Now this guy is in the 60 series threads? New to me, 1988 FJ62 (1 Viewer)

[toyotaspeed90]

I'll post some progress on the gauges when I have some to report.

This weekend wasn't overly helpful.

Went to replace the temp sending unit (for the gauge) and the Autometer doesn't have a fitting that works.

Went to put the new walker tail pipe on... couldn't get it into place with the spare tire in place....

So went to pull the spare and had major issues getting it to drop. The mechanism that moves the chain wouldn't budge and the tools were all stripped. Literally had to cut the holder for the spare in half to get it released.

Went to install the tail pipe, and the muffler back side was rusted out. Cut the muffler out and found a minor leak....

So ordered a universal....

I did get the new spark plugs, cap/rotor, rear lift gate struts, and wipers replaced.... so there's that...

Last week I was also able to get the cheap matchless double din touchscreen stereo installed. The old stereo was a beast of a thing....

 

[Dr. John]

If you haven't done this already...be careful grounding the oil pressure gauge wire to check function. If you leave it grounded more than a split second you can fry the gauge. Don't ask me...etc....etc.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

If you haven't done this already...be careful grounding the oil pressure gauge wire to check function. If you leave it grounded more than a split second you can fry the gauge. Don't ask me...etc....etc.

Vehicle was purchased with a fried oil pressure gauge....

 

[toyotaspeed90]

Went to work on putting in a new muffler and tail pipe, got about a 1/4" bead started before I ran out of wire. Funny since when I went to work on replacing a section of the exhaust area last month I ran out of gas.

Put my attention towards the gauge project, did a "proof of concept" with the stock metal ring while waiting to hear back from my friend with the 3d printer and the glowforge (laser cutter).... seems it will work after a bunch of cutting. However I didnt modify the backside the stock housing so I can still use the stock plug and PCB.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

The Autometer temp sensor does not ohm out the same as the stock Toyota... so have to use the Autometer sensor.

Went to an industrial hose shop with the (now broken/old) thermostat housing and the sensor for an adapter... no go.

I took the 3/8 pipe brass adapter that came with, ground the bottom down and ran it through a 16mm tap. Seems to have worked, the brass was soft enough. I installed with some RTV just in case.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

Still needs more trimming, but mild trimming can take place and then i can wire them- which will be directly to the stock gauge pod/PCB... no new wires through the firewall.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

No real progress... other than trying to think of how to wire to the PCB.

I remembered that building megasquirt they use nylon machine screws.

I had some spares and did a quick test - I think this will provide a perfect solution. Will allow me to secure a wire with an eyelet to the PCB in a similar fashion to stock with issues of clearance nor transmitting electrical signals.

So I ordered a set.

When done I'll follow up with photos.

I snapped these while trimming, this is a spare MS nylon screw, I'm hoping the set i got is a tad larger- with that said this would work and hold. I just dont have enough.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

Still needs some work and testing..... got everything together and with a quick test I was throwing a CEL. No time to check.

Also not fitting as well as the test runs, maybe something with the wiring.

At some point we'll 3D print or cut a new plate for it.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

All is working now except the engine CEL.

It's a code 22. The 80 series Tstat housing had different locations for the sensors and I think a combination of age on the sensor (it fell apart during my diagnostics) and the wiring having to reach caused the problem.

Now I need both sensor and pigtail. We'll see what I find. I prefer the push release newer style and I'm not going to pay Land Cruiser parts prices for something that is Toyota generic. I do have a spare newer style sensor, just not a connector.


Next up will be the LED headlight install a d hopefully find/track down the high beam relay as those rarely work. I will, most likely, just wire in a new generic relay.

Oddly enough the low beams in the truck are cheapos (which is what I plan to replace) and the high beams are Koito.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

Oh, also about to pull the trigger on an RFID ignition security system, to reduce the simplicity of stealing the vehicle.

Plus some pics, why not.

Stereo is an inexpensive mechless/touch screen unit that had oddly good reviews (also got a 3 year warranty just in case). I did have to trim to get it to fit - which I wouldn't have done if the factory bezel wasn't already cracked in multiple spots. Just sayin.

 

[hygge]

Enjoying watching your work on the 62. I've faced some of the same issues (like temperature spiking), sending units not working, manifold issues, exhaust issues.

Never fun to deal with, but I like to think of these things as "learning" experiences.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

Would get a pic, but it's dark and I couldn't get a clear shot now that the truck is back together.

Installed this connector:
Coolant Temperature Sensor Connector Repair Pigtail Replaces 158-0421 PMPS Fits Toyota https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EENEJ8M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_sbtuCb4JV9WMK

I ordered a sensor as well but the sensor I got really didnt fit the connector (nearly impossible to click in when trying out of the vehicle) and the supplied crush washer didn't fit.

Had another sensor, by chance, that's a push connector and it all fit.

Not sure if because I have an 80 series t stat housing or just a pain, but had to pull the air pump and its brackets.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

Not much has been done... quite busy around here and the 62 has been in the garage hoping the floors dry out. Been cold and snowy around here so they haven't dried an ounce. No idea where the water is coming from. It's so wet, and prevalent in all 4 foot wells that I cant pinpoint the problem.

I did, however, swap the headlights. As usual, took more than just a couple minutes.

Previous owners had, apparantly, never taken the lower screws out from the trim surround. Putting LED units in means the trim ring has to come off (they're a tad deeper). Had to grind the lower trim screw heads off then vice grip and screw them off backwards.

No rewiring needed.

I also need to figure out why the high beams dont work. The blue connector under the steering column is perfect. I assume the stalk switch works as low beams turn off and the highbeam indicator turn on.

There's no power at the connector, that's about as far as I got.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

Forgot to mention... also adjusted throttle and detent cables, drives completely differently now (for the better). More range within the rpm / gear (not shifting at 2k rpm) and almost instant response at the pedal.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

I meant to add...

I'm not going to spend a lot of time finding the problem. I'm already planning to put in aftermarket, separate, relays for the lights with new/larger gauge wiring. I will also plan to wire it so both low and high will be on at the same time for high beams - I'm not sure why they were set up like this in the first place.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

Silly little update....

Once I get around to it, I've decided how to wire the headlights. Currently fused for R and L, those will now be High and Low.

One relay (12v from battery power direct) will feed 2 more relays when the 12v for the lights is turned on. That will turn power on to all headlights.

The low beam relay will be grounded, and this will power the low beams when 12v turns on, will stay on regardless of low or high is on per the stalk.

The high beam relay will be ground switched with the current ground switched signal for high.

That easy. Now just to wire it some day.


As for another small update.... pulling the broken dash trim (around climate) I realized the ashtray is supposed to be attached to the trim. Those screws and part of the trim were broken off, but still there. I could have glued it but I was lazy.

Some slightly larger diameter self tapping screws that are longer than stock actually was all it took. I used the broken pieces so it would fit properly.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

Rolls of wiring (14ga, 10 colors, 100ft ea) showed up, as did this....

Not overly impressed with the greaseable shackle bolts, but is what it is.

Guess i have some work to do.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

Will get some more photos when I get it out of the garage.

Got the HFS shackles/greasable bolts and HFS steering stabilizer installed.

One rear shackle took about 20 minutes to get out. The other side (driver) took over an hour. Fronts took about 30 minutes total to swap out. Stabilizer was a pain as i couldn't find the TRE pickle fork - bought one and got it swapped.


I created another thread on this, but we got the sliding rear windows installed. Waiting on our tint guy to reply so we can get the rest of the windows tinted.

I went to replace the rear drivers door handle only to realize I ordered a front. Price from online sellers and Toyota only varies by about $5, but Toyoya could get it to me faster. Got that swapped out today.

Small hint for installing (getting to the back bolt)- remove the small screw holding the arm on the handle that actually pushes the door mechanism
Then disconnect the bar that runs to the inner door handle - the amount of room you have increases exponentially and those 2 things are very easy to reinstall. (Before doing that I must have dropped the bolt down into the door at least 10 times).

Further - when I was in Toyota today I inquired the feasibility of rear shoulder seatbelts (having the seatbelt planet set on mind, for $270). Turns out for about a year there was a rear shoulder set that used the lower retractable belt system. Essentially same as the stock lap belts (retractor at the botrom) with a shoulder strap as well.

Not only could they get them, but in the right color... and for only $238, both sides including sales tax. I will definitely get photos of that aside install.

Here's some window photos (and difference in front/rear handles just for fun). The chrome strip photo shows that the window installer used a thicker "lace" to tighten the gasket gap created between the 1/8" frame thickness and the 1/4" window thickness variance.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

Rear seatbelts installed last night, quite simple to install. The seatbelts came with some literature (oddly seemed like NOS packaging in a newer box) suggesting to pull the rear upper seat half. Wasn't needed.

Again, I had 1 rear retractor that didnt work at all so just replacing that is a big help, let alone adding the shoulder belts.

This is what I did.
Fold ththe rear seat down.
Remove the rearmost trim holding the carpet.
Pull the carpet back to exposing the top bolt of the retractor.
Unbolt the top bolt the pull the assembly (and the belt) out
Slide the new belt under the folded down seat (if needed push the seatback up a tad to get to the belt, and pull it through)
Bolt the new retractor in place

If your lower retractors are perfect. and the end clip has the slot (hidden under where the belt loops into the clip) for the shoulder strap then you can ignore the above, but new belts are always a good safety measure.


For the shoulders this is what I did:
Feel through the C pillar trim to locate the shoulder belt bolt hole
Use a razor blade to cut an X through the trim into the bolt hole
Bolt the shoulder harness in place
Slide the cover over the newly installed belt

This took me about 20 minutes to complete both sides, with our 11 month old walking around in the back taking things as I needed them.

These were available from Toyota still.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

Slight gripe about the seatbelts - they really struggle to retract well as any angle on the belt material binds and refuses to retract.


Now working on this.... is turning into more than I wanted/hoped for but should have expected... it won't be perfectly pretty when done but hopefully well sealed with external rot replaced and all re-sealed....

What frustrates me about this is the poor job to fix the problem initially.

The truck has obviously been repainted green from blue... however if you look at the first photo closely there is green under the bondo... that means some bondo patchwork was really poorly done at some point after the color change. They didn't go to bare metal to apply the bondo - which is most likely why the bondo failed, which isn't waterproof, and made the problems significantly worse.