It has been two years and 4000 miles (updated on Feb 2022 since I received my FJ43 from Terra Cruisers (FJ-43 Build) and I have been spending a lot of time going through, learning and checking everything during my quarantine downtime. This thread is meant to report on how things are going, solutions to things I faced so far, and hopefully as a warning to anyone considering using Terra Cruisers. As things come up, I will add them to the list.
Issue 1: Oil leaking from ARB Air Compressor - Locker Solenoid. Axel air breathers were blocked with some grease and when the axels diff heated up, it built up pressure and push diff oil up the air line to the compressor.
Solution 1 Cleaned the axel air breathers, disconnected air line at axel and blew out the oil, and reconnected air line. It seems like it is a pretty common problem with an air locker system which is how I found the fix quick. It takes numerous heat-up cool down cycles to get the oil all the way up the line so the shop never saw it during their 300 miles of testing. I did not see any oil at the solenoid until I had 1400 miles on it and that was only after a 1 hour long 75 mph highway trip. Anyway, no damage done and all’s good now. I am planning to install a remote ARB axel breather setup before I start any real off-roading which should prevent any future blockages. Update Dec 2021 - after changing the diff fluid which was dirty, the seals on the ABR lockers started working again.
Issue 2: Firewall behind air conditioning unit got hot once the engine reached temp and forced the AC to work harder.
Solution 2: Wrapped header and exhaust lines inside of engine bay with Design Engineering Titanium Wrap which reduced the heat significantly.
Issue 3: The OEM running boards were not supporting my 220lbs-ish weight well when getting in and out of the truck.
Solution 3: I fabricated some reinforcement support brackets that also allowed me to install some simple aftermarket hoop steps with a 5in drop which makes getting in and out very easy especially for my 5'2" wife. I did a separate thread on the fabrication and installation.Hoop Step Installation The hoop steps can also be quickly taken off for off-roading.
Issue 4: I starting having intermittent idle issues when the AC was running where the idle would not drop below 2000 rpm. It would drop immediately when I turned the AC off.
Solution 4: On the 1FZFE engine, a small vacuum actuator near the throttle body is controlled by a solenoid which turns on and off with the AC compressor. The actuator pushes the throttle bottom stop position up to increase the idle a couple of hundred rpm when the ac is running. The problem was cause by a small vacuum tube that was getting caught between the throttle arm and the actuator which increased rpm offset when the ac was running. I simply adjusted the routing of the vacuum tube so that it stayed clear of the actuator.
View attachment 2330301
Issue 1: Oil leaking from ARB Air Compressor - Locker Solenoid. Axel air breathers were blocked with some grease and when the axels diff heated up, it built up pressure and push diff oil up the air line to the compressor.
Solution 1 Cleaned the axel air breathers, disconnected air line at axel and blew out the oil, and reconnected air line. It seems like it is a pretty common problem with an air locker system which is how I found the fix quick. It takes numerous heat-up cool down cycles to get the oil all the way up the line so the shop never saw it during their 300 miles of testing. I did not see any oil at the solenoid until I had 1400 miles on it and that was only after a 1 hour long 75 mph highway trip. Anyway, no damage done and all’s good now. I am planning to install a remote ARB axel breather setup before I start any real off-roading which should prevent any future blockages. Update Dec 2021 - after changing the diff fluid which was dirty, the seals on the ABR lockers started working again.
Issue 2: Firewall behind air conditioning unit got hot once the engine reached temp and forced the AC to work harder.
Solution 2: Wrapped header and exhaust lines inside of engine bay with Design Engineering Titanium Wrap which reduced the heat significantly.
Issue 3: The OEM running boards were not supporting my 220lbs-ish weight well when getting in and out of the truck.
Solution 3: I fabricated some reinforcement support brackets that also allowed me to install some simple aftermarket hoop steps with a 5in drop which makes getting in and out very easy especially for my 5'2" wife. I did a separate thread on the fabrication and installation.Hoop Step Installation The hoop steps can also be quickly taken off for off-roading.
Issue 4: I starting having intermittent idle issues when the AC was running where the idle would not drop below 2000 rpm. It would drop immediately when I turned the AC off.
Solution 4: On the 1FZFE engine, a small vacuum actuator near the throttle body is controlled by a solenoid which turns on and off with the AC compressor. The actuator pushes the throttle bottom stop position up to increase the idle a couple of hundred rpm when the ac is running. The problem was cause by a small vacuum tube that was getting caught between the throttle arm and the actuator which increased rpm offset when the ac was running. I simply adjusted the routing of the vacuum tube so that it stayed clear of the actuator.
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