New 80 Owner - Base Line Initiated (1 Viewer)

[PoorHouse]

Recently purchased a 97 LX450, no lockers, 118 k miles. Found it at a dealer in Houston. One owner, good service history through Lexus, clean Carfax, etc. Had a family member check it out. He found a few things wrong that the dealer fixed. Deal was done, family brought it up to Montana for their Christmas vacation. Drove 2100 miles with no issues. It is very nice, very clean, a few minor dings and that's it. Its been here 10 days or so and I've just been able to start spending time with it.

First thing was to put on snow tires. Went with Cooper Discover M&S studded 265/75/16. They have been great in a variety of conditions, for $500 out the door I am very happy.


Pulled the running boards and put on the correct LX450 mudflaps from CDan.

Today I replaced the plugs and wires, intake tube and front diff fluid. I started with the plugs, pulling #6 first. I didn't have a problem getting at #6 but I couldn't find all my socket extension, what I had put me right behind the water valve. Decided to try the factory spark plug tool in the tool kit, it worked perfect. Was just the right length to not interfere with the coolant hoses. The plugs all came out clean, I was worried after reading about the HG problems. The new wires were a treat, everything lined up perfectly.
Fortunately I had the new intake tube, the old one was brittle and cracked when taking it off.
The truck is noticibly smoother running now. Before it would turn over 6-8 times before firing, now it fires almost immediatly. It sounds smoother, accelerates smoother and just feels better.


The other plans for the truck are to swap the t.case and rear diff soon. I've already got all 3 new (oem) belts and idler bearings to change. The trans was flushed at 90k and the fluid looks new, so I'll wait on that until summer. The coolant looks like a green/red mix and will need a full flush, I'll change the PHH, other hoses and thermostat at the same time. All that with a new cap and rotor should get me base lined.

Fun stuff planned are OME stock height springs with OEM Land Cruiser shocks, 285/75/16 muds for the summer, CDL switch, and some stereo work. The stock stereo/cd changer are working but a few lights are out a a few speakers are blown, not sure what I'm going to do with that yet.

I feel like I've spent a month searching and reading on here. It's been a huge help.

Will post some pics tomorrow.

 

[kennyfj40]

Poorhouse,
Welcome to mud When you say swap the trans. case and rear diff, do you mean drain and replace the fluid, or are you actually changing them out for some reason?

See you have already posted, I retract my welcome and say congrates on the new ride!

 

[PoorHouse]

Diffs and T.case - Fluid swap only barring any issues.

Thanks for the welcome.

 

[bruff]

PoorHouse,
Welcome to the 80 series sickness!!

 

[Cannon88]

Very nice and welcome aboard! Hope you got a good deal on it! There is/was one on here in the classifieds with around 150k miles I think, locked, lifted, front bumper - it is also in Houston. He wanted around 8k for it if I remember correctly. Post up some pics soon!

 

[CowboyUp]

Welcome abord!

 

[PoorHouse]

Very nice and welcome aboard! Hope you got a good deal on it! There is/was one on here in the classifieds with around 150k miles I think, locked, lifted, front bumper - it is also in Houston. He wanted around 8k for it if I remember correctly. Post up some pics soon!

There were 2 lifted LX's in Houston when I was looking one unlocked with 120k miles for $11k and the one on here locked with 150k miles for $9.5k. They were both a little to beat up. I was looking for a mint mall Cruiser. I paid to much by Mud standards but less than NADA which I think I could sell if for here if I had too. I'm happy with the purchase.

 

[arndog123]

Congrats on the new rig and welcome.

 

[PoorHouse]

Couple pics taken today:

Detail of the LX front mudflap:

 

[PoorHouse]

Two issues I didn't list in the first post, both were done on the trip here.

Antenna mast bent (going through car was with radio on) won't extend or retract.

Driver side sun visor broken. The base piece the 2 screws go through is broken, now the visor flops freely. I'm hoping the piece is available separate so I dont' have to get a complete visor.


I painted the wheel center caps after getting the snow tires put on. I couldn't deal with the faded yellow. Plasti-kote wheel paint, the silver is slightly darker than the wheel face.

 

[arndog123]

Nice. Same color as my wife's LX. It sounds like you need to replace the antenna mast. Replacement is pretty simple and fairly cheap. There's a write up somewhere on this board.

 

[arndog123]

Power Antenna Mast Replacement

 

[SiRaDuDe]

The front diff fluid change I think was a problem. When I drained it the fluid was blackish and smelled like grease. I thought it was just old initially. When filling it took a full gallon. Not good. Searching on here it sounds like the inner seals have failed allowing birfeld grease to mix with the diff oil, hence the extra capacity and the appearance and smell of the old fluid. So a full axle overhaul will be needed.

I'm not so sure you should be concerned about the amount of diff fluid it took... if it was completely dry it would take 3.4 US Quarts (AllData) and thats close the the full gallon... and even more if you had the LC jacked up from the front... (not on a level surface)

If you think your seals are bad... check the grease in the knuckles to see if you have SOUP... and if you do you might see signs of leaking through the rear wiper seals in your knuckles.

 

[hawaiicruz]

Welcome looks like a nice truck!

 

[PoorHouse]

I'm not so sure you should be concerned about the amount of diff fluid it took... if it was completely dry it would take 3.4 US Quarts (AllData) and thats close the the full gallon... and even more if you had the LC jacked up from the front... (not on a level surface)

If you think your seals are bad... check the grease in the knuckles to see if you have SOUP... and if you do you might see signs of leaking through the rear wiper seals in your knuckles.

That's a good point. I consolidated the remains of the 1 gallon jug I used on the front diff with another jug and there was maybe 1/2 quart left. The fluid wasn't green which I've read is a sign the seals have failed. I'll check the knuckles and watch the front diff fluid for signs of contamination.

Did the rear diff and T.case today. Synthetic in the t.case and dino in the diff. Will swap the rear diff to syn at the next oil change, front to if it doesnt need a rebuild.

I was happy that the t.case and rear diff fluids looked good, dark but not thick and no chunks/shavings. The magnets on the drain plugs were almost totally clean. The truck had been to Lexus every 30k for service which they said included diff/t.case fluids, I guess they really did it. To bad that's surprising in this day and age.

Thanks for the info on the antenna, I'm compiling a list of parts and an update to the remaining things to do.

 

[PoorHouse]

Nice. Same color as my wife's LX. It sounds like you need to replace the antenna mast. Replacement is pretty simple and fairly cheap. There's a write up somewhere on this board.

Thanks, I'm secretly hoping my wife falls in love with this one so I can get another one. I would love to be a 2 Cruiser house hold. The extra fuel costs for her 40 mile (round trip) commute would be worth it.

 

[PoorHouse]

Work continues.

T-case and rear diff fluids were changed a couple weeks ago.

Did the distributer O-ring and cap/rotor today.
The old O-ring was flattened out and solid to the point of being brittle. Wasn't doing much sealing, I think I had a pretty good leak there. There is quite a bit of dried oil on the front of the engine. I know the VC is leaking, not sure if that combined with the dizzy produced it all or if there is another leak up there.

3 belts and 2 idler pullies are next. Hoping to have some time this weekend to get them done.

That will leave coolant flush, ATF flush and brake fluid flush to wrap up the 120k service. I'll do the brake fluid first as I have no record of it ever being done, although the fluid look really good. May replace the soft lines at the same time. The ATF was done at 90k and looks new, no rush there. Coolant I would like to do sooner rather than later but I don't want to turn the drive way into a skating rink. We'll see what the weather does.

After putting a couple thousand miles on this thing I think the suspension is worn out. Lots of bobbing, floating, leaning and general unsettled feeling on the road. The springs are sagging slightly in the rear. I know I don't want to lift it so I'll be getting the OME stock height springs. After searching on here I decided to get the stock replacement Bilsteins to go with them. To satisfy my curiosity I'm going to replace them in 2 steps, shocks then springs. I'm curious to see how much the Bilsteins will tighten up the handling with the soft OEM springs. The Bilsteins are here and the suspension bolts are all getting repeated soakings with PB blaster, should have them on soon.

Finally, a big thank you to COLX450 for sending me a replacement bracket for my sunvisor from his old one, and not taking any money. I'll pay it forward some time. Thanks again!

 

[djsolution]

Impressive baseline man. Have fun with the driver's side upper shock mount nut. It can be a bear. I ended up mangling it with a nut splitter/air hammer. Air tools definitely make the job a lot easier!

 

[lispeej]

Welcome to the addiction. I just got done putting on a set of Bilsteins on my factory springs. Night and day difference. No more floating. The ride is smooth, but a little stiff when hitting holes in roads. What do you expect for HD's?.....The important thing is that it handles nice.

 

[PoorHouse]

Was back at the Cruiser this week.

Did the antenna mast Monday. Little fiddely, but not to bad. Biggest issue was that I didn't realize the antenna won't go all the way down if the radio is on.... Had it in and out 3 times before I realized that.

Belts today, a/c and alt with both idler pulleys. Used the 25 minute belt replacement thread which is a very nice write up. I pulled the spash guard because I wanted to see where I my oil leak is coming from. I degreased the front of the engine and it looks like the leak is coming from the oilpump cover. I'm putting that on the back for now.

Still have the Bilsteins to install. The left front has been problematic. Hoping to have some extra time this weekend to get them in. I've almost bought the OME springs a few times over the last 2 months figuring I'll just do everything at once, but I'm still curios what the Bilsteins will do on their own.