LJ70 Diesel in Canadian winters (1 Viewer)

[jackthornton64]

Hey folks!

I live in Canada where it can get down to -35 (celsius) some days in the winter. I'm looking to purchase a Toyota Landcruiser LJ70 (1987) and a bit nervous about two things in winter; the diesel engine and the FRP top.

Any insight on the cold start sequence, and if anyone's had modern diesel gel up on them and render the vehicle un-startable? I don't have a heated garage, so I'm worried I won't be able to get it going in winter.

As for the top - how well insulated is the FRP top? Has anyone installed a roof rack over one of these?

Thanks!

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

You can buy a block heater from NAPA for the pre 1989 2LT's. I'd recommend that at least. Run a lighter weight oil in winter also (Rotella 5w40 maybe?). I have started my 2LTE in -27C with no block heater before, but it was hard on it. I've since installed one. Go with an OEM t-stat, as they seal well and will help the motor warm up faster.

Can't comment on the FRP top.

 

[FJBen]

I've got an FRP top, zero issues with it being cold. In fact it may be warmer as it won't cold soak like metal. It takes just a little bit to warm up but thats mainly diesel in the cold, and 1980's heat/A/C technology. A block heater, or a really good one gets you instant heat. Once going, stays warm to me. Adding seat heaters would make it feel much warmer to start.

As for roof racks, search away on here. Depends on how much weight and what you want up there. A few different philosophies on how to do it. @TRAIL TAILOR is making racks for the FRP tops again.

I'm not in Canada, I did have days of below zero, and the coldest this year I think was -26C with windchill much colder.
It started in under 10 seconds with 2 glows of the system. Different engine than an LJ, but as stated, lighter oil and a cheap block heater will greatly help starts and save wear/tear. As long as you put a block heater, or radiator hose heater you won't have issues at all with cold starts.

 

[Squash]

Get a convection heater. Taps into the block drain, most likely a 14mm deep socket will remove this.
So intake via block drain is low and tap into mixing valve via a "Y" fitting. These work tremendously well and normally offer a 1/4 heat on the gauge.
Select defrost when plugging it in for max efficiency.
They range about $100.00

 

[coldtaco]

Espar or Webasto coolant heater

 

[robmobile73]

I have a bj73 with an FRP top. I bought an inexpensive 84-inch arksen roof rack off of Amazon for less than $200. I shortened it 6in to fit the bj73 top. I bought two sticks unistrut galvanized channel from Lowe's. It's next to the conduit in the electrical section. this channel was then cut to the length of the roof rack and bolted to the bottom of the roof rack using standard conduit clamps. This stiffens the roof rack and spreads out the load. currently it is held to the roof with four bolts that go straight through the top of the roof. thick rubber washers, fender washers, and copious amounts of RTV we're used to bond this to the roof. There are no leaks. I have not however loaded it beyond capacity of the roof rack other than me walking on it when it was loaded down. Using a heavy bead of RTV the full length of the unistrut gluing it to the top of the roof in addition to bolting it down would truly help spread the load and less than some of the creaking when it vibrates but I have not done this yet.
On the cold, I used to run a 4bt off of a vegetable oil gasoline mixture. When it dropped below freezing and the vehicle would not start in cold I would boil a pot of water on the stove in the house and then pour it over the injection pump. This worked for me several times in a pinch I did not have a block heater. in addition to a block heater I think running a anti gel additive in your diesel would be helpful for extreme cold.

 

[ALEXY]

Webasto . u can find models that can be hardwired to a switch and dont need a computer to run. mine is connected to a gps tracker that has a sim card, so I can text message to the gps and that turns on a relay that starts the webasto. the whole will run untill coolant temperature reaches 70 deg, then stops itself for a while.
I spent under 200 euros to buy second hand and install it myself. tested down to -20, starts without any issue. U can also find a webasto specific timer and set it to start at a chosen time.