FJ60 Overheating

[cruiserhunter]

Ya'll have helped me before, hope you can again

My 86 FJ60 has been over heating and leaking from the waterpump. So to fix my problem I decided to put in a new waterpump and thermostat.

The waterpump went in and when I went to throw in the thermostat I found that I had purchased my cruiser without a thermostat. I put one in and had to fabricate a gasket because o-riely's had the wrong gasket listed

After all that I drove her around to check for leaks I sound none, but SHe still overheated after about 10 or fifteen minutes on the highway.

My fan clutch seems to be working correctly... it spins freely when the engine is hot and spins with some resistence when she is cold.

I am at my wits end. I am hoping I haven't blown a head gasket. I am broke (just rebuilt the tranny and tc).

I am going to reflush my radiator tomorrow. I don't know what else to do

Thanks for your help

cruiserhunter

 

[cahilc]

My 0.2 cents ...

I think your on the right track with flushing the radiator. Sounds like a coolant flowing issues. With a new water pump ... ???

There was a mention a while ago in another thread about pulling the rad and flushing it for 10 minutes with muriatic acid. But you didn't hear this from me.
:+)

Blown head gasket would show up either in exhaust, or creamy, milky white/brown oil on the dip stick.

Cahil

 

[Deep South Cruisers]

I chased gremlins for months on my 87 fj60 and even after the new radiator, radiator cap and hoses it still seemed to be running too hot.

The fan clutch seemed fine but I replaced it anyway and it really made a difference.

Could your home-made gasket be part of the problem? The rubber gasket around the seat of the thermostat needs to be in place so coolant doesn't get by until the thermostat opens.

Also, open the radiator cap and put the nose of the truck in a ditch, you might have air in the system that needs to be burped out.

 

[60wag]

Running hot on the highway is less likely to be the fan clutch as the speed of the truck will move a lot of air through the rad. Overheating in slow traffic tends to be fan related. A misinstalled thermostat or missing upper tstat gasket makes the truck run cool rather than hot. I'd rec' a pro shop flush of the rad. It shouldn't cost much if you can bring the unistalled rad to them. To get air out of the system, I like to put a Prestone flush Tee ($3) in the upper heater hose near the heat control valve on the firewall. Its the highest point in the system. Make sure to leave the heater on for a while after filling the system and the air will collect in the top hose.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

My $$ is on the fan clutch. It is supposed to lock up when hot to move more air over the radiator core, so if it "spins freely" when really hot, the fan clutch is bad. If you are at the point that your whole cooling system is crapping out, I would consider replacing the radiator as well. Then you are back to "like new" performance. If you overheat your motor, the head on the 60 tends to crack and that will make a new rad and fan clutch seem cheap. Also, get the proper gaskets and make sure you have a good install of the thermostat.

 

[Landpimp]

to test the fan clutch.

warm up the 60 to normal. place a piece of cardboard in front of the rad/grill so its blocked off. close the hood, run motor at about 1200rpms, soon you should hear the fan clutch kick on. Once its on, mist the rad with water and listen for it to cut out. If it does this its working.

I suspect however seeing how its only running hot on the highway that the rad need to be cleaned/roded out. like someone else mentioned the fan clutch should not come into play on the highway(in most cases)

I went thru the same thing on my fj60, only running hot on the highway. finaly it came down to replacing the rad. no more overheating.

If you want to try flushing it yourself this has worked for me but it did nothing for overheating but did get alot of crap out of the rad and block. I used some prestone powder stuff(follow diections as to how long to leave it in) Then I got it to normal temps, opened the block drain, opened the rad drain, stuffed a hose in the rad and let the water and motor run for a few hours........yep it just sat there idleing with water coming in and water coming out. Amazing the crap that came out. Honestly this will prolly do little or nothing for your cooling problems but I have done this on all my cruisers before I do the final fill with toyota red stuff.

 

[87CRUSR]

I had similar probs and after changing the thermostat and having changed the fan clutch a year prior, the radiator and hoses were the last things left. Runs cool and after getting rid of the air pockets runs even better. Good luck!

 

[cruiserhunter]

Got a couple of questions:

1. How important is this "red toyota coolant" I've never seen it before and where do i get it?

2. How much should I pay for a new radiator and where should i get it? I'm in austin, TX


Thanks for your help everyone.
too busy to flush her today gonna get to it in the afternon tomorrow. Hopefully it will help. I also heard about this prestone super flush that you leave in for 3-6 hours of driving? Think this will do any good?

THanks again

Patrick

 

[TwoThirtyDirty]

Also check into having your rad re-cored by a qualified radiator shop. Cost me about half of what a new rad costs when I had this done a couple of years ago.

 

[Landpimp]

how important? I don't really know but I run it in all but one of my cruisers. you get it from Toyota, about $10 gallon

I am super happy with the rad I got from Performance Radiator, cosy me under $180, OEM quailty, dirrect fit.

Got a couple of questions:

1. How important is this "red toyota coolant" I've never seen it before and where do i get it?

2. How much should I pay for a new radiator and where should i get it? I'm in austin, TX


Thanks for your help everyone.
too busy to flush her today gonna get to it in the afternon tomorrow. Hopefully it will help. I also heard about this prestone super flush that you leave in for 3-6 hours of driving? Think this will do any good?

THanks again

Patrick

 

[mep1811]

FJ-60 overheating

You say that the fan spins freely when the engine is hot. That is a sign of a bad fan clutch. in my experience , only a Toyota fan clutch will work.

Mike El Paso, TLCA 8009
1985 FJ-60, OME HD, Rare STOUT bumpers,sliders,roof rack, 40 gallon tank and
M-416 trailer.
My M-416 trailer http://www.webphotos.com/list_photos.asp?mi=3&smi=1&a=83474
My FJ-60 http://www.webphotos.com/list_photos.asp?mi=3&smi=1&a=76026
Peru http://www.webphotos.com/list_photos.asp?mi=3&smi=1&a=79035
Bolivia http://www.webphotos.com/list_photos.asp?mi=3&smi=1&a=76918

Interior pictures http://www.webphotos.com/list_photos.asp?mi=3&smi=1&a=92171

Big Bend Texas http://www.webphotos.com/list_photos.asp?mi=3&smi=1&a=110340

Lone Star Round Up http://www.webphotos.com/list_photos.asp?mi=3&smi=1&a=130048 http://www.webphotos.com/list_photos.asp?mi=3&smi=1&a=129825

 

[HZJ60 Guy]

I'd do what LP has said. If you cant get this problem solved you can get that rad, or a new one recored to 3 or 4 cores.


TB

 

[swank60]

I got my radiator from http://www.carradiator.com/ - I'm really pleased with it. Went from running on the half way mark and above on the temp guage, to running about 1/3 of the way up now. It was a direct replacement, think it was a 4 core. I think mine cost about $180 with free shipping. They may have gone up though.

As I've stated before, I'd put a V8 behind this radiator and would feel pretty confident in it's cooling capability.

 

[vtcruiser60]

Hey...someone on ebay has listed a new, OEM fan clutch. It is about to go for 1/3 of the cost of a new one. Seems to me to be cheap engine insurance.

See it at http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7909601729&category=33602