Build My "ran when parked" Land Cruiser from Craigslist

[elizle]

I took the AFM off a couple weeks ago and cleaned it with a q tip and retested it. The numbers were in spec now, so either it was dirty or I didn't test it correctly the first time. I'm going to buy some sensor safe Permatex and reseal it. When reassembling everything, I made sure the clamps on the intake hoses were tight. The ground wire on the fuel pump assembly broke and was corroded, so I drilled the rivet out and replaced it with a new wire.

My truck starts now. Maybe the ground was the problem all along, maybe the intake wasn't pulling the AFM open, or maybe the AFM was dirty.

I have to get paperwork for the BMV from the previous owner because my hand writing is too sloppy for them to read the date of sale on the title. He also still has the spare tire. I'm going to get more information about the blown fuses, but I have at least solved the problem with it not starting. I'm going to fix more wiring issues as I find them.

I while I was putting the intake back together, I found a broken vacuum line that I can barely get the hose to stay on. If anyone has any ideas on fixing it, I'm open to suggestions. I may just cut it loose from the bracket that holds it, so I can push the hose on further.

 

[elizle]

UPS delivered some small things from Toyota Direct. I mounted the kick panel relays in the proper location instead of letting them dangle and replaced the missing license plate light, lens, and gasket. I went and got paperwork and the spare tire from the previous owner the weekend. Just got my paper plates, so I'm almost ready to take it on a proper shakedown test. Just gotta figure out how to remove the old check valve from the air injection pump without bending the tube that it's connected to. I tried PB Blaster and it's still really on there. Probably need a wrench on the other side to keep it from twisting.

 

[elizle]

Been too busy working on and driving my Land Cruiser to post updates. I finally got my title and plates. I drove it to the gas station, filled the tank up for $68, and drove it to a park to take pictures.

 

[elizle]

Finally got the check valve for the air pump off of the air injection rail, so I was able to put that back together. Third application of PB Blaster did the trick. I had to use a pipe wrench on the valve and a 22mm wrench to hold the rail in place. The 32mm wrench I bought was slightly too big, so it kept slipping. The hose doesn't fit quite right on the new one because the old one had rusted inside of it. I'll probably buy a hose and bend it into the right shape at some point, but I need to rebuild the front axle seals before I do anything else to it.

Also, I thought the headlights were a little dim, so I decided to become the most annoying person on the road and got some Amazon (RimThin) LEDs for $35.

Since I had the coolant reservoir pulled out to replace the headlights, I rinsed the gunk out of the bottom of it and put new red coolant in it. Definitely need to flush the coolant system because it probably hasn't been done for a while.

 

[60 toy ota]

I decided to become the most annoying person on the road and got some Amazon (RimThin) LEDs for $35.

Indeed! But seriously, if you haven't done much research you'll see that LED bulbs in housing that weren't designed for them (non-projector housings) not only are a huge nuisance to oncoming traffic but they actually put out less usable light for you as well, so it's a loose-loose. There's a few threads on here that cover this in depth but basically it puts out more light but it's way more scattered and you'll also experience a lot more glare in dusty/rainy/snowy conditions.

Fun to follow the updates, keep up the good work!

 

[elizle]

I started rebuilding my knuckles and realized I was not fully prepared. After making several trips to the Toyota Dealership, Harbor Freight, Napa, and Tractor Supply, I have the passenger's side knuckle torn down and I replaced the axle seal and top and bottom bearing races. I am waiting on tie rod ends and brake pads/rotors before I continue with the other side. The front diff was filled with forbidden pudding instead of gear oil. A lot of surprises, but I'm hoping to have it all put back together this weekend.

 

[elizle]

Finally got everything put back together Monday night. I kinda lost motivation when waiting for parts and powered through this weekend.

When taking the passenger's side apart, I noticed that one of the studs on the hub had been replaced by a bolt, so I ordered a couple of the correct studs from the Toyota Dealership on the south side of Indy. I also got some crush washers for the differential, since I am going to change the fluid after 500-1000 miles until the Birf pudding is out of gear oil. They charged me twice the MSRP for everything, so I ordered things online the next time I ended up needing things. I got brakes and tie rod ends from Napa. The Altrom tie rod ends were 555 brand, so that worked out well. They didn't have the drag link ends, so I ended up getting Suspensia brand from Rock Auto, which we will see how those hold up. The steering damper probably should have been replaced as well, but I had already bought more than I expected to and I decided to do that later. The tie rod ends were very seized. I applied PB Blaster and let them soak overnight a couple times. Finally, I bought an 18 inch pipe wrench, dowsed them in WD40 and they broke loose. Once I got the tie rods replaced, I continued rebuilding the front axle and I ended up breaking one of the 10mm on the back of the knuckle. I ended up buying those for Ourisman Toyota in Richmond, since I needed to order some parts for my FR-S and Toyota Direct doesn't ship Subaru parts. I bought a screw extraction kit from Menards and broke the drill bit trying to drill the bolt out. I took everything that I had put back together apart again, so I could drill at a better angle and got some titanium coated bits. I had better luck with those. I got the broken screw out and decided not to use my cordless ratchet on smaller bolts. Once the order from Ourisman came in, I put everything back together and started on the driver's side. Friday night, I got everything tore down to the knuckle. Everything was dirtier, caked in mud, and someone had used rtv sealant on the hub assembly, but everything went smoother because I knew what I was doing. I worked on cleaning everything and getting the new races installed on Saturday. Sunday, I got everything but the brakes put back together. Monday I finished up the brakes and cleaned the inside of the wheels and put those back on. I took it on a shakedown run to the carwash a mile or so from my house and got the grease off of the fenders and wherever else I had touched while working on it.

It seems to be driving better with the new steering components and wheel bearings. The steering seems a little loose and floaty though. I'm wondering if all the new components being stiffer have made me feel how bad the steering damper is, the alignment is also eyeballed for now, so that might be contributing to it. I plan on getting an alignment when I get new tires.

 

[elizle]

I looked over some things while it was warming up. It looks like there may be fluid leaking from the differential. I'll try and figure out where that is coming from exactly to see what I need to fix. I'll double-check the torque on the differential bolts before replacing seals, but it may be time to replace those. It also still has trouble going into first until it has warmed up, so I need to at the very least change the transmission fluid and see if it's just old and gunked up until it's warm enough to become viscous again. Slight clunk on deceleration, the splines on the flange looked fine, but I also might not know what to look for. There's a lot of things that are 30+ years old on this truck and a lot of them are rubber that needs to be replaced.

 

[elizle]

I don't think gear oil is leaking. Coolant is dripping from a hose directly above the diff.

 

[elizle]

The coolant leak is fixed. I ordered a couple feet of 3 different sizes of Gates hoses and only ended up using about 6 inches of it. I replaced the heater hose connected to the oil cooler and inspected the other hoses around it. That looked like the only one with oil damage. While I was under there, I saw a manufacture date on the radiator from 2022, so that's newish. I still need to fix the wheel stud from not properly torquing the lug nuts. Lesson learned.

I took my Land Cruiser on the interstate for the first time on Sunday. It drives great for an old truck. I'm sure once I get the old bushings replaced and some other things tightened up; it'll get even better. Cruise control works great. On the way home, I had been behind a semi that kept swerving from lane to lane, so I decided to get around it quickly. I put the pedal down a little and started hearing an awful exhaust leak sound. I thought I had blown a hole in the exhaust near the catalytic converter, but upon closer inspection, the O2 sensor ejected itself.

 

[elizle]

I also forgot to mention that I printed a new cupholder.

 

[elizle]

I fixed the exhaust leak/dangling o2 sensor on Saturday. I was going to drive it to my friend's house on the other side of town. I drove a few miles to a liquor store to pick up some seltzers and as I pulled out of the parking lot, the brakes didn't seem to feel right.

I pulled into a parking lot and saw fluid drips by the passenger's side front tire. Moved and pumped the brakes a bit and there was more brake fluid leaking out. I limped my truck home and got my car.

I put my GoPro under the truck on a tripod and found the leak pretty quickly. There's a bulge in the soft brake hose. Might as well replace them both considering how the rest of the rubber is.

 

[elizle]

I still haven't gotten the brake hoses replaced. Had no issue with the banjo bolts on the calipers, but the compression fittings are seized. I must have twisted and kinked one of the lines, so it looks like I am making another trip to Harbor Freight and I am learning how to flare brake lines this weekend.

 

[elizle]

That took longer than I expected it would. I got some 3/16 ni-copp line, but when I told them I needed an m10x1.0 flare nut, they looked at me confused, so I went to two other stores and they didn't have anything that would work either. I found one similar to the one that was seized made by S.U.R.&R. (BR270) and the best price/fastest shipping was on eBay, so I ordered it from there.

I finally got my brakes fixed just in time for the snow. I have been driving it all week and the brakes are working much better than before. I'm wondering if the brake line has always been kinked, or maybe the brakes needed bled better. On a side note, the power steering feels weak. I need to check the belt tension because the fluid is at the correct level.

 

[elizle]

Drove home from work. When I come to a stop, the front passengers side brake seems to get stuck. I'll try bleeding the brakes again and see if that helps.

 

[elizle]

Small update:
I ordered a seal kit for the brake cylinders and waited for them to arrive. When I went to take the caliper off, I noticed that one of the bolts was missing. The brake wasn't seizing; the caliper was grinding against the wheel. Limping it home 2 miles was enough to damage the wheel. I should have pulled into a parking lot when it started acting up, but hindsight is 20/20. I bought tools to move the tire from the bad wheel to the spare, messed up the tire trying to mount it and finally got a new tire mounted on Saturday. I decided to leave the calipers alone for the time being. I drove down the cul-de-sac and back and the brakes seem okay again. I'm going to double-check the torque on the driver's side caliper bolts before I drive it.

 

[elizle]

While my Land Cruiser was in the garage, I decided to let scope creep take over and flushed out some of the old fluids. I drained both diffs, the transfer, transmission, and power steering fluid. Transfer case fluid was black, back diff looked slightly better, but there was a bit more metal on the magnet that I like to see. Front diff is still filled with gray pudding. I will change that again in 500 miles or so. Also, I think the differential cover gasket needs replaced on the front diff, so I may just clean it out a little while I'm doing that. I sucked gunk out of the brake fluid reservoir until it was coming out clear and bled the brakes until the lines looked clear as well. Power steering fluid smelled burnt. After flushing the fluid, the power steering pump was groaning worse, so I took the reservoir off and cleaned it with foaming degreaser and brake clean until the screen was clear. The power steering is working better, but the belt squeals a little bit when making sharper turns. I'm guessing the belt might need tightened or replaced, or the bearing is starting to go.

The transmission was still hesitating, possibly worse than before but I pulled it in the garage. While it was warm and noticed that fluid was only on one side of the dipstick. I kept adding more until it was on both sides of the dipstick and miraculously, it shifts great now. I still need to grease my u-joints, but the clunk seems less pronounced than before. While the back tire was off, I sprayed it with soapy water and found half of a screw. I plugged the tire and it is holding air. I need to get 3 new tires and an alignment, but it has been driving pretty good in comparison to when I first got it running.

 

[elizle]

I need to read the service manual and figure out what I need to troubleshoot. I drove to my parents' house Sunday, which is a little more than an hour drive. I took the backroads since I have a plug in the tire (Hagerty is my spare tire right now ) and I wanted to be able to pull over if the brakes gave me any issues. Transmission still shifts great now, but I'm pretty sure it's contributing to the oil spot in my driveway. When I pulled into my driveway I noticed that my headlights were dim and flickering. I'll probably buy a set of drive belts. OEM ones at Ourisman are $12, $12, and $20, so I'll probably order those, but I want to make sure that I don't have other issues first. I need to check power steering fluid and make sure all the air is worked out, and check bearings and pulleys.

 

[elizle]

I had a little time to work on it this weekend. I got the drive belt off. The belt looks fine, but I have Toyota Genuine replacements, so I might just hang on to them depending on the condition of the other two. I went to remove the alternator belt and the first bolt was loose and the other one was a long eye bolt, so I'm going to inspect that better and buy the correct parts. Definitely didn't have enough tension on the alternator. The alternator bracket is spray painted blue for some reason, so I'm going to compare that to the oem bracket to make sure it's the right part. I bought an alternator rebuild kit of questionable quality on eBay, so I'll test everything according to the repair manual before I replace anything on the alternator.

 

[elizle]

After spending some time looking at parts diagrams and pictures of the alternator with the smog pump removed, I figured some things out. The parts in question are in the Radiator & Water Outlet diagram.

I remembered finding 16381C (17317-61020) sitting under the hood, so I put it in a box with junk because I didn't know where it went. I found it last night, thankfully. It seems like most of these parts are discontinued, but I found some used on Cruiser Parts. 90119-08626 is replaced with 90119-08888, which is still available. 90445-11054 comes up as a hose that is discontinued. I'm guessing it's just a bit of rubber that goes on the back of the alternator tension bolt. I'm going to verify that the bolt (90109-08205) and washer (90201-08135) that I have are correct before I buy anything.