New-To-Me 1997 LX450 (4 Viewers)

[mcbs]

Hey Y'all -

First time posting here.

I am at best an amateur mechanic. Currently mostly-rebuilding a gm 2.8 V6 in an 89 Isuzu Trooper. Wife and I decided to pick up a bigger rig that we can keep as our family grows so we pulled the trigger on this 1997 LX 450. She has 180k miles has a new-ish radiator, had an ECU replaced about 50k miles ago (due to some wire fire on the PCV i think?) and has been a 1 Family vehicle for its life although CarFax says it was an auction vehicle at 56k miles from a Corporate Fleet in 2001 - not sure if that was some tax maneuvering though bc it doesn't show as a seperate owner... Also the valve cover seals have been replaced twice, most recent one in 2019 i believe 10k-ish miles ago. Grandma passed down to daughter, daughter to son, son to me. It seems like its sat quite a bit - as its only been driven 17k miles in 7 years. I paid 10k which was less than asking and seems like a good deal, assuming nothing blows up on me in the immediate future.

There werent a ton of records with the car so I have been trying to track them down. Immediately finding out if a Timing Belt has been done is on my radar. What else should I be looking for? Fluids look good to the naked eye, definitely some signs of a leak at some point - I am guessing the valve covers just never cleaned up off of the skid plate. No weird sounds that I am aware of, mostly just electrical gremlins (sunroof, slow window motors, N + D lights not working, antannae not moving, rear Drivers side door not responding to lock button) and and a squeaking passenger side rear bearing I believe (static bounce test on the rear of the truck didnt bring any squeaks). Tranny fluid is clean and no signs of water or particulate. PO says oil was changed every 10k miles.

Would love to hear thoughts and or questions I should ask myself. Looking to own this thing for a long time and would love to do a lot of it myself!

Thanks for your time! I will get some more detail shots soon!

 

[fl4031003]

Good looking truck. No timing belt on that one.

 

[mcbs]

Good looking truck. No timing belt on that one.

Not sure why i thought there was!

 

[Rusty Marlin]

Don't be afraid of it. Mechanically it's relativly simple; big heavy duty parts. Most fastners are easy to get to.
There are a few difficult to source parts but nothing too serious.

Please download the factory service manuals, mechanical and wiring. The crew here can help you ( and me too) through the rest.
If you can swing a wrench and follow the manual you can work on it.
Welcome to MUD . We'll help you spend your money.

 

[desertwampa]

was this one on fb marketplace in redwood city?

 

[desertwampa]

was this one on fb marketplace in redwood city?

nevermind, this the same one. I was looking at this one...bought mine before he dropped the price waaaaay down. Seems like a really fair deal!

 

[Azca]

Oil needs to be changed much more frequently than 10K miles. Don't go more than 5k, no matter the oil type. There is a thread on Mud about the engine builder or designer of the Nissan Skyline engines. He was adamant about changing the oil every 3k miles. No need to splurge (his opinion) on high dollar oil. He stressed that clean oil is what you are after and no matter what type of oil you use, it will shortly be contaminated by all things mechanical.

 

[mcbs]

nevermind, this the same one. I was looking at this one...bought mine before he dropped the price waaaaay down. Seems like a really fair deal!

yes it was. He wanted 12500 but i talked them down a bit. Helps that it was on the marketplace for a while and his brother was the one present and just wanted it over with!

Oil needs to be changed much more frequently than 10K miles. Don't go more than 5k, no matter the oil type. There is a thread on Mud about the engine builder or designer of the Nissan Skyline engines. He was adamant about changing the oil every 3k miles. No need to splurge (his opinion) on high dollar oil. He stressed that clean oil is what you are after and no matter what type of oil you use, it will shortly be contaminated by all things mechanical.

Thanks that's helpful to hear. I couldn't believe that when I heard it!

Don't be afraid of it. Mechanically it's relativly simple; big heavy duty parts. Most fastners are easy to get to.
There are a few difficult to source parts but nothing too serious.

Please download the factory service manuals, mechanical and wiring. The crew here can help you ( and me too) through the rest.
If you can swing a wrench and follow the manual you can work on it.
Welcome to MUD . We'll help you spend your money.

That's why i bought it! I will look for the service docs. I've chased quite a few wires on my 08 dodge sprinter and feel confident for the job!

 

[mcbs]

Well, I've got the first unfortunate news. We've been having a lot of rain in the central coast of CA (really the whole coast) and last nights deluge proved that we have a roof leak somewhere on the vehicle. I read other's saying it was their windshield in the past.

The gutter on the driver's side has a small dent in it from a previous accident and it is a bit bent. Doesn't seem to be from the sunroof. I would be content to say its the gutter but tests have been inconclusive so far and also the passenger side is wet, albeit not nearly as wet as the driver side. Both are soaked mostly on the exterior sides of the floormat, but the driver is by far the worst.

Guess some of the price I negotiated down will be going to some fixes real soon!

 

[duece71]

I would check the sunroof track drains which can become clogged just to be sure. There are threads on MUD about the sunroof drains.

 

[jonheld]

This truck is 27 years old. Regardless of how it looks and drives, you really need to concentrate on getting it properly baselined. If you intend to use it as a daily driver, then don't waste time/money with accessories.

All rubber parts are way past their lifespan, soft brake lines, all hoses, belts, window runs, door seals, etc are likely due for replacement.
Full tune up, full fluid change, steering knuckle inspection, wheel bearing inspection, etc.
Brake calipers can be rebuilt, rotors, pads all OEM.

Use OEM parts, or you'll wind up doing things twice.
You got a good deal on the truck, but you have to budget another $2K for parts. More if you're not providing the labor. Maintenance is everything on these vehicles. They'll last forever if you take care of it.

Everything you need to do has been well documented on this forum, there are YouTube videos by some members here, there are parts suppliers both on the forum and online that deal with OEM parts, and several overseas companies that offer very good pricing and quick delivery.

Download the Toyota FSM and EWD from the resources section. Do not trust anything from Chilton or Haynes.

 

[COYS]

Hey Y'all -

First time posting here.

I am at best an amateur mechanic. Currently mostly-rebuilding a gm 2.8 V6 in an 89 Isuzu Trooper. Wife and I decided to pick up a bigger rig that we can keep as our family grows so we pulled the trigger on this 1997 LX 450. She has 180k miles has a new-ish radiator, had an ECU replaced about 50k miles ago (due to some wire fire on the PCV i think?) and has been a 1 Family vehicle for its life although CarFax says it was an auction vehicle at 56k miles from a Corporate Fleet in 2001 - not sure if that was some tax maneuvering though bc it doesn't show as a seperate owner... Also the valve cover seals have been replaced twice, most recent one in 2019 i believe 10k-ish miles ago. Grandma passed down to daughter, daughter to son, son to me. It seems like its sat quite a bit - as its only been driven 17k miles in 7 years. I paid 10k which was less than asking and seems like a good deal, assuming nothing blows up on me in the immediate future.

There werent a ton of records with the car so I have been trying to track them down. Immediately finding out if a Timing Belt has been done is on my radar. What else should I be looking for? Fluids look good to the naked eye, definitely some signs of a leak at some point - I am guessing the valve covers just never cleaned up off of the skid plate. No weird sounds that I am aware of, mostly just electrical gremlins (sunroof, slow window motors, N + D lights not working, antannae not moving, rear Drivers side door not responding to lock button) and and a squeaking passenger side rear bearing I believe (static bounce test on the rear of the truck didnt bring any squeaks). Tranny fluid is clean and no signs of water or particulate. PO says oil was changed every 10k miles.

Would love to hear thoughts and or questions I should ask myself. Looking to own this thing for a long time and would love to do a lot of it myself!

Thanks for your time! I will get some more detail shots soon!

View attachment 3558056

View attachment 3558057

Welcome!

The 80 will suss you out sooner or later. If you truly love it, you'll put in the hours to sort through the mounds of estoeric 80 info here to get your Land Cruiser tidied up.

If you don't, you'll end up selling it where the next owner will go through the same juice worth squeeze assessment. My grocery getter took me thru an intense and unpredictable, but ultimately rewarding 4 year ownership boot camp which includes an OEM new 1FZ-FE.

Team ih8 has been an immensely valuable resource and source of entertainment for me. Use it!

Gl, bud.

 

[mcbs]

Thanks Everyone. Appreciate the community here. The initial research I did on this forum about these rigs definitely pushed me to buy one! And i hear you on the effort and dough. Definitely interested in spending time and money on something that will give back. Can't imagine buying any modern vehicle and love what I have heard about these 80 series.

duece71 - thanks for the pointer. I will look into. Luckily we have ample garage space so I should be able to weather the next storms to keep it dry.

jonheld - thanks for the shot of enthusiasm and the pointers on updating the rubber. I will say that replacing seals and finish is probably my weakest point so itll be good to get some more practice in.​

COYS - Sick rig! Looking real good.​

Here some shots of the windshield and gutter. To my eyes, the coping looks quite good on the windshield. Definitely not psyched on the dent on the a pillar. Luckily it isnt worse but itll need some attention. Any recs there?

Thanks y'all!

 

[doc_random]

Odd looking residue around the sun roof. Like duct tape that was there and removed?
A couple of leading causes for wet front floor mats are:
- non-Toyota method for windshield replacement. It's a whole thing with method and adhesive that is different from the usual.
- plugged drains underneath the sun roof. Tubes go down the A-pillar and can get plugged with dust turned to mud. The roof was not made to be water tight, but to drain any water that came in. That was >25 years ago. Weed whacker line can clean these out.

I used Shin Etsu "40 series" grease around the sunroof seal. Open the roof partially. Rub the silicone grease on the seal and the frame. Close the roof and rub some more on top of the seam where the slider and roof meet. Held through a few inches of rain here for the past 5 months. Not a "root cause" solution but cheap and easy.

Others have installed a very large flex magnetic sheet over the whole sunroof to block water. Some have tried a large "rubber band" style gasket-helper to fill in the gap with mixed results. I don't have a part number for this.

Spousal unit arms crossed in the reflection is not a good look. Been there, got that look. Best of luck.

 

[DaveN]

Welcome!

The 80 will suss you out sooner or later. If you truly love it, you'll put in the hours to sort through the mounds of estoeric 80 info here to get your Land Cruiser tidied up.

If you don't, you'll end up selling it where the next owner will go through the same juice worth squeeze assessment. My grocery getter took me thru an intense and unpredictable, but ultimately rewarding 4 year ownership boot camp which includes an OEM new 1FZ-FE.

Team ih8 has been an immensely valuable resource and source of entertainment for me. Use it!

Gl, bud.

View attachment 3559355

Nice sharp looking rig. Do you mind sharing what you have for the tires and rims on your rig?
Thanks,
Dave

 

[COYS]

Nice sharp looking rig. Do you mind sharing what you have for the tires and rims on your rig?
Thanks,
Dave

37s and KMC Terras.

That windshield def isn’t original. There may be rust underneath the seal.

 

[DaveN]

37s and KMC Terras.

That windshield def isn’t original. There may be rust underneath the seal.

Thanks Bro.

 

[manofthewoods]

Good looking truck. No timing belt on that one.

Good catch. Lexus decided to go with the much more durable reciprocating Dingle arm; even though replacing those Bushings is expensive.
Good thing they opted to not add the turbo encabulator - for fuel economy reasons, no doubt.

 

[mcbs]

Odd looking residue around the sun roof. Like duct tape that was there and removed?
A couple of leading causes for wet front floor mats are:
- non-Toyota method for windshield replacement. It's a whole thing with method and adhesive that is different from the usual.
- plugged drains underneath the sun roof. Tubes go down the A-pillar and can get plugged with dust turned to mud. The roof was not made to be water tight, but to drain any water that came in. That was >25 years ago. Weed whacker line can clean these out.

I used Shin Etsu "40 series" grease around the sunroof seal. Open the roof partially. Rub the silicone grease on the seal and the frame. Close the roof and rub some more on top of the seam where the slider and roof meet. Held through a few inches of rain here for the past 5 months. Not a "root cause" solution but cheap and easy.

Others have installed a very large flex magnetic sheet over the whole sunroof to block water. Some have tried a large "rubber band" style gasket-helper to fill in the gap with mixed results. I don't have a part number for this.

Spousal unit arms crossed in the reflection is not a good look. Been there, got that look. Best of luck.

Ha! Was wondering if anyone would catch that.

Unfortunately the roof does not open, only tilts, which is another problem I would like to fix. I figured it was just the motor but upon researching seems like a lot of folks show clogged "pipes" from the grease hardening? Wondering if that's the consensus problem here.

Was also wondering if it is possible to manually open the sunroof. Saw some similar year other lexus models with very similar sunroofs able to hand crank the roof open, which I gave a go but found that it did not exactly line up. Looking for pointers here. Would love to clean these gutters to determine if it is the problem behind the leak (I am guessing it is).

Regarding the duct tape residue - that's my guess as well. Was wondering if someone put some sort of aftermarket wind-deflector. Need to clean that up for sure.

Also - noticing some really light ticking going on in the dash. Recorded a video of it buts pretty hard to hear. Almost like cruise control clicking on and off (not using CC in this scenario). It is unrelated to accelerating and doesn't sound related to steering either. I'd say it would click rapidly 4 times within 1 second, then nothing for 10 then a couple more. Almost like someone is toggling a switch. My wife has a 95 4runner with a bad speedo cable and i am bit overaware of sounds coming from the dash. Could be nothing but figured i'd ask here in case others know it to be a symptom of something else.

Still need to do a proper once or twice over on some things. Replaced the hood struts which were failing. The antennae doesn't work. Tape player doesn't either. I like the OEM look but was thinking of slapping something new in there, maybe with a rear view cam if i end up having to pull the headliner to fix this sunroof issue. Spare tire is flat and cracked, so will likely be looking for a replacement for that, if not all of the tires.

Thanks y'all. A few weeks in and we are loving this rig.

EDIT - Literally a couple hours after i posted this i moved the car in the garage to avoid the rain and I ran over a drill bit... smh... looks like I will be replacing tires way sooner than I intended ha! looking for recommendations. I live in coastal CA and this rig is going to be mostly on pavement. We will end up in CO at some point but I'll probably purchase some winter tires when we do.

Looking for something as close to stock as possible that wont break the bank!

 

[mcbs]

Update - Ended up going with the Yoko's Geo A/T G015. Seems like a lot of folks like them for their versatility, longevity and since I am keeping it stock with suspension makes sense to keep it stock wheels. Picking them up tomorrow. Plus, i got them for $1400 with install, alignment and a spare tire...

I did notice an insane amount of old oil that had piled up on the back of the passenger front wheel knuckle/brakes. Going to give it a good clean tomorrow. I jacked up each wheel and there seemed to be a ton of play in the passenger front wheel. thinking its probably thrown a bearing. Any symptoms of a bad knuckle that I should be aware of?

The rear passenger wheel has the quietest squeak coming from it. Can't tell what it is. Its a lot louder when driving. No oil or anything noticeable. Thoughts on that?

Also noticing a bit of oil dripping down on the driver's side axle and it looks like it is coming from the oil filter side. Still learning where things are on this rig. I know the valve covers were done recently so I was thinking it could be old oil reheating. Will give this a proper clean sometime soon to get a better idea what I am dealing with but figured y'all might have some things to keep an eye on.

Hope to get some new plugs in her too. Read Denso 1K16 Iridiums are the move. Is that the consensus? Was also reading that some used T5 on some older rigs to get a deep clean. She doesn't seem to stumble and I don't have a great baseline but I just have a feeling she could run smoother. Will likely do a blackstone analysis on the second change.

Lastly - I ended registering her in CO where we don't smog. Lived there for quite some time and have in-laws still there. Any mods you all would suggest? Interested in maintenance or mpg gains, less concerned about HP and torque at the moment.