Hodakaguy's FJ40 Thread

[Hodakaguy]

FJ40 fuel & temp gauges stopped working.

Recently while driving around town my fuel & temp gauges would randomly quit working...both at the same time. They came back to life a couple times then just quit all together. With it raining today it's a good time to investigate.

I removed the batt cable (don't do this job with power on the harness, you can short and damage the cluster) then pulled the gauge cluster.

I checked for voltage on pin #3 on the cannon plug (ignition power) and it has good voltage. Scratch that one off the list.

49 years of use has tarnished the copper electrical connections on the cuircut board. I removed all of the electrical connections one by one as well as the ground connections and cleaned the contacts with a burnishing tool.

Re-installed the cluster back in the dash and....working again! Topped off the fuel tank and watched the gauge work its way right up to full. Temp gauge is up and running as well. Perfect!

Hodakaguy

 

[knuckle47]

FJ40 fuel & temp gauges stopped working.

Recently while driving around town my fuel & temp gauges would randomly quit working...both at the same time. They came back to life a couple times then just quit all together. With it raining today it's a good time to investigate.

I removed the batt cable (don't do this job with power on the harness, you can short and damage the cluster) then pulled the gauge cluster.

I checked for voltage on pin #3 on the cannon plug (ignition power) and it has good voltage. Scratch that one off the list.

49 years of use has tarnished the copper electrical connections on the cuircut board. I removed all of the electrical connections one by one as well as the ground connections and cleaned the contacts with a burnishing tool.

Re-installed the cluster back in the dash and....working again! Topped off the fuel tank and watched the gauge work its way right up to full. Temp gauge is up and running as well. Perfect!

Hodakaguy

So at 40 mph you have a full tank, good cooling and a charge to the battery but no oil pressure?

Sorry, I hope you have a sense of humor…It was just sitting there waiting for a comment

 

[Hodakaguy]

So at 40 mph you have a full tank, good cooling and a charge to the battery but no oil pressure?

Sorry, I hope you have a sense of humor…It was just sitting there waiting for a comment

Oil pressure is over rated...lol. The previous owner installed an aftermarket mechanical gauge under the dash. I haven't had a chance to see what I need to do to make the original one work yet but it is on my list.

Hodakaguy

 

[Hodakaguy]

Looking through the glove box I found a 12v light & bracket hanging loose by a single wire. I started poking around a bit and found it's actual home to be under the dash and above the lever for the heater unit. The bracket was black with some surface rust so time to clean it up.

Bracket with light removed.

A quick trip through the blast cabinet

Primed, painted & re-assembled.

Mounted back in place and working great! The wires were up under the dash and waiting to be plugged back in.

Hodakaguy

 

[knuckle47]

@Hodakaguy I love a great glass bead cabinet. Built one 35 years ago with plans from SkatBlast. They sold a kit with the window, frame, gloves, triggered gun and I cut the 3/4 plywood. Using a 5 hp 2 stage compressor that monster lasted me over 30 years. Finally bought a cabinet and the compressor is STILL going strong

I can’t seem to recall that my ‘74 had a lamp under there….I believe it did. But that was 50 years ago

 

[jestlurnin]

Hodaka Pops and I out running errands this weekend in the FJ.

Original 12v emergency work light that cane wirh the FJ. It plugs into a socket in the glove box and is long enough to reach under the rig and into the engine bay. Way cool!

Hodakaguy

Has anyone mentioned we don’t call them FJ’s?

Sweet 40. Following.

 

[Hodakaguy]

@Hodakaguy I love a great glass bead cabinet. Built one 35 years ago with plans from SkatBlast. They sold a kit with the window, frame, gloves, triggered gun and I cut the 3/4 plywood. Using a 5 hp 2 stage compressor that monster lasted me over 30 years. Finally bought a cabinet and the compressor is STILL going strong

I can’t seem to recall that my ‘74 had a lamp under there….I believe it did. But that was 50 years ago

Nice! They are super handy for smaller parts. Would love to set up a vapor blast cabinet eventually.

Hodakaguy

 

[Hodakaguy]

Has anyone mentioned we don’t call them FJ’s?

Sweet 40. Following.

Thanks Mate. I've always referred to them as a FJ. Everyone call them 40's?

Hodakaguy

 

[Hodakaguy]

Time to tweak a OCD issue...Or should I say "CDO"...OCD alphabetized like it should be lol.

The rig drives straight and hands off but the wheel is slightly crooked and it drives me crazy. Linkage looks close to correct so I corrected the issue by pulling and turning the wheel.

Removing 3 small screws on the back side of the wheel releases the horn pad.

Using a puller to pop the wheel free from the steering shaft.

Wheel removed. Here you can see the turn signal mechanism. I cleaned the horn contact and gunk out of the mechanism before re-installing.

Cleaning up the horn contact on the back side of the steering wheel.

Out on a test drive and snagging a coffee. Wheel is much better now!

Drove up in the Horse Heaven Hills and locked in the hubs to circulate the front end.

Hodakaguy

 

[knuckle47]

@Hodakaguy …friends seem to think I am a bit ocd but your project of squaring “clocking’ the steering wheel is very satisfying. I had done this on my ‘56 t-bird and the FJ40… easy and makes you just feel good

 

[pb4ugo]

By removing and repositoning the wheel makes the steering box off center. The adjustments should be made thru the drag link or the relay rod. If the wheel is off center because of a suspension lift the relay rod should be adjusted probably longer, any other adjustments should be made thru the drag link. Adjusting the links are usually quicker than pulling the wheel.

 

[Hodakaguy]

By removing and repositoning the wheel makes the steering box off center. The adjustments should be made thru the drag link or the relay rod. If the wheel is off center because of a suspension lift the relay rod should be adjusted probably longer, any other adjustments should be made thru the drag link. Adjusting the links are usually quicker than pulling the wheel.

I will check the geometry and readjust as needed. No lift on this one. Thanks Mate.

Hodakaguy

 

[Hodakaguy]

By removing and repositoning the wheel makes the steering box off center. The adjustments should be made thru the drag link or the relay rod. If the wheel is off center because of a suspension lift the relay rod should be adjusted probably longer, any other adjustments should be made thru the drag link. Adjusting the links are usually quicker than pulling the wheel.

Here's how it's currently sitting with the wheels straight.

Hodakaguy

 

[Hodakaguy]

Gauges - 2nd time's a charm! Getting the Temp & Fuel gauge working again on the 40! And lets not forget that oil pressure gauge.

After cleaning the connections on the circuit board last time the fuel & temp gauge started working again....for a bit. On the first drive the gauges quit again shortly into the drive...came back on....then quit again. Time to investigate.

After some internet sleuthing it looks like the voltage regulator on the back of the fuel gauge is the most likely culprit. Time to take the gauge cluster back apart again.

Disassembled. Now that the gauges are out of the housing I can inspect the suspect Fuel Gauge.

The fuel gauge is supplied by 12v that feeds a built in voltage regulator, the voltage is then reduced to 6v to run both the fuel gauge and temperature gauge. If the regulator is malfunctioning both the fuel and temp gauges will stop working. The regulator is a bi-metallic unit and when current flows through the regulator the unit heats up, expands and opens a set of contacts breaking the circuit, it then cools down again the closes the contacts. This cycle is continuous and the average voltage equals 6v.

The rear of the fuel gauge.

Here you can see the voltage regulator (The U shaped flat metal piece) and it's contact points. If these points get dirty over the years the regulator can stop functioning correctly (see Below).

Testing the voltage regulator: I tested my regulator and found that is was performing inconsistently. I ended up dressing/cleaning the contact points and the unit re-tested nice and consistent. Perfect!


Video showing the testing procedure in action along with a better description of the voltage regulator.




The test setup.

Back together we go.

Now to get the original oil pressure gauge up and running. I grounded the sensor wire under the hood and powered on the gauges with the key....the oil pressure gauge went all the way to High.... Perfect! The gauge itself is working! Next up I removed the tubing that runs to the aftermarket mechanical gauge that the previous owner installed and installed a proper new oil pressure sending unit in it's place. I ended up completely removing the mechanical oil pressure gauge and tubing.


Video of the oil pressure gauge testing process:

Yeah buddy....all the gauges working great now! Drove around a good portion of the day and they all operated smoothly and consistently. Nice having all the OEM gauges working!

Hodakaguy

 

[knuckle47]

Gauges - 2nd time's a charm! Getting the Temp & Fuel gauge working again on the 40! And lets not forget that oil pressure gauge.

After cleaning the connections on the circuit board last time the fuel & temp gauge started working again....for a bit. On the first drive the gauges quit again shortly into the drive...came back on....then quit again. Time to investigate.

After some internet sleuthing it looks like the voltage regulator on the back of the fuel gauge is the most likely culprit. Time to take the gauge cluster back apart again.

Disassembled. Now that the gauges are out of the housing I can inspect the suspect Fuel Gauge.

The fuel gauge is supplied by 12v that feeds a built in voltage regulator, the voltage is then reduced to 6v to run both the fuel gauge and temperature gauge. If the regulator is malfunctioning both the fuel and temp gauges will stop working. The regulator is a bi-metallic unit and when current flows through the regulator the unit heats up, expands and opens a set of contacts breaking the circuit, it then cools down again the closes the contacts. This cycle is continuous and the average voltage equals 6v.

The rear of the fuel gauge.

Here you can see the voltage regulator (The U shaped flat metal piece) and it's contact points. If these points get dirty over the years the regulator can stop functioning correctly (see Below).

Testing the voltage regulator: I tested my regulator and found that is was performing inconsistently. I ended up dressing/cleaning the contact points and the unit re-tested nice and consistent. Perfect!


Video showing the testing procedure in action along with a better description of the voltage regulator.




The test setup.

Back together we go.

Now to get the original oil pressure gauge up and running. I grounded the sensor wire under the hood and powered on the gauges with the key....the oil pressure gauge went all the way to High.... Perfect! The gauge itself is working! Next up I removed the tubing that runs to the aftermarket mechanical gauge that the previous owner installed and installed a proper new oil pressure sending unit in it's place. I ended up completely removing the mechanical oil pressure gauge and tubing.


Video of the oil pressure gauge testing process:

Yeah buddy....all the gauges working great now! Drove around a good portion of the day and they all operated smoothly and consistently. Nice having all the OEM gauges working!

Hodakaguy

Thanks for this excellent tutorial… I feel like I’m ready to go full power into the dash cluster if I should ever develop any instrument problems….
Dealt with a 30A / 50A gauge swap that took a little bit of reverse engineering…. I just hope I don’t ever need to actually do it.

 

[Hodakaguy]

Pops and I took the 40 for a ride up in the hills today. Weather was windy but sunny & beautiful on this winters day.

Hodakaguy

 

[MOTOV8R]

Thanks Mate. I've always referred to them as a FJ. Everyone call them 40's?

Hodakaguy

F is everything with an F, 2F, or 3F engine. J is basically all land cruisers. The 4 denotes everything with the body style like your FJ40, the last digit is different derivatives (long wheel base, short wheel base, etc). So when you say FJ you basically are dentoing any FJ* vehicle which includes FJ4*, FJ5*, FJ6*, FJ7*, FJ8*, and with the addition of the FJ Cruiser, most of those owners call them FJ’s. So technically you aren’t wrong just not very specific and maybe not what you intending. 40 or 40 series or J4 are a lot more specific references.

 

[Hodakaguy]

F is everything with an F, 2F, or 3F engine. J is basically all land cruisers. The 4 denotes everything with the body style like your FJ40, the last digit is different derivatives (long wheel base, short wheel base, etc). So when you say FJ you basically are dentoing any FJ* vehicle which includes FJ4*, FJ5*, FJ6*, FJ7*, FJ8*, and with the addition of the FJ Cruiser, most of those owners call them FJ’s. So technically you aren’t wrong just not very specific and maybe not what you intending. 40 or 40 series or J4 are a lot more specific references.

Thanks for the explanation

Hodakaguy

 

[Hodakaguy]

Playing with the Insta360 Camera on today's drive. Trying out a few different camera angles. Brought along the drone but it was a bit windy for the little guy.....next time.



Hodakaguy

 

[Hodakaguy]

My E-brake is talking to me...

When I purchased my 40 the E-brake was adjusted waaaaaay loose to the point it wasnt functuoning. I adjusted it back where it should be but when driving you could hear the brake scraping/rubbing when you come to a stop/take off from a stop. I loosened it back up with a plan to look at it soon.

Fast forward to this weekend....ran to town and started hearing the rubbing noise again when coming to a stop. Noticed if I pulled the e-brake handle just a tad when the noise was happening it would go away, confirming that it's the e-brake causing the problem. When I got home and looked under the rig the e-brake drum was HOT....smoking hot! I threw a fan on it with a plan to investigate in the morning.

Next morning I pulled the drive line and removed the E-brake drum. Yep there's the problem! The driver's side retainer pin was missing and the retainer clip was loose inside. This was allowing the back side of the driver side brake shoe to scrape on the back side of the drum, and causing the right shoe to wear away on the drum.

With a Sunny weekend calling the 40's name I removed the E-brake shoes & hardware then re-assembled the drum & driveline. I'll install new components soon along with a double seal on the output shaft.

Snagging some fuel on the way to lunch.

Pops trying it out. He loved it!

Hodakaguy