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1992 FZJ80 with the 1FZFE: Daily Driver + Tourer

Paddler Ed

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So my plan to replace the 4Runner with:
a) something newer (4Runner is a 1992)
b) lower kms (4Runner has 361,000)
c) bit more power than the 3VZE has
d) bit more comfort (space, aircon and stuff)
has landed me in touch with a mate of a mate who is selling a 296,000km 1994 FZJ80 manual - now that matches those criteria, but does miss one other one that was on the original plan (better fuel economy - the 4Runner has average 13.5L/100km over 107,000km)

I've had a look through Crispin's stickies, and it fails on one of his early ones (intact clear coat - anything from the Northern Inland in NSW is going to be cactus because of the 40+ days 2 months of the year, as well as the UV) BUT it does come from a mechanic, has decent tyres (about 40% left on them) and is only AU$3500 (or £1800)

Comments please gents!

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If its solid and runs well with no issues ( and you can live with the paint as it is) then its cheap LC motoring. Keep it as long as it keeps going, you can't loose $5k on a $3.5k truck.
 
That's my feeling - a bonnet and wing wouldn't be hard to source, leaving the roof (which 5' tall wife can't see)

OK, so a 200km round trip to look at it this week is looking more and more likely... and hope the highway doesn't get closed on the way back because of snow!

Might just wait for some others to chip in as well...
 
Is it the 1fzfe? Good strong engine (people turbo them on stock internals), ask if the pesky heater hose has been done, check the usual suspects for head gaskets etc. Oil leaks from rear main seal.

If it's got lpg they can wear valve guides if no lube system.
Aus spec will have no cat converters and a sub tank usually.

Cold start listen for noise, hot start make sure it starts ok.
It should pull well, peak power is about 4500rpm so they like to be revved. Mine will happily see the rev limiter.

You can tweak the ignition timing, gives a bit more low end power and improves fuel consumption a bit.

Valve clearances are 100k but on shims, if not noisy they're most likely ok.
Check the intake hose from the air box to throttle valve, they split for fun usually underneath.
Distributor cap and rotor arm wear electrically with age, worth a check as can give poor spark, they like quality plugs too, I run genuine as not expensive.

Idle should be smooth, pcv valve can stick causing idle issues and smoking after a long run.

Not always the best on fuel but depends how you drive it, manual will do better then auto too.
 
Hi Ed, at that price it’s got to be worth a look. If it turns out to be worth buying, but the economy turns out to be an issue, would an LPG and valve lube kit be an option? There should be plenty of $ left in the kitty at that price, to pay for a lot of fuel or an LPG kit.

Manual 80s over here seem to wear synchros on 2nd and 3rd, they are quite a agricultural gearbox, but you’ll be a custom to that with the 40. However I would expect the gearbox to have an easier life behind the petrol than the diesel lump.

Stu on here has spent some time driving a petrol manual 80 and found it to be a nice drive. Might be worth send him a PM.

Good luck with the viewing.
 
Is it the 1fzfe? Good strong engine (people turbo them on stock internals), ask if the pesky heater hose has been done, check the usual suspects for head gaskets etc. Oil leaks from rear main seal.

Yes, it is the 1FZFE (I'm too used to the 3VZE so missed the 2nd F)

I'd read about the heater hose before, so aware of that. I know the seller has replaced it with a 4JJ1 engined Holden (Isuzu) Colorado ute.
 
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Hi Ed, at that price it’s got to be worth a look. If it turns out to be worth buying, but the economy turns out to be an issue, would an LPG and valve lube kit be an option? There should be plenty of $ left in the kitty at that price, to pay for a lot of fuel or an LPG kit.

We've just had a mate blow the piston in his brother's Hilux diesel ($7k bill), and heard of someone else who has done the same in a Prado (with only 220k km) so I reckon that the savings over a diesel is worth taking! If the fuel economy is only 20% better than a petrol, the difference is from $0.25/km to about $0.20/km - aka not that much really for the extra cost - you can do that by being careful with where you buy your fuel from!
 
They're not too bad on fuel mostly, I run 98 octane and it goes better for it.


I can see 20 to 22 mpg on a good run, on the flip side I can empty the tank in 120 miles :shock:
 
My 2c worth.....
Yes they are thirsty beasts. But for the price I would consider giving it a go. Might be worth to check the underside for RUST from beach driving.

If it’s been maintained by a mechanic owner it should be pretty decent. Look out for head gasket issues and it’s worth looking at the buyers guide on slee off round for petrol engines.

With regards to to Bonnet and roof I would just get them wrapped or similar.

If you are asking the question here - I am guessing you just want some security and so far I think you have the thumbs up.
 
Went down and had a look at it today, spent an hour going over it and chatting to the seller.

Three things we found that weren't clear in the pictures:
  1. Rocker cover leaks... mainly at the front, but seems to be the cause of the Land Rover-esque territory marking. Not been an issue in terms of oil use.
  2. Broken drivers door external handle - may even have found a replacement on a spares car somewhere else
  3. Tailgate trim needs sorting out (again, see 2 - may have a spare lined up)

Otherwise:
  • Same owner the last 10 years (ex-Toyota mechanic, now at a multi-franchise dealership)
  • Inland car it's whole life
  • New clutch
  • Freshly done swivel hubs
  • Arches are rock solid, all drain holes in the doors were clear
  • Carpet was like new in the boot (rubber mat on it)
  • Probably going to have some headlight protectors on it, and a set of roofracks thrown in as well
And we'll get it for $3100, picking it up Friday.
 
Picked it up; came back home up the Moonbi Range in 4th (Delz was in 3rd in the 4Runner) and then stayed in 5th all the way home really (whereas Delz was up and down the gears)

Tomorrow's job list includes:
-Pictures
-Cleaning the inside properly
-Getting the dog used to it
-Fixing a few things like interior lights
-Sorting out what's going on with wiring for things like driving lights
-Checking air filter and general service items - I'll service it properly in 3,000km time
-Finding out where the O2 sensor is (pretty sure there is one, if my older 4Runner has one...) and checking that over.
 
Not up to Ben's level of reporting, but spent today sorting things out...

Mainly cleaning... the interior needed a good vacuum, not helped by the vacuum being bunged up with dog hair and dust (still dry as here, and most of the yards is dirt with hardly any grass on it)

3 goes to get each window clean, with warm water and vinegar working best.

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Part way through doing the boot

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Not started on the front - but that's the worst of the wear you can see on edge of the drivers seat

The back seat was pretty good, but still needed a bit of clean up:
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Cleaned up quite well, and the dash mat dropped in place:
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So, all in all it cleaned up quite nicely - did end up pulling the centre cubby out so that I could clean that properly (and underneath it)

From the fix and sort out list:
1) Full driving light loom in place, just need to fit some connectors then connect my lights up
2) Interior lights: Yep, if there's no bulbs, then they won't work... So, I grabbed one of the lights out of the 4Runner. Still didn't work... then I realised that the LED festoon bulbs have a polarity, and I needed to flip it around... then it worked. Got another one for the other light, and it's bright as in there!
3) Dog likes having her own window (and also has got the hang of the command of "Head In", which gets her head in from the open window)
4) Air filter pretty good, but do need to sort a new O2 sensor out as I reckon it's the original one in there - but there were no faults when I checked the diagnostics port which is also good.
 
Tomorrow is degreasing the oil in the engine bay, so we can monitor the source. Current list of suspects are (roughly in order):
1) Old rocker cover seal
2) Old dizzy seal
3) The half moons at the front of the rocker/head area.

There is a 2nd leak that seems to be PS pump related, so I need to clean that up as well a bit...
 
Engine has cleaned up a fair bit today, so that was good. We've got a good run on Tuesday this week, so that should start to show us where it's coming from.

Heater lever now moves through it's full range of movement (it wasn't quite set right for getting all the way to cold)


Bit of electrical progress as well:
Got the aerial freed up, and now working out the wiring and fuse requirements for USB sockets and UHF (ie which one of the accessory blocks can it go on)
Also hooked up the driving lights as 95% of the wiring was already there (just needed the connectors on the end for the lights)

And now a 2x Land Cruiser carport:
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Spent yesterday moving stuff across from the 4Runner to the 80; UHF is now in, USB charging socket is in one of the blanks in the centre cubby and the Arkon mount that we use for holding phones is now in place.

Left to move over is the brake controller - this is going to need a bit more work as I need to sort out where to mount the control unit, as it is an inertia controlled one. The adjust knob found a neat blank to occupy.

Run a full tank through, and it averaged 16L/100km, so I've also put some Upper Cylinder cleaner through the manifold ($10) and ordered a new O2 sensor ($115) so all cheap(ish) fixes if you can get an improvement - I reckon a good O2 sensor is worth 10-15% improvement in fuel economy quite rapidly. The current O2 sensor isn't showing an error code, but it might not be bad enough to show a code... but still leading it to run a bit rich.
 
O2 sensor arrived... it was the one for an FJ80 so won't fit the plug on the FZJ80...

However, the one in the exhaust at the moment remarkably came out easily in the end - but was well blocked and beginning to head out of range on the resistance circuit:
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From the Walker website, they say that this is a sign that it's been running rich... which fits with a sniff test
http://www.walkerproducts.com/resources/technical-support/common-oxygen-sensor-conditions/
 
Took it for it's roadworthy today (NSW has annual ones, much like an MOT) and it passed with the following comments:

1) Swivel hub on LHS needs to be tidied up
2) Front panhard bushes are getting on a bit
3) The PS pump leaks (but so do most others by all accounts)
4) The drivers seatbelt needs the intertia mechanism re-aligning as it's a bit savage
5) There's a miss at idle - I suspect the leaking dizzy seal has something to do with that, and I have a new one ready to go in soon
5) Can I find another one for the tester?

All in all, not bad. They kept it up on the hoist for me to have a good look around underneath, and everything was nice and dry.
 
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