Hi, I'm a relative newbie to FJs (also current owner of LR4 and Vanagon...) and have been having a tough time getting my 85 FJ60 to run. It had been running very smoothly up until a few months ago (actually preferred this in the snow to the LR4) and then one day just wouldn't start easily at all. I left it sitting for a few months after it died and now have time to dig into it which I've been doing thanks to the great ideas on this forum. Here are the symptoms: Cranks well, choke on, feather the acc. pedal and eventually it fires up after quite a few cranks; immediately idles up to around 2000rpm without me touching the gas, and then just dies if I do nothing. I can catch it at the high idle point and give it more gas to keep it running (that's how I got it home a few months ago) but let off the gas and it dies immediately. I checked the Idle Control Valve wiring and it was clicking off and on when I applied and removed current. I actually hot wired both leads of the ICV direct to battery and made no difference to the condition. Fuel level in the carb at the window is right where expected (about half way) and stays there when the engine actually runs for the short period (before dying). Fuel pump is pumping OK. Checked every vacuum hose I could find and all appear to be tight (engine is desmogged). New leads, new plugs pretty recently. Took off gas cap and tried that - no change to symptoms. Ran some fuel direct into carb and this made starting much easier and idled at a normal RPM but then died as soon as it burnt through that little amount. I read in this forum somewhere that the igniter might be causing the issue but I don't understand how that could be the case if the engine will start (eventually) and run at high idle and with me giving it plenty of fuel. So, I'm thinking now that this is a blocked idle jet in the carb itself - any other ideas?
FJ60 Not Idling/Running (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Father Jack
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- idle starting issues
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g-man
SILVER Star
If it was running good before, then it's unlikely you need to adjust the idle mixture screw, the idle set screw or any other sort of adjustment.
Could be a bad intake gasket or cracked carb insulator or bad manifold gasket. If you can get to idle or high idle you can try using propane and a wand kit to see if the idle speeds up in one area. Other people use carb cleaner or similar in place of propane. If you get an rpm increase it’s a sign of a vacuum leak.
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- Thread starter
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SOLVED!!!
The beast is running again and pretty smoothly now. The issue was primarily down to a leak at the J-Tube which the PO had left on the truck and capped after desmogging. I plugged up the J-Tube temporarily with a cork and the motor started pretty easily and idled properly. In fact it is idling a little better than before all this happened but that is maybe because I had also taken the carb off and did a semi-rebuild, cleaning out the primary and secondary jets etc etc and installing new gaskets and o-rings (some of which were not present when I dismantled). I did notice some small granules of dirt in the float chamber but nothing too bad. I also installed a new fuel filter and made the 'white-wire' mod to the ICV solenoid. While the carb was off, I also examined the heat shield/insulator under the carb which looked OK as well. So, it's back up and running and I will be welding a new cap onto the J-Tube to replace the cork (although it seems to work fine!). I also have two workshop manuals for the car but of course neither mention desmogging and what to look for, so it became more of a discovery exercise in the car as well as some online searching for desmogging procedures and working back from there. Good lesson for my son (and some new words that he learnt...).
I have posted a couple of pics to show the temporary fix.
Thanks to all for the great suggestions and advice and I think I gotta award the prize to @Seth S for making me go back around the gaskets looking for leaks etc.
The beast is running again and pretty smoothly now. The issue was primarily down to a leak at the J-Tube which the PO had left on the truck and capped after desmogging. I plugged up the J-Tube temporarily with a cork and the motor started pretty easily and idled properly. In fact it is idling a little better than before all this happened but that is maybe because I had also taken the carb off and did a semi-rebuild, cleaning out the primary and secondary jets etc etc and installing new gaskets and o-rings (some of which were not present when I dismantled). I did notice some small granules of dirt in the float chamber but nothing too bad. I also installed a new fuel filter and made the 'white-wire' mod to the ICV solenoid. While the carb was off, I also examined the heat shield/insulator under the carb which looked OK as well. So, it's back up and running and I will be welding a new cap onto the J-Tube to replace the cork (although it seems to work fine!). I also have two workshop manuals for the car but of course neither mention desmogging and what to look for, so it became more of a discovery exercise in the car as well as some online searching for desmogging procedures and working back from there. Good lesson for my son (and some new words that he learnt...).
I have posted a couple of pics to show the temporary fix.
Thanks to all for the great suggestions and advice and I think I gotta award the prize to @Seth S for making me go back around the gaskets looking for leaks etc.
