The long drive home; The next chapter

[HemiAlex]

I bought my truck with a dead cylinder, leaking brakes, leaking clutch hydraulics, no bushings left, a broken shock crossmember, broken leaf springs and really squishy shocks.

It still made it back and forth to big bend several times with the PO and drove pretty nicely.

I did hella h4's as my first upgrade to the truck. We're on the same page.

 

[Seth S]

Found this photo 6 months before I bought my truck and I draw inspiration from it now

 

[Seth S]

I bought my truck with a dead cylinder, leaking brakes, leaking clutch hydraulics, no bushings left, a broken shock crossmember, broken leaf springs and really squishy shocks.

It still made it back and forth to big bend several times with the PO and drove pretty nicely.

I did hella h4's as my first upgrade to the truck. We're on the same page.

I have a feeling that I'll pull my shocks off to find that they are not doing anything anymore. Leaf springs have a fair amount of self damping inherent to their design...I was tempted to buy some cheap shocks on the way home but lazyness won out

 

[HemiAlex]

I didn't know they were that bad until the crossmember fully broke and they started bumping around. I've moved past that.

Ground your green wire from the carb fan to something on the body. The carb fan will work for 30 mins after the ignition is shut off. I've had it that way for years and I don't have much intent on fixing it the proper way. It makes hot starts so much better.

 

[Seth S]

I didn't know they were that bad until the crossmember fully broke and they started bumping around. I've moved past that.

Ground your green wire from the carb fan to something on the body. The carb fan will work for 30 mins after the ignition is shut off. I've had it that way for years and I don't have much intent on fixing it the proper way. It makes hot starts so much better.

Sounds good...I'll give it a try when I start working on it again.

 

[Seth S]

Other observations:

Engine. The engine even in completely stock form with a stock exhaust and stock manifold has a nice sound to it. It feels big and heavy and it revs like a diesel such that I tended to shift around 3000 rpm. The engine is ancient tech but of course its reliable but I am pondering some changes for the future. I certainely understand all the engine swaps people do but I really like the inline 6 and if I were to do a swap I'd probably try a later toyota 6...or maybe get creative and do a low pressure turbo install.

 

[DickM]

Thanks for finishing the saga. Now the real fun will continue in a different way.

 

[Seth S]

I spent a few minutes this afternoon chasing the one item thats preventing me from getting a Vermont safety inspection......working Backup lights. First thing I did was ohm out all my fuses and I found that all were continuous (good). Next thing I did was pull off the passenger side lens and check the bulb and it was good. I also found that the bulb housing had continuity to ground but no power when the key was on and the truck was in reverse. But i am confused because I thought that these trucks were wired such that the ground side is switched and power is always present....but I am finding the opposite.

So now its time to dig into the wiring diagram and get an understanding of the circuit. My gut says its a problem with the reverse switch on the transmission or a broken wire in between.

1985 FJ60 reverse light diagram

• Seth S
• Jun 12, 2018

FSM wiring diagram for reverse lights

I can see its about the most straight forward circuit you can have. Given that I have working grounds and good bulbs then I need to verify power at the transmission switch and switch operation as well as continuity from the output of the switch to the input of the bulb holder.


On a side note: there was a random red wire piggy backing onto a 20 amp fuse with a creative fuse blade modification. I decided to pull this off and see what changed. It turns out that the clicking noise I could hear under the truck when the key goes on was in fact an electric fuel pump and this gimpy wire was how they powered it. So now the pump doesn't turn on but the truck still seems to start and run. It does look like there is a little less fuel in the filter so I suspect at some point the truck was suffering fuel supply issues and instead of putting in a new mechanical pump some shop wired up an electric unit thinking that was a better fix.