Help! FJ60 brokedown in Ocala, FL

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

FJ40Jim

FJ40Jim

The Cruiser Whisperer
SILVER Star
10 Year 15 Year 20 Year
Joined
Sep 26, 2003
Threads
117
Messages
11,200
Location
Lancaster, Ohio, USA
Website
www.tlcperformance.com
Guys,
Fellow ohio cruiserhead Brett (Rallydriver) is in Florida on vacation w/ the wife and kids. His FJ60 is running like poo suddenly. It looks like there is something amiss inside the engine, low compression on a couple of cylinders. He is headed to the Ocala toyota dealer to see if they can help. He was last reported on Hwy 200, just NE of I-75 exit 68.

If anyone in Fla. can help or be a local guide or lend moral support, his cell phone is 740-971-7362.

Or PM me and I'll contact Brett.
 
Just gave him a ring and left a message. I am about an hour and 45 minutes from him, I got tools and spare parts. I hope everything works out for him...If for whatever reason he does not get my message let him know I am willing to help out.


-Al
 
Just talked to Brett. He left the truck at the Toyota dealer. They'll look at it first thing Monday. He's back w/ the relatives they were staying with around Orlando.

Thanks for the phone calls and various offers of help/support.:beer: :beer:
 
Is he headed N or S? If he hits south florida, post when here, we can always help out down here.
 
Thanks to everyone who has offered their help and support. The Cruiser is still at the dealership waiting on parts. We decided to rent a car and the kids and I came home to get back to school and work, and my wife has stayed behind to bring the Cruiser home.

I have to tell you my wife was blown away when the cell phone started ringing with offers of aid on Saturday. It will be much easier for me to fuel my Cruiser madness now that she has experienced the support the IH8MUD community offers.

DeLuca Toyota has been great in helping us out. I had a chance to meet the technician on Monday. He admitted he had never seen a 2F, but had a Cruiser buddy in his neighborhood who he has helped in the past. He was gracious taking technical advice from an old dude with two kids in tow and I feel confident he will do a good job for us.

Thanks again to everyone who offered help, especially Al and David!

Cheers,

Brett
 
RallyDriver said:
I have to tell you my wife was blown away when the cell phone started ringing with offers of aid on Saturday. It will be much easier for me to fuel my Cruiser madness now that she has experienced the support the IH8MUD community offers.
Click to expand...

We've had similar help from IH8MUD members. My wife refers to the Cruiser Assistance Club as the "uncles" club...kinda like having uncles all over the country just waiting to help out a family member...very cool.
 
Glad to hear you made it back. Hope all is well and a safe trip home is in the cards.
Good luck brotha...

P.S. next time you are down this way you'll have to swing on in.
 
Thanks again. The dealership is starting to disapoint us now. My wife called in tears this morning because now they are telling her it might be done by Saturday. They said they finally got all the parts they needed and could start the work. Really, how many parts are needed? A head gasket, right? I know I get my Toyota parts next day here in Ohio, and I believe all dealer network parts are within one day of their supply depot.

I called the Service Rep and explained that I needed the truck to be finished up by Friday evening or I was going to have to arrange for storage somewhere until I could get down there and fetch the truck. She promised me it would be done tomorrow evening. We'll have to wait and see how it plays out.

Brett
 
Brett--

Sorry to hear about the problems man....now if you only had the Ohio crew as your vacation pit crew!!

Hope everything works out and your wife gets home safe and sound.

Let us know what we can do.

Best.
-onur
Akron, OH
 
if need be you can limp it to my house and we can tear into it here...doors always open brotha. I work full time and go to school....but I am sure we can fit it in.
 
Last edited:
You can have the headgasket done in a day. But, you also have to consider why the head gasket blew....

Were you running hot at all lately?
 
Now it looks like the truck won't be finished until Saturday. :frown:

No, I had no overheating issues with the truck. She runs cool as a cucumber.

What I did do was load the piss out of the truck with kids and gear and fishing tackle, then drive it too fast in the mountains of WV. I got some detonation pulling up one of the hills on the WV turnpike. The next fuel stop I bumped the octane up and it seemed to solve the problem. We drove on to Florida.

The head is fresh on this truck, only 15K on it. Oversized s/s exhaust valves, hi-po valve springs and the head got decked just enough to make if flat. Compression is higher than stock, but not by much.

Saturday afternoon when we were leaving it was hot out, 80 plus degrees, big load of family and gear, pulling up a long grade at about 2500 rpm. I'm running 33's with 3:73's, so speed isn't a problem here in Central Ohio where it's flat, but I do lose some gearing in the hills. I'm guessing speed with the big load was the killer. I'm betting the detonation in WV caused the initial damage, and the gasket deteriorated over the remainder of the trip. We drove around all week unloaded and had no issues, but the truck did seem like it was down on power a bit. Not enough for me to really suspect anything, I just thought it was hot out. A/C compressor leaks so we had the windows down in FL.

We will certainly be more careful pulling hills go forward. I have coached the wife to take the big grades slower in third gear which should help the situation on the way home. She will be much lighter without my wide ass and the kids and our luggage. We will also bump octane on the fuel when the truck is loaded down and climbing in the mountains. I will probably install the 4:11 gears I have in my shop and learn to drive slower on the interstate. I also hope to pop for a new H55F tranny to take advantage of that O.D. fifth gear while keeping good gearing down low with the 4:11's.

I used to drive a VW bus a lot, and I learned that the bus was slow, but the road was patient. Take your time and enjoy the ride. I need to get back to that a bit and drive the vehicle as it was intended.

We all know these vehicles were designed to run 55 mph. It's hard sometimes to show the restraint and cruise at 65 or slower when everyone around you is going 80. I know the failure between 3 & 4 is somewhat common, so if anyone else has had this happen to them I'd like to hear what they think caused it.

Thanks,

Brett
 
That motor shoudl take that abuse. I am FAR harder on my motors than you are and have not lost a head gasket...


I used to run 75 with 32's and 3.70's all the time. While towing a trailer.

I would look at the head again..
Or the gasket that was used on the rebuild..
 
The gasket that failed was an inexpensive aftermarket one that comes in the gasket sets from MAF.

The Toyota gasket is noticeably beefier in the fire rings.
 
The dealership finally got the truck finished on Saturday afternoon. My wife left Ocala around 5:00 P.M. on Saturday and made it home without incident late Sunday evening.

The head gasket repair seems to be solid. I will re-torque the head bolts just to make sure.

The truck has a fuel issue now, it cuts off randomly. It must have been a pain for her all the way home, as it annoyed the hell out of me on my 45 minuted commute this morning. I'm working with carb builder Jim C. to resolve the issue. I'm sure it's just a missing vacuum line or incorrectly installed vacuum line as the truck is also idling way too fast.

Thanks again to everyone who helped us out in Florida. The list support is terrific and I hope I can repay you all down the road. Thanks!

Brett
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom