Builds South Texas 97 - New to me

[flintknapper]

I suppose Toyota's thought on not making long runs of hard line.....was to allow a person to repair/replace small segments in the event of damage or failure. Also to facilitate the removal and installation.

When you consider this vehicle was fully intended to be sold and used in over 150 Countries (under some horrible conditions), that feature (small segments of line) is well thought out.

The 80 series might possibly be Toyota's 'Crown Jewel' with respect to the engineers getting what they wanted and the 'bean counters' held more at bay.

 

[FMC80]

Looking at the junk in one of the old lines, it was definitely time for a brake fluid flush, so kept topping up the reservoir with DOT 3 and then used a vacuum bleeder starting at right rear, Left Rear, Leveling Proportioning valve, Front Right, Front Left.
There was some very ugly stuff coming out.
you can see what was flushed out, and what new fluid looks like,
Some rust particles and what looks like mud coming from the bleeder.
Several of the bleeders appeared to be clogged, so ended up releasing them more that is normal to get them flowing.

Will drive around a bit and re-bleed as in park the pedal seems a little spongy, but looking underneath, I do not see any leaks from the flexible lines or bleeder valves.

Looking at the junk in the lines, I suspect a Caliper rebuild will be in order.

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You’re really getting after it! Great work!

 

[South Texas 97]

Thanks, FMC80 and flintkapper for your comments. Thinking about the brackets and short exposed hard and soft line segments, this makes sense, although if we get two engineers working on something, we get at least 5 opinions. As a recovering geologist, I can make jokes about engineers!

 

[davegonz]

Nice job! What part of South Texas are you in? My mother-in-law is down in Harlingen (deep south Texas).

 

[South Texas 97]

Just a bit south west of Houston, in Sugarland. Spent some time in the Rio Grande valley, it is a great place to be.

 

[lumbee1]

It has taken me years to get around to doing maintenance like this on my 80. Great job @South Texas 97

 

[South Texas 97]

Thanks Lumbee1 I started small as you can see, and am working my way up. Fluids, even brake fluid flush and auto trans flush was not too bad. Take the time to prepare parts and tools, and do lots of reading. I find the fear beforehand is actually much worse than the job itself! True in much of life.

 

[flintknapper]

Thanks Lumbee1 I started small as you can see, and am working my way up. Fluids, even brake fluid flush and auto trans flush was not too bad. Take the time to prepare parts and tools, and do lots of reading. I find the fear beforehand is actually much worse than the job itself! True in much of life.

Wise man.

 

[South Texas 97]

Well, on to the next thing - Sparks
per the PO, the Plugs and wires where done at 147K, and with the truck at 330K now, time for plugs, wires, cap, rotor and Distributor O Ring. Read the manual, looked at a couple of vids on the tube, and away we go!.

Actual Parts

I loosened up the Heater valve to give me some access to plug 6 at the back, and removed the battery and battery box to get the Distributor cap out.

The plugs did not look terrible, but glad I changed them.

Feedback welcome on the condition of the plugs.
Next was the Distributor Cap and then the Distributor itself. Made an index mark where it was positioned so I could get it as close as possible back to 3 degrees.

Note there was some oil and a lot of varnish at the bottom of the distributor housing, but I note on the housing about 5 holes draining to the outside, so Toyota expects a bit of leakage.

Sure enough the o ring itself was crusty, digging away with a pick, and it simply broke in half.

 

[South Texas 97]

Lots of Varnish and some other crud on the housing inside the engine,

and peeking inside the engine, a lot more similar.
Will run some Seafoam through the oil and see it cleans up a bit.

Took the time to clean the area under/behind the Distributor housing and on top of the Alternator - over the years, quite a bit of accumulation of oily dust and stuff there.

As I took off the intake hose from the Air Filter to get to the spark plugs, I noticed a dust catcher under my air cleaner, why does no-one mention this?
it had an inch or more of dust and other things in it. Cleaned it up, oiled the felt gasket, and put everything back together.

The coolest thing was buttoning everything up, and it started right up and idled nicely.
Per the FSM, took it for a drive to warm up, and then used the little jumper to fix/lock the timing. The FSM uses a timing light, but I found if I plug in my BlueDriver ODBII reader and then monitor Plug 1 spark advance, it was exactly 3 degrees.
Removed the jumper and I could see the computer adjusting the timing dynamically. Idle in Neutral is around 650rpm.

Arg, I knew I forgot something, BRB, need to tighten up the heater valve against the firewall!!!

 

[flintknapper]

Lots of Varnish and some other crud on the housing inside the engine, View attachment 2603373
and peeking inside the engine, a lot more similar.
Will run some Seafoam through the oil and see it cleans up a bit.
View attachment 2603374
Took the time to clean the area under/behind the Distributor housing and on top of the Alternator - over the years, quite a bit of accumulation of oily dust and stuff there.

As I took off the intake hose from the Air Filter to get to the spark plugs, I noticed a dust catcher under my air cleaner, why does no-one mention this?
it had an inch or more of dust and other things in it. Cleaned it up, oiled the felt gasket, and put everything back together.
View attachment 2603375View attachment 2603376View attachment 2603377
The coolest thing was buttoning everything up, and it started right up and idled nicely.
Per the FSM, took it for a drive to warm up, and then used the little jumper to fix/lock the timing. The FSM uses a timing light, but I found if I plug in my BlueDriver ODBII reader and then monitor Plug 1 spark advance, it was exactly 3 degrees.
Removed the jumper and I could see the computer adjusting the timing dynamically. Idle in Neutral is around 650rpm.

Arg, I knew I forgot something, BRB, need to tighten up the heater valve against the firewall!!!

Cyclonic Filter.....AKA (Tuna Can). Well known to Cruiser Aficionados. Newbies have to learn....which you did.

Empty it from time to time. Here is mine:

 

[airon23]

Good stuff here. I will be following along because I'll have to do a lot of the same stuff one of these days.

 

[FMC80]

I just read about sea foam being devil’s juice. From my reading, some people love it but most people say not to use it.

 

[South Texas 97]

Sure. Project Farm has a good long term test that is quite impressive.

 

[leonard_nemoy]

Does an 80 series belong in the Sea? If yes than run the Sea foam. If no than stay away? Haha, JK.... I actually know a few prodessional tech's that say it works.

 

[FMC80]

Sure. Project Farm has a good long term test that is quite impressive.

Right on man, let us know how it goes.

 

[South Texas 97]

Headlights, after much reading of forums, picked up some Wegner 9011 HID high beams, and installed them.

You can really see the difference, on the right of the picture is the original Silvana bulb, and the left is the Wegner 9011.
Based on this, will do the low beams (9012) as well.
Will take it outside and do a proper check on the headlight alignment - don't want to blind on coming traffic.

 

[BILT4ME]

Sure. Project Farm has a good long term test that is quite impressive.

If Seafoam is such a great product, then most of the trucking companies and fleet equipment companies would be running it. They don't.

Stuff in your oil is typically non-magnetic. Main and rod bearings are made from non-magnetic materials and a magnet proves nothing.

What can happen is that Seafoam reduces the viscosity of the oil and washes out crud. That crud then comes out quickly and is like dumping a handful of dirt into the oil because the stuff coming loose can clog filters, oil galleys, and oil pickup screens.

If one does REGULAR maintenance on their engine and changes the oil early and often, it will clean up what was done previously, over time.

This guy's Ford Ranger had about 100 hours of run time in a YEAR. That is nothing. That's also why his engine was sludged up to begin with because he doesn't drive it to the point of getting it fully hot, boiling off all moisture, fuel, and other stuff that stays in he vapors inside the engine.

Drive your truck, regularly change the oil with quality oil and filters.

Or not.

Good luck with your bearings, rings, and catalytic converters.

 

[South Texas 97]

With the success of the High Beams, I replaced the low beams with Wegner 9012's as well - and was glad I took a look at the connectors - caught one before it got too much green crud.

Scraped and cleaned it up with some contact cleaner and a brass brush to get into the connector, and then used dilectric grease when putting the new bulb in. Followed the instructions on modifying the tabs using a small file.

 

[South Texas 97]

Well, after having done quite a bit of degreasing and scraping of oil and road grime from the engine and frame, I finally got around to fixing my pressure washer. Used some Krud Kutter degreaser in a foam gun to wash the underside of the truck. I have some lightweight plastic ramps, which are fine to lift the vehicle up a bit, but don't feel comfortable using them with me under the vehicle. Left the foam on there for 10 minutes or so, and then used the low pressure gun tip to wash it all off.
Now I HAVE to power wash my driveway!