Builds Poverty packin’: 1992 HZJ80 in Texas

[KennyBob]

Yep, that's a Euro spec deal. The truck came with them installed from the factory.

Knew I'd have to cut holes for them. Wondering if the connector exists in the wiring on the usdm trucks.

 

[jpoole]

Regarding the overheating, do you have fan roar on startup or after it's warm and has idled a touch?

The new blue hub aisin fan clutches are often pretty wimpy out of the box and adjusting the timing and moving to a heavier weight oil is easy to do (ie. could be done this week to help). Even a wimpy new clutch should keep temps in an acceptable range in moderate/mild conditions if all else is well but they can cause problems in hotter conditions. I ran my new aisin blue for a little while and the truck ran too hot in extreme situations (ac on, hot outside, low speed steep hills or long climbs on highway). With heavier oil and earlier timing and it has yet to go out of the 190s. If your condenser/rad fins are clogged, rad is blocked inside or the tstat is stuck closed, engine is super lean, etc. no amount of air will fix things.

A cap check, flush (perhaps with vinegar/similar), tstat check, foam replacement around radiator, radiator/condenser clean (from outside), etc. could all help you avoid doing damage on your upcoming trip.

 

[LINUS]

Knew I'd have to cut holes for them. Wondering if the connector exists in the wiring on the usdm trucks.

AFAIK, an early (3FE-era) -had them that was owned by a co-worker. He was stripping for a V8 install.

But by the time my ‘97 USDM black/grey one was built, no joy on them in the body harness (at least that I saw with a RS fender R&R).

So Mr T had them in at least some early 80’s - I never checked my LX450 though & all their floor/body harnesses are wired for K294 lockers, even the open diff K292 ones.
It would be interesting to see, like the hardwire cel phone option in the Lexus harnesses to the relay box.

Not the end of the world if you don’t have & want them - easy mod with T-taps & male spade connectors / tie into the cornermarker or FR turn signal, depending on your desired functionality.

The earlier your 80, the more I’d bet on finding them.

:: edited the Kxxx #’s - my memory isn’t as sharp as I like to think ::

 

[KennyBob]

AFAIK, an early (3FE-era) -had them that was owned by a co-worker. He was stripping for a V8 install.

But by the time my ‘97 USDM black/grey one was built, no joy on them in the body harness (at least that I saw with a RS fender R&R).

So Mr T had them in at least some early 80’s - I never checked my LX450 though & all their floor/body harnesses are wired for K274 lockers, even the open diff K272 ones.
It would be interesting to see, like the hardwire cel phone option in the Lexus harnesses to the relay box.

Not the end of the world if you don’t have & want them - easy mod with T-taps & male spade connectors / tie into the cornermarker or FR turn signal, depending on your desired functionality.

The earlier your 80, the more I’d bet on finding them.

I've got a 91 and there is a round 2 pin connector on the driver's side at least. Didn't see one on the passenger side right away. Probably buried under the cruise control stuff. Sorry for the hijack bottombracket.

 

[bottombracket]

Tech is tech. It’s never a hijack.

Unfortunately, it looks like I’m not going to be able to make the caravan up to the Solid Axle Summit. I work in a hospital and unfortunately I am on call Friday into Saturday. It’s probably not a bad idea to skip this trip and make sure the truck is ready before embarking on a 2000+ mile adventure. Next year I’m in 110%...and the 80 will have a 1HDFT under the hood.

Luckily, I have a new radiator, new hoses, cap, thermostat, and all the good stuff coming in so I can really see what’s going on.

And @jpoole, no fan roar on start up. Visually things look pretty clean, except for the coolant. In a couple of weeks when all the parts get here I will delve into it more deeply.

The maddening thing is that 90+ percent of the time, this is where my temp gauge sets.

 

[LINUS]

Tech is tech. It’s never a hijack.......no fan roar on start up. Visually things look pretty clean, except for the coolant. In a couple of weeks when all the parts get here I will delve into it more deeply.

View attachment 2044584

The maddening thing is that 90+ percent of the time, this is where my temp gauge sets.

With any luck your clutch you have currently is just shot then - if it doesn’t seem to give you any real resistance to moving the fan blades even when totally cold in the driveway overnight, then that’s a sign it’s probably toast.
_________________________

As to the cluster, have you got any familiarity with the @RavenTai cluster mod to the resistor for the gauge?

Cliff Note is that at least in the OBD2/late cluster the ohm resistance was swapped, makes the cluster temp gauge more responsive & that “don’t worry about it” -zone quits acting like that.

I’m not sure or even have a clue if it cross-translates into a mod you can do to your cluster —
(any of you early cluster / poverty pack owners have a voice of exp here???) —
-But it’s one of those things from the days of Mud past that unless you know to look, you can miss it.

If it’s not buried in the “stickies” threads of tech/mods up top, it is worth searching & seeing if you can make it work - if not, then yeah, a good “live” H2O temp gauge would be on my punchlist since you don’t have OBD2 connectivity.

HTH

 

[bottombracket]

I’m actively searching for inline water temperature gauges...

 

[OGBeno]

Sucks to hear you won’t make it to SAS, Galen. But I think you made the correct call with this rig.

How about taking the 61?

 

[bottombracket]

@Onur,

Pulling the 12HT for Roma to rebuild...

Next year. For sure. In SOMETHING.

 

[davegonz]

It's not like you don't have two more cruisers (FJ40 and 62).

 

[FJBen]

It’s probably not a bad idea to skip this trip and make sure the truck is ready before embarking on a 2000+ mile adventure. Next year I’m in 110%...and the 80 will have a 1DFT under the hood.

Luckily, I have a new radiator, new hoses, cap, thermostat, and all the good stuff coming in so I can really see what’s going on.

Absolutely the right call. My friend who owned my BJ74 before me ran into a similar problem. BJ74 from Australia, ~300K on it. Out on the freeway, a coolant hose popped, overheated very quickly and blew a headgasket. Damaged piston, valve, scorched liner, bent pushrods that ultimately ended in a full rebuild by me. In hindsight, as soon as he got that rig home, he should have baselined cooling system and all fluids. I know he did some, but just not the coolant. Last thing you want is a broken down 100's of miles from home.

Swapping a 1HD-FT? Sweet!

Factory gauges are notorious for saying temp is ok, then the next second you are WAY overheated. The raventai mod is great, or additional aftermarket guages.

 

[FJ73Texas]

The FJ73 I had taught me to not trust factory temp gauges early on in cruiser ownership. I just hate running all kinds of aftermarket gauges if they are not neatly installed.

 

[bottombracket]

Well, we had an awesome week of vacation on the other side of Colorado from SAS.

I got home to find all the parts I needed to redo the cooling system. I ended up buying 3 gallons of Toyota red on Amazon because the dealer didn’t stock it locally!

I know that I could’ve used Zerex Asian red coolant and save some cash, but since I dropped the dollars on an OEM radiator, I might as well do it up right and went OEM. This will be the first time in my life I’ve used anything other than Prestone green.

With a little bit of luck I’ll be able to drain the coolant and replace the radiator this weekend.

 

[bottombracket]

Part numbers for radiator hoses. I have new clamps too.

The overflow bottle was available new for 30 bucks. Couldn’t resist. Say goodbye to brittle 27-year-old plastic. I can’t believe Toyota still makes these parts. I try to take advantage of little things like this while they are still available new OEM.

 

[davegonz]

Save the lid off the old bottle for me. The one on my 60 doesn't seal well.

 

[bottombracket]

Today I had an early day at work and I was able to get out to the new place and swap the cooling system.

It was 100° in Austin today and the temp gauge was almost pegged into the red on the highway at 60mph. I had to roll the windows down and turn the heat up to full blast to keep things from seriously overheating. Perfect timing for a cooling overhaul.

A friend from work, Kevin, the best x-ray tech on the planet, stopped by to check out our new place. I showed him around the house and property and before you knew it, he rolled up his sleeves and dug in to to help me. A true friend, he reached into his pick up and pulled out a cooler with a couple of Founders IPAs.

With the two of us working (and fueled by excellent beer) we were able to get the front end apart enough to get the old radiator out. As I drained the coolant, it looked like muddy brown water. We stuck a garden hose in the top radiator hose and flushed the block, and it ran clean and clear surprisingly quickly. We flushed the heater circuit and got nothing more out. I didn’t even feel the need to open the petcock on the block to drain it.

The thermostat was aftermarket but looked pretty new. OEM t-stat and gasket went in. Both water inlet and outlet from the block were clean and had no sediment or corrosion. I did not replace them.

 

[bottombracket]

Thermostat and gasket part numbers for
posterity:

As @davegonz knows, when you put the thermostat in, you have to put the jiggle joint up.

 

[bottombracket]

Kevin I got everything buttoned up shortly there after and filled it with coolant. I used Toyota red and distilled water. It’s the first time in my life I’ve ever used anything besides Prestone and tap water. Since it cost about 250% more, I hope it’s at least that much more awesome.

The coolant fill was surprisingly easy. No burping, no issues. We let it idle until the thermostat opened and topped off the coolant. We went for a drive, and the heater blew hot and it stayed low on the water temperature gauge, definitely in the lowest quarter the whole time. Tomorrow will be the acid test when it’s 100° again in Austin.

It’s after midnight, about three hours past my usual bedtime, so I’m going to carefully drive back into town with my extra gallon of coolant and funnel at the ready if needed.

 

[Jroc561]

Always great to have a friend willing to get his hands dirty. Cant wait until we get a cool down as well, looks like later this week we may get back into the low 90's

 

[bottombracket]

Morning check in:

I drove home last night and the needle never moved from the lower quarter.

This morning I topped it up with 1/2oz of coolant and had no issues on the morning commute.

Bring on the sun, TX.