Sunset on our trip - traveling home. Caught a bunch more big fish, went on a croc hunt with a buddy, had sundowner drinks on the Zambezi, and took a last ride in a LC.
What Did You Do with Your 80 This Weekend?
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Did you turn on the heater to help with the temp? I had to do that in my old pick up back in high school to get home one day.had added a Scan Guage 3 a few weeks back, first extended driving today. Realizing we have an overheating problem.coolant temp is 180-198 while wheeling in the wooded mountains. Driving home for an hour got up to 223, at that temp AC cuts off.
New fan, blue hub, but not modded… relatively new radiator I think from PO. Is shiney silver at least. All new hoses/belts and rear heater delete couple months ago as it was being rebaselined by ACG here in Atlanta metro.
Dunno where the issue is yet, but glad I had the SG3 so I could see what was happening.
I have the best weekends. I get home from work at 7am monday and go back at 6pm on Friday, 4 days weekends rule 
It's that time of year to be in the mtns.
It's that time of year to be in the mtns.
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JayMo1
GOLD Star
I didn’t then, main gauge still show middle of the range… and didn’t realize how bad it would be for engine. Won’t do that again. At home in driveway was reading more about it and turned the heater on and that dropped it from 217 at idle down to 200-205.
Inspected radiator for dirt/mud, look great… while ScanGauge showed 205-210, the IR temp showed outside radiator at 180-185 most spots, bottom areas read ~145. Washed off radiator with garden hose and saw no dirt, that certainly dropped the temps down for a while.
Coolant levels look fine. Will see.
xeuxaz
SILVER Star
Is it hitting 220 on regular highway driving or only uphill under heavy load?
Buckle up readers, I got words and I don't know how to reduce them.
The A/C saga
Well, as you'll see from the referenced post, about a month ago I took it upon myself to finally get my A/C working by replacing a few hard-lines and the A/C condenser (the final pieces of the cold wind puzzle), After 1 job snowballed into 57 jobs and I once again had to sacrifice my time on this mortal plane to the Toyota gods I finally got a working A/C system for the first time in my ownership, and maybe the first time in a decade...
Well ladies and gents, as I sat there, chuffed with myself, driving home with arctic winds showering me from the nut cooler vent I did think to myself.... this is the coldest A/C I have ever felt in my life. At this point I got a foreshadowing epiphany, "I wonder if my expansion valve is stuck wide open"... spoiler alert... it was.
The expansion valve, now thrust violently into forced labour from 10 years of retirement in a non-sealed A/C system went from stuck wide open, to seized closed.... my piss was boiling both physically and emotionally.
How did I know it was the expansion valve?
I could hear a hissing from the evaporator area, the HP side sight glass showed good cooling juice, the compressor ran with gay abandon... But the evaporator inlet and outlet pipe were roughly the same temp, the low pressure side showed 0psi (probably was in vacuum) even though the compressor happily ran, and when I killed the compressor the LP side pressure shot up from 0psi to operational pressures... clearly the compressor was compressing all the refrigerant up against the expansion valve which was just not letting anything through.
And so, the A/C saga was reopened.
The adventure to the valve
First and foremost, some cretinous reprobate toe-rag sat in the passenger seat long ago and stuck their USED CHEWING GUM under the dash, I found this as they had a great affection to sticking it INSIDE THE HEADS OF THE BOLTS I WAS TRYING TO ACCESS
Anyway I removed that with my teeth and carried on.
Removing the evaporator housing was honestly pretty straight forward, I did nearly have a cry when I just couldn't pop open the big wiring connector but a set of repurposed circlip pliers later and my eyes soon dried up.
The evaporator, the valve, and the schmoo
It looks as though the system has never been removed, and honestly, that's not bad for some 32 years of schmoo collection!
Given that the evaporator is in pretty good condition and a new evaporator is around £150 but a pressure washin' is free... I decided to just jet wash the 3 decades of filth out and carry on.
The water initially came out black, and it had a... smell, but after a few minutes of washing at (initially pressures high enough to bend the fins, which i later had to angrily yet delicately bend back) reasonable pressures the water ran clear and I could see clearly though the coil.
Now lets take a look at that valve!
Comparing the original DENSO unit with my aftermarket Febi Bilstein valve (considerably cheaper) you can see the shaft step in the lower port on the old unit does appear to be stuck in a different position, this gave me hope becasue if it turned out that after all of this I was barking up the wrong tree my piss would have entered super-heated steam territory.
The home stretch
So ive run out of photo allowance on this comment, but in short, I replaced all o-rings with new R134-A rated rings and used PAG oil as an assembly lubricant, I took great care in the evaporator reassembly and install as I didn't want to find I had a leak and have to cry over that stuck loom plug again.
As I have the diesel variant of the 80 I had to refit the timer box for the glow plugs, and I did have a small mental meltdown when I just could not remember where I took it from, the guide on this forum follows petrol engined 80, so makes no mention to this module. LUCKILY as a man who had developed the ability to somewhat learn from his mistakes, I took photos during dissasembly, and I could see i had it upside-down, back to front, and not anywhere near the right place...
I did also try to change the a/c drier as a consumable item, but the one I had been sent was wrong and I have not the time nor effort to wait a week for that delivery, so the old one was put back on.
The result
Ladies, gentlemen, and fellow garage goblins, the system held vacuum and took a charge of cool-juice, the nut vent once more blows cold.
Extra words, notes, and findings
One thing of note, the old expansion valve was absolutely initially stuck wide open, as previously the winds were "ARCTIC, NIPPLES HARD AS GLASS CUTTERS" COLD and ran that way regardless, where as now the vents simply blow cold... and can actually be turned down...
When i removed the evaporator system, (after refrigerant evacuation) a considerable amount of green gloop fell out of the pipes before the expansion valve, more gloop than has come out of any other component iv'e replaced in this saga, seemed again to me like the LP side was in vacuum and the compressor pushed everything, including the dye, PAG oil and everything else up against the closed valve on the HP side. This concern is why I disconnected the compressor electrical plug prior to fixing the valve, as I was concerned the compressor was running essentially dry as all the lubricant was stuck between the compressor and expansion valve (where I also assume the pressure sender is).
Thanks for reading, I am once again happy the ball cooler vent honours my lineage.
And one day i will learn to be concise with my words... but today is not that day.
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"two hippos at the river's edge"
Finished the final leg of our 2026 road trip. The trip started on 2nd July with me haulin' ass to get to Albuquerque to catch a flight to Europe on the 5th. My lad then flew in on the 12th July, picked up the truck (this truck still hasn't earned a name yet) and 2 of his buddies from the airport then proceeded to do their first ever solo road trip. They hit the Pima air museum in Tucson followed by stops at Joshua tree, Sequoia, Yosemite, Redwood, Mount Rainier and Glacier. The 2 friends flew back to the east coast and I flew out to Bozeman to meet the boy. We continued to push south through Yellowstone and Grand Tetton. Popped in to see the Land Cruiser Museum which was spectacular.
Stopped in at Cruiser Outfitters and picked up a set of OME 2864 rear springs which I had planned on fitting in Moab however, using the hi-lift looked beyond sketchy so we abandoned that plan and continued up in Colorado and over the Imogene Pass.
Spent some time in Gunnison National Forest which was delightful.
Eventually made it down to Roswell, NM where the airport parking is both free and manned by security. Parked up and went back to work in Europe again. Me and the
flew back to Roswell last week and were welcomed by a dead battery. The airport security dude had a jump pack and a new battery was fitted soon after. I opted to take i40 back rather than the i10. The i40 through parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas is very beautiful and I need to do more exploring there.
Anyway - Some stats.
Total Miles :- 9717
Fuel Consumed : 697 Gallons
Average MPG : 13.94
Total cost of fuel: $1,772.20
Most expensive gas : Eureka, CA @ $5.29
Least expensive gas : Shreveport, LA @$3.18
I have a few things that need to be addressed now that I am back home :-
1) Gas in the tank was boiling at the top of Imogene. It never happened again and since I have already done the LCP charcoal canister mod I may score this up to crap Colorado fuel. Will do the basic checks anyay.
2) We were plagued by cooling issues during the whole trip. The cooling system was completely overhauled 2 years back with all new OEM parts so this is a head scratcher. I will start with the fan clutch - When I modded it I used 15K cst so maybe I try 20K. Will also double check the opening temp point.
3) Need to fit the new OME springs. I changed out the shocks before the trip but it didn't fix the sag.
Another summer to remember for sure. The lad already has his A&P and will finish his degree next year so big trips like this will soon be scarce. Maybe the will step up. She definitely enjoyed the trip back from Roswell but she is no fan of canvas.
Stopped in at Cruiser Outfitters and picked up a set of OME 2864 rear springs which I had planned on fitting in Moab however, using the hi-lift looked beyond sketchy so we abandoned that plan and continued up in Colorado and over the Imogene Pass.
Spent some time in Gunnison National Forest which was delightful.
Eventually made it down to Roswell, NM where the airport parking is both free and manned by security. Parked up and went back to work in Europe again. Me and the
flew back to Roswell last week and were welcomed by a dead battery. The airport security dude had a jump pack and a new battery was fitted soon after. I opted to take i40 back rather than the i10. The i40 through parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas is very beautiful and I need to do more exploring there.Anyway - Some stats.
Total Miles :- 9717
Fuel Consumed : 697 Gallons
Average MPG : 13.94
Total cost of fuel: $1,772.20
Most expensive gas : Eureka, CA @ $5.29
Least expensive gas : Shreveport, LA @$3.18
I have a few things that need to be addressed now that I am back home :-
1) Gas in the tank was boiling at the top of Imogene. It never happened again and since I have already done the LCP charcoal canister mod I may score this up to crap Colorado fuel. Will do the basic checks anyay.
2) We were plagued by cooling issues during the whole trip. The cooling system was completely overhauled 2 years back with all new OEM parts so this is a head scratcher. I will start with the fan clutch - When I modded it I used 15K cst so maybe I try 20K. Will also double check the opening temp point.
3) Need to fit the new OME springs. I changed out the shocks before the trip but it didn't fix the sag.
Another summer to remember for sure. The lad already has his A&P and will finish his degree next year so big trips like this will soon be scarce. Maybe the
will step up. She definitely enjoyed the trip back from Roswell but she is no fan of canvas.
that's the best money spent! I have found that sometimes the charcoal canister can't keep up. I recently replaced mine and was up at elevation in Utah and my gas was boiling too...Not sure how to remedy that even with a new canister.Finished the final leg of our 2026 road trip. The trip started on 2nd July with me haulin' ass to get to Albuquerque to catch a flight to Europe on the 5th. My lad then flew in on the 12th July, picked up the truck (this truck still hasn't earned a name yet) and 2 of his buddies from the airport then proceeded to do their first ever solo road trip. They hit the Pima air museum in Tucson followed by stops at Joshua tree, Sequoia, Yosemite, Redwood, Mount Rainier and Glacier. The 2 friends flew back to the east coast and I flew out to Bozeman to meet the boy. We continued to push south through Yellowstone and Grand Tetton. Popped in to see the Land Cruiser Museum which was spectacular.
View attachment 4205637
Stopped in at Cruiser Outfitters and picked up a set of OME 2864 rear springs which I had planned on fitting in Moab however, using the hi-lift looked beyond sketchy so we abandoned that plan and continued up in Colorado and over the Imogene Pass.
View attachment 4205638
Spent some time in Gunnison National Forest which was delightful.
View attachment 4205639
Eventually made it down to Roswell, NM where the airport parking is both free and manned by security. Parked up and went back to work in Europe again. Me and the
Anyway - Some stats.
Total Miles :- 9717
Fuel Consumed : 697 Gallons
Average MPG : 13.94
Total cost of fuel: $1,772.20
Most expensive gas : Eureka, CA @ $5.29
Least expensive gas : Shreveport, LA @$3.18
I have a few things that need to be addressed now that I am back home :-
1) Gas in the tank was boiling at the top of Imogene. It never happened again and since I have already done the LCP charcoal canister mod I may score this up to crap Colorado fuel. Will do the basic checks anyay.
2) We were plagued by cooling issues during the whole trip. The cooling system was completely overhauled 2 years back with all new OEM parts so this is a head scratcher. I will start with the fan clutch - When I modded it I used 15K cst so maybe I try 20K. Will also double check the opening temp point.
3) Need to fit the new OME springs. I changed out the shocks before the trip but it didn't fix the sag.
Another summer to remember for sure. The lad already has his A&P and will finish his degree next year so big trips like this will soon be scarce. Maybe the
What do you mean you were having "cooling issues"? How hot was it getting?
Going up to Sedona for the weekend and will be doing some light wheeling. The family is doing a long weekend up there and plan on hitting Soldiers Pass and might try and sneak off for another run.
JayMo1
GOLD Star
Regular driving… though 70-75mph with 35” tires. Not that it should matter being full time 4wd normally… but do have hub locks for part time and did forget to unlock them. But again, other than the speed, was normal flat highway.
In Utah we camped in La Sal which was only about 8000 feet above sea level. AC cut out. Same thing on the run from Ouray to Gunnison. The highest I recorded from my OBD2 reader was about 230f. Even on the run home, which was not at altitude, I am seeing temps of 207f at 65mph. Something ain't right for sure.
Mine only Has that issue when I use gas with ethanol in it.
Look for non-ethanol gas, especially at high altitudes
JWNissan
Supporting Vendor
Ben (Dissent Off-Road) ripped the engine out of his Saudi import. Lot's of Saudi dust and sand in this rig. lol
What's going back in?
I’m replacing the evaporator and the expansion valve as well. Not too difficult to remove them. Unfortunately, rockauto sent me a damaged evaporator. Waiting for a new one. Being that it’s almost a 30 years old evaporator. Might as well replace with a new one.
Mind sharing the part numbers?