I finally found my cruiser, a black 96 LX450 loaded w/lockers it rolled over 106k on the test drive, the PO is the second owner, I found the bill of sale tucked in the owners manual they paid 47k for it 6 years ago with 17K on the clock.
It it has many of the typical minor problems that I have been reading about and one that needs to be taken care of immediately, it runs slightly rough, this almost caused me to not buy it but the good body interior and full southern life (read no rust) made me to take it to the dealer too check out the head gasket and do a general inspection. Wile pulling the plugs for a compression check the tech found out the plug wires were original (dated '95) and that the #6 was wrapped in electrical tape (the boot portion that is inside the valve cover) it appears the last guy there damaged the wire and tried to shade tree a repair IIRC electrical tape is good to 600v ignition voltage it much higher, even if the tape could hold the spark the many gaps between layers would let it out, the same plug has almost no ash on it looks like there is little burn occurring in that cylinder the plug looks almost new compared to the others (the others are pretty new so this is recent work) the PO is a recently divorced mother of 3 who knows very little about cars I think she decided to sell it because of the rough running engine as it is in good shape otherwise
C-Dan has a set of plugs, wires, cap and rotor on the way all of witch delivered for less than the local dealer wanted for the wires alone
all lockers work but the rear is a little slow to engage, others have suggested exercise usually fixes this if not I will follow the rebuilt instructions on Slee's site
has the typical leak at the back of the motor, do not know if it is rear main or pan arch yet I need to pull the inspection plate ans have a look, PO claims 2 qts between changes, if so I can live with that for a wile I will see how much it uses and fix accordingly
also has the gray sludge in the radiator, overflow has a mix of red and green, radiator is original and filled with green will be doing a flush & refill w/ Toyota red before summer try to get as much of that gray stuff out as possible
how much $ would it be to have this stuff looked at by a lab? I will have a pretty good amount to sample
it has an exhaust whistle on moderate to heavy acceleration, from the posts here I was expecting the exhaust to have been replaced without the resonator, when I got it on the lift at the dealer the exhaust is all original and looks in good shape on the outside, tech suggested that a baffle may be loose in either the resonator or muffler, got any idea witch more likely needs replacement? The whistle is annoying
the front end has not been serviced yet, it has just started to leak oil/grease mix, tech suggested I have probably caught it before birff damage has started
the “D” light is burned out on the gear select indicator, and like a recent post there is no Pwr light when the Pwr button is depressed, I do not have a FSM yet, is the console R&R to replace the bulbs a 1 banana job? I kinda like the lack of indication no light=drive, less distraction wile driving on the other hand it bugs me that something is broken
also she rubbed the side on the garage door, two pieces of the cladding will have to be replaced one on the right rear door and the one over the right rear tire and to the back of the truck, I hope to find them in a junk yard somewhere, the plastic end cap of the running board took a hit also but it is coming off anyway
after I get all the maintenance stuff out of the way planning on OME 2.5” lift, unfortunately the Michelin LTX tires are almost brand new so it will be a wile before I can get some wider and taller tires on there
It it has many of the typical minor problems that I have been reading about and one that needs to be taken care of immediately, it runs slightly rough, this almost caused me to not buy it but the good body interior and full southern life (read no rust) made me to take it to the dealer too check out the head gasket and do a general inspection. Wile pulling the plugs for a compression check the tech found out the plug wires were original (dated '95) and that the #6 was wrapped in electrical tape (the boot portion that is inside the valve cover) it appears the last guy there damaged the wire and tried to shade tree a repair IIRC electrical tape is good to 600v ignition voltage it much higher, even if the tape could hold the spark the many gaps between layers would let it out, the same plug has almost no ash on it looks like there is little burn occurring in that cylinder the plug looks almost new compared to the others (the others are pretty new so this is recent work) the PO is a recently divorced mother of 3 who knows very little about cars I think she decided to sell it because of the rough running engine as it is in good shape otherwise
C-Dan has a set of plugs, wires, cap and rotor on the way all of witch delivered for less than the local dealer wanted for the wires alone
all lockers work but the rear is a little slow to engage, others have suggested exercise usually fixes this if not I will follow the rebuilt instructions on Slee's site
has the typical leak at the back of the motor, do not know if it is rear main or pan arch yet I need to pull the inspection plate ans have a look, PO claims 2 qts between changes, if so I can live with that for a wile I will see how much it uses and fix accordingly
also has the gray sludge in the radiator, overflow has a mix of red and green, radiator is original and filled with green will be doing a flush & refill w/ Toyota red before summer try to get as much of that gray stuff out as possible
how much $ would it be to have this stuff looked at by a lab? I will have a pretty good amount to sample
it has an exhaust whistle on moderate to heavy acceleration, from the posts here I was expecting the exhaust to have been replaced without the resonator, when I got it on the lift at the dealer the exhaust is all original and looks in good shape on the outside, tech suggested that a baffle may be loose in either the resonator or muffler, got any idea witch more likely needs replacement? The whistle is annoying
the front end has not been serviced yet, it has just started to leak oil/grease mix, tech suggested I have probably caught it before birff damage has started
the “D” light is burned out on the gear select indicator, and like a recent post there is no Pwr light when the Pwr button is depressed, I do not have a FSM yet, is the console R&R to replace the bulbs a 1 banana job? I kinda like the lack of indication no light=drive, less distraction wile driving on the other hand it bugs me that something is broken
also she rubbed the side on the garage door, two pieces of the cladding will have to be replaced one on the right rear door and the one over the right rear tire and to the back of the truck, I hope to find them in a junk yard somewhere, the plastic end cap of the running board took a hit also but it is coming off anyway
after I get all the maintenance stuff out of the way planning on OME 2.5” lift, unfortunately the Michelin LTX tires are almost brand new so it will be a wile before I can get some wider and taller tires on there