New 1998 FZJ75 owner
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- #42
I tightened down and cleaned up the negative battery terminal, that seemed to solve the intermittent warning light issue.
I then undercoated the entire truck with 3M Cavity Wax, including inside frame rails, underneath bed, etc. Works really well and applies easily, I prefer it to products like fluid film.
Did some light off-roading with friends, the truck did well! I loved putting it in 4H, 1st gear, and turning up the idle knob so it would creep along. The heater is miraculously still working, no leaks.
I then undercoated the entire truck with 3M Cavity Wax, including inside frame rails, underneath bed, etc. Works really well and applies easily, I prefer it to products like fluid film.
Did some light off-roading with friends, the truck did well! I loved putting it in 4H, 1st gear, and turning up the idle knob so it would creep along. The heater is miraculously still working, no leaks.
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- #43
Happy spring everyone. Pulled the ole girl out of winter storage, fired her up, and now we have a new list of issues!
I started the truck (two cranks and it started no issue after 6 months of sitting!) and backed it out of the storage container, let it warm up in the driveway. As it had been doing last year after arriving in the US, it billowed white smoke out the exhaust with rough idle until it warmed up, then idled fine. In the past I had suspected that it was just a carb tune issue (new plugs/wires/cap, coolant color fine), but a new issue has me now suspecting a bad head gasket.
While it warmed up, I noticed steam from under the hood. Lo and behold, a radiator hose had somehow popped off. In addition, the heater drain hose started leaking coolant, so I’m guessing the heater core finally died. The core dying on its own wouldn’t concern me much, given the truck came from Qatar, but that combined with the excess white smoke and seeming coolant pressure issue has me rethinking things.
For those who have had head gasket issues with their 1FZs, any of these symptoms sound familiar? Any diagnostics you recommend before I go hauling the engine out of it?
I started the truck (two cranks and it started no issue after 6 months of sitting!) and backed it out of the storage container, let it warm up in the driveway. As it had been doing last year after arriving in the US, it billowed white smoke out the exhaust with rough idle until it warmed up, then idled fine. In the past I had suspected that it was just a carb tune issue (new plugs/wires/cap, coolant color fine), but a new issue has me now suspecting a bad head gasket.
While it warmed up, I noticed steam from under the hood. Lo and behold, a radiator hose had somehow popped off. In addition, the heater drain hose started leaking coolant, so I’m guessing the heater core finally died. The core dying on its own wouldn’t concern me much, given the truck came from Qatar, but that combined with the excess white smoke and seeming coolant pressure issue has me rethinking things.
For those who have had head gasket issues with their 1FZs, any of these symptoms sound familiar? Any diagnostics you recommend before I go hauling the engine out of it?
Hello there, Prior to doing something drastic like pulling the engine, follow the steps outlined below to asses the health of the engine:
1. Pull spark plugs and inspect. There are many images across the web that will illustrate good combustion, as well as different troubles (Mixture, oil burning, coolant loss etc) that should help narrow down any issues. Feel free to share the pictures here with an ID on what cylinder they came from. If all looks good, then reinstall. If not, replace with new factory plugs.
2. Perform a compression test on all cylinders and report back
3. Fix any coolant leaks and refill the system with factory coolant.
If the compression looks good, then restart and do some short drives and observe the coolant level and exhaust for consumption and/or white smoke.
Hope this helps.
Cheers, James
1. Pull spark plugs and inspect. There are many images across the web that will illustrate good combustion, as well as different troubles (Mixture, oil burning, coolant loss etc) that should help narrow down any issues. Feel free to share the pictures here with an ID on what cylinder they came from. If all looks good, then reinstall. If not, replace with new factory plugs.
2. Perform a compression test on all cylinders and report back
3. Fix any coolant leaks and refill the system with factory coolant.
If the compression looks good, then restart and do some short drives and observe the coolant level and exhaust for consumption and/or white smoke.
Hope this helps.
Cheers, James
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- #45
Hi James,
Thanks for the advice, I’m going to buy a compression tester and see what results I get.
I just changed the spark plugs maybe 500 miles ago with OEM, here are some not so great pictures of the plugs I took out (unknown mileage). Didn’t notice any change in behavior once I swapped the plugs, wires, and rotor/cap.
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I'm worried you put this truck up for the winter without putting anti freeze into it. If you did not do a coolant flush in the US you may have had your block freeze. You could have lost a freeze plug (at best)
Not to be alarmist but hoses just don't pop off
Not to be alarmist but hoses just don't pop off
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- #47
That was my first instinct too, but one of the first things I did after buying it in Qatar was drain out the straight water and refill with the red premix. Unless somehow there was a pocket of water they didn’t get to, that settled out somehow, etc…
Once I added coolant back to the truck and reconnected the radiator hose, it ran and idled normally once hot. The only ongoing coolant leak I could see was from the heater core drain.
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- #49
It was stored in northern Maine, so pretty damn cold. -20F give or take.
The only other factors I can think of:
-I thoroughly pressure washed it right before putting it away for the winter (wanted to get road salt off). I guess it’s possible I somehow hit the lip of the hose in just the right way and knocked it off, then the coolant drained in the wash bay without me noticing. It was only a 5 min drive home in November so doubt it would’ve gotten hot enough to cause issues before putting it away.
-when I drained the water in Qatar, I replaced the radiator hoses with new OEM hoses but the dealer didn’t have new hose clamps so we reused the old ones. The guys at the 4x4 shop there applied some FIPG sealant type stuff around the ends of the hoses (pic below), where they mated to the thermostat housing/radiator. Apparently they get lots of hoses popping off there and it helps. I wonder if that combined with old clamps could have somehow allowed it to separate and slip off.
Those look pretty good. If I got you right, this is prior to the current issue, correct? If so, this is a good baseline. I’d pull them again and share the picture so we can see if there is any significant difference. Also, that radiator hose and repair looks sub optimal. If it were me, I’d be going through all the hoses and replacing them to protect from future catastrophic failures.
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- #51
Agreed, the original plugs looked pretty unremarkable to me when I pulled them out, didn’t notice any major disparity in color/condition/etc.
“Prior to the current issue” is a tough one as the issue is hard to pinpoint. I didn’t notice much white smoke in Qatar, although in the weeks leading up to shipment to the US it had a harder time with cold idle. At the time I attributed the worsening cold idle to a fuel issue, maybe a clogged carb jet, vacuum issue, whatever. Changing the plugs/wires/distributor cap/rotor/coil had no impact on wide open acceleration, where it had always hesitated a bit and I was trying to fix via parts cannon.
It wasn’t until I received it in the US in the fall that I noticed the really rough cold idle and clouds of white smoke persisting for many minutes after cold start. Given the temperature difference (120F in Qatar to 45F in Maine), at the time I shrugged it off as an engine being tuned for hot weather running poorly in the cold. The fact that the white smoke and stumbling idle went away once the engine warmed up made me think it was nothing serious.
To your point on the hoses, I’ll take them off, clean the sealant off, get some new OEM clamps, and reinstall. Hoping to get to that and compression testing in the next few weeks once I’m back in the US.
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- #53
Any thoughts on pulling the engine or just pulling the head? I’ve seen various posts talking about it being just as easy to pull the engine and trans, but those were mostly for 80 series, not sure if it’s the same for the FZJ75
What are your structural capabilities? Lift? Shop? Are you doing it? Farming out?
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- #55
I’d be doing it in a buddy’s garage. No proper two post lift but we have an engine hoist and I could pick up an engine stand. I already have the full Toyota engine gasket set (04111-66047).
I’m a little worried about the plastic timing chain guides and other rubber gaskets throughout the engine since this truck spent the first 27 years of its life baking in the Middle East, that’s why I’m contemplating pulling the whole thing out.
Then that’s a billfold discussion. I can’t assist there.
Sorry if I missed the discussion but FWIW it appears the "vacuum advancer" (diaphragm) on the side of the distributor of your 1FZ-F engine (mentioned by wardamneagle earlier in the thread) has not been connected to the carb (??port plugged at the carb). ie: there should be vacuum hose from the vacuum advance assembly on the distributor running to the Carburetor. Small issue of course compared to the head gasket.
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- #59
Haha I have also been skeptical from day 1, hence the “allegedly” 44,000 miles in my original post.
That being said, the body and frame are in excellent condition, it drives perfectly, and had no obvious engine issues (at time of purchase), so even if the odometer had been swapped/broken it was a great deal for what I paid. This head gasket issue is just the motivation I needed to do all the preventative maintenance that needs to be done
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- #60
Good point, I never posted an update on that - I got a bunch of vacuum hose and replaced all the old dry rotted or missing hoses per the vacuum diagram under the hood. Didn’t notice any big changes in performance but good peace of mind.