Our first HJ61!

[Cruise Easy922]

Hello all! My wife and I recently picked up our very first Toyota Land Cruiser and can't be happier! We searched for quite some time for a Land Cruiser that fit our requirements and finally found this 60 series that had everything we wanted and more. We were interested in finding an older, round headlight, HJ to begin with, we opted for the 5speed with the 12HT over the auto, grey/black interior, and one that wasn't too abused.

My wife and I are both American, however, we moved to Japan for a few years for work and decided there is no better time to snag one of these classics. In the future, once we get back to America, we plan to modify it a bit, but mainly just keep it stock and reliable; capably of a wide spectrum of hobbies, exploration, etc. In the mean time, we plan to just maintenance it; Japan has a VERY strict yearly/bi-yearly inspection called JCI and its a PITA.

Okay, enough about us and onto the truck!

It's an, all original, 1987 Land Cruiser VX with 180k Km, 5 speed with a 12HT turbo diesel, factory PTO winch, power options to include sun roof, front and rear full floaters, recent paint, no noticeable rust, an absolute beauty! However, this rig is almost 30 years old and it does have a few problems. It has, the notorious, low oil pressure indication on the dash; new oil pressure sender on the way. The right-hand turn signals, occasionally, don't work, front and rear; still trouble shooting. I think the problem lies within the multi function switch itself: fuse, bulbs, relays all good, still a little stumped, but I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually.

 

[gilamonster]

nice!

 

[mongoose2231]

That's a "clean" truck!! It says it on the boat behind it. Sweet rig, now keep the updates and the pictures coming.

 

[Cruise Easy922]

That's a "clean" truck!! It says it on the boat behind it. Sweet rig, now keep the updates and the pictures coming.

Certainly! We should actually be getting the rest of our parts in from Toyota this coming week, so be looking foreword to some pictures and some OEM goodness.

nice!

Thanks!!

 

[roscoFJ73]

Nice find . Suspension is looking a little flat. Did elderly people own it before? Just looking at that step thing that needs to be chopped off.
What's the oil pressure doing?

What's up with the boat ,tsunami victim?

 

[Cruise Easy922]

Nice find . Suspension is looking a little flat. Did elderly people own it before? Just looking at that step thing that needs to be chopped off.
What's the oil pressure doing?

What's up with the boat ,tsunami victim?

I agree, the suspension is looking a bit tired, probably the original leafs. The truck only had one previous owner and, I agree, that step leads me to believe they were older. The oil pressure gauge is always down on "L", however, I've read that if it was truly that low, the engine won't even run 1. Because there is a sensor that will kill the engine if oil pressure drops too low and 2. The injectors need oil pressure to fire. I know, I should have hooked it up to a mechanical oil pressure gauge to test and see if it's getting proper oil pressure before throwing parts at it, but OEM parts here in Japan are readily available and not too expensive either.

 

[Cruise Easy922]

A few more pictures of the HJ before we took ownership.

 

[Helocrazed]

Nice find! I got my rig while in Okinawa too. Did you purchase through an Auctioner?

 

[Sooke]

Nice looking rig. I own the same truck. You will enjoy it. The oil pressure will typically show low at idle and at lower RPM. It won't move up until at higher RPM's.

 

[HJ61 12HT]

The oil pressure gauge is always down on "L", however, I've read that if it was truly that low, the engine won't even run 1. Because there is a sensor that will kill the engine if oil pressure drops too low and 2. The injectors need oil pressure to fire.

There is no sensor that stops a 12HT if it happens to get low oil pressure, don't be worried though, the oil pressure gauges generally always read low, as long as you have some oil it will be fine.

 

[cruisedeisel]

Whats the price tag on that rig USD? I mean if you don't mind telling.

 

[drenmaster]

Nice rig.. I bought mine in Japan and brought it over as well. I highly recommend stocking up on spare parts.. engine and drivetrain specific. so far my slave cylinder went out, belts needed replaced speedometer cable broke.. I'm sure more stuff will pop up.. I brought about $1500 worth of spare engine parts from yahoo auctions japan before I came back to the states.. mostly engine stuff but 24v electronics are hard to find in the states..

You know what state ur going back to?

 

[drenmaster]

Forgot to add that 100 plate sucks... JCI every year.. atleast u have a y plate.. I didn't even register mine just got slash plates when I wanted to drive..

 

[Tapage]

Such a beauty .. it have cable lockers .. ?

 

[Cruise Easy922]

Wow! I would first like to apologize for my lack of attention to this thread; I didn't realize it had much interest!

On a side note, the truck is running very well! We're getting a little over 20mpg highway; its holding good oil pressure, both at idle and cruising; gauge shows its running cool; no strange noises, shakes, rattles. However, we've been having a strange occurrence lately. When we're driving, I will put the truck into neutral, usually from 3rd gear doing 40k, to slow for a stop and the engine will drop below 500rpm and shutter for a split second and then come right back to its normal idle rpm. I'm only concerned because it doesn't do it all the time; sometimes the idle smoothly drops right to 650ish.

A few weeks ago we finally had some time to do our first service on "Tom Cruiser". I bought most of the parts locally through Toyota and got the oil from AutoZone's website. I kept a log of all the parts and fluids we replaced, which included:
Alternator belt~ 99343-11095
A/C belt ~ 99332-01395
Power steering belt ~ 90916-02153
Engine oil ~ Delo 400 LE 15w40
Oil filter ~ 15601-68010
Fuel filter ~ 23303-54072
Air filter ~ 17801-68020
Trans and T-case fluid ~ REDLINE MT90
Front and rear diff fluid ~ Toyota Hypoid LSD 85w90 GL5
Oil pressure sender gauge ~ 83520-60020
While we were in there, we went ahead and converted all the 24mm drain and fill plugs to the 10mm allen plugs. 90341-18021

Nice find! I got my rig while in Okinawa too. Did you purchase through an Auctioner?

Yes Helocrazed, my wife and I got it through an online auction from mainland Japan.

Nice looking rig. I own the same truck. You will enjoy it. The oil pressure will typically show low at idle and at lower RPM. It won't move up until at higher RPM's.

About 2 weeks ago now, I ended up swapping out the old oil pressure sending unit with a new OEM Toyota component. Instantly fixed the problem and the gauge now reads about half while cruising and hangs around the lowest tick mark at idle.

Whats the price tag on that rig USD? I mean if you don't mind telling.

We spent 18K out the door. That included shipping from mainland Japan, some dealer fees, 1 year of full coverage insurance and the interest on a 2 year loan.

Nice rig.. I bought mine in Japan and brought it over as well. I highly recommend stocking up on spare parts.. engine and drivetrain specific. so far my slave cylinder went out, belts needed replaced speedometer cable broke.. I'm sure more stuff will pop up.. I brought about $1500 worth of spare engine parts from yahoo auctions japan before I came back to the states.. mostly engine stuff but 24v electronics are hard to find in the states..

You know what state ur going back to?

I can only imagine how difficult it is to find these 24v/diesel parts in the states. However, I found, what looks to be, a good website called megazip.net; they have pretty competitive prices, decent shipping, great parts diagram pictures and a lot of their parts are still in stock. Although, I do plan on snagging a bunch of factory parts as well. And honestly, we have no idea where we want to go after we leave Japan; I'm really leaning towards the north west Oregon/Washintiong area and my wife really wants to move back closer to family in Florida.

Such a beauty .. it have cable lockers .. ?

Unfortunately, it does not.

 

[Helocrazed]

Wow! I would first like to apologize for my lack of attention to this thread; I didn't realize it had much interest!

On a side note, the truck is running very well! We're getting a little over 20mpg highway; its holding good oil pressure, both at idle and cruising; gauge shows its running cool; no strange noises, shakes, rattles. However, we've been having a strange occurrence lately. When we're driving, I will put the truck into neutral, usually from 3rd gear doing 40k, to slow for a stop and the engine will drop below 500rpm and shutter for a split second and then come right back to its normal idle rpm. I'm only concerned because it doesn't do it all the time; sometimes the idle smoothly drops right to 650ish.

A few weeks ago we finally had some time to do our first service on "Tom Cruiser". I bought most of the parts locally through Toyota and got the oil from AutoZone's website. I kept a log of all the parts and fluids we replaced, which included:
Alternator belt~ 99343-11095
A/C belt ~ 99332-01395
Power steering belt ~ 90916-02153
Engine oil ~ Delo 400 LE 15w40
Oil filter ~ 15601-68010
Fuel filter ~ 23303-54072
Air filter ~ 17801-68020
Trans and T-case fluid ~ REDLINE MT90
Front and rear diff fluid ~ Toyota Hypoid LSD 85w90 GL5
Oil pressure sender gauge ~ 83520-60020
While we were in there, we went ahead and converted all the 24mm drain and fill plugs to the 10mm allen plugs. 90341-18021


Yes Helocrazed, my wife and I got it through an online auction from mainland Japan.


About 2 weeks ago now, I ended up swapping out the old oil pressure sending unit with a new OEM Toyota component. Instantly fixed the problem and the gauge now reads about half while cruising and hangs around the lowest tick mark at idle.
View attachment 1357886


We spent 18K out the door. That included shipping from mainland Japan, some dealer fees, 1 year of full coverage insurance and the interest on a 2 year loan.


I can only imagine how difficult it is to find these 24v/diesel parts in the states. However, I found, what looks to be, a good website called megazip.net; they have pretty competitive prices, decent shipping, great parts diagram pictures and a lot of their parts are still in stock. Although, I do plan on snagging a bunch of factory parts as well. And honestly, we have no idea where we want to go after we leave Japan; I'm really leaning towards the north west Oregon/Washintiong area and my wife really wants to move back closer to family in Florida.


Unfortunately, it does not.

Well, I'm assuming that you're either U.S military or Federal being in Okinawa. I'' in the Southwest right now. Trying to get back to Okinawa after my minimum time here stateside. The post about stocking up on any parts you can bring over and the lack of 24v parts is some good advice. I brought and just had to use bulbs, oil and fuel filters I brought. I also ended up asking a Buddy of mine to pick up an A/C resistor for me from over there. The one I found online cost a good amount and the one my Buddy picked up cost only ¥1300.00 less than half of what I paid online . I'd get belts, a watte pump, thermostat, oil and fuel filters, bulbs and diesel components for your 12HT. Check Toguchi parts. Ask your local Gearheads, they're a great and inexpensive parts store on Okinawa. The hobby shops on base get their parts from there and mark up the prices for you .