FJZ80 with Engine Knock for $1,500? (1 Viewer)

[Grizzilion]

A 96 FJZ80 is for sale in my local town. Which is why it's so enticing. 160K Miles. Body and Frame in good shape. Minimal Rust.

Distinct knocking sound coming from engine though. Head gasket I'm assuming?

Some pretty good oil leaking going on.

Knuckles are very grimy.

I'll post the few pictures I took below and try to put up the video of the knocking noise. $1,500 seems reasonable to me with the fixes it is going to need. Hopefully will all be done by myself and other Cruiser heads who are willing to lend a hand for free beer and pizza.

 

[LINUS]

I'm going to say yeah to this.

The BUT:

You get a HG job with locals help is still ~$1K parts / head machine, etc.

Front axle service: ~$300-500, depending on if it's just a vanilla service or needs a few more parts.

So you just doubled your investment. And that's if it is just a HG & not bottom end work (better finding a shortblock to R&R at that point)

Edit: Thread worth a look before buying (if you haven't really decided):

Should I buy an 80, costs of ownership?


And it was a $50K rig new, so parts are in line with that.

But it's 160K, so I would really prob roll the dice. Good / smart move on the pizza/beer offer - way to ingratiate yourself with locals & get a local who can help diagnose / bring along his FSM until you get your own.

If you're already sure a G3/G4 4runner isn't more practical & you know you're into doing an 80, it's got better potential than some of the salty/rusted ones we have seen pics of.

 

[LS1FJ40]

A couple of questions:

1) why are you thinking it is a HG because of "knocking"?

2) how mechanically inclined are you?

3) why have you not bought it yet?

 

[Pin_Head]

Head gaskets don’t make a knocking noise. Crank bearings, piston pins and the oil pump /PS drive gear might. Fixing some of these is more expensive than others, so it would be worth your effort to listen carefully and remove one spark plug wire at a time to see if the noise changes.

 

[-Spike-]

Driver's rocker is probably rusted through, and I doubt that's all. Makes me sick to think these trucks are in climates where that's considered 'minimal'. Oughtta be a law against that s***.

 

[SpamEggsandRice]

A 96 FJZ80 is for sale in my local town. Which is why it's so enticing. 160K Miles. Body and Frame in good shape. Minimal Rust.

Distinct knocking sound coming from engine though. Head gasket I'm assuming?

I never knew that a gasket made knocking sounds.

 

[slow95z]

ok, so lets say you do EVERYTHING yourself.

a knock isnt the HG, its something else. could be simple like the power steering pump but lets plan for the worse. a good used engine is going to be around the 1K mark. a light refresh of the engine will be a little more and then a full rebuild is going to be 2500+ depending on what you have done. budget 1K minimum.

i see it is going to need a new intake tube and a knuckle job. thats a couple of hundred. i am sure half of the hoses need to be replaced and you might as well do the heater valve since i am sure it will bust when you take it out... by time you get done with all the little stuff you will be 500 to a grand deeper.

once you add it all up i think 1500 is a bit much. i buy them to part out at half that price when the engine is dead. i would rather just spend 7500~10K and get a good one from a mud member and know i had a great truck.

 

[BILT4ME]

I would say yes for $1000 or less.

Needs an intake hose, VC gaskets, spark plug tube seals, dizzy oring, front main seal, oil pump seal, lots of new hoses, maybe a radiator, ps pump hoses, front axle rebuild, brakes, rotors, wheel bearings, belts, idler pulley.

If the knock us simple and part if the list above, you'll be adding about $3-4k in parts with all the while I'm in there stuff.

Then tires and a lift and bumpers.......

 

[Red Merle]

Weren't you looking at trucks that were more like $6000 a few weeks ago? If you can still afford one of those, I would just recommend flying out to LA and driving something much nicer home. The truck here looks neglected and engine issues on these trucks are not cheap to fix.

As others have said, you will be right back into the range that you originally were looking and you will have dozens of hours into bringing this truck back up to where a nicer truck that costs more already is.

 

[MDJ]

Find a daily and leave this one to the vultures.

There’s always a good side to someone neglecting these things...

 

[Grizzilion]

I was lookingat some in the $6K. None panned out yet. This one is only enticing because it's two blocks away. The easibility of that is very enticing instead of having to fly to LA or Phoenix for a truck.

Obviously me thinking the knocking is a head gasket shows how mechanically inclined I am. But that's one of the reasons why I'm getting a LC, to learn and have fun getting greasy. I've found some local Mud members who are cool and sound like they'd have no problem helping me in this process.

I offered $1000. Thinking that if I can get it for that and budget another $5K for repairs and neglected PM I'd have a pretty solid running truck that I knew was reliable. If it turns out to be a black hole from the get go and not worth the time or money I can drive it for the winter around town and sell it for parts next year and maybe lose a couple hundred bucks.

I'm interested in the spark plug wire comment above? What does that tell me if the knocking changes when I remove a wire? I took a video of the sound but the file is to big to upload. The Knock is there when it idled and then when driving it increases in speed as the RPMs increased. That's about all I got to describe it. Oh and I forgot to mention the alternator would have to be replaced immediately because the battery was just replaced and is being drained completely dead overnight. From what I researched it seems like a straight forward $150 fix.

 

[NCFJ]

If you are not mechanically inclined I would advise you to pass. Look for something in better condition already. That truck to me would be at best $1K , frame donor and parts truck.

 

[Red Merle]

I was lookingat some in the $6K. None panned out yet. This one is only enticing because it's two blocks away. The easibility of that is very enticing instead of having to fly to LA or Phoenix for a truck.

Obviously me thinking the knocking is a head gasket shows how mechanically inclined I am. But that's one of the reasons why I'm getting a LC, to learn and have fun getting greasy. I've found some local Mud members who are cool and sound like they'd have no problem helping me in this process.

I offered $1000. Thinking that if I can get it for that and budget another $5K for repairs and neglected PM I'd have a pretty solid running truck that I knew was reliable. If it turns out to be a black hole from the get go and not worth the time or money I can drive it for the winter around town and sell it for parts next year and maybe lose a couple hundred bucks.

I'm interested in the spark plug wire comment above? What does that tell me if the knocking changes when I remove a wire? I took a video of the sound but the file is to big to upload. The Knock is there when it idled and then when driving it increases in speed as the RPMs increased. That's about all I got to describe it. Oh and I forgot to mention the alternator would have to be replaced immediately because the battery was just replaced and is being drained completely dead overnight. From what I researched it seems like a straight forward $150 fix.

I do understand why you would buy a truck that needs work if it's right in your back yard. I did the same with mine and I don't regret it but mine didn't have any real engine issues(I ended up doing the HG anyway as PM because I was paranoid that it would blow at any second after reading this forum )

If you can get it for a grand, it has at least that much in easy to pull parts that you could sell to recoup your investment if it turns out to be more than what you feel like dealing with.

I think you have a great attitude about it and it could be a nice truck if you can put in the time and money it will take to bring her back to her former glory. Get a plan together, get the FSM for your year and get ready to get your wallet loosened up. Good luck!

 

[Malleus]

I don't know what prices on CO are, but I would buy ten of those in NC for that price.

If you have electrical/mechanical repair experience, but no 80 series experience, you'll be fine.

If you have little or no experience and can read, buy/download the FSM and develop a relationship with a good parts guy. DO NOT nickle and dime parts. Buy a couple of wrenches and screwdrivers. You'll be fine.

If you can't read or don't want to get your hands dirty, buy a Prius.

 

[Heckraiser]

As others have said, knock =/= HG. More likely something something in the motor that could require a re-build.

I'd buy it (haggle down to $1000) and use it as the starting point for a V8 conversion

 

[cowboyjack]

Go for it at $1,000 but plan on having enough cash for $2-3,000 in DIY PM plus an engine rebuild at $3-8,000? Then you have a reliable vehicle.

 

[ewillis]

I would but it and drive it straight to Robbie. Drop it off and have a full rebuild done.

 

[gbeltran]

I can second the 2-3000 cost for just the engine. I bought my 94 with a rod hanging out of the block, found a used engine out of a wrecked cruiser with 136000 miles for $500. Should have just stuck it in the rig, but you know how that goes. Since it was easily accesible, 2500 later for valve job, gaskets, new hoses, timing chain, and some other stuff while I was in there............
Runs nice now......
If it's clean a grand is a good price.

 

[Grizzilion]

Thanks for the responses, their holding at 1,500 for now since its newly listed. I'm sure they'll be willing to budge in a couple days. Which gives me time to get a PM list and prices together along with Dream a list of V8 conversion

 

[2fpower]

Find a donor engine for $600-$1000 and roll.