Builds I happened upon a 100 Series 4 month build (1 Viewer)

[TEXAS 57]

So I'm guessing it's a UV dye and you use a blacklight? That's pretty interesting.

Yes that is correct. You can see the multiple bright pinholes all the way down the hose. I got a new off EBay for about $30 made in USA item.
Kind of odd as I rarely see hoses fail. My 1970 Vette has OG hoses on it and blows cold.

 

[PabloCruise]

About a week ago, we were dropping my dad’s Trailblazer SS off and swapping kids over to the LC and my wife said she heard a noise when she started it up. It started making the noise again right there. I popped the hood and saw the fan wobbling… Fan Bracket. I assume it wasn’t done with the first timing belt job around 100k.
It was wobbling pretty good fellas. While waiting to turn right on red, I felt and heard it lock up once. I didn’t know if we were going to make it home but my wife was driving a chase car (my 3rd Gen 4Runner) so we went for it and got home with no issues. Amazingly, I bought two kits a month prior to do both timing belts (LX470 also) as it was close to time. I got new fan brackets, water pumps, tensioners, timing idlers, heater hoses (in that area), thermostats, serpentine pulleys, tensioner, and belts. All Denso and Koyo parts and Mitsuboshi belts.View attachment 2788228View attachment 2788229
It wasn’t too bad of a job. Having to remove the AC compressor was my least favorite part.
I also cleaned out the Throttle Body butterfly while I was in there with WD-40 and I toothbrush.
View attachment 2788227
All done and back together. I will burp the system over the next couple of days.
View attachment 2788231
Should be good for another 100k miles!

FYI for next time, you don't have to remove AC compressor, just the front bolts that are mutual to the compressor and fan bracket.

 

[nem3sis]

Thanks so much for sharing - learned so much on this thread!

 

[TEXAS 57]

Wow. Just realized I haven’t done hardly anything to this rig other than Oil Changes, Greasing, Air Filters and a battery. It’s been my wife’s daily for a good while now.
I decided to go ahead and swap the shift knob. I got a new unit off eBay and installed it this weekend.
Mom did a good job for never doing this before but a new one sure will look better.

Shift lock down, put it in 1st, removed the 2 little screws, hold the button (it will shoot out and lose the spring) and pull up and it is out.

Unpinned the 2 blue wires from the connector and pulled right out. Remember to lift that little plastic lock.

Side by side:

All buttoned up and looks great!

Now while doing this I found that the E Brake handle won’t pull up. After some assessment, I found that the cable is seized somewhere between the handle and the rear end.
Both rear pulls are fine and free.
I started squirting some PB Blaster down the sleeve to see if it will free up but it seems very frozen.

 

[TEXAS 57]

A couple issues have popped up lately.

First one is the the Fuel Gauge would read empty with the light on with a Full Tank. It would very slowly go up as I drove.

Fuel Sending Unit was bad so ordered a new one. Pulled the seats, carpet, and cleaned.

Screen looked good. I went ahead and sprayed it out with Brake Parts Cleaner.
I contemplated buying the whole fuel pump assembly (since I just had to do it to the LX) but didn’t.

Found this little rubber baffle that fell off at some point for the return at the bottom of the tank. Tank was super clean. No debris on bottom.

Old vs New.

Cleaned the seals and put everything back together.

Fuel gauge shoots right back up where it should be.

 

[TEXAS 57]

Not content, I had to find out what went wrong. Sometimes you can clean these and they work again. This old one had dirty contacts. I took ohm readings and the would intermittently work.
Cleaned it at and still didn’t work. Bent the arm so it would contact more and still no luck. To the trash!

Issue 2: having some AC issues (of course it’s 100* plus here in Houston.
I have the dreaded blinking AC light. Seperate thread here:

AC Gurus - I need your guidance - Blinking light

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[TEXAS 57]

With the AC not working and a lack of diagnosis time, I have bitten the bullet and taken her to a shop to diagnose. They went through all the same diagnostics and led them to the the AC amplifier. They are waiting on parts and should be done soon.

 

[open country]

Just read through your thread, awesome work so far. I have 2 kids under 3 so appreciate your prioritizing family versus cruiser hobby along the way like I do.

 

[TEXAS 57]

Just read through your thread, awesome work so far. I have 2 kids under 3 so appreciate your prioritizing family versus cruiser hobby along the way like I do.

Yep! I coach two Little League Teams so I am gone most of the week and weekends. I do a little work at a time.

 

[TEXAS 57]

Interesting thing here. The torque converter let go in my LX470 after 407k miles so I called the shop and asked to come get the truck back.
I paid for a couple hours diagnostics time and that was about it. They were pretty sure they narrowed it down to the AC Amplifier.

I pick the LC up and drove it home. AC worked the whole way.
After that, I drove it to work and back and the AC worked the whole time. Wife took it to work for a week and it only went out once and restarted after flipping the switch once.

It hasn’t gone out since then. It is still brutally hot here in the Houston area… so odd…

 

[TEXAS 57]

The parking brake cable seized up about a year ago. I kept shooting PB blaster into the cable sleeve a few times and it never broke loose so I went and bought a new one.more of a pain than most as I had to take the center console out completely.

New part Brake Cable #1

Had to pull everything out. I threw some heat shield/ sound deadener down on the floor pan (to try to block some more cup holder heat). I also took the USB outlet for the CarPlay unit out of the center console and moved it to the driver kick panel (the reason the AC / Radio cluster is out).
Also, notice the L Seat cover breaking down.

I had to cut the old one out as I couldn’t release the cable catch through the floor board until I got it out. Pretty straight forward but taking out the console takes a lot of time.

Parking brake works great!

 

[TEXAS 57]

With the condenser fan not working, I ordered a Dorman unit from Rockauto to replace old bad unit after testing it. Easy 20-25 min swap. Works better all the time now, especially at stoplights. Old unit:

 

[TEXAS 57]

Blinking AC light seems to be getting worse, now. RRRRrrrrr...

Also, just ordered Ridies replacement seat covers for the front in the Napa Leather option with the center console (in case colors don’t match).

Luckily, the truck is doing great mechanically.

I jumped in on a good deal that came across and bought a new AC Amplifier #1 Part 88650-60350 and bought a used 88650-60361 (AC Amplifier #2) from the EBay. All of my diagnostics has led me to these as I have found no other issues with the other components.

I replaced AC Amp #1 today. The old one was dirty (not sure if that does anything. We shall see.

 

[TEXAS 57]

I got updates! We almost made it a week before the AC light blinked- OH NO!!!!
It was acting up really bad the day before I switched AC AMP #1 and it seems to be Working fine until yesterday the blinked once. I have only installed AC AMP #1. I have the used AC AMP #2 that I will install in about 1 more week. I really wanted to replace one at a time to try to diagnose what went wrong.

My Ridies Napa Leather seat covers came in today. I have also ordered qty 2 of the Dorman 628-040 Seat Heater Assembly as ours is not working for some undiagnosed reason (just in case). The leather looks and feels real good and is a much closer grain match to the OEM seat texture.

 

[TEXAS 57]

This weekend I pulled the seats and got busy.
The arm rests had a lot of crushed foam padding so I cut up a dense pipe insulation and glued it on. Man, this made a huge difference for the better.

I trimmed the edges to soften the lines. You can’t even see it.

Oh the tear down… again…

 

[TEXAS 57]

Here is the first new bottom on compared to the LSeat.

Lookin’ good…

The old seat covers. You can see the vinyl shredding…

 

[TEXAS 57]

Side by side comparison

Ridies still hasn't fixed this clip and there is no way it will fit. I drilled some holes and screwed it down.

I did not steam them and probably won't. Texas heat will get that in a month or two.

My thoughts on the two:

1. Ridies Napa Leather has a nicer texture and softer feel than the LSeat with the rougher grain and firm "plastic like" feel.
The headrest holes around the headrest bars were finished much nicer on the LSeat.
2. LSeat uses plastic clips on the headrests and armrests which secures better and pulls tighter than the Velcro attachments on the Ridies. The finished look in these spots is much better on the LSeat.
3. The plastic clip for the bottom of the seat back is just wrong on the Ridies. LSeat was perfect. I can't believe this hasn't bee addressed yet.
4. Some of the wires for Hog Rings that you reuse were very difficult to install on poorly sewn wire guides on the Ridies. I had to straighten one of the hooked ends to get it too work and it was still difficult.
5. LSeat install was easier all the way around.
6. With Ridies, I ordered a center console cover (I will do later) and received it but got another cover that seems larger. I have no idea what that is supposed to be.
7. The Ridies came with extra leather and 2 large Pockets (I assume these are for the seat backs). I did not use them.
8. The initial fit and finish of the LSeat was better. Hopefully, after natural shrinkage, the Ridies will fit better.
9. The Ridies was twice the price, time will tell if it was worth it. The LSeat lasted 5 years almost exactly. This truck is parked in a garage.

 

[Jack90210]

Just want to say that this is a great thread, and I appreciate you sharing the small details of the various projects. This truck has come a long way!

 

[imhighlander]

Really enjoyed this thread. Thanks for tracking your progress and congratulations on the outcome.

 

[TEXAS 57]

Huge News on the AC BLINKING LIGHT issue!
I turned the Land Cruiser into Katy L & T (Lexus and Toyota) and the wonderful owner there, Miguel, suggested that the 3 knob control panel (that I changed out a few years ago from the Multifunction Display) was not responding correctly so I bought another one. A week later it came in and I swapped it out and it worked great for a day and then started the blinking again. I have literally changed every part of the AC system out now. Recalling what Miguel said from the shop and the fact that the problem kept getting worse, I figured it was in the wiring.
I took the Wire Wrap off of the soldered joints and remelted every single one. That was 3 weeks ago. Guess what? No issues and we have taken it through many different driving conditions.
So glad to have that fixed.
@TXSunDevil - if you hear of this issue, I would suggest remelting the SolderSeal connectors.

We did get a nicer AC Control Panel too. The old one had a couple of buttons that did not work so I will replace those later.

Look at the color and laminate difference and the newer one has a little Toyota emblem below the center diff lock button. Newer one on right.