help with my LJ78

[Patagonia]

Hi all, I'm a Brit living in southern argentina (where there is no toyota expertise!) and i've just had an 1992 LJ78 Auto shipped over from the UK. Problem is, i know next to nothing about mechanics and want to give it a thorough check before i start driving my clients into the wilderness in it. I also can't find a workshop manual anywhere for it...

From what i can see the electric hubs lock up ok and Hi ratio 4WD seem to be working (well they light up on the dash!). But what's best way of checking? Do i need these 'on' to engage L4 via the lever. It seemed to engage fine without but proves difficult with hub lock / H4 turned on which i find wierd.

Also tyres are well worn so i need to replace with whatever is most suitable for heavy deep gravel roads - we call them 'ripio' out here. Any recommendations on size/tread type? (the Cruiser has no lift).

Oh and i'm guessing i should be keeping a careful eye on air/fuel filters as we have so much dust/sand on roads out here. Are these easy to change on your own?

Sorry, barrage of questions i know but i'd be very grateful for any advice

Dominic.

 

[Entaran]

You can pickup service manuals for it off ebay.

You should be able to engage L4 without the hubs locked. This is for lowrange towing in 2 wheel drive. You shouldn't go very far with l4 engaged though without hubs locked. It's EXCLUSIVELY for getting out of spots where you can't get out in high 2. The little thingy on your glovebox (sticker) will tell you never to do this.

Stock size tyres are fine, try and find a reasonably aggressive all-terrain pattern that's self cleaning. Try Mickey Thompson MTX or (mud) MTZ, Coopers ST-C (this is the PICK for endless gravel work), or STT (mud).

I personally would look far and wide for a set of ST-C's as you'll get 70-80 thousand k's out of them on gravel as they're specifically designed for gravel. And yes, there are ST's and STT's... the ST-C is a different compound.

Fuel filter shouldnt' be much of an issue. Air filter will. Do you have a snorkel? If you do, and it's the factory one, it'll have a pre-filter right up at the top and then the standard filter in the aircan in the engine bay. If it doesn't and it's got like a Safari snorkel head or similar, http://www.safari4x4.com.au/docs/product.htm then UNIFILTER makes a filter sock that fits straight over the head that is also washable. it is a 5 micron filter and will act very effectively as a pre-filter.

Hope this helps

 

[Patagonia]

Yeah, that's great thanks for tip. What about switching into L4 with the H4 button depressed. Presumably that just gives you a low ratio 4wd rather than the low 2wd??? cheers.

 

[crushers]

as soon as you switch to 4L the front is engaged, you still need to lock the elec hubs though

 

[light_duty]

Good luck finding a manual in English for the 2L-TE.

I found a place online to download the 70 series chassis manual and the 2L-3L engine manual, along with the 2L-T supplement. Good enough for things like torque specs, fluid requirements, etc. Last time I checked, the links were dead, but I'll have another look and post up if you like. One thing though: the downloadable manuals are in French. Do you know any French at all?

As far as I know there is no 2L-TE manual published in English, though you might get an Ellery manual for the Hilux Surf with the 2L-TE.

Lock your hubs before you go into 4L. Or 4H for that matter. If you're manually shifting into 4L range, it makes sense to disengage the 4H button, but leave the hubs locked. Make sure your wheels are pointing dead ahead.

Air filter is easy to change, fuel filter not bad, but you will need to prime the pump after changing out the filter. Finding a stock filter might be tricky in Argentina, but you can get them from Milner Off-Road if you have UK contacts. All filters are available from Milner in the UK. As mentioned, a snorkel with pre-filter will probably help reduce filter clog.

Without mechanical experience you're going to have a hard time checking different things, but it's clear to me that these trucks are designed for relatively easy maintenance. There's a lot of info on the Ozzie Surf site to help you with Periodic Maintenance, etc., though you have to be careful because some of the fluid specs are not right. Still, read and learn, and you'll be doing your own work in no time. I would think if you're driving people into the bush you'd want to know at least the basics about your truck, and be prepared to fix minor stuff should something go wrong in the backcountry.

Here's the 2.4L Tech site: http://www.toyotasurf.asn.au/techsite/24table.htm

This forum is great as well. There are a few of us LJ78 owners on here.

Cheers,
Robin

 

[Tapage]

as soon as you switch to 4L the front is engaged, you still need to lock the elec hubs though

No experience with electric hubs .. but in Nissan, you can switch manual those alectric hubs in exteeme situation electric failure.

Is posible in Toyota do that . ?

 

[crushers]

okay, so when reassembling my elec hubs someone broke off both the brushes and since i am heading out wheeling i need 4WD so i took the hub cover off, turned it to "lock" and reinstalled...permanent hub lock...
cheers

 

[Patagonia]

Robin, thanks for tips. had a look at Ozzie site looks useful. Any links for the manual be well received - have hunted on ebay. My french isn't too good though!!!

Also, All dealers etc here in UK don't seem to stock LJ78 specific snorkels, - can i adapt another pretty easily?

 

[1990 LJ78]

Take a look or call "4 Wheel Auto". I beleive they may be able to help
with a book in english.

 

[Entaran]

RE the snorkel, does your car have the standard 70 series massive round aircan in the front right corner of the car?

If so, any 70 series snorkel will bolt up. Just a matter of actually installing it.

 

[Tapage]

Robin, thanks for tips. had a look at Ozzie site looks useful. Any links for the manual be well received - have hunted on ebay. My french isn't too good though!!!

Also, All dealers etc here in UK don't seem to stock LJ78 specific snorkels, - can i adapt another pretty easily?

I'm pretty sure that you can order with your Argentina ARB local dealer a Safari snorker for your model ..

In http://www.arbusa.com you can found the model ( code ) and local dealer in Argentina ..

or also check http://www.toyoteros.com.ar