Where should I go this weekend?

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mattafact

mattafact

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Jan 2, 2007
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103
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Location
So Cal
Hey everyone,

I just picked up my 93 FZJ80 on Saturday and I'm looking for someplace cool to go this weekend. I have tomorrow-Monday off. I've been reading SocalFJ's blog and getting ideas. Carrizo plain sounds pretty cool.

Any suggestions? I'll be sleeping in the FJ so anywhere unimproved works for me.

Matt
 
I live out in Banning.

I'm so excited about it. I traded my rock crawler samurai and some cash for it and I couldn't be happier.
 
Welcome. I don't have any great overnight places to send you. I will leave that to Dave, and others. But I am just over the hill (or around it) from Banning in Yucaipa, so if you need a hand or want to do a local run let me know.
 
I used to live in Yucaipa on the BLVD right across from UStore it. I'm down for a local run anytime. Just say when.

Lets meet up one of these days and talk shop. La Mexicana on the blvd has cheap beer from 3-6.
 
So I went to the Carrizo plains. Amazing place. The cruiser got 15mpg on the way up there. I had it floored in Drive up the grapevine and I was able to keep 50-55mph. Not too bad I suppose.

One thing I noticed is the water temp goes up on any hill. It hasn't overheated yet but it gets to about 3/4. Has this happened to anyone else? The previous owner replaced the radiator fairly recently if that matters.

All in all it was a great trip.
 
mattafact said:
So I went to the Carrizo plains. Amazing place. The cruiser got 15mpg on the way up there. I had it floored in Drive up the grapevine and I was able to keep 50-55mph. Not too bad I suppose.

One thing I noticed is the water temp goes up on any hill. It hasn't overheated yet but it gets to about 3/4. Has this happened to anyone else? The previous owner replaced the radiator fairly recently if that matters.

All in all it was a great trip.
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good you had a great time

good call on the temp. No that is not normal, sorry to say. The OEM gauge should not go up at all on a normally-cooled 80 even when you go up a hill. Thanks to the silly soccer-mom temp gauge design. Time to check a couple of things. The engine is probably fine if you didn't get too close to the red, but this needs to be attended to. Keep an eye on that gauge in the mean time. Cooling is one of the foibles of the FZJ engine. (And the HG too unfortunately, but the rest is pretty much rock solid.)

Enjoy the truck.
 
mattafact said:
So I went to the Carrizo plains. Amazing place. The cruiser got 15mpg on the way up there. I had it floored in Drive up the grapevine and I was able to keep 50-55mph. Not too bad I suppose.

One thing I noticed is the water temp goes up on any hill. It hasn't overheated yet but it gets to about 3/4. Has this happened to anyone else? The previous owner replaced the radiator fairly recently if that matters.

All in all it was a great trip.
Click to expand...

Not mine. Same experience doing 50 mph up the Grapevine but not once did the temp needle move. And I had the original OEM radiator until it developed a crack/leak at 190K+. Replaced recently with a metal one and I notice less heat coming from the wheel wells.
 
I'll third the temp guage not moving. Only time my temp guage has ever moved, until this past weekends horror story (see the 80's section Emergency Help thready by me for details and pics) was towing a trailer on a very warm day. Even then I didn't get quite to 3/4 up the guage. All I did then was turn the heater and fan on full blast and the temp guage came down some even tho I was still headed UP the grapevine. Any idea how long it's been since the radiator has had a VERY GOOD flush and refill with Toyota Red coolant? May want to get that done.

Congrats on the truck!
 
The radiator is new according to the PO but it isn't running the Toyota red. Does the red make a difference in cooling or is it more for corrosion resistance?
 
Most of us on Mud would tell you to flush the living daylights out of the green stuff to completely rid your system of it and replace it with Toyota Red coolant. From my issues this weekend reading on the forum, DO NOT mix regular green coolant with Yota Red. The green stuff contains silicates that combined with the Yota red will create sludge in your coolant system.
 
You have to be careful switching to red from the green, may cause new leaks. I would only do the switch if I were putting in a new radiator.

Is the replacement radiator OEM or aftermarket? My guess would be aftermarket. But maybe just the thermostat needs to be replaced. You can also look into your fan make sure it's working properly. You may need to swap to the blue fan clutch or add an electric fan that you can switch on for the hill climbs. But I would get this fixed prior to this summer.
 
I'm guessing it's aftermarket. It has a blue fan clutch on it. Are these a pain to bleed the air out of the cooling system?
 
did my 93, all this after 280,000+mi 0n oem
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Don't wig out on the temp thing...it was damn near 85 degrees in Ventura last weekend, had to be that hot going up the grade too. Full throttle climbs will get anyone a little hot.

How was Carrizo? see any horse trailers on any of the back roads? was there mud left over from the rains or did it all get dried up?

What route did you take? Is it fun wheeling fire roads , or were there sections you had to slow down and think about? I almost packed a lunch and went up there too, but was worried I'd get there and find a sherriff had closed it off since they had so much rain.
 
PabloVTA said:
Don't wig out on the temp thing...it was damn near 85 degrees in Ventura last weekend, had to be that hot going up the grade too. Full throttle climbs will get anyone a little hot.

snip
.
Click to expand...

mmm.... maybe not to that point.

I was going up the Big Bear grade with an outside temp of 100 or so once. My actual temp was 210+, maybe 220 at times IIRC, and the temp gauge was still pegged to the middle IIANM. If his gauge is like mine, it must have been seriously hot under his hood. Should be checked for peace of mind if nothing else, IMHO.
 
PabloVTA said:
How was Carrizo? see any horse trailers on any of the back roads? was there mud left over from the rains or did it all get dried up?

What route did you take? Is it fun wheeling fire roads , or were there sections you had to slow down and think about? I almost packed a lunch and went up there too, but was worried I'd get there and find a sherriff had closed it off since they had so much rain.
Click to expand...

Carrizo was fun. There were a few horse trailers at the KCL campground.

We started off on Soda Lake Rd then headed across the valley to Elkhorn Rd. It was mostly fire roads but we also took most of the little side trails to see where they were headed. Saw some cool stuff.
 
Got a new radiator and thermostat today. Took it up a nice long hill climb with the ac on to test it and...problem solved. Glad that's taken care of.

When is the next trail run?
 
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