What to do with my '92? (2 Viewers)

[Scota4570]

I have a '92 land cruiser in nice condition. IT has 214K miles. All systems are functional.

The drive train is getting noisy and sloppy. The engine seems weak. Even after a recent tune up it can not handle a moderate grade on the highway, and maintain highway speed.

My 92 does any off road driving I can throw at it. The only question about that is, are the lockers supposed to be full time in low range? The locker button is non functional, like someone mucked with it before I got the truck.

I loathe modern vehicles, computers on wheels that are designed to fall apart quickly and be non repairable, no way, it is insulting to my intelligence. I also will never spend the $80 to 100K necessary to buy the modern equivalent on principle alone.

So, given that background, would you spend the money necessary to rebuild the engine and drive train? Can it be done with available parts?

I understand that costs will exceed the trucks value.

Will a straight 6 1992 cruise on the highway and go up a moderate grade at 70 MPH with a good engine?

 

[baldilocks]

You should sell it…

 

[jpoole]

It does sound like there may be the need for maintenance and possibly a few repairs. I agree that older cars are superior in many ways, including that they can be maintained more easily, but that maintenance requires a certain amount of effort, understanding and investment. You need to learn what's going on with your rig, diagnose what it needs and then decide on a course of action.

Jumping from "it's slow" to "it needs an engine rebuild" sounds premature to me. 214k is not many miles for one of these and unless something unusual has happened it should not need a rebuild at this point. Not everyone wants to dive into this level of learning and work on old cars, and that's ok, but I recommend that you either learn up and get much more familiar with your 80 or, as said above, sell it. You don't want to start throwing money at it without a pretty good idea of what's going on as you could quickly waste way more money than the 80 is worth, etc. without necessarily improving it's performance or reliability.

 

[BILT4ME]

There are a few folks on here that have 92's and think they are just right and they can offer you the best thoughts on what to do and in what order.

The first two I think of are:
@jonheld
@Marco Lau

Don't listen to anyone saying sell it or you need a 1FZ-FE.

 

[USMCDocJ]

I have a '91. Same engine, tranny, truck. After baselining, egr delete, and needed repairs/ replacements, I am able to keep 60 uphill with a 3000lb trailer. This truck is meant to be driven. Pay attention to your redline but don't hesitate to downshift to keep it from cycling to keep your speed up. I'm over 400k miles now. 33s, 2.5" lift, roof rack, front and rear bumper (with 12k winch and tire swing out), drawers, the whole gambit. If you have questions feel free to DM me. I'm in WA, heading back to Mexico (in the truck) on Thursday. I love it. The FZJ is nice but these 3fe carryovers are even more simplistic for us that like to do it all ourselves.

 

[ozarkmud]

Very happy with my FJ80. I love the 3FE. It's not fast, but fast enough. Overall, I prefer the rig to my wife's 3x locked FZJ80. I do run 31x10.5R15 tires on it. I would not advise larger without regearing and expecting a real performance penalty.

Center diff lock comes in when you go into low range, unless the low range sensor is not working, and/or the pin 7 mod has been done.

Are you sure the motor is tired? I'd check compression on it. These are decent candidates for 4 speed manual swaps which would likely help with the power, but you'll want to make sure the motor is good first.

If possible, desmogging makes the engine bay a lot more livable and can solve a lot of potential issues you might have.

 

[Godwin]

The engine seems weak. Even after a recent tune up it can not handle a moderate grade on the highway, and maintain highway speed.

Did this tune up include a valve adjustment? If your mechanic is not familiar with the valve train of a 3FE this simple action could easily be overlooked.

 

[jonheld]

I have a '92 land cruiser in nice condition. IT has 214K miles. All systems are functional.

The drive train is getting noisy and sloppy. The engine seems weak. Even after a recent tune up it can not handle a moderate grade on the highway, and maintain highway speed.

My 92 does any off road driving I can throw at it. The only question about that is, are the lockers supposed to be full time in low range? The locker button is non functional, like someone mucked with it before I got the truck.

I loathe modern vehicles, computers on wheels that are designed to fall apart quickly and be non repairable, no way, it is insulting to my intelligence. I also will never spend the $80 to 100K necessary to buy the modern equivalent on principle alone.

So, given that background, would you spend the money necessary to rebuild the engine and drive train? Can it be done with available parts?

I understand that costs will exceed the trucks value.

Will a straight 6 1992 cruise on the highway and go up a moderate grade at 70 MPH with a good engine?

Your 1992 does not have axle lockers, unless they are aftermarket.
The only "locker" you have is the center diff locker (CDL). This puts the truck into regular old 4WD. The dash button should allow you to lock the CDL in high range and should automatically lock in low range.

When you say, "The drive train is getting noisy and sloppy." What does that mean specifically, and what diagnostics have you done?

 

[Scota4570]

Replying to all:
The center diff lock light on the dash comes on when in low range. The button does nothing. IT is made to be in 4WD all the time, which I do not like. It is always in 4WD based on the places I can go. There is no way I could do that in 2WD. The center diff lock light is indicating something. IT gets harder to steer. The tires all turn .

Valves? I do have a slight tick. The dealer quoted me around $1000 to adjust them. I passed.

IT smokes a little on start up. The smog checks indicate elevated hydrocarbon. IF it becomes non-smog-able it is a paperweight in California.

Anything over 3K rpm gets noisy. Like something is out of balance or bearing are wearing. When on the highway if I feather the trhottel to put the drive train between accelerating and decerating it has vibration and howl.

The last guy who worked on it did not inspire confidence. On my 92, he broke my power antenna and refused to admit it. I have a radio interference that sounds like a bad plug wire. He put an extra 1 3/4 quarts of oil in my 4-runner on a different visit. I will not go back there. He is a fool.

The problem is that there are no shops that competently work on older vehicles in my area. They will pretend, do a bad job then charge you thousands. The dealer will take advantage but not do the job right either. The dealer overfilled my 92 transfer case to the point it is spewing oil and the selector lever was making a lot of noise. They also tried to rip me off on brakes on the 4-runner. I believe they are sabotaging older vehicles to try to encourage you to buy new.

There is a shop in Stockton, CA that may be worth trying. They are 4-hours away, that is a logistic problem.

You are right, auto repair is not a preferred hobby. I can do a lot. I seem to do better work then what I pay $200 per hour to get though. I am not equipped or have the room to be so for major stuff.

 

[leonard_nemoy]

If it is rust free and clean than drive it while you save money for a v8 swap.

Baseline and fix anything wrong with it except engine and tranny stuff because you will be swapping those out when you get $15,000 saved.

At that point everything else will be baselined and you will have a rig for 15k + purchase price that will be nicer than anything less than 10 years old you could buy for the same cost.

 

[leonard_nemoy]

Your rig will automatically lock the center dif in low range.

In high range you can unlock or lock the center diff with the button, but the button will do nothing in low range.

It's an awd truck, full time 4wd is misleading. When you lock the center dif in high range it's true 4wd.

 

[Navyator]

Replying to all:
The center diff lock light on the dash comes on when in low range. The button does nothing. IT is made to be in 4WD all the time, which I do not like. It is always in 4WD based on the places I can go. There is no way I could do that in 2WD. The center diff lock light is indicating something. IT gets harder to steer. The tires all turn .

Valves? I do have a slight tick. The dealer quoted me around $1000 to adjust them. I passed.

IT smokes a little on start up. The smog checks indicate elevated hydrocarbon. IF it becomes non-smog-able it is a paperweight in California.

Anything over 3K rpm gets noisy. Like something is out of balance or bearing are wearing. When on the highway if I feather the trhottel to put the drive train between accelerating and decerating it has vibration and howl.

The last guy who worked on it did not inspire confidence. On my 92, he broke my power antenna and refused to admit it. I have a radio interference that sounds like a bad plug wire. He put an extra 1 3/4 quarts of oil in my 4-runner on a different visit. I will not go back there. He is a fool.

The problem is that there are no shops that competently work on older vehicles in my area. They will pretend, do a bad job then charge you thousands. The dealer will take advantage but not do the job right either. The dealer overfilled my 92 transfer case to the point it is spewing oil and the selector lever was making a lot of noise. They also tried to rip me off on brakes on the 4-runner. I believe they are sabotaging older vehicles to try to encourage you to buy new.

There is a shop in Stockton, CA that may be worth trying. They are 4-hours away, that is a logistic problem.

You are right, auto repair is not a preferred hobby. I can do a lot. I seem to do better work then what I pay $200 per hour to get though. I am not equipped or have the room to be so for major stuff.

View attachment 3434430

Just ran outside and tested on my 91.

When putting transfer case in Low, the Center Diff Lock engages automatically and cannot be cycled off.
When putting back in Hi, the Diff Lock disengages automatically.

The CDL switch will lock and unlock the diff in Hi.

So your automatic locking of the diff is correct, but if the CDL switch does nothing in Hi that is not normal.

 

[Scota4570]

Thanks for the information and interest.

I sure would prefer a stronger engine. I would also prefer old school manually operated 4WD. In California, I thought if you change the engine you automatically fail smog. I was under the impression that there serious reengineering issues with changing the engine on this vehicle? Am I missing something?

The engine on my 1970 was swapped decades ago with a Chevy 230. IT has been nothing but problems. Apples and oranges for sure. But I am not interested in a new full time hobby of wrenching on cars. I want them to be a trouble free as possible. Thus my inclination to have the engine, transmission transfer case, and diffs inspected and rebuilt if necessary.

The whine-vibration while feathering between accelerating and accelerating at highway speed? Could that be U-joints? ........ I can swap those myself. Is is more likely worn gears in the transmission?

Since the cost of a new equivalent truck is crazy stupid, and I think they suck, I have no issue with spending $25K to make this one works as new. IT is a bargain, IMHO.

 

[Navyator]

Thanks for the information and interest.

I sure would prefer a stronger engine. I would also prefer old school manually operated 4WD. In California, I thought if you change the engine you automatically fail smog. I was under the impression that there serious reengineering issues with changing the engine on this vehicle? Am I missing something?

The engine on my 1970 was swapped decades ago with a Chevy 230. IT has been nothing but problems. Apples and oranges for sure. But I am not interested in a new full time hobby of wrenching on cars. I want them to be a trouble free as possible. Thus my inclination to have the engine, transmission transfer case, and diffs inspected and rebuilt if necessary.

The whine-vibration while feathering between accelerating and accelerating at highway speed? Could that be U-joints? ........ I can swap those myself. Is is more likely worn gears in the transmission?

Since the cost of a new equivalent truck is crazy stupid, and I think they suck, I have no issue with spending $25K to make this one works as new. IT is a bargain, IMHO.

Buy a small parcel of land in Montana and use the address for one form of paperless billing . No emissions or safety inspections required and lifetime registration of a vehicle older than 11 years. LS swap your cruiser with a GM auto transmission, and convert your T-case to part time 4wd.

*** I am not qualified to give legal, financial, or mechanical advice ***

 

[White Stripe]

I think if your going to do a v8 swap in California the way around emissions may possibly be to stay obd1. So maybe a 1uzfe. Or you could do a older LT1 swap maybe.

 

[leonard_nemoy]

California changes everything. Montana fixes everything

 

[60wag]

Since you're willing to put some money into it, it would be worth organizing the trip to Stockton to get the thing inspected by someone who knows what they are looking at. Then you can decide what path to take. A 3FE is a very reliable engine bolted to a reliable drive train, if its in good maintenance condition. I'd leave it full time 4wd rather than converting it to part time, I don't think there is any real benefit in the conversion. Spend the money on maintenance parts.

 

[jonheld]

This is a full time 4wd vehicle. There is a center differential in the transfer case that allows for good road manners without binding the driveline.

The center diff will automatically lock when in low range. In low range, the dash switch will do nothing. It allows you to lock the center diff in high range only, unless there have been modifications.

Drive line vibration when coasting at speed is usually a bad universal joint or loose slip yoke. There should be zero, none, nada tortional play in either slip yoke or universal.

3FE valve adjustment every 15k miles according to the FSM. If yours hasn't been done in the last 32 years, it might be something to look into.

The 3FE will spit out aftermarket ignition components as fast as you can put them in. Use OEM parts or you'll just be doing it again.
Have a look at my tune up document here: General Tech - 3FE Tune Up Info - https://forum.ih8mud.com/resources/3fe-tune-up-info.90/

 

[Scota4570]

Thanks for all the interest and ideas.

On the last post, I can not open the document. I am on a PC desk top. Do I need a reader?

 

[jonheld]

Thanks for all the interest and ideas.

On the last post, I can not open the document. I am on a PC desk top. Do I need a reader?

It's a pdf document.