In Deep…

[mtcruze]

Hey y’all,
Long time lurker, first time Land Cruiser owner. Looks like an introduction is recommended for a first timer, so here goes mine.

Recently bought a 2007 Land Cruiser 100 with 275000 miles on it, and I got it at a discount because it needed so much work. The three previous owners kept up with oil changes and some of the other routine fluids, but otherwise, the truck has 20 year-old truck maintenance needs. There was a pretty significant oil leak that left oil all over the underside of the engine that I suspected was valve cover gaskets that had never been changed. The CV axle boots were leaking and caked with grease. The radiator had a two time history of coolant issues that needed new radiators. The wheel hub bearings have only been changed and greased one time in its life as far as I can tell from the maintenance records. So, knowing that I would probably put about 6 or $7000 into the car for new parts, I got it for $7000. Probably overpriced with the amount of work that it needed, but I’m pretty handy and I enjoy fixing things. Thus far, i’m at $7500 and I have done the following to rebaseline the vehicle:

Power steering pump
Water pump
Fan clutch
Timing belt
All of the pulleys (all of them)
Hydraulic tensioner
Serpentine belt
All the rubber hoses that I can get my hands on without being a contortionist
Valve cover gaskets
Spark plug gaskets
Spark plugs
New radiator
New steering rack
Tie rod ends
Front wheel hub bearings changed and repacked with grease
Inner knuckle dust seals
New CV axle boots but kept the old CV axles
New hub flanges
New hub flange studs
New flange, nuts, and washers
New snap rings for CV axles
New oil cooler adapter. (can’t remember the exact name for this)
New “8-ring” for the oil cooler assembly
New O-ring for the oil cooler assembly
Front upper ball joint dust boots
Front stabilizer bar cushions and all front differential bushings
Intake manifold, gaskets
Rubber hoses for the secondary air injection system (the original ones had turned to plastic)
All associated fluids


Future things that I have parts for or am planning on doing:

New control arm bushings, front and rear upper and lower
Rear wheel bearings
Repair whatever is wrong with the sunroof (that’s gonna take some time)
Change the rear differential fluid
Possibly replace the vinyl reupholstered driver and passenger seat (the last owner had them reupholstered, but if I can get some leather seats in good condition for not too much, I might swap them if someones got ‘em)


Things that I wouldn’t mind some advice on:

The third row does not get hot air when the heater is on. I suspect that there’s probably something wrong with the heater cord, but this isn’t something that I have dived into just yet. I flushed gently the heater cores with distilled water by hooking up In and Out lines at the heater tees before they bifurcate. Didn’t get anything weird looking out of that. It now has new pink coolant too.

I’ve read in some posts that if the starter seems original (it looks like it) that it should be changed prophylactically. Curious about the wisdom of doing this versus just having a spare on hand versus changing it preemptively before my first remote overland trip.

I’ve also snapped a number of wire harness connectors because it’s a Texas car and while we don’t have rust issues, everything dries out. Wondering if folks eventually crimp new connectors on or go the RTV route like I’ve done.

If there any other preemptive maintenance I should consider, happy to read suggestions. As y’all can tell, I’m pretty comfortable doing stuff in my driveway—even if my HOA is not.

Heater core*

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Welcome. Pics always encouraged. As for the heater, it doesn't blow into the third row, the heater is under the driver's seat and blows from the bottom of the center console. You only get AC in the rear upper vents. Good thing to read your owner's manual. I don't see the plastic heater t's called out in your list, I'd look at those. Otherwise, drive it.

 

[mtcruze]

Nice. Yeah I heard about those heater tees. The prior radiator was replaced 7,000 miles ago with new tees, so while I put in a toyota radiator to replace the prior dorman brand, I’m going to watch these current tees closely and replace them with oem ones I have as soon as I even think there’s a problem.

Definitely the manual. It’s pretty good, and I set up a whole maintenance schedule from it though I might cut some of the intervals down a bit since it’s old. Reminds me, I have to grease the prop shaft.

Weird about the third row heat. I attached some pictures, but the controls in the third row seem to suggest hot air.

My power steering column tilt also only goes up and down while the action and arrows indicate it should telescope as well. If no quick answers, I’ll search the forums.

Thanks for the words.

 

[Leisurely Cruiser]

Welcome. You've been quite thorough so far so only a few things come to mind to add to your list.

Number one and most important I would say is check your front ball joints. You mentioned re-booting the uppers but make sure the lowers haven't developed play. I caught mine with about a quarter inch of up and down play just because I was fidgeting with one while I had the knuckle off for another job, I had no idea from the drivers seat.

Next there is a third bearing (called the spindle bearing) in the front knuckle that often gets overlooked but is supposed to be greased just like the front wheel bearings. As yours likely have never been greased, or only once, they may be in need of attention.

Lastly both the front and rear driveshaft slip yokes and u joints are all supposed to be greased regularly. Since its been awhile since they have been it might be a good idea to just take both drive shafts out to disassemble and clean the slip yokes to start fresh.

p.s. actually actuate your center diff lock a few times before you get in a spot where you need or want it for an obstacle, when they are not used for extended periods of time they can gum up and may not work when requested. If you find yours does work well exercise it every month or two to keep it that way. if not fresh transfer case oil may help or it may need to be cleaned.

 

[Leisurely Cruiser]

Weird about the third row heat. I attached some pictures, but the controls in the third row seem to suggest hot air.

My power steering column tilt also only goes up and down while the action and arrows indicate it should telescope as well. If no quick answers, I’ll search the forums.

Yes the third row control controls the hot air dispensed from around the rear of the center console the in roof vents dispense air that is the same temp as the interior cabin or cooler.

The steering wheel is telescopic but it is often broken with the only fix being to replace the whole telescoping motor in the steering column most choose not the fix it due to the cost and it being just a nice to have. If you take off the lower covers around the steering column and gain access to the motor I have heard you can manually spin it to position the steering wheel where you want it.

 

[mtcruze]

Wow, 1/4” is a lot. I’ll check mine next thing. I worked a but if grease into the spindle bearing but I admit it was a bit half-hearted. That said, I slathered every possible other greasable surface with grease including around that bearing, so maybe that ought to do it? Sigh…probably just take the hub off and do it right….

Good words on the on the center diff “exercise”, slip yokes, and u-joints. I might do those yokes and joints when I replace control arm bushings. Speaking of which, I have only a 12-ton press. That adequate to press out the bushings or is something bigger typically needed? It was adequate for one of the diff mount bushings with some heat.

Good to know about the rear heat. As for the steering wheel, I’m on the shorter side of the average guy, so yeah I’ll either look into manually spinning it.

 

[Zuberg]

Welcome! Clean looking truck and solid work thus far.

Starter is great thing to swap at those miles, especially while doing intake manifold gaskets and injector seals.

Could be the angle but your brake fluid may be overfilled (judging from engine bay pic). Hard to tell though. Follow the manual's procedure for setting fluid level.

 

[mtcruze]

Welcome! Clean looking truck and solid work thus far.

Starter is great thing to swap at those miles, especially while doing intake manifold gaskets and injector seals.

Could be the angle but your brake fluid may be overfilled (judging from engine bay pic). Hard to tell though. Follow the manual's procedure for setting fluid level.

Yeah, prior owner’s overfilling, but I’ll probably be bleeding the brakes as part of a brake job soon anyways.

On another note, doing all this work myself has been a good way to learn the truck thoroughly just like I have my other cars. If anyone is just starting out turning wrenches and viewing this thread, I’m happy to share what I’ve learned and some good video online. I bought some new tools (like flex head wrenches and such) as part of this, but only found certain ones super useful. Otherwise, much of this maintenance can be done with the basics I find.

 

[RapidRob]

WOW! Unbelievably clean underneath, congratulations on a great buy.

 

[LC Lurker]

Was the 275,000 miles on a fkn magic carpet? That thing is clean as hell underneath. It doesn’t look like it’s ever touched a road. I’ve never seen any vehicle look that good in the undercarriage. Wow.

Keep it forever. Holy smokes, nice find.

 

[mtcruze]

WOW! Unbelievably clean underneath, congratulations on a great buy.

That’s after maaaaany hours of scrubbing with dollar store brushes and about 1.5 liters of dawn dish soap and 12 cans of brakleen haha! To do all of the repairs, took me probably around 60 hours total but probably 15 hours of that was cleaning all the leaked oil off!

Was the 275,000 miles on a fkn magic carpet? That thing is clean as hell underneath. It doesn’t look like it’s ever touched a road. I’ve never seen any vehicle look that good in the undercarriage. Wow.

Keep it forever. Holy smokes, nice find.

Yeah this might be a car I keep until I’m too old to drive. But I gotta keep my eye out for a diesel when that 25 year mark comes up, too.

It’s that clean underneath because of three things: Dawn dish soap, 12 cans of brakleen, and 15 hours of elbow grease haha. I should’ve taken before pictures when it was all caked with oil and grease. Some pictures below taken for other reasons, but all the caked on crap before cleaning is visible. I think it was years of a slowish leak that the owner didn’t do anything about. Cleaning was definitely the worst part of the job by far.

 

[Bex]

Very nice truck. I'm also in Houston with a 2007 rolling around 236k right now. I'm about halfway on your list with more coming. Just replacing everything possible even if it isn't bad, due to mileage. I similarly plan to keep it for a long time....the starter is one where you might as well do it for the price of a tow truck these days, lost time if working, etc since you don't know where it will let go and God forbid its on a beach trip or something. Also looks like you don't have the AHC which is a help financially if you're trying to save the system.

Anyhow enjoy the truck, there are many 100s in Houston and they are a blessing when it rains, just an AWD tank.

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[Bex]

Maybe one more thing to add to the list for trucks at these milages. I've been wanting to get the injectors cleaned / balanced and I've seen several places online in Houston can do them. Not sure if needed but can't hurt

 

[OwnerCS]

Welcome to the Club! You have joined a group with a bunch of owners who have done the same upgrades. I call it a mid-life refresh because you are preparing the truck for another 25 years of service.

You have a sweet one there to be proud of.

For my first 100, I had to replace both the tilt and telescopic motors because both had failed from 20+ years of use. As soon as I replaced the motors, I used TechStream to shut off the "Auto Away" wheel function. I would rather periodically set my steering wheel position instead of having it move every time I start it. On my GX470, I got one of my friends with TechStream to shut it off since I only need to use it to change something once every 5 or 6 years.

 

[OwnerCS]

Maybe one more thing to add to the list for trucks at these milages. I've been wanting to get the injectors cleaned / balanced and I've seen several places online in Houston can do them. Not sure if needed but can't hurt

At this age, it is good to get injectors cleaned, and o-rings, screens, and pintle caps replaced. Mine with over 300,000 miles ran like new after getting injectors serviced as part of a starter replacement. There should be good places in the Houston area to do it. Just make sure they replace ALL o-rings.

 

[mtcruze]

Very nice truck. I'm also in Houston with a 2007 rolling around 236k right now. I'm about halfway on your list with more coming. Just replacing everything possible even if it isn't bad, due to mileage. I similarly plan to keep it for a long time....the starter is one where you might as well do it for the price of a tow truck these days, lost time if working, etc since you don't know where it will let go and God forbid its on a beach trip or something. Also looks like you don't have the AHC which is a help financially if you're trying to save the system.

Anyhow enjoy the truck, there are many 100s in Houston and they are a blessing when it rains, just an AWD tank.

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Yeah, a few folks have mentioned the starter. I’m going to look into options for that but my checking account might need to take a breather. Those things look oddly expensive though I feel like a diy rebuild is an option? If you’re doing what I’m doing to my 07, let me know if you run into any trouble. I was surprised as to how smooth some things went that I expected to be a pain in the keester.

Welcome to the Club! You have joined a group with a bunch of owners who have done the same upgrades. I call it a mid-life refresh because you are preparing the truck for another 25 years of service.

You have a sweet one there to be proud of.

For my first 100, I had to replace both the tilt and telescopic motors because both had failed from 20+ years of use. As soon as I replaced the motors, I used TechStream to shut off the "Auto Away" wheel function. I would rather periodically set my steering wheel position instead of having it move every time I start it. On my GX470, I got one of my friends with TechStream to shut it off since I only need to use it to change something once every 5 or 6 years.

Thanks! The cruiser community is really something I gotta say. Also my telescopic motor is also on the fritz because I only get tilt, so I’m going to look more into this and stopping the auto away. I’m the only one really driving it and I’m good to just leave it one place. Someone else said you can manually wind things to the right position, but yeah. More to investigate.

At this age, it is good to get injectors cleaned, and o-rings, screens, and pintle caps replaced. Mine with over 300,000 miles ran like new after getting injectors serviced as part of a starter replacement. There should be good places in the Houston area to do it. Just make sure they replace ALL o-rings.

I did contemplate this while I was changing the intake manifold gaskets. That wasn’t too bad of a job, so when I can get my ford exploder to stop throwing codes for the evap and emissions system, I can take my cruiser apart again for a few days for this. I think I saw some videos to do injectors diy, so might go that way.

I just placed a big order with Impex but had to wait the long lead time, so depending on how that goes, I will probably put injectors and starter on the medium-term future list.

So far, I’m about 15k into this car with 7k for purchase and 8k in parts. Doing all the work myself has been ovviously an enormous cost saver. Work I have left:

- Rear axle seals and bearings
- Front and rear prop shaft disassembly/u-joint replacement and regreasing
- Replacement of all suspensiom bushings (front and rear control arms and panhard bar)
- Starter
- Fuel injectors



Thanks everyone for their tips!

 

[OwnerCS]

Yeah, a few folks have mentioned the starter. I’m going to look into options for that but my checking account might need to take a breather. Those things look oddly expensive though I feel like a diy rebuild is an option? If you’re doing what I’m doing to my 07, let me know if you run into any trouble. I was surprised as to how smooth some things went that I expected to be a pain in the keester.



Thanks! The cruiser community is really something I gotta say. Also my telescopic motor is also on the fritz because I only get tilt, so I’m going to look more into this and stopping the auto away. I’m the only one really driving it and I’m good to just leave it one place. Someone else said you can manually wind things to the right position, but yeah. More to investigate.


I did contemplate this while I was changing the intake manifold gaskets. That wasn’t too bad of a job, so when I can get my ford exploder to stop throwing codes for the evap and emissions system, I can take my cruiser apart again for a few days for this. I think I saw some videos to do injectors diy, so might go that way.

I just placed a big order with Impex but had to wait the long lead time, so depending on how that goes, I will probably put injectors and starter on the medium-term future list.

So far, I’m about 15k into this car with 7k for purchase and 8k in parts. Doing all the work myself has been ovviously an enormous cost saver. Work I have left:

- Rear axle seals and bearings
- Front and rear prop shaft disassembly/u-joint replacement and regreasing
- Replacement of all suspensiom bushings (front and rear control arms and panhard bar)
- Starter
- Fuel injectors



Thanks everyone for their tips!

Here's a southern build approach taken from the middle eastern basic models without a rear heater to eliminate heater Ts. I have only run the rear heater one time to see if it worked. Since the rear heater hose and heater cores are over 25 years old, I chose to go simple and go direct to the cabin heater core.
I learned about this from @cruiserpatch who lives in GA.

 

[mtcruze]

Here's a southern build approach taken from the middle eastern basic models without a rear heater to eliminates heater Ts. I have only run the rear heater one time to see if it worked. Since the rear heater hose and heater cores are over 25 years old, I chose to go simple and go direct to the cabin heater core.
I learned about this from @cruiserpatch who lives in GA.

View attachment 4113301

Wish my engine looked like that under the manifold……

I notice you don’t have a secondary air injection system, either. Maybe when this truck gets old enough and more disintegration happens, I’ll bypass it.

 

[OwnerCS]

Wish my engine looked like that under the manifold……

I notice you don’t have a secondary air injection system, either. Maybe when this truck gets old enough and more disintegration happens, I’ll bypass it.

It is a 2002 model before VVTi.

 

[cruiserpatch]

Here's a southern build approach taken from the middle eastern basic models without a rear heater to eliminates heater Ts. I have only run the rear heater one time to see if it worked. Since the rear heater hose and heater cores are over 25 years old, I chose to go simple and go direct to the cabin heater core.
I learned about this from @cruiserpatch who lives in GA.

I went this route in my 100 since I rarely use the rear heater. The nice thing is that it's 100% reversible if I ever do go back to it.

For those who want to keep it, I've got lots of heater tee & hose kits in stock at the moment. Sold out of the delete kits for now but more are on their way from Japan.

I even developed a delete kit for the 200 because many guys have to delete the rear heater to fit big tires.

Above^ 100 heater tee delete kit in '99 LX470