Shopping for a 60 - need advice

[jumphress]

Twenty years after selling my '78 fj40, I am now shopping for a 60. I have found an '83 with under 140k miles for a pretty good price. Seems to be in good shape - no smoke, good power, no clunks, resonable amount of transfer case noise.

One thing I was struck by was the clutch. Release and engagement would occur very near the top of the pedal travel, yet the pedal would still go to the floor. Don't recall my '78 doing that, but it was a long time ago!

Any thoughts about that clutch pedal? Also, any other things I should look at closely?

Thanks in advance.

John

 

[Poser]

Rust in the frame by the rear spring hangers, and on the doors by the hinges...

Sounds to me like you may need a clutch, but I would make sure the pedal to master cylinder free play is correct, and that if your slave cylinder acctuation rod is adjustable, that it is set up correctly.

Good luck!

-Steve

 

[Doc]

PS, a clutch job is not cheap. I just found that out. Expect to pay in the neighborhood of $350 for labor alone, another $300-500 in parts depending on where you buy them.

 

[jumphress]

I would have thought that if the clutch was tired, I would get engagement/release when the pedal was down on the floor. When I drove the 60, I couldn't detect slipping. Could it be that the pedal needs adjustment?

Thanks for all your advice so far.

John

 

[swank60]

It's really hard to tell without stepping on the pedal for one's self. Mine doesn't take a heacy foot to engage or disengage - you have to remember, the 60 was the "luxury" model - first with AC, too. My truck has 205k and the clutch is just fine. Accoding to the PO, it had never been changed by him or his PO. If driven right, they'll last.

You should check for oil leaks - oil pan, around the fuel pump. Check the power steering pump for leaks. Check and see if the smog pump is OEM. Pull the plugs and see what the condition is - see if there's excessive carbon on the tail pipe. If you can, do a compression check and see what you get - wet and dry. That'll tell you a lot. Also check the breather element for excessive oil. Smell the oil, too. Ask the owner about oil consumption.

Also, how does it idle? If you can hook a vac pump/gauge up to it, you can get some good readings from that. There's plenty of info about how to read a vac gauge. I think there's good stuff in the forum here, too.

Also, run a carfaxx report on it if you can. Sometimes that'll tell you a lot - not obvious stuff all the time, but you can get a feel for it - like if it's changed hands a lot, or if it's failed emissions testing a whole bunch of times.