Getting my head around being a new 80 owner

Recently seen the light and bought myself an 80. Love it though always having Landys finding it hard to find "cheap" but good aftermarket parts. Obviously the UK is flooded with aftermarket parts new and used for the land rover and all quite competitive so probably have to stop being a tight ass and dig in my pockets. In my head I have a list of things to do and a priority of what to do first. Probably going to get alot of Julian V

Dont really know much about the history of my LC. Got it from Northern Ireland and the chap before got it from Isle of Mann. Seems straight enough and in good nick. Has TJM front and rear bumpers and the chap I bought it off said he had thought it had done a trip to Aus

For some reason the air cons been removed which is a pain so at some point I want to replace that also when I go into Low box the center diff light doesnt come on so I am assuming that has been disconnected though it does come on the button.

What I do need help with is the front and rear diff locks. Both engage and I can hear the motors and obviously when turning with front lock steering is very heavy, I know not advised though just checked. The problem is when the knob is turned the red diff engaged lights come on flashing though dont go solid. Is this normal or should they go solid when fully engaged?

Cheers
Tom

kingtom said:

Recently seen the light and bought myself an 80. Love it though always having Landys finding it hard to find "cheap" but good aftermarket parts. Obviously the UK is flooded with aftermarket parts new and used for the land rover and all quite competitive so probably have to stop being a tight ass and dig in my pockets. In my head I have a list of things to do and a priority of what to do first. Probably going to get alot of Julian V

Dont really know much about the history of my LC. Got it from Northern Ireland and the chap before got it from Isle of Mann. Seems straight enough and in good nick. Has TJM front and rear bumpers and the chap I bought it off said he had thought it had done a trip to Aus

For some reason the air cons been removed which is a pain so at some point I want to replace that also when I go into Low box the center diff light doesnt come on so I am assuming that has been disconnected though it does come on the button.

What I do need help with is the front and rear diff locks. Both engage and I can hear the motors and obviously when turning with front lock steering is very heavy, I know not advised though just checked. The problem is when the knob is turned the red diff engaged lights come on flashing though dont go solid. Is this normal or should they go solid when fully engaged?

Cheers
Tom

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Well done Tom, on the acquisition of an 80, you'll love it and it's reliability, but part-by-part, you'll have to swallow the higher prices, just rest assured that each part will only be bought once!

OK, to the lockers. It sounds like the auto Centre Diff Lock (CDL) on the low range has been disconnected. I can't for the life of me imagine why the designer thought an auto lock was a good idea on low range, especially as there's a dash CDL switch.

But I think you'll find that yours not working is no malfunction, I would imagine that it's been disconnected deliberately. It's a simple replug job if it has been disconnected, unless the previous owner did something stupid like cutting the wires. The plug goes to a switch on the back of the transfer box at about 1:00 o'clock just forward of the rear prop front flange.

As for the front and rear lockers appearing not to lock-out, my front locker indicates lock-out by going solid, but the rear never has. Both work perfectly, so unless you're an "everything must work 100%" type, then I would ignore it. Otherwise it's an electrical fault on the lock-out sensor circuit, and I wouldn't know where to start explaining how to troubleshoot that one, otherwise I'd have fixed my own

Enjoy the 80 and forget the dim and distant past, you have a real truck there, and they're only getting rarer by the year.

What model and year is it? We need pictures you know, they're mandatory

Shes a late 94 model vx in white though has no cruise control (thought all the VXs had cruise). For some reason DVLA have little info on it, probably as it originated from the Isle of Mann.
The center locks a bonus as I would have disconnected that. Yes its really refreshing driving and getting places without stopping with the bonnet up and the temp gauge staying exactly in the middle. Ill post some pics soon, just spuddling at the moment getting to know her and making it mine with a few Tom improvements. Job tomorrow get all the caked mud from the inside of the chassis and order a new tyre as some idiot left some big metal thing in the middle of the main road which went straight through the side wall.

I wouldn't worry about the history UK and Isle of Man DVLA didn't start sharing records until maybe 10 years ago at a guess . She will be low mileage as well i would imagine coming from there as the Island only has 500 miles of tarmac all in

152k so not to bad

kingtom said:

152k so not to bad

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Almost run-in.

I'd go for Big End Bearings replacement first and foremost, if not sooner, jet the job done and forget. It's a must Tom, no quibbling! Search for a thread BEB replacement, you'll have a shock, unless you've seen the movie...

Mine's a '95 GX, but the trim level is nothing like the UK models, it's a very basic Euro spec.

That was one of my questions when I got it. Was told they thought they had been done. Is there any way of telling or should I just do it

I suppose there may be some signs of re-sealant on the sump, but it's not an expensive job. Everyone talks about fitting ACL bearings, but they may be hard to get. Julian may help out with that.

Ok ill look into it cheers for the advice

If it came from the Isle of man it could well have been Alistair's.

Thats interesting. Would be good to know a little more about it

While on the subject of BEBs, I asked my friendly Toyota parts guy to look up the part numbers for both my 12 valve and a 24 valve 80. The numbers are identical, so the assumption is that they have standardised on the 24 valve BEBs. I can't imagine them standardising on duff shells.

On each axle and on the centre diff there it a simple lock detection plunger. They fail. You can have lock but not a solid light. 27mm socket to remove. Give it a good clean and wash out with contact cleaner and try it again. You can put a meter across it. It's just an open closed switch that's all. It's more important on the centre diff as it tells the 4x4 ECU to allow the front and rear to lock. Without out it, they won't fire.

Don't reconnect the plug that Clive mentioned. Leave it off. It was not one of Mr T's best ideas. Just use the dash switch.

UK autos didn't get Cruise. I have seen one or two with it, but that may have been a factory option. I've had three and none had cruise.

Starcruiser, the part numbers are the same NOW. Yes. But they weren't. They realised that there was a problem and the bearings were upgraded. The 24v never got fitted with the earlier problem ones. But they are the same engine throughout really, it's only the head and associated bits that are different.

This is what I thought (and probably read somewhere on here), so if the ACL bearings are in short supply then Toyota ones are good. What's the benefit of ACL ones out of interest, is it just price or are there any other benefits? I'm going to do mine soon but seeing as mine spent 55,000 miles on Japanese oil, I guess I have a bit of leeway yet having only done about 125,000 in total.

Congrats! I've also been an LR man through and through but recently tried an 80 for size, it's growing on me rather than love at first sight but after a visit to JV last week things have improved

Spec's are a funny one; mine's a UK car in VX spec, but has cloth seats, no air con and no cruise control. Does have front, centre and rear diff locks and sliding rear windows, so who knows!

Anyway, enjoy your truck and get some pics up ASAP

Well the ACL are Aussie and with all things Cruiser, we liek stuff that the Aussie's fit. Nothing wrong with genuine bearings - we hope ha ha.

The original bearings come in 4 sizes and at the factory they measure the crank using fairy wings so they fit bearings to the nearest wing. The rest of us just fit one size. If you go to Mr T he'll want to know which sizes you want.

Mike yours is an older 80 (very tidy for sure) but not sure that leather, AC and cruiser were std back then or even options? Andy would know.

Chris said:

Mike yours is an older 80 (very tidy for sure) but not sure that leather, AC and cruiser were std back then or even options? Andy would know.

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Aaah, I didn't realise. I thought on really early cars (up to ;91?) that was the case, but towards the end of the 12 valve era ('93?) VX trim included leather and air con. But that was just a belief I had, rather than any sound knowledge to back it up!

MikesVX80 said:

Congrats! I've also been an LR man through and through but recently tried an 80 for size, it's growing on me rather than love at first sight but after a visit to JV last week things have improved

Spec's are a funny one; mine's a UK car in VX spec, but has cloth seats, no air con and no cruise control. Does have front, centre and rear diff locks and sliding rear windows, so who knows!

Anyway, enjoy your truck and get some pics up ASAP

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That was the standard manual configuration for the year -mine is the same. It is UK spec and you should be getting 30mpg motorway or something is wrong 93-95 ids the best to have IMO...

The 12v went on slightly later than that Mike. There were a lot of 94 12 valvers. I don't think I have seen a 95 registered 12v but it wouldn't surprise me if there were the odd one or two. The initial 80s were the 91 - 92 and then 92 to 94 some of the extras came in. Then of course the 24v began in 95. But because you could always tick things in the options box there were always one or two surprises. I have a GS. The Farmer's version. But it has factory AC. Someone ticked the option obviously. Didn't have a sunroof though but someone fitted one. People have put leather in from other vehicles and vice versa and as we seldom know all of a vehicle's history, a lot can happen in 22 years.

The vast majority of 80's up to 95 were autos with manual being quite rare, but after the 24v came in all uk spec were manual which is what makes us all laugh when people advertise a 'rare 24v manual'. There are 24v auto imports and people really seem to like them. Lovely to drive.