New to FJ55s. . .

[Tom FJ55]

should be 150 psi across the board. But you probably already knew that.

EDIT: actually, if you're at altitude, that number needs to be de-rated a little bit. At a mile high my 2F at ~110 psi on all cylinders runs pretty dang good.

Yeah, I'm at about 5500', so I wasn't expecting to see 150 psi. It's the lack of consistency that bothers me. If they were all between 100-110 I wouldn't be concerned, but a spread from 80 - 120 is quite a variation. . .

I'm not really in a position to do much about it at the moment anyway. It runs, drives and idles well, just seems a bit lethargic. At higher RPMs it does make some noises but once again, I don't really have any reference point to compare to. I am hoping that adjusting the valves will quite it down some - we'll see tomorrow.

Also, as Pighead pointed out, I'm used to zippier cars and maybe my expectations are what's in need of fixin'!

 

[5B Land Crusher]

Back on the road by next weekend

And you are welcome to drive it any time after that. Had a POR-15 extravaganza this weekend, finished my fender welds, and prepped final rocker replacement parts. Need to change the welder back to gas before I try any more body welding. Would also love a consult on a compression test and the fluid replacements you just did. That stuff is all new to me. Huge rookie I know.

You were right about the POR-15. Hayes and I both mad through the application pretty clean, but then leaned against the stuff. Messy.

 

[Tom FJ55]

And you are welcome to drive it any time after that.

Got to drive Nick's 55 around the block a few days ago. It rides very nicely - made mine seem pretty worn out. Suspension updates and power steering have been moved up near the top of my list.

Take a look at this fuel filter - it's a Napa Gold cheapie that I put inline right before the main Toyota one; glad I did! It's packed full of molasses-like gunk from the fuel tank. A bunch of it had already drained out by the time I got to my camera. The fuel that was left that drained out the 'outlet' was pretty clear so it was doing its job.

Swapped it out for a clean one today. Yuck.

 

[nuclearlemon]

Swapped it out for a clean one today. Yuck.

crap...that is serious skank. the only time i've seen anything close to that skank was my little clampy pickup and even the filter looked better....my oil just looked that bad

 

[Pighead]

Keep changing fiilters...shouldn't get any worse?

 

[v8slrtorana]

My pig is parked on the grass so Im not going to look to see if they have a fuel tank drain plug.
If they do, drain the last of your tank for the next hand full of top ups + keep changing them filters.

 

[nuclearlemon]

My pig is parked on the grass so Im not going to look to see if they have a fuel tank drain plug.

yes, they do have drain plugs

 

[Tom FJ55]

Keep changing fiilters...shouldn't get any worse?

drain the last of your tank for the next hand full of top ups + keep changing them filters.

I think the molasses/varnish is the result of sitting for close to 20 yrs. w/a fuel tank that was probably about 1/3 full. One of the things I did to get this 55 back on the road was to drain the tank (nasty, nasty, nasty), drop it completely out and flush it. I obviously didn't do a good enough job flushing it. I just used some Marine Clean (POR15 product) & hot water. Obviously should've had it hot tanked. There's probably a thick layer of varnish left that's softening up now w/new fuel. . .

Good thing those NAPA filters are less than $5!!

 

[PabloCruise]

Got to drive Nick's 55 around the block a few days ago. It rides very nicely - made mine seem pretty worn out. Suspension updates and power steering have been moved up near the top of my list.

Take a look at this fuel filter - it's a Napa Gold cheapie that I put inline right before the main Toyota one; glad I did! It's packed full of molasses-like gunk from the fuel tank. A bunch of it had already drained out by the time I got to my camera. The fuel that was left that drained out the 'outlet' was pretty clear so it was doing its job.

Swapped it out for a clean one today. Yuck.

Jinkees! Buy a case of those filters and change 'em often.
Do you have any nice long road-trip opportunities you can run a few tanks through it at once?

 

[v8slrtorana]

It would be really annoying, but chuck a hand full of marbles in the tank. That will speed up getting rid of the muck.
Ive been through the same problems you are having with the 2nd tank in my 2nd gen Hilux. Draining the tank regularly got me through, blocked filters 500km from home are not fun at all.

 

[riderjgs]

Just pull the tank and have it professionally boiled out and be done with it. Doesn't cost much, especially compared to time and aggravation and possibly being stranded. I did that when putting the Frankencruiser together. Donor had been setting since the early 90s. Ended up with a clean, painted tank and am still on my original inline filter after nearly 5,000 miles.

 

[Tom FJ55]

Well. . . look what showed up in my garage last week. . . so much for leaving it alone and just driving it for a while!

 

[Tom FJ55]

I also got this 4 spd. in the deal. . .

I've been doing a ton of reading up on 2Fs and 4 spd. transmission to 3 spd. transfer case conversions etc... My plan is to give the motor (a 2F from a '78 FJ40) a full going over. Unless the compression and leakdown tests convince me otherwise, I'm planning to fully tear it down and rebuild it. Exactly to what extent, I won't know until I open it up and get a closer look and start measuring things. . . same goes for the 4 spd.

I'm in no rush as the 55 runs and drives OK for short distances at lower speeds, but am excited to get into both the motor & trans to have a look. I'm planning to use some of the stuff on the original F. . . I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions once I get further into it, but will hold off until I know more.

Giddy-up!

 

[PabloCruise]

Nice score Tom!
You are really whipping this Pig into shape!

 

[lc_nut]

I don't post much. Just lurk and search a lot...(searching for r151 broken 1-2 shift fork info when I came across this..)

My .02 about compression: adjust the valves out where they are a bit "loose". drive it once to get it warm... Then adjust them back where they don't make quite so much noise.

I've seen the numbers improve with this method.

My pigs seem to be "self healing" with a little maintenance and driving.

 

[Tom FJ55]

My .02 about compression: adjust the valves out where they are a bit "loose". drive it once to get it warm... Then adjust them back where they don't make quite so much noise.

I've seen the numbers improve with this method.

My pigs seem to be "self healing" with a little maintenance and driving.

This is probably good advice. Since this one had been sitting for so long, putting some miles on it is likely the best medicine to get it back into shape & to get everything happy inside the motor again.

I am still hearing some pretty good rattling at higher RPMs once it's warmed up. And a ticking whose speed follows engine RPMs that is likely clutch or throwout bearing related persists.

Still driving it though. . . see my next post for what I'm doing about it. . . !

 

[Tom FJ55]

After spending the ENTIRE day yesterday cleaning my garage to make space for myself, I was able to tear into the 2F I bought today. Kinda fun to tear it apart. I tried to be as diligent as I could about bagging and labeling everything I took off along with taking lots of pics of things.

I stripped it to a short block and then stopped. Everything came apart fairly easily - being encrusted in greasy, oily dirt actually helps protect what's underneath. Some of the bolts still have the original yellow cad plating on them underneath all the crud.

I was going to do a leakdown test before tearing it completely apart - just in case it was in good enough shape to run as-is. I was a bit skeptical as I could turn the motor over pretty easily with it still sealed up - indicating low compression to me. I started stripping stuff off and when I came to the spark plugs, they were pretty rusty and most of the gaps were packed w/crap. I could look into the spark plug holes and see piles of loose junk on the piston tops. . . I decided to just go all the way.

When I pulled the head, there was A LOT of junk on top of almost every piston - see pics below or in the next post. Looks like carbon????

I have a TON of questions, but I will start with a simple one: what is the easiest way to clean BIG greasy, oily, dirt encrusted items like the bell housing, or skid plates etc... Parts washer? Sand blaster?

One more question: I was able to get the crank pulley nut off - is a puller req'd for the pulley itself?

I'm hoping to connect with a local guy here this week to get some help with measuring and machining etc... hoping he'll be a good resource for a lot of my basic questions.

Now for some pics:

 

[Tom FJ55]

LOTS of loose junk on the piston tops. A few of the piston heads had some brand new looking areas though. . .

 

[Pighead]

what is the easiest way to clean BIG greasy, oily, dirt encrusted items like the bell housing, or skid plates etc... Parts washer? Sand blaster?

EZ-off oven cleaner...

 

[Gonzo55]

Believe it or not bad gas, the fumes are gone and it eats the stuff off. I just did mine when I converted to a 4 speed