Builds Project Bluey - the dad wagon!

[BGMachine]

Hey All,

I just scooped up a '95 80 series this weekend out of Kentucky! The goal for this truck is to make it my daily in year when the lease is up on my Taco. Here's the details for the truck:

1995 FZJ80 - Moonglow Pearl
142,000mi
low rust
needs some fixin'

So for step 1, I have to fix the issues that I knew about when buying it and the new ones that have popped up after driving it a bit. Here's the rundown:

1) The engine is now running a bit rough.
It feels like it loses a cylinder at low RPM but cleans up at higher RPM. Either the fuel is stale, ignition system isn't happy, or something else.
- A tune up with spark plugs, wires, coil, cap, rotor, filters, fluid changes, MAF cleaning, throttle body cleaning, and fresh fuel fixed it.

2) The transmission shifts 1-2 rough. Sometimes it briefly grinds the 1-2 shift.
A fluid flush may help it, or it's something else. Maybe shift solenoid, sensor, needs a new trans? hopefully not that last one.
- 1st gear clutch pack was bad. Replaced with a salvaged trans with ~129,000mi. shifts amazing!

3) ABS pump is seized.
Will replace and bleed system. I will put fresh pads and rotors on it while I'm at it.

4) repair and reseal sunroof.
Previous owner decided to "fix" it with duct tape and what looks like possibly roof flashing tape? that will be a joy to remove.
- removed roof rack, welded in patch panels, monsterlined roof.

5) New tires
self explanatory - 33" Falken Wildpeak A/T4W. they work great so far! surprisingly quiet, good road manners. I think I like them better than BFG's I've used in the past. will test in the dirt soon.

6) A/C condensor replacement.
It's broken and leaking
- replaced the compressor, condenser, and evaporator. Vacuumed out and recharged the system. it works OK, can only get 60F air out of it. but I don't want to overcharge it any further. I may take it to a shop to have it professionally evacuated and refilled.

BONUS:
- Front seat foam and covers
- bumper and winch
- OME 2.5" lift kit
- lights
- rear tire carrier
- tan interior swap
- locker!!!

It will be a lot of work, but I'm ready for the challenge! Hopefully the engine and trans will be relatively simple, those are my big unknowns.

 

[BILT4ME]

How do you know the ABS Pump is seized? Not a common thing here.

Please advise symptoms.

 

[CruisD64]

First off, congrats! For #2, try a flush with Dex 6 and a bottle of lubegard. Pull off the pan and change the filter if you can. I had a major transmission issue on my 62 and after the same recommended flush it's been perfect for 15k miles. I had REALLY hard downshifts from 2nd to 1st and all my problems are gone now.

 

[BGMachine]

How do you know the ABS Pump is seized? Not a common thing here.

Please advise symptoms.

The mechanic that that inspected the truck (Peter Merriam in Atlanta) and that was his diagnosis. ABS light is on but I've not looked into it further at this point.

First off, congrats! For #2, try a flush with Dex 6 and a bottle of lubegard. Pull off the pan and change the filter if you can. I had a major transmission issue on my 62 and after the same recommended flush it's been perfect for 15k miles. I had REALLY hard downshifts from 2nd to 1st and all my problems are gone now.

Thanks! I will give that a shot! To confirm, refill the trans with Dex6 and lube-guard, drive a little while, then drain and refill with toyota spec?

 

[OffRoadScott]

Great looking rig.

 

[BILT4ME]

The mechanic that that inspected the truck (Peter Merriam in Atlanta) and that was his diagnosis. ABS light is on but I've not looked into it further at this point.


Thanks! I will give that a shot! To confirm, refill the trans with Dex6 and lube-guard, drive a little while, then drain and refill with toyota spec?

Just because the ABS light is on does NOT mean the ABS pump is seized. Most generally it is wiring on these.

 

[MrMacdugal]

Bluey is a great name! Last fall I sold a 1995 Nighshade pearl blue 80 that we named Bluey. My kid loves that show.
Congrats on your new purchase

 

[BGMachine]

Just because the ABS light is on does NOT mean the ABS pump is seized. Most generally it is wiring on these.

I understand. I'm going off what I was told. I've not gotten to diagnosing it myself. I've owned the truck for 24hrs now. haha

Bluey is a great name! Last fall I sold a 1995 Nighshade pearl blue 80 that we named Bluey. My kid loves that show.
Congrats on your new purchase

Thanks! Nightshade is a beautiful color! My daughter is still an infant but she will definitely be introduced to the show at some point in the future! haha

 

[CruisD64]

Thanks! I will give that a shot! To confirm, refill the trans with Dex6 and lube-guard, drive a little while, then drain and refill with toyota spec?

Nope! Just use Dex6 with Lubegard and run with it. The torque converter does hold a lot of fluid, though, so you may want to flush a few times before buttoning it up. Don't waste the lubegard until the final fill up. Also, if you decide to pull the pan, change the filter while you're in there.

 

[BGMachine]

OK, so I had a little time this evening and I was able to clean the truck up a little bit. I wiped a lot of the mildew and dirt off of it and found some new not so fun spots.

Before cleaning the truck, I removed the front bug guard. It was already broken and the wife didn't like it. So it had to go. But unfortunately, as I suspected, behind the plastic was a bit of rust bubbling through. it's not too bad but I'm not sure what I want to do about it, if anything. The hood has a sun-baked look that I kind of like and removing the rust and repainting the hood would get rid of that... and then the roof would look bad. haha. Lots of mission creep if paint starts.

The other external part that needs fixing is the sunroof. it was "repaired" by someone duct taping and what looks like "body tape" or "flashing tape" applied to seal out the water... I'm not looking forward to removing this. If anyone has suggestions for adhesive removers, I'd appreciate it.

And just because, here's the truck in the garage with its roommate.

 

[MrMacdugal]

I don't think many of us are Jeep fans, but Its gonna be hard to hate on a Jeep that looks like yours! That's a cool truck

Remove that tape. I little, and I mean only a little heat might help get the tape up easily without taking any paint or rubber bits, etc. Surely there will be lots of residue left. I use a product called 3812. It removes glue and just about anything else, though i'm not sure its readily available at retail stores.


What are your plans for this rig? I see your planning to daily it. Are you planning to do a lift and wheeling or stock street queen? When are you going to lose those running boards? Just genuinely interested. Best.

 

[YMT]

The sunroof leak is a common problem. Are you trying to get it functional again? Or just a cleaner seal?

 

[BGMachine]

I don't think many of us are Jeep fans, but Its gonna be hard to hate on a Jeep that looks like yours! That's a cool truck

Remove that tape. I little, and I mean only a little heat might help get the tape up easily without taking any paint or rubber bits, etc. Surely there will be lots of residue left. I use a product called 3812. It removes glue and just about anything else, though i'm not sure its readily available at retail stores.


What are your plans for this rig? I see your planning to daily it. Are you planning to do a lift and wheeling or stock street queen? When are you going to lose those running boards? Just genuinely interested. Best.

Thanks! I'm pretty partial to the Jeep as well, but I prefer Toyotas on the whole.

I was going to try some heat and maybe some Goo Gone? but I'm not sure that it will be strong enough. I have a oil/wax remove for paint prep that may be of some use as well. I'll look into the 3812. I appreciate the tip!
I can't wait to ditch the running boards as well! I can't stand them. Probably in the next few weeks. but I have engine tune-up parts arriving today/tomorrow, and I'd like to focus on getting it running right before cosmetics.

This is along the lines of what I'm thinking. 2" lift, 33's, winch bumper, sliders, CDL, maybe graphics? I want it to be a cool daily that I can take the family into the far reaches of Michigan's UP on a whim.

Eventually, I'd like to put a locker in the rear but that's a ways down the road. I have house projects to weave into my schedule as well.

The sunroof leak is a common problem. Are you trying to get it functional again? Or just a cleaner seal?

I'm on the fence on the functionality. I wouldn't mind it, but I'm not opposed to silicone-ing it shut either. I found a good write-up on here of how to replace the seal. it looks like it's $50 and a lot of patience.
DIY: Sunroof Weatherstrip Replacement - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/diy-sunroof-weatherstrip-replacement.994096/

 

[baldilocks]

Welcome to Mud…. I grew up in MI but a good bit north of Detroit where roads are much less and trees much more.

With rust forming under the paint on the leading edge of the hood, I’d suspect you will find cancerous surprises elsewhere. It might be time to look under the carpet.

 

[BGMachine]

Welcome to Mud…. I grew up in MI but a good bit north of Detroit where roads are much less and trees much more.

With rust forming under the paint on the leading edge of the hood, I’d suspect you will find cancerous surprises elsewhere. It might be time to look under the carpet.

The truck underside actually looks cleaner than the top. I didn’t find rust in the usually spots. Rockers, wheel well seat belt mounts, rear quarters, etc. But there is a bit on the roof rack mount. Which I’ve seen that every time too

 

[Kernal]

Goo Gone may also remove/soften the paint when attempting to remove the tape, learned that lesson using Goof Off, so be careful if you use a product like that (to be clear, I'm not recommending you use it). Expect at some point you'll have to repaint at least part of the vehicle either way.

The rust in the hood is not easily repairable IMO, I'd start looking for a replacement or new OEM.

Look at the rear wind/dust deflector mounts where they meet the roof, do you see any rust/bubbling? The method for mounting the deflector is a known cause of rust.

 

[BILT4ME]

WD-40 works very well as an adhesive remover and won't damage the paint.

 

[BGMachine]

WD-40 works very well as an adhesive remover and won't damage the paint.

really? I never knew that. I can give it a try

Goo Gone may also remove/soften the paint when attempting to remove the tape, learned that lesson using Goof Off, so be careful, don't leave it on very long, but then again, the paint is already toasted Expect at some point you'll have to repaint at least part of the vehicle.

The rust in the hood is not easily repairable IMO, I'd start looking for a replacement or new OEM.

Look at the rear wind/dust deflector mounts where they meet the roof, do you see any rust/bubbling? The method for mounting the deflector is a known cause of rust.

yeah, the hood is a later problem for sure.

I didn't see rust bubbling by the wind deflector mounts. but I did see it by one of the roof rack feet. I've removed and welded in the roof rack holes before. I could do that again



Engine update: Last night I was trying cleaning things to see if that would help. I cleaned all of the oil residue out of the throttle body and I cleaned the IAC. Engine still idles poorly. it's the intermitent dead miss that's getting me. I have new ignition pieces arriving today / tomorrow. the next time I get time to work on the truck, I'll be pulling spark plugs and checking compression. I'm still hopeful that it's a spark issue. What's weird is the mechanic that looked at it in Sept didn't comment on a miss and it didn't do it during the test drive. I think the truck is just a bit grumpy after having been disturbed from it's resting place. we will se

 

[BGMachine]

Weekend Update: pretty good considering there was a wedding mixed in.

I was able to get a couple things done this weekend and both I'm very satisfied with. First, I found out that there was an 80 series in one of the local junkyards! The website said that it had been placed there at the end of September so I was optimistic that it would be mostly intact. I got there Friday after work and made the trek to the very back corner of the lost (in the Detroit area, they put the imports waaaaay in the back. When I arrived to the 80, I was greeted by this sight:

Unfortunately it had been picked clean by what I'm assuming were professionals. They came through with a sawzall and cut out the more valuable items. They removed both axles (I wonder if they were locked?), the engine, the trans, tcase, hood, driver's door, exterior lights, tailgate, etc. I was a bit disappointed since I was hoping to get a driver's door panel and switches, tail lights, throttle body, hood, etc. Nonetheless, I did make out pretty well! That above picture was taken once I finished with the truck. I was pleased to find that it had a grey interior and that the seats were in great shape compared to mine! nice and soft, mostly intact, and the leather only had a few cuts on the driver's seat. So I grabbed all 3 rows of seats to replace mine with!

I was also able to grab:
- rear hatch struts
- rear bumper trim
- fuel door

So now all of the interior parts are in my garage awaiting cleaning and reinstall!

The second big event of the weekend was the engine tuneup. In a further attempt to diagnose the low speed idle intermittent dead miss, I replaced the ignition system.
I started by removing the spark plugs and inspecting them. They all looked ok but clearly old and maybe showing signs of weak spark. Some had larger gaps near .040" and some had really tight gaps of .022". I would guess that these were the original plugs. While I had the plugs out, I also ran a compression test and got a great result! All 6 cylinders were between 145-150psi! So the engine itself is still healthy!

I moved onto checking the cap and rotor. When I removed the cap, I could see some corrosion on the cap points and on the rotor. They may have been ok with a quick cleanup, but parts were cheap so I went ahead and replaced them.

After replacing the cap & rotor, I replaced the ignition coil and spark plug wires. I reinstalled everything and fired the truck up and it ran normally! When revving hard, it still got a bit upset but that may just be the mix of old and new gas. I may just have to drive it for a bit to work that fuel out.

Now that the engine is running more normally, I can move onto the next two mechanically steps. I need to flush and refill the coolant system since someone used green coolant. After that, I need to drain and refill the transmission for the first time. I will likely do this 2-3 time to see if the 1-2 shift will clean up.

Overall, I'm very please with how the weekend went and with my progress!

 

[BGMachine]

Made a step forward and two steps back tonight.

I was able to drain and replace 5qts of trans fluid. the old stuff looked like it was probably the original. We'll have to wait until a test drive to see if it made the trans shift better.

unfortunately while I was under there the radiator started to leak... and it looks like it's the radiator itself. I was going to do a radiator flush anyway but now it's $300 more expensive...

To add insult to injury, the rear main oil leak showed that it's not a slow leak. there was a line of oil leaks directly under the bell housing on the ground after running the truck for 15min... yay

so... I think my next steps will be to order a new radiator and replace it. Then take the truck for a test drive to see if it shifts any better. And determine if I need to look at the trans more closely after dropping it.

lastly, the knock sensor kicks on if I give the engine a quick rev. A slow build of engine speed is fine, but a quick jab of the throttle results in the knock sensor tripping. IT could be the mix of stale + high octane fuel... or I'm just wishful thinking and there's a rod knock that I didn't notice. I don't hear anything from the top side when I rev the engine. when laying under the truck, I'm not sure if I hear a slight knock or just the sounds of the rotating crank. I guess I should burn through all of the questionable gas first.