New Land Cruiser - first impressions/observations... (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Sep 5, 2010
Threads
111
Messages
544
Location
Denver, CO
Hi all -

I just purchased my first Land Cruiser: it's a locked '95 southern truck and drove it home from Atlanta relatively trouble free.

First of all - thanks very much to all who have helped me when I got a CEL along the way and kind of freaked me out... it was a P0401, so I guess that's an official welcome to the madness - starting right off into the deep end...hehe. Anyway - many of you have posted almost instantly as a response to my plea so thank you very very much. I also got a phone call and a text msg to make sure I'm OK - much appreciated!:cheers:

Here is the list of issues I know about - some of which I have observed on trip home (in no particular order):

o Lockers do not engage (don't even see the Center Diff light on even when in Low) - they just blink red [edit:fixed]
o Miscellaneous leaks can be seen underneath - top of the engine clean
o Cracked windshield
o Needs new wiper blades
o Antenna does not go up/down (makes noise)
o Front seat torn, leather like cardboard (baked to a crisp by the southern sun)
o One of the fender flares is loose and coming off
o All rubber around every flare is dried up and cracked - needs replacement
o When I open a gas tank I hear a lot of air escaping
o Found a wet spot on the carpet on the driver's seat (carpets were covered with plastic initially) - I should have taken more time checking the carpets... :frown:
o Shaky driver's side mirror [edit:fixed]
o Shaky glass in the driver's and passenger's side windows
o Dirty Steering fluid
o Dirty brake fluid
o Brake pedal has a very long travel (not sure if that's normal)
o Front brake rotors and pads need replacing (vibrates when braking)
o P0401 came up half way through the trip - was reset by local AdvAutoPrts hasn't come back yet... but I'm sure it will eventually
o Feels like a drive-line vibration at 70mph and above - smooth otherwise
o Dirty carpets - need cleaning bad...
o Tires ok in general but some dry rotting observed
o Slight 'stumble' when idling - smooth at normal speeds
o Key will open all doors but won't lock any of them
o Pwr and 2nd buttons near the shifter don't seem to be doing anything... they were jammed - I got them 'unstuck' but they don't seem to work...
o Passenger side power seat seems off the track
o The driver's seatbelt has a lazy spring... doesn't always retract
o Both blinker bulbs burned out
o Loose DS visor
o Headliner could use shampooing

That's about it - this is just what I know about now... of course the whole thing needs to be base-lined (wires, plugs, belts, fluids, etc).

I'm sure most of the remedies are already on the forum - now the search begins. If there are items that stand out or need immediate attention please let me know. I'm thinking the brakes and all the fluids are first, everything else will follow...

I should also add that I've gotten as much as 325 miles on a single tank - didn't even see the Reserve light come on - not even sure it has one.. Worst mpg I got was 16.25 and best was 17.49 - I'm guessing that's pretty average. Pretty excited about the truck - it's not perfect and never will be but with the help of this forum and kind folks on here I hope to make it just perfect for me.

Thx,
James
 
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Keep an eye on your oil level every 500km or so, it will probably start to drop a litre here and there and I'll bet that you just need to do the crank seal and oil pump seal, plus dizzy o-ring. Be sure to get redo your timing after the dizzy seal though. It's a day job max. Fuel cap is just pressure on an emptying tank.

Everything else is standard 15 year old vehicle stuff, just fix whatever bugs you over time. It's just routine maintenance, every car has it, especially with age but this truck should look after you. They're relaible as all s***
 
You're getting exceptional mpg versus mine! What speed did you drive?

Oh, and pics or it ain't true...
 
Welcome to the maddness. And ^^^ what he said.
 
If those mpg numbers are correct, I'll have to change my mind about miracles.
 
I believe the mpg numbers. With stock everything, unloaded and driven gently on the highway, I've been over 16 on a number of tankfuls.

Of course, that was before a lot of mpg-sucking mods were done:doh:

And it's always been rare to see 10 mpg in town.

Fortunately, your long list of issues will respond well to fairly easy fixes in a lot of cases.:cheers:
 
Keep an eye on your oil level every 500km or so, it will probably start to drop a litre here and there and I'll bet that you just need to do the crank seal and oil pump seal, plus dizzy o-ring. Be sure to get redo your timing after the dizzy seal though. It's a day job max. Fuel cap is just pressure on an emptying tank.

Everything else is standard 15 year old vehicle stuff, just fix whatever bugs you over time. It's just routine maintenance, every car has it, especially with age but this truck should look after you. They're relaible as all ****

+1

Fuel cap presure release could also have to do with your vapor can and its various valves.
 
Damn, thats a laundry list of little things that would bug the **** out of me :D

Good luck and pics or :ban::p
 
Congrats and glad to hear you made it back to Denver safe!

After putting those miles on the truck you know what's bothering you and what won't (at least immediately).

take care of your baseline soon. It will take care of the dirty fluid issues once you're completed. Also get into those leaks ASAP.

All the other stuff is fairly straightforward simple fixes. The only one that's not is the P0401 code. That will take some work (or not, maybe the first thing you do will solve it!).

Welcome to the sickness...
 
Congrats on the purchase mercfan

Lot of those items are easy to fix like floushing and baselining all your fluids. That would be what I would do first

Brakes and rotors should be done the same time you do your front axle. Probably needs this as well. Lots of local folks in the area for a resource

Brakes vibrating could be the tires not being balanced or the alignment off or the brakes as you mentioned.

You might also want to order some toyota U joints for the front and rear axle from Cdan. Then take both shafts (or one at a time) to Englewood drive shafts and have them rebuilt and balanced.

Your lockers wont engage if the Center Diff lock (tcase) doesn't engage. Could be a wiring problem, loose connector or the switch at the tcase

It might cost you some coin to baseline and bring the PM up to speed

I got about 18MPG (Highway) when I bought mine in Texas and drove it home before they ran Ethanol gas year round. Then all the weight from my mods also has cut down the MPG.
 
If those mpg numbers are correct, I'll have to change my mind about miracles.
Computed Miles / gallons at every fuel stop. Made notes on my receipts. I stayed under 70mph and tucked behind semi trucks whenever I could... that's all I can say. I'll take some photos tomorrow. I just beat the snow storm today...
 
RE: the lockers - make sure you try them on a dirt road & do some figure 8s. Mine wouldn't engage in pavement.

Good luck!

Paul
 
I had to engage/disengage my center diff about 50 times before it started lighting up the CDL/ABS light.
 
With those MPGs... DON'T TOUCH A THING, JUST DRIVE!


If you decide to address any of those issues though, here are a couple of thoughts:

Exercise the lockers, check the faq for how they are supposed to operate.

The antenna is cheap and easy to replace, sounds like the motor works, which is good.

If your wet carpet is from a leaky windshield seal, you can read the "HOW TO:" in my sig to fix it. If you are going to replace the windshield, make sure they use a new window seal and use polyurethane glue on both body to seal and seal to window interfaces. There is a link to a post with the FSM pages on windshield replacement, in the same "HOW TO:".

The 70 mph vibe, could easily be the tires, and that would be my first suspicion at those speeds. A regular balancer may not find the problem, a Hunter GSP 9700 or similar can do a road force balance, and could be worth the money, or when you get new tires, consider buying from a tire shop or chain that has a GSP9700 available.

Shaky side mirror, there is a fix using epoxy, I think it is in the faq.

Shaky side door windows, seems normal for these. If the window is just cracked open they will rattle, I think that is just the way they are.

If you are going to replace the rotors, might as well do the knuckles/birfields if the history is unknown, otherwise the work will be half duplicated if/when you do them later.
 
Congrats on your new rig, it's good to see you finally pulled the trigger on one after all the searching. I was in a similar situation last fall with my first 80 series. Original owner 140k miles all three diff locks wouldn't engage, birfs needed rebuild, wet carpet, P401 illuminated on the drive home, etc. Started with getting the diff locks working again (original owner had engaged them once during the life of the vehicle "just to see how they worked") took about fifty attempts (cycle-recyle switch) to engage the center diff, another fifty or so to get the front and rear diff actuating again. Now I lock them at least once a month just to keep everything lubed properly. Next project was the birfs, took about two weeks (ruined a seal when reinstalling and had to wait on the part) the FAQ here in combination with an FSM was very helpful. P401 is next, and I'm compiling the list of parts I'm going to order when I get back to the States states (probably going to do some other PM at the same time while I've got the throttle body pulled). I'm not surprised to see your mpg numbers, the best I've done is 16.5 on a road trip to Asheville and I'm averaging a little over 14 on my daily commute. Welcome to the addiction and post some pics when you get the chance.
 
Jeez, I kinda hope ours throws a p0401 so I can get 16+MPG. Though I would have been a lot more jealous if you never mentioned staying under 70 mph and drafting semis. :)

Nice truck!
 
Nice truck. Where in Denver are you located? I'm roughly at 1st and Broadway.
 

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