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I've got an 80 but no handbook, so some dumb questions...

Joined
Jun 10, 2010
Messages
198
Garage
Hi everyone,

I bought an 1996 VX 4.5EFi mainly because it was cheap but also because I always thought they're cool plus been in a few in the UAE that have impressed me.

Anyway, the lady I bought it off (who bought it new!) has lost the owners manual, I went to Toyota Guildford to order a new handbook amongst other things to be told they don't make them anymore so I can't have one. I have looked on eBay but none available and I've also searched for a PDF handbook but no joy.

1- When should I check the oil (when the engine is cold or hot?)

2. When in the drivers seat, in front of my right knee there is a knob that has a picture of what looks to be a flap and it says lock on it, what does this do? Doesn't seem to do anything if I turn it.

3. What is the correct way of going into and out of low range, gearbox in P or in N?

4. There is a lot of windnoise from the front of the car past 40mph, if this normal? I can't see any leaky seals or anything and it isn't the wipers.

5. What should the tyre pressures be?

I've done about a 1,000 miles in it so far and am really happy with it. It's now done 142,000 miles with a full Toyota history and drives really well bar the track rod ends are shot (I've ordered new ones) and the rear diff lock doesn't work which I tried driving in circles, last night I changed the oil in the diff and will try driving in circles/figure 8s again tonight in the hope that it coaxes it into life, otherwise the accuator is going to have to come off.

I'm taking the 80 down to Morocco in August so I have got some time before I need to take it anywhere terrible. I've taken it down some lanes near me and it performs very well, even with the crap (although brand new) HT tyres the poor thing did struggle for grip a few times as the tread just gets clogged up, so BFGs ordering tommorow I think!

Thanks for any advice,

James
 
Hi James, and welcome!

Not too sure about the handbook - it seems most people don't have them for one reason or another! Keep watching Ebay and one might crop up... The FSMs are much more useful in terms of maintenance and repairs - have a search and you should find some links to PDFs of the FSMs ;)

Regarding your questions:
1. Cold, but it probably doesn't make a huge difference to be fair, just don't burn yourself. ATF level must be checked warm with the engine running.
2. That's the "hand throttle" - pull it out to raise engine revs and twist to lock. They don't usually work too well and often the knob comes off..
3. P or N is fine - the shifter won't move when in gear, so that tells you all you need to know :mrgreen:
4. Possibly wing mirrors? Check that your bonnet is fitting flush and the windscreen wiper arms are ok (i.e. not obviously bent or distorted). You don't have any "wind deflectors" on the bonnet or above the windows? MTs can also cause a similar noise but from your tyre description, that's not the problem in this case.
5. What tyres do you have, how heavily laden are you, what kind of driving are you doing etc etc??? No single answer here! Try something in the 30-40 psi range, probably starting at the lower end and see how it feels. If it feels very "wallowy" and the understeer is really bad (hard to judge I know), raise the pressures. When you lose your first filling, back the pressure off a bit :lol: I think most people will run around 32-35 psi as a rough guide.

Speak to Ian Rubie, one of our members here, about getting geniune Toyota parts as a sensible price (compared with the main dealers!)

Before you ask, I have no helpful advice on how to get your fuel consumption down :twisted:

Cheers,
 
Andrew Prince said:
Hi James, and welcome!

3. P or N is fine - the shifter won't move when in gear, so that tells you all you need to know :mrgreen:

Cheers,
Mine won't go into low range in P only in N, is that normal?
Chas
 
Wow. Thanks for the epic response!

I thought it might have been an idle speed adjuster (I'd had something similar on a Nissan Patrol a few years ago). Are you meant to use it for colder countries to increase the idle speel whilst it warms up or is it to increase the idle to get better initial torque when towing for example?

What is an FSM?

As for the wind noise I thought it was coming from the top of the windscreen so I checked the seals and the sunroof but no problems, my friend reckons it's from the bottom on the screen and thought it was wipers but doesn't seem to be them either. I'm not that bothered I just turn up the radio, well the CD as the aerial has been snapped off.

The tyres on the car right now are (not my choice) Nankang Ditchfinders or something, I'll order BFGs tommorow or next week. My local place wanted £240 per tyre, think I'll just order then off blackcircles for £148!

I shall ask Ian about the centre diff lock switch as I want to get that done.

Where abouts in Surrey are you Andrew? I saw a dark green 80 the other morning. Don't see many around. I live in Effingham and work in Epsom. Do you ever take it down the lanes in the area or down to Farnham?

EDIT- As for the fuel consumption, yeah.... It's not great but what do you expect! It seems to be doing about 17/18mpg as an average which is about what the 6.0 V12 Mercedes I had last year was doing so I've kind of got used to high fuel consumption, it does pain me to fill up at over £100 I tend to fill up when it gets to half a tank, end up going to a petrol station twice as often but it doesn't feel too bad putting £50 in...
 
quattro said:
What is an FSM?
FSM = Factory Service Manual

quattro said:
The tyres on the car right now are (not my choice) Nankang Ditchfinders or something, I'll order BFGs tommorow or next week. My local place wanted £240 per tyre, think I'll just order then off blackcircles for £148!
Check Camskill for prices too. What size and model of BFG are you going for?

quattro said:
Where abouts in Surrey are you Andrew? I saw a dark green 80 the other morning. Don't see many around. I live in Effingham and work in Epsom. Do you ever take it down the lanes in the area or down to Farnham?
I'm in the Raynes Park/New Malden area - there are a few us in the vicinity! My 80 doesn't get driven much during the week but if it was on the weekend, it could have been me. Been laning in Farnham a couple of times but not many lanes as most are TRO'd or worse sadly...

Good luck with the fuel - 17/18mpg sounds unbelievable for a petrol! Enjoy it while it lasts! :twisted: I think 12/13 mpg will be doing well long term, especially if you put MTs on and start adding goodies :mrgreen:

Cheers,
 
Ah, factory service manual. Cool I shall a have search for that.

Was going to get 275/70 R16 BFGs for it.
There are hardly any lanes worth doing now, the ones around Shere are okay but not very difficult.
There is a new pay and play site opening not far from Farnham on the 27th, I've got a voucher for £10 entry if it's something any guys off here would like to do.

I'm quite good at eeking good fuel economy out of largeish engines. I used to get about 28-30mpg out of my 5.0 Mercedes on a run, 23mpg out of the V12, 21mpg average out of the Grand Cherokee 4.0. I drove back from Southend last night which is 72 miles filled it up when I left and according to the gauge has only just used about 1/8th of a tank. Although I did sit right behind a coach the whole way which probably aided fuel consumption and also got rid of the wind noise. :D
 
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quattro said:
Wow. Thanks for the epic response!

I thought it might have been an idle speed adjuster (I'd had something similar on a Nissan Patrol a few years ago). Are you meant to use it for colder countries to increase the idle speel whilst it warms up or is it to increase the idle to get better initial torque when towing for example?

Not so much an idle speed adjuster but more usefull for rapid warm up or increasing the revs when you are winching or jump starting another car.
 
You can get larger 285/75r16 tyres for about the same price and they will fit the 80 without a lift with no problems. Seems to be the most popular tyre size for an 80 on this forum as it doesn't effect the gearing much and gives a little more ground clearance.

The hand throttle according the the hand book is "to boost heating when the vehicle is not moving in extremely cold conditions". for diesel versions it can also be used "if the engine runs roughly when idling after starting from extreme cold". There is a big warning saying that it must not be used when the vehicle is moving as it will increase stopping distances. I assume this is a much bigger problem on the auto.
 
Rob said:
You can get larger 285/75r16 tyres for about the same price and they will fit the 80 without a lift with no problems. Seems to be the most popular tyre size for an 80 on this forum as it doesn't effect the gearing much and gives a little more ground clearance.

The speedo is already way out for some reason on mine, it's about 10% out. If I fit the larger tyres will it make it even more out or will the speedo be slightly more accurate? I would have thought more accurate as per rotation you'll be covering more ground therefore road speed will increase and this would mean it's closer to the indicated speed?
 
They are all about 10% out on standard tyres. Get tyres with 10% bigger circumferance and that fixes it. I ran mine on 265/70/17 as I had 17 inch wheels on mine and the speedo was then about 5% out. So yes slightly bigger tyres will make it more accurate as well as giving more ground clearance.
 
It depends if your speedometer is 10% too high or too low. If its too high, as on most cars, then the speedometer will indicate a more accurate speed if you fit larger tyres (EDIT: to a certain extent). On mine the speedometer is very accurate when compared to GPS and that's with 285/75r16 tyres. I haven't heard anyone complaining about inaccurate readings with 33" tyres (285/75r16), only only really need to adjust it if you go up to 35" or bigger.
 
It's not an 80, but my HZJ78 was the same - speed was way under. Once I switched to 285s it was pretty much bang on.
 
Rob said:
It depends if your speedometer is 10% too high or too low. If its too high, as on most cars, then the speedometer will indicate a more accurate speed if you fit larger tyres (EDIT: to a certain extent). On mine the speedometer is very accurate when compared to GPS and that's with 285/75r16 tyres. I haven't heard anyone complaining about inaccurate readings with 33" tyres (285/75r16), only only really need to adjust it if you go up to 35" or bigger.

Yeah Rob you're right, forgot to specify that on standard tyres the speedo reads about 10% high i.e if the road speed is 63 to 64 the speedo reads 70.
 
Thanks for the advice reference the tyre size. Looking on BlackCircles what are your thoughts on-

General All Terrain 2 (£105 each)

Hankook Dynapro MT (£105 each)

BFG AT (£146 each)

Cooper Discovery STT (£159 each)

I think the General All Terrain is the best as I don't think the BFGs are worth £200 more to me per set. Are mud terrain tyres noisey on the highway?
 
quattro said:
Thanks for the advice reference the tyre size. Looking on BlackCircles what are your thoughts on-

General All Terrain 2 (£105 each)

Hankook Dynapro MT (£105 each)

BFG AT (£146 each)

Cooper Discovery STT (£159 each)

I think the General All Terrain is the best as I don't think the BFGs are worth £200 more to me per set. Are mud terrain tyres noisey on the highway?
Try this place for Cooper STT's £128
http://www.tyrespec.co.uk/products/?pat ... erer%20STT
Chas
 
What about BFG KM2? £144 ea here for 285/75 or £137 for 255/85?

255 KM2s would be my first choice if I was buying today.

The Grabber AT2s are definitely a good tyre but they're all terrains so will not be as good in the sticky stuff as MTs. Yes, MTs are noisier on-road but the KM2s are reputedly not too bad - the tread pattern was specifically designed to reduce road noise.

I t depends what you want to do with your LC - if it's the school run and weekends away, then go for road tyres or ATs to give a quieter, more comfortable ride. If you're laning or off-roading too, then you might want a bit more off-road bias. :idea:
 
Typically, slightly bigger tyre, slightly more accurate speedo, yes.

Chris
 
Rob said:
only really need to adjust it if you go up to 35" or bigger.
Fitting the 35's has brought my speedo bang in line with the sat naf speed readout :)
 
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