New Troopy owner in Papua New Guinea

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B

Brad in PNG

Joined
Dec 26, 2016
Threads
1
Messages
6
Location
Papua New Guinea
Hi Everyone, I am new to this forum and also new to owning an Land Cruiser. I live in Goroka, Papua New Guinea and it certainly is a country that has a real need for vehicles of this nature! In fact, at least 60% of vehicles on the road are Land Cruisers as they are the only ones that seems to be able to handle the rugged conditions! So, I have been eyeing them out for ages and finally one came up that was going for a price that I could afford, but it meant that I would have to do quite a bit of work myself. So, that is the challenge. Although I have worked on cars before, I am by no means an experienced mechanic.

I have included some pics of my new project and hopefully family car (if I can get it to the point where it is going well). It is a HZJ75 (not quite sure of the year of manufacture). It was registered in Papua New Guinea in 1996, but I think it may be a few years older (I am not sure how to tell, there is nothing on the info plate in the engine compartment).

I have quite a few questions that I will get to in due course, but for now, I just wanted to introduce myself to the forum and get some pics up. I am looking forward to getting stuck into this vehicle and learning a lot in the process. My initial trolling through the forum has been very interesting and I have already picked up quite a few tips!
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These pics were taken on the drive back from Mt Hagen to Goroka along the Highlands Highway which is the main road through the central highlands of Papua New Guinea
 
You should be able to look up the VIN plate number to find out year of manufacture and help
in looking for parts. Be really hard to find out exact parts without knowing

Two sources for parts online. Amayama.com and Megazip.com Megazip has very good factory diagrams
and all pricing for all parts. Amayama is a bit cheaper. I've only bought from Megazip. Very fast and efficient.
They have an online chat assist and will research parts availability and other things for you. Very helpful!
4 days JapanPost from Japan to Canada delivery.

Good luck and I wish I could live where no one cared what year my truck was. J
 
I think PNG gets its landcruisers from Toyota Australia. Are there any plates at all on the firewall?
If you find HZJ75RV-MRQ on a plate it would confirm it as Australian model.
 
Hi Everyone
Thanks for the encouragement and the messages. I have included a pic of the info plate. I think the car was manufactured in Japan. I still need to try and look up the VIN number on the internet. I have some other questions that I am trying to find the answer to, if anyone could maybe help with...
1. It has a turbo dynamics turbo on it, but it does not seem to be working. I presume that it was fitted post manufacture because the 1hz motors did not come with turbos. I think it would be better to return the vehicle to a normally aspirated one. With the kind of driving I would do here, I dont think that I turbo is entirely necessary and with the difficulty of getting spares easily here, a simple, more reliable engine is probably best. What sort of things should I be considering with regards to the turbo (or the removal of it). There is significant play in the empellor, and there was a lot of oil leaking around where the oil feed to the bearings is. Also, I could not hear it while the engine is running.
2. The preheat seems to be working. I checked the timer module behind the glove box, and I checked the voltage to the glow plugs. It has the fixed timing system. I never checked the relay, but the rest seemed to be working fine. The only thing is that the preheat light on the dashboard is not connected. In fact, the preheat light is not in the main instrument panel, but as a separate light on the RHS of the steering column on the front of the dashboard. But, there is no obvious wire that leads there. Does anyone know how that system works, and where the wires to the light should come from? When I checked the timer module, the pin that runs via the light didn't show battery power with the ignition on (which would make sense if the light bulb was not connected) so I think all I need to do is locate the wires and fit a bulb! But, which wires?!

Thats probably enough questions for now! Thanks for the help so far!
VIN Plate.webp
 
how easy it's for you get parts from close Australia ..?

1. turbo ain't gonna be a problem if working ok .. worst case scenario you rebuild it and ready to go again ..

2. how many miles / km on your Cruiser ..?

3. so when preheat you got V to the bush bar / glow plugs .?
 
I think most of the owners of landcruisers in PNG get their parts from northern queensland. PNG is a former colony of Australia ,so the trade between us is fairly relaxed when its comes to the formalities, maybe like US to Puerto Rico.

They are all made in Japan ,and yours is from Toyota's Honsya plant (Factory code A11). Its a HZJ75RV-MR General Market model which is sold to all countries except the Gulf countries ,Australia and South Africa. KO85 means it has the fairly weak LSDiff,the diff is not weak ,just the LSD effect..
Yours is pretty much identical to mine. I'm assuming yours is 12 volt. Does it have the dust sensor on the air filter box?

Is it starting easy? If so ,that would indicate the glow plugs are working. Do you know if the glow plug timer was the original or aftermarket. They are not cheap ,so owners often replace them with an aftermarket unit..
 
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It's pretty easy to get parts from Australia. It just takes a while to get them to PNG. The car has 340 000km. With regards to the 3rd question, yes, I get volts to the glow plugs when you initially turn on the ignition. After a while then no volts (which is what I would expect). So that is why I think the preheat is working, but there is just no light on the dashboard.

With regards to the turbo, is there any reason to keep it? (Other than the extra power). I have the bits to convert to normally aspirated.
 
The turbo wont be much use on PNG roads from what I have seen. On the other hand it might be useful at higher elevations.
 
Thanks for the info on the car! It does start quite easy, but smokes quite a bit in the beginning until it gets a bit warmer. I am not quite sure about the sensor on the air filter. It has two small air lines that run into the air filter box and one of them runs into a sensor which I presume is to determine if the air filter is blocked (or getting blocked). I dont think that system is working however. I am not sure about the preheat timer, I would have to look at it again. It had the standard Toyota plug in the back with place for 9 pins. Pin 8 was the one not showing voltage with the ignition on.

There are quite a few places in Cairns that stock spares, and in PNG you can get spares, but it tends to be more expensive. Some of the less common items are hard to come by here in PNG.

What do you think about the turbo question from my previous post? Does your car have a turbo? Mine does, but it does not seem to be working. I have managed to get some cheap second hand parts to return it to a normally aspirated. It is probably cheaper for me to go back to normally aspirated. I have heard that some of these models were factory fitted with a turbo, is that true?

Sorry for the many many questions! I am learning a lot!
 
I don't have a turbo , it goes as fast as I need it too. Its probably going to save you a bit of cash going back to stock.
Some of the later 7* series had the 1HD FTE engine
It sounds like you have the dust sensor. I think the light comes on when the ignition is on ,like the other warning lights.
 
Brad in PNG said:
Thanks for the info on the car! It does start quite easy, but smokes quite a bit in the beginning until it gets a bit warmer. I am not quite sure about the sensor on the air filter. It has two small air lines that run into the air filter box and one of them runs into a sensor which I presume is to determine if the air filter is blocked (or getting blocked). I dont think that system is working however. I am not sure about the preheat timer, I would have to look at it again. It had the standard Toyota plug in the back with place for 9 pins. Pin 8 was the one not showing voltage with the ignition on.

There are quite a few places in Cairns that stock spares, and in PNG you can get spares, but it tends to be more expensive. Some of the less common items are hard to come by here in PNG.

What do you think about the turbo question from my previous post? Does your car have a turbo? Mine does, but it does not seem to be working. I have managed to get some cheap second hand parts to return it to a normally aspirated. It is probably cheaper for me to go back to normally aspirated. I have heard that some of these models were factory fitted with a turbo, is that true?

Sorry for the many many questions! I am learning a lot!
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G'day Brad,

In Goroka aye? My old stomping grounds back in the 80's. What brought you there?

Anyway.... Look up Hans Mehl with High Speed Diesel in Lae. He will get you sorted out. Good bloke!! I will actually be in Lae in April and visiting Hans. He was one of my sponsors when I used to race Motocross, Flat track and Enduros back then. Great times!! Do they still have a track out near the golf course? Used to have Horse, Car and motorbike tracks out there and we would party it up at the golf course after races. Always loved that we would buy drinks at the bar "for dad" and they would serve us. But I digress... Get a hold of Hans and he will take care of you. Tell him Curly sent you.
 
Thanks for the info. I had heard about Hi Speed Diesel, but after your post I contacted him. He is going to sort out a few bits for me. If I get a chance to get to Lae I will pop in there. I am a pilot with Mission Aviation Fellowship and thats why we live in Goroka. The race course is still there, but mostly derelict. There are 4 horses left (all on their deathbed virtually!). It is sad that none of that stuff happens anymore!
 
Brad in PNG said:
Thanks for the info. I had heard about Hi Speed Diesel, but after your post I contacted him. He is going to sort out a few bits for me. If I get a chance to get to Lae I will pop in there. I am a pilot with Mission Aviation Fellowship and thats why we live in Goroka. The race course is still there, but mostly derelict. There are 4 horses left (all on their deathbed virtually!). It is sad that none of that stuff happens anymore!
Click to expand...

Ah MAF.

We used to use them all the time when I was a kid and living in Enga province. Do they still headquarter in Hagen? I am an A&P mechanic by trade and have thought about heading back to PNG after the kid is out of college. Will be fun to get back there in April. We will make a quick trip up to SIL, Aiyura and Goroka.
 
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