into the light circuit after the factory rehostat (dimmer). That means yes, two dimmers, but the way that the factory dimmer works messes with el wire light dimmers, such as the speedhut dimmer.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

I used the dimmer knob for the speed hut gauges didn't tie it into the factory dimmer worked fine
Tommy

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Right, it depends where you tap into the gauge light circuit. If you tap in downstream of the factory rheostat, then you will have no issue. If you tap in at the factory bulb connections, aka the gauge light wires in the factory gauge cluster connectors, then you'll encounter this issue.

 

[jakerudy]

Right, it depends where you tap into the gauge light circuit. If you tap in downstream of the factory rheostat, then you will have no issue. If you tap in at the factory bulb connections, aka the gauge light wires in the factory gauge cluster connectors, then you'll encounter this issue.

Where is the factory rheostat? And should I connect the ground or hot wire?

My speedo light is connected to one of the original speedo bulb wires.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Right next to the factory choke knob.

The elwire requires correct polarity. Negative to negative, positive to positive.

 

[jakerudy]

Made a road trip last week for a trade. Mostly highway miles and it got over 22 mpg on worn MT's.